guatemala.

this was a life changing trip. to express my experience in words is impossible. i have gained the deepest love for every child at casa aleluya. my last post talked about the hiv clinic but after my parents read it, they felt uncomforatable because of the health risks involved and i got reassigned to casa aleluya. this is a home for abandoned orphans and abused children. these kids have literally changed my life. i think about them everyday. not only did i love them immesely but i wanted more than anything to bring them home with me. they closed adoption in guatemala a few years ago and i think this is tragic. there were 450 children at this orphanage alone. they are some of the most geniune, kind, precious people i have ever come across. this trip is a experience i will forever be grateful for. my 8 friends i went with and i will forever be in dept to this people and the lessons they have taught us. since i cannot express the trip in words i will in photos. sorry that there are a ton!


this is pablo. he is 3 years old. although i loved all of the kids, i had a special bond with him. he was very quiet and shy, and all he wanted was to be hugged and held. he would nuzzle his head on my shoulder and be completely content. i love him so much.

this is carlos. i called him chanco. he reminded me exactly of chanco in nacho libre, he has the cutest little personality.

this is brando and antoni. they were so much fun and total characters. a little wild but great!

this is vicki. we met her and her family in central park. she was so cute. you can tell by her smile that she was the happiest kid. we bonded alot with her family, her mother maria did hari wraps and we loved her and would hang out everyday in the park with her and her fam. along with some of the kids that worked in the park shining shoes and selling gum. they would just run into our arms everyday when we would walk into the park. the last sunday we were there we wanted to give maria something to show her how much we loved her. my friend jami who is about to go to argentina on her mission was such an example to me and came up with the thought to bring maria and her fam to church. this was the perfect gift we could ever share with her and her family.

marias 2 months old baby tatiana. she was precious, she had little seal eyes and never cried. i could hold her forever and be perfectly content. ( please excuse my looks in this one... on this day i was veryyy ill)

these are the park kids we loved so much! the last day we also wanted to do something for them. we brought them to mcdonalds and i have never seen so much excitement in kids before! it was one of the most rewarding experiences of the trip.

the church was right down the street from the home we were staying in. it was awesome, even though i only understood small parts of it, it was amazing to see the church is strong all around the world.

the organization we went through was called maximo nivel. they offered weekend trips and we signed up for a trip to semuc champey. it was the biggest adventure i have ever been on. we got picked up on fri afternoon by antonio. he didnt speak a word of english. we drove 9 hours and got to this village. there we were told to get in the bed of a truck. it was pouring rain, we all were a little scared thinking we could be getting kidnapped but we were not going to be left in this village in the middle of the jungle by ourselves. we got in the bed of the truck and drove another hour into the jungle. we got to our "hotel" and it was 4 huts. we slept in a tree house type of shelter. no window or door, just a curtain blocking us from the jungle, bugs, rain, everything. it was so funny looking back at it. but we were definitly scared at the time. regardless it was the greenest prettiest place i have ever been. we hiked to the teal waters...

and went river rafting. which was sooooo scary. we signed up to go river rafting and this was what we got. little tubes. no guide, no life jacket. rapids, rocks. it was so funny and fun.

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this is blanca. i loved her so much. she really touched my heart. she would cling on to me everyday. she would always be near me. it didnt matter if i was playing with another kid she would just be close.

this is queque. he is 2 years old. he is tiny, he hasnt developed correctly and he looks like he is a little baby.

this was the school that was part of the orphanage. all the kids in there cute school uniforms.

this is jon jon. he tricked us for so long telling us his name was carlos. he was the cutest little guy. he had a deformation in his back and so his legs went outward but he had so much energy and was so happy. he and meagan were great friends. i loved watching them interact. just look at him he is such a cutie!

this is andrea and marabelle. i loved to make them dance with me.

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for our 3rd week we travled around guatemala.

first we went to lake atitlan...

this has been pronounced as the waters of mormon. it was so awesome to be where alma brought his followers and fled from king noah. i felt a peace here and i thought it was so pretty.

there was some fun zipling in lake atitlan and a few of us went. it was the longest zipline in south america so we felt pretty adventurous!

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after lake atitlan we went to tikal...

it was literally the most humid place i have ever been. the second i turned on my camera it broke from the moisture. these pics are from my friends. as you can see we were a little sweaty.

after hiking for about 5 hours we got to the last temple. this was the view. it was so unbelievable. all you could see for hundreds of miles was trees. not any buildings or anything. you could only see the tips of the other ancient temples. it was an incredible experience. we felt like we were back in lamanite times.

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we spent our last day in guatemala city...

this is the guatemala city temple. it was so pretty! it was awesome that we got a chance to see it.

i learned so much and gained so much love on this trip. i would recommend it to anyone in a second. the architecture, the jungles, the people, everything was amazing! i will never forget this experience!