Tikal and Heading Home

My parents flew to Guatemala on July 31, 1976, to visit the people I served for two years and to take me home.

• Saturday, July 31: We met my parents at the airport and drove to Momostenango with a few elders.
• Sunday, August 1: We attended sacrament meeting in Itzapa, where we used the new Cakchiquel sacrament prayers for the first time. I gave the prayer on the bread and Julio Salazar gave the prayer on the water. We then went to Patzicía for Sunday School and fast and testimony meeting where I bore my testimony and said goodbye to the members. We visited Elder Daniel Choc’s gravesite. We then drove to Comalapa to visit the Miza family. They were not there, but had gone to Petén to visit Sister Miza’s family.
• Monday, August 2: We flew to Tikal with my parents and Elders Hafen, Martin, MacIver, and Blake Wright. While walking around the main plaza, we miraculously ran in to Rigoberto and Elena Miza who had come over from Petén to see the ruins. I was delighted that my parents could meet them and that I could say goodbye. Upon returning to Guatemala City, we went to the central market.
• Tuesday, August 3: My parents met my mission president, John O’Donnal, and I had my exit interview with him. We visited the National Palace and did some errands.
• Wednesday, August 4: We drove to Antigua where we ate pizza at The Arch. We then drove to Chimaltenango and Tecpán to review the damage from the earthquake. We continued on to Sololá and stayed the night in Panajachél.
• Thursday, August 5: In Sololá, we said goodbye to Tona and her kids David, Shennie, and the baby. Her husband Fernando wasn’t there. We then went to the market in Chichicastenango and back to Guatemala City.
• Friday, August 6: We flew from Guatemala City to Mexico City to meet with Eb Davis and see some sights. I delivered to Brother Davis the typed copy of the missionary discussions so he could get them printed..
• Saturday, August 7: Flew home to Boise.

My parents, Lynn and Mary Richman, shopping by the side of the road between Los Encuentros and Sololá, Guatemala

Shopping in Momostenango, Guatemala

We flew to Tikal, along with Elders Hafen, Martin, MacIver, and Blake Wright.

Lynn and Mary Richman at the airport in Tikal in 1976

Lynn Richman explaining the hieroglyphics

Climbing the temple

While exploring the ruins, we miraculously bumped in to Brother and Sister Miza who had come over from Petén! I was sure glad to see them, have them meet my parents, and to say goodbye.

Back row (left to right): Elena Miza, Rogoberto Miza; Front row (left to right): Hugo Miza, Noe Miza

Elena Miza at Tikal

Elder Alan MacIver, Elena Miza, and Hugo Miza

Thoughts Upon Ending My Mission

Written while in Patzicía, between July 8 and August 3, 1976:

“When I attended church in Patzicía on July 11, 1976, I saw many people who I had taught when I worked in Patzicía, but never could baptize. I guess they just weren’t ready yet. But I guess I helped plant a few good seeds. Several of Elder Schmollinger’s recent baptisms were people I had taught at one time or another. At church, I counted five that I had taught who are now members.

“As I look back on my mission, I recall performing just two baptisms, but I also see many people who are now members of the Church who we taught. In Ahuachapán, a man named Salvador Chiguila is now in the branch presidency. Elder Greer and I taught him while we were there. I look over the old areas and see that in Comalapa, they have another baptism—a man named Eligio Perex Cheverí to whom we taught four discussions. So perhaps I have planted many seeds. Some are called to plant and others to reap. I don’t know if I’ll be able to be in Sololá when Austin Coj is baptized, but I sure hope so. Hopefully, he will be baptized by his friend who fellowshipped him into the Church—the branch president Francisco Guarcax. Austin Coj received all eight discussions in Cakchiquel and hopefully will have the honor of being the first person to be baptized with the new Cakchiquel baptismal prayer.

“As I come to an end of it all, I begin to feel pretty good about everything. I know that we all have our place in the Lord’s work. Some are called to do one thing and others are called to do another. If we do the part we are called to do, we needn’t worry, because we’ve done what was expected of us. And even though it would be nice to be proselyting the last few weeks of my mission, I’m happy doing translation work, because I know how important it is and that it’s what the Lord wants me to be doing.

“When I get home, some may say, ‘Hey, you look just the same. You haven’t changed a bit.’ How wrong they will be. I know I’m not the same, and never can be the same again. I’ve changed. And no one will ever know how much.

“When I get home and people ask me how many people I converted, I hope I can say ‘none.’ I hope that everyone I baptized was converted by the Lord and came into the Church because they gained a testimony and not because of me. I hope they are converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and not to Larry Richman.

“I have come to love the people and the country so much that the only way I can leave is having made the determination and the promise to myself to come back some day.

“I will never be able to forget my mission, its experiences, or the people I’ve met and come to love.”

“I’ve always known that the gospel is true, but now, because of my mission, I know why.”

I was released as a missionary by our stake president, Ted Peck, on Sunday, August 8, 1976. I spoke in sacrament meeting on August 15 about the need for being prepared, citing experiences from my mission to illustrate the point. Jeff flew in from Washington, D.C., to be there.

We spent a few days in Utah to see my three grandparents who were in the same nursing home. Grandma Richman was there after a stroke that left her unable to care for herself. Up until her stroke, her mind and memory had been keen. Grandpa Seely was also unable to care for himself, and Grandma Seely’s health was not good enough to help much. Grandma Seely’s mind was as sharp as ever.

On May 18, 1990, we held a small reunion of about 25 missionaries from the Guatemala mission. It was also to congratulate David Frischknecht on his calling as president of the Guatemala City North Mission. It was good to see Garth Howard, Gary Larson, and the rest of the guys.

See the following:

• My final testimony written in Cakchiquel
• Mission release certificate
• Letter from President O’Donnal
• Listen to my homecoming talk given August 12, 1976. (The tape warped before it was digitized.) Read an edited transcript.
• Page about my post-mission work among the Cakchiquels