a missionary's lament

Ay, Senior! nunca he sido hombre de facil palabras...Porque soy tardo en el habla y torpe de lengua. Exodus 4:10. So much more expressive in Spanish than English, this is Moses complaining to the Lord that he is slow of speech etc. So it it with the new missionaries, especially those who do not have a background in the Spanish language. There are nineteen temple missionaries here (including President Rojas, his wife and his counselor, President Fuhriman and his wife.) The presidency all speak spanish very well. Next are three missionaries who learned spanish as missionaries. Then there are seven english speaking missionaries who are in various stages of learning spanish and finally five spanish speaking senior missionaries,(two couples and a single sister), who speak only spanish. This makes for interesting meetings and social events which take place in both languages. Sometimes the meetings are conducted in english with spanish interpretation, but usually in spanish with english interpretation. It is interesting to see the way that communication takes place here in the alojamiento (lodging building) as well as in the temple. Sign language is used a lot. English is spoken by those who only speak English and also a curious mixture of english/spanish. All of this is a communication effort that is commendable if not very efficient. Still, the work goes on. Those of us who are learning Spanish do progress in the effort, if only at a snails pace. We blunder along progressing from single words to phrases, and then to sentences in spanish. Sometimes we feel totally inadequate and other times we feel like we have finally mastered this language. Neither is true, of course. Instead it is a slow process, day by day, little by little, sometimes without realizing that progress is taking place. Words become part of a vocabulary without much notice. First to be understood in writing or conversation, then to be used in speaking ourselves. Our son Ted gave each of us spanish scriptures before we left home. These are treasured by us and read daily (almost). Studying these volumes has not been easy. Before leaving home, we chanced upon a Spanish/English dictionary (at the DI) that is constantly at my side. It has more words listed than other dictionaries that we have used in the past including the one we purchased at the MTC. When a word is not understood, this dictionary is there to help. At the beginning of reading El Libro de Mormon, this dictionary was used on average six times per page. Now it is down to two times per page.
There are also people who want to help us learn Spanish. At times these relationships click and they become our mentors and good friends. We also do our part in helping some of them expand their knowledge of English and our culture. But mostly efforts are focused on the job at hand and learning the language is secondary.
Back to the missionaries serving here. President Rojas and his wife are both from Mexico. He is very good at both languages and his wife is also very fluent. Richard Fuhriman (counselor in the temple presidency) is from Nampa, Ida. He met his wife in Monterrey Mexico while serving a mission there and returned later to marry her and take her to Idaho where she learned english while raising six children. In recent years they have served as temple missionaries in Monterrey, Mexico until he was called as a counselor here in the temple presidency. They are both fluent in both languages as are all of their children. Next in tenure here at the temple are Rulon and Jane Johnson from Arizona. He served a mission as a young man in the Spanish American Mission, Texas,N.M. and Arizona. Spending quite a bit of times in northern N.M. Jane doesn't speak Spanish but is learning and she communicates none the less. Peter and Debbie Ripple are from Nova Scotia Canada. Converts to the church they are very interesting and giving people. Peter has taken on a building project for one of the neighbors that lives close by. He is building a bathroom/utility room for them using money that was given to him by a friend before they left home. The friend wanted to help someone here and trusts Peter to use his money wisely. More on the Ripples later in another draft. Rodrigo and Marianna Mino are next in seniority. They are from Quito and have had some health problems. They are both very adept at the temple work. After going home (to Quito) for medical attention, they have now returned to complete their mission. They don't speak English but brotherand sister Mino do know some Quichua (language of the indigenous people) which they are able to use in the temple. We are next in seniority here arriving early the morning of Dec. 23, 2008. Sister Rigby is learning Spanish and is beginning to converse in complete sentences. She is very efficient in all phases of the baptistry clothing, from passing it out to patrons to working the washers, dryers, folding, and returning to the shelves. Hermana Cevallos is a single sister who has a son and family living in Chicago. During the last closing, she flew there to visit them. In some ways she is our conscience. She tells us of the Ecuador holidays, history, etc. We look forward to more conversations with her. She understands english enough to read it and speak a little. Next the Hewetts from Dallas, Texas. Cerrita Hewett served a mission in Peru as a young woman and is now doing a great job here. Here husband, Roger, has a varied background of work and interests including sculpting, piano repair/tuning. We share a shift with them and the Perez who have recently arrived to do yet another mission here. He was one of the first bishops in Quito when the first stake was formed in this country. Under his direction last night in the baptistry, over 1000 ordinances were performed. Baptisms and confirmations. Sister Susan Savage and Diane Pyper are both widows and have come as companions to serve here. Sister Pyper's husband having passed away only five months before they came here. Both have served previous missions. There are interesting stories to tell about these wonderful people. All together there are 63 children, 225 grandchildren and a few great grandchildren. We all miss our families a lot but we are enjoying our time here too much to be homesick. There is a lot to do. A lot to learn. People to get to know and work to be done.