Once Upon a Christel: Preparations.

Ok, today's the day I talk about my parents again... and about some really exciting things that we get to be a part of in a few days.

So, both of my parents were born and raised in Guatemala. And once again, no, haha, Guatemala is not in Mexico. It's its own country! Here's a picture of a map to prove it:

And no, we do not speak Guatemalan there; we speak Spanish (They do speak 26 Mayan dialects there, but the last people in my family who spoke any of those are my grandparents; we never learned--I wish we had, though!). Anyway, both parents heard and accepted the Gospel when they were fairly young, and they both had the incredible opportunity of serving missions. Mom served in Honduras, and Dad served in Costa Rica and Panama.

After their missions, Dad's family moved to the capital, and his family lived a house away from my mom's family's house. They went to YSA activities together and eventually, Dad had the courage to ask Mom out. Mom's two years older than Dad, so he was kinda intimidated by her. Well, they eventually got married and had both of us. A few years ago, Dad received the great opportunity to come to the U.S. to come to practice dentistry in California. After much fasting and prayer, Mom and Dad decided that moving to the U.S. would be a great opportunity for our family, and we moved to the States.

Over the years, Dad has taught us that everything we have comes from our Heavenly Father. He is such a hard worker! He loves to give back to the community, and he loves our people in Guatemala. Starting in 2008 we began to do what people here in the U.S. call "humanitarian" trips. We like to call it "remembering our roots." We travel to a village in the interior of Guatemala and Dad and Mom have found ways to connect with the local schools, where we've gone to talk about the importance of education. This village is a place with little resources. People are very poor. Most children drop out of school before 6th grade, because they must help their families with income, so they begin to work. Dropping out of school creates a poverty cycle in the community, and few, if any, ever break out of this cycle and gain a profession. Since Dad's a dentist, we also talk about the importance of oral care, because poor oral health can lead to painful infections and can affect overall health. Here's a few pictures of our projects over the years.

Well, these past few months, Dad and a few lawyers have been hard at work to create the Miguel Edelio Vargas Canahuí Association, which, pretty soon will be an organized and legally recognized NGO. The organization hopes to strengthen and promote education in Guatemala, and we will pool all of our family's talents to try to help our people, in the ways we can. Dad's education and practice as a dentist will be one of the talents and resources that we will primarily use. Dad has helped with the construction and setup of a small dental clinic and pharmacy, and we hope that one day, this establishment will grow into a community hospital.

Well, our next trip is coming up in a couple of days, and here's the plan.

We will be doing dental work for the community as well as educational talks in schools. Dad has worked really hard to establish all connections in the community, and they'll start advertising the free dental work on the week that we arrive. We also had the idea of helping with the empowerment of women in the village. Women are such an important part of a community, and in this specific community (as well as much of the world, of course) women are often put down, assaulted, and used, and their education is often dropped when they become pregnant. We will be doing a talk with high school girls, and we'll emphasize education, self-esteem, and self-image. We've been putting together little gift bags for them, which include hair ties, a cute and simple hemp bracelet, and we'll add some personal care products in each bag.

On this trip, our family friend Manuel Zamora and his wife, Brooke Zamora, will be joining us, and they have helped with the collection of materials. Manuel and Brooke will also be helping us with the dental work and educational talks; we're excited for their participation, and we know that this will be an incredible and unforgettable experience for them as well.

We're so grateful for all the donations that people have contributed; we'll put up pictures as soon as we can. For more info on our humanitarian efforts, here's the family blog:

coronadohumanitarianoutreach.wordpress.com

It's not a complete blog yet, and it's a work in progress, but as for now, it tells the beginning of our story.

Anyway, I'm stoked!!!

That's the future. But here's a bit of an update one the past couple of months:

MAY

I went rock climbing for the first time... Holy freak dang I was scared. But I did it! You can't really tell from this picture, but it was about a 35- or 40-foot wall.

Dear Velma passed away. Her funeral was a beautiful service. I learned so much during my time as her caregiver. She truly made a difference in my life.

Payson temple Open House.

Took Mom and Mel on the Bell's Canyon hike. They loved it!

Em came to visit and we had an awesome night of seeing Daniel's talented work on the house he designed up in Lehi and latin dancing afterwards.

I'm wearing, shorts, I promise. My satchel just covers them.

JUNE-JULY

Kel's bridal shower!!!!

Kel's Bach party... haha she'll kill me if she sees this.

Kel's wedding day!!!

Photo cred: Nicole Madsen. She's an incredible photographer!!!

Cristel and I used Kel's wedding as an excuse for a road trip and went to SF and Carmel.

Sometimes , I leap like a gazelle. Nbd.

Fourth of July fun.

My family amused my love for exploring and joined me for a hike to Donut Falls.

I love how Dad fosters my exploring spirit. He Spider-manned all the way up to the falls with me. Haha, he wouldn't get in the water for the picture though. He said it was too cold :)

We went to the Zac Brown Band concert. I confess I knew nothing about them til the night before the concert. But, they converted me to country music. They were sooooo good!!!! And we had a blast. Video credit to Mike :)

Cristel and I loved helping out as interpreters at the Junior League Care Fair in SLC. Events like these are what motivate both of us to seek higher education, in the hopes that one day we can use our many blessings to help our people.