A belated post of something interesting

About two weeks ago May 18, we attended a branch about an hour away from Guatemala City with two other Senior Missionary couples that were assigned there.  We had no presentations or training's  that day so we asked to go along with them.  We were told briefly what to expect about the appearance of the rented edifice that the tithe paying faithful members were meeting in.  So we were somewhat prepared but really, we had no idea about the severe disrepair we would see.  The other two couples said that the reasons for the disrepair and non maintenance of the facility could be varied but they figured that what they experienced may be just one of the things you see and cannot do much about.  My experience from working in the area office in the Philippines is that there IS something that can be done about it. My heart-broke for these people and felt that it should be reported.  The next morning while having a meeting with our director Julio Alvarado I relayed the experience I had in viewing the meeting area and how it made me feel.  From his encouragement I reported it to the DTA, Director for Temporal Affairs through email and he responded quickly and asked for the name and location of the Branch in question.  Brother Duran, DTA said that the conditions rented or not, in disrepair is unacceptable and that he would have the appropriate people see to it that it was taken care of.  Description of what I saw: Ceiling in the meeting room had a ceiling covered with corrugated tin that had holes in it. A classroom had acoustic ceiling tiles missing and evidence of leaking.  A toilet that did not always flush. And other items not to mention at this point.  The next Sunday the two missionary couples, Elder and Sister Hill and Elder and Sister Harris reported back to me that many repairs were made and plants and flowers adorned the grounds around the edifice and made it much more inviting since we visited it one week earlier.  The Hills and Harris´s said they didn´t know who to contact and didn´t know if anything could be done.  I don´t take credit for this at all but glad that the information got into the right hands and the issues were resolved. Gratefully.