November 20th through November 26th

 

November 20^th through November 26^th:  We had a great week.  Wednesday and Thursday we had another group from the Polochic come to the temple.  One family with 5 beautiful children came to be sealed.  I went out and took a picture of them to have a remembrance of their special day.  The grandparents are also in the picture.

This is the Coc Ich family from Senahu. 

Saturday we went to two different stake conferences.  We went first to the Atlantico stake where we spoke and then had to hurry across town to the Utatlan stake.  We made good time so we stopped at a mall for an ice cream.  We soon realized this was not a good idea.  The mall was so crowded that we had to drive up 7 levels to find a parking space.  This was “Black Friday” weekend.  The mall was the most crowded that I have ever seen it.  

There were a lot of people at the mall.

View from the top of the mall.  7 stories up.

The traffic was really heavy and we got to the stake just in time.  Then they announced that because the traffic was so bad we would start at 15 minutes past the hour.  President Shumway and his wife got there just in time for the meeting to start.  It was a nice meeting and we felt good about our talks.  We got home by 9:00pm.  

Saturday adult session. Utatlan stake.

Sunday we got up early and got two turkeys in the oven and the tables set for our Thanksgiving dinner.  We then went back to the Utatlan stake conference.  They had a couple of great choirs.  First a primary choir sang before the meeting began and then a stake choir provided a prelude number and 2 hymns during the session.  

The Primary Choir sang before the
Sunday session.

Click below to hear the Primary Choir
Primary Choir before the Sunday Session

Click below for more Primary Singing
More Primary Choir

  Sunday morning, the first 3 rows of seats
were taken by the choir.

Click below to hear the choir
Choir for the Sunday Session

There was a wonderful spirit during the conference and we came home very happy about our talks and feeling energized by the conference.  

Sunday session at Utatlan stake conference.

L to R, President Shumway, Mission President Guatemala City South Mission, President Avila, Stake President Utatlan Stake,  and me.

Brother Maldonado and his family.  He and his wife are temple workers. 

We got home and I made gravy for our feast.  Everyone brought something and we fed 25.  Everyone in the picture, except the Framptons, is either in the presidency or temple missionaries.  

Mom putting the finishing touches on the tables.

The turkeys are ready.

Everyone loading up their plates.

I got a new apron for the occasion. 

Table # 1

Table # 2

L to R, Elder and Sister Frampton, Area Medical Advisor, Elder and Sister Winkfield, Brother and Sister Gordon, Elder and Sister Holman, Elder and Sister Jensen, Brother and Sister Flohr, President and Sister Funes, Elder and Sister Ellington, Elder and Sister Fisher, Brother and Sister Reyna, President and Sister Rosales, mom and me,

We have a great group and we expressed our gratitude for each of them.  Everyone took a turn saying what they were grateful for.  We had a few tears shed and a few laughs, but we all felt the Spirit and were grateful to be working together and serving in the House of the Lord here in Guatemala.