 |
| I received this photo and message. President Norman - thought I should share this. Sister Shumway and I attended our first baptism in country yesterday afternoon. The Saavedra Family from the La Reformita Ward in the Mariscal Stake. Father, mother, and their 3 daughters. They made their decision to proceed with baptism after a remarkable experience about 2 weeks ago as they walked around the temple. Your 1st Counselor befriended them and touched their hearts as he taught the truths of eternal families through sealing ordinances. You'll see them in white, again, next July. Our thanks to your 1st counselor. Presidente Shumway
|
July 10th
through July 16th: Monday we left at 7:00 am to go to Quetzaltenango (Xela). Neither the Winkfield’s nor the Gordon’s have
been to the temple there. We arrived in
time for lunch and as we were trying to decide where to eat, mom remembered that
when we were in Xela with Ginny and family, we ate at a placed called Tacos Tabascos.
I loved the pork tacos, so we went there for lunch.
 |
| Tocos Tabascos |
 |
| We enjoyed our meal of Mexican Food. |
 |
| The restaurant had a security guard who watched our car. |
We then went to the main market and walked
around.
 |
| The markets are a total sensory experience. |
 |
| The colors on the fabrics are so amazing. |
 |
| I want to buy one of each. |
 |
| Mom bought one of these aprons last year. |
 |
| You can find just about anything you need in these markets. |
 |
| Are you ready for lunch? |
 |
| The embroidery is so wonderful. |
 |
| Women sit and sell whatever in the aisles. |
 |
| They wait patiently for their next customer. |
 |
| There is not much rhyme or reason to where things are sold. |
 |
| One of the main churches in Xela. It is by the main market. |
We ended up at the temple where
we were warmly welcomed by President and Sister Galvez. They invited us to dinner and family home evening
with all the temple missionaries. They
had made pupusas and they were delicious.
 |
| Dinner with the temple missionaries in Xela. |
 |
| Family Home Evening |
 |
| View from our window of Xela. |
 |
| As the sun is coming up. |
 |
| Daytime view of Xela. |
 |
| As the sun is going down. |
 |
| Words somehow don't do this justice. |
Tuesday we got up early and
went to the temple. Mom had spent time
with the Gordons who are from Belize to get the names and dates in Family Search
for their parents and grandparents.
 |
| In the morning sunshine. |
 |
| Ready for a day in the temple. |
 |
| The sun was very bright. |
 |
| The stone work is so beautiful. |
 |
| The stained glass windows are impressive. |
 |
| This volcano is only a few miles from the temple. |
We
did the baptisms and initiatory for them and some of our own names. We then went to see the market in
Salcaja.
 |
| This market is set up in the street. |
 |
| She is selling shrimp. |
 |
| Boots for sale next to veggies. |
After wandering around for an
hour then we headed to San Andrés Xecul to see their famous painted church. We came back to the temple and did a sealing
session with our family names.
 |
| In front of the church in San Andres Xecul. |
Wednesday we got up early and went and
did the endowment for as many of the Gordons names as we could. We were going to return to Guatemala via Lake
Atitlan, but as we were leaving the temple we were told that all of the main
highways were blocked with demonstrations by the union for the farmers. We called Elder Hill, the area executive
secretary, whom we had seen the night before at the temple and told him about
the roads. We called the area director
of security and he told us not to try and leave.
 |
| Sometimes Lola our GPS gal gets us in a traffic jam. |
 |
| She took us through the bus station and things moved very slowly. |
 |
| Our lunch group. L to R Sister Gordon, Sister Winkfield, Sister and Brother Marker, Sister Hill's brother and sister-in-law, Sister and Elder Hill, and Mom and I. |
He told us to hang out and we could leave at
6:00 pm. So we all went to lunch. About 4:00 pm Brother Rodriguez called and
said he had heard that the road closures were over and we could head home. We got home about 8:00 pm. Thursday
I went over to the temple to check on how all the projects were going. We are
getting new tile in the baptistery, new fabric on the benches in the endowment
rooms and new mirrors in the sealing rooms.
Things are looking great. I spent
some time painting and mom did some sewing and laundry.
 |
| Mom caught me working on a painting of my grandson Moose. |
 |
| I got his shirt and jacket finished. |
Saturday we had our summer
party for all the temple workers and their companions. We both spoke in a short meeting to thank our
workers and leave them with a message.
 |
| The meeting before our party. |
 |
| Mom and her assistants. L Sister Rosales, R Sister Funes. |
 |
| Me and my counselors. L President Rosales, R President Funes. |
We then went to a large covered building where we had tables set up and
a marimba band playing. We had a great
time eating pache, potato tamales, bread and hot chocolate and dancing up a
storm. Everyone had a great time.
 |
| Lined up for pache. |
 |
| Dinner |
 |
| Mom danced with everyone. |
 |
| One of our sealers, Brother Paredes, joined the band. |
We have had two weeks of downtime and have
loved visiting the temples in San Salvador and Xela. They are beautiful temples and they help me
feel the majesty of the Plan of Happiness.
We are excited that our temple opens up next Tuesday.
 |
Fuego was up to it's old tricks this last week.
|
2 comments:
I love the painting of Moose. It looks great and captures his personality. Perfect!
Thanks I think it looks like him too.
Post a Comment