November 16th through November 22nd

It is hard to get a good picture of the temple.

November 16^th through November 22^nd:  Monday we 

went walking in the morning with the Provinces and the Plasketts.  We have been trying to walk every morning that we are not at the temple and I have been having trouble with my left calf muscle.  I thought I was cramping like a charley horse and it was painful to walk all day.  After showering, I noticed that my calf was very swollen and the skin tight.  I called Elder/Doctor Province and he came right over and looked at it.   He has been saying that we ought to have it checked out for a few days now and after seeing my leg, he made an appointment for me to go to the hospital tomorrow and we will find out what is wrong.  All the North American temple missionaries went to lunch at “Ni Fu Ni Fa’s”, an Argentine steak house to celebrate Sister Wilson’s birthday.  It was a very good steak and fun to be out doing things.  

Lunch at Ni Fu Ni Fa  L to R  Me, Mom, Sister and Elder Wilson, Elder and Sister Allred, and Sister and Elder Price.

We then went shopping to Walmart and Price Smart.  We had Family Home Evening at the Plaskett’s, the Area Mental Health Advisor and his wife.  Tuesday I switched shifts so we could be off in the afternoon to go to the hospital.  We had a Doppler done on my legs and I have a blood clot in my left leg.  We had to go and buy shots that I will have to give myself for 3 days and I will start back on warfarin.  It is real expensive here, so we are going to try and get a prescription filled in the states and Sister Plaskett’s daughter, who is coming down to visit on Saturday, will bring it to us.  Chris is worried, I’m not.  I still have a very dry cough which they now think might be asthma.  Apparently a number of young missionaries come here, who never have had a problem, and develop asthma.  They set up an appointment for me to have an Echo cardiogram tomorrow.  That will tell us if any of the clots have traveled to the heart.   Wednesday, we traded around our shifts so that we could be off today.  We had a scheduled luncheon with the Area Presidency and their wives, so we headed down to the hospital early.  Well, we had to wait 15 minutes for a parking place and when we got into the hospital they told us the doctor had to leave town and we would need to come back tomorrow.  At least, we weren’t late for our luncheon.  We walked around some of the shops by all the big hotels and then drove to the area offices.  We then followed Elders Duncan, Alonso and Ochoa to a restaurant.  There we met their wives.  We had a delicious meal and very nice conversation with them.  Elder Ochoa lived in Oaxaca for many years and was a Stake President there, so we knew many of the same people.  Elder Duncan said that I am keeping them on their knees.  I so appreciate everyone’s prayers in my behalf.  I have had a rough start, but I know I will be fine and I know how to regulate my blood.  I will probably have to stay on blood thinners for the rest of my life, but it’s not a big deal.  We got an email today from Dale and Linda Dibb informing us that they are thinking about another mission and wanting to know the possibilities of coming here.  We would love to have them.  Thursday we went and had the echo cardiogram and everything was normal.  We had the afternoon shift at the temple.  We are still learning workers names, but things are running well and we are impressed that there is steady participation throughout the day.  I have been working on attaching sources to the family names that I have reserved.  I am finding additional names as I attach census and marriage records.  It is quite addicting and rewarding.  I feel so good when I find siblings who are not in family search and then can request their ordinances.  We have already finished the work for over 200 of our relatives.  

Completed Family Names

We got some great news; Ken and Eve Winkfield have received their call to serve here in Guatemala with us.  They will arrive the 14^th or 15^th of April.  Can you believe it!  We are so excited to have another Cochabamba couple join us.  They will bless our life and the lives of all the workers and saints who come to the temple.  Ken will have to try and learn the veil in Kekchi, one of the Mayan languages that we use in the temple.  We will loose two of the three couples that are here now in April so this works out great for us.  We couldn’t be happier to have the Hursts and the Winkfields serve with us again.  Friday we took the Wilsons and the Prices to visit the Popol Vuh museum.  It is right next door to the Ixchel textile museum.  Mom loved the gift shop. She bought a book in both gift shops, one on the Popol Vuh and one on textiles.  The Popol Vuh was transcribed in 1558 by a Mayan man who had learned Latin characters, but the sacred book has been hidden or destroyed.  It tells the Mayan account of the creation of the universe.  

The book mom bought on the meaning of the different patterns in Maya weaving.

Each page has a design and an explanation of what it represents.

The book on the religion of the Maya

Can you see the resemblance?

This is a map of all the major ruins in the Maya area.  Most of them are in Guatemala.  So many places to visit.  Good thing we have 3 years to do it in.

This museum was small but have some very nice artifacts.

The rain God.

Explanation of the round carved stone.

It had an impressive collection of pottery.

More Pottery

Many of the pots were decorated with stories written in Maya.

Beautiful plates and bowls.

You can see the individual glyphs around the top .

Copy of the Dresden Codex, one of the few remaining Mayan books.  Most were burned by the Spanish priests.

It is hard to see but the detail is amazing.

Funeral Urn.  They found a person folded up in this one.

This is a picture of what the found in the Urn.

Mom showing you the size of these funeral urns.

Stone carving of the Bat God.  I can't remember who he represents.

We then stopped and bought rotisserie chicken and we all came back to our house to eat.  

Anyone for chicken.  It is so good.

Charlotte got the assignment to go and get our prescription for warfarin.  Well, the pharmacy forgot to order enough for a year’s supply.  So Charlotte enlisted the help of Jill and they got to go around the valley visiting Smith’s pharmacies in order to get the right amount of pills. Thanks Charlotte and Jill.  Saturday we had our first early shift.  We set the alarm for 3:00am and we got to the temple by 4:00am and the workers started to arrive at 4:10am and we got the first session, which was full, started at 5:00am.  It was a busy morning.  We had 15 people come to receive their own endowment and we had 4 or 5 weddings.  President Rosales showed me where to buy the panty hose (compression stockings) that they want me to wear.  We did some last minute shopping for our Thanksgiving dinner which we will have next Monday, because the temple is open on Thursday. In the evening, we were invited to dinner at Mark and Paula Wood.  It was fun to get to know them and to hear about their experiences here.  He is the Area Legal Advisor.  They are here on a three year assignment and have just finished their first year.  

Elder and Sister Wood and Mom

Sunday we got up early and drove to Chimaltenango, the city where Ginny and Sam lived for the summer just after their graduation.  We had been told that it could take up to 2 hours to drive there.  But the traffic was light and it only took us an hour.  We met Elder Cordon, an area seventy, and President Samayoa.   We both spoke in the general session.  We both felt good about our talks.  Elder Cordon said to me afterwards that our Spanish is good, but that the Spirit we brought was even better.  

Stake Conference in Chimaltenango

Stake Conference in Chimaltenango

There are really some great leaders here in Central America.  We drove home by way of Antigua and it took us just over 2 hours.  We talked to some of the kids and went to bed early (like usual).