August 20th through August 26th

August 20^th through August 26^th:  Monday we went to the baptism of Dane Bock, the grandson of President Craig Hill, president of the Mission Training Center.  He was baptized in the same font that his mother was baptized in 25 years ago when the Hills were living here in Guatemala .  His grandfather baptized him.  In the afternoon, we took the missionaries to see the movie, Christopher Robin, and then we went to dinner.  

Dane Bock on his baptism day.

Eating out is always a good time with good friends.

Tuesday we went to paint class and then we did our afternoon shift.  Wednesday and Thursday we also did the afternoon shift.  

Chris is working on this new painting

My painting of Xela is almost finished.

This is going to be Luke

Wednesday during presidency meeting, Brother Abadillo shared that one of his sons had been in the devotional for temple workers in Provo and had heard Elder Holland say that if you thought last General Conference was exciting then maybe you should buckle your seat belt for the next conference. We are on alert!   Thursday evening a big group of youth came to the temple and each of them had a family name. It was fun to see their excitement to do the work for someone they had researched and found. 

All of the youth in this group brought a family name for baptism. 

Friday we flew to Belize City for their district conference.  We were picked up by Elder and Sister Magnusson.  He is a counselor in the El Salvador Mission presidency and also the District President in Belize City. They were so kind to have us to dinner that evening.  There are no direct flights between Guatemala City and Belize City, so we had to fly to El Salvador first.  So by the time you leave for the airport and get to your hotel room it is about 7 hours.  Saturday we went for a walk in the morning and ended up at a grocery store where I sat down and waited for Chris to finish wandering.  They had a number of things we can’t get in Guatemala.  When she walked up to where I was sitting, she started laughing and then took my picture.  I didn’t see the humor in the sign that was directly above my head.  

I sat where I was supposed to sit.

The Elder Scott and Sister Kathleen Magnusson  picked us up at 12:30pm and we drove for about 1 ½ hours to Orange Walk for the two Saturday sessions.  Orange Walk is about in the center of the district.  We had two terrific meetings.  Brian K. Ashton, the second counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency, along with Ismar Vallecillos, area director for BYU Pathways, were also there to share information about the Church's online educational program for the members.  The two meetings were excellent and we felt good about our two talks.  The Spirit bore witness of the things we taught.  After the meetings, I gave temple ties to those that had participated in the meeting.  

With their temple ties: Left to right-Elder Brian K. Ashton, Ismar Vallecillos, me, Elder Magnusson, and Elder Adams.

The Magnussons had all of us over for dinner when we got back to Belize City.  It was a nice evening with these servants of the Lord.  Brother Ashton also said that we should make sure we are listening to the next General Conference because there are more changes coming.  He said he would be speaking and we are excited and can hardly wait for conference.  

After dinner at the Magnussson's home.

Sunday we had a nice general session.  Brother Ashton and Vallecillos could not be with us, they had gone on to their next assignment.  We were so excited that Silbert and Jennifer Gordon were asked to speak about their experience of serving a mission to the Guatemala Temple.  It was great to hear their testimonies and they expressed love and gratitude to us.  

Cemetery Road goes right through the cemetery.

The chapel in Belize City.  You can see the storm clouds gathering.  By the time we finished the meeting, the streets had become rivers.  We now understand the meaning of tropical storm.

Waiting for the the Belize City District Conference to begin.

Our dear friends, Silbert and Jennifer Gordon, who served with us in the Guatemala Temple.

We got this picture between storms.

After conference we were invited to the Gordons home.  Sister Magnusson drove us over in a torrential rainstorm.  All the streets were flooded and it was really incredible.  We spent a few hours with the Gordons.  Silbert showed me some of this woodwork.  He is very talented and has made beautiful furniture for their home.  They then drove us around and showed us the sights of Belize City.  Most of the streets were still flooded.  

And it is raining again.

Click below to see it rain.
It's raining

Brother Gordon made and designed this beautiful mahogany dining room set.  He is a very accomplished wood worker.

Silbert made this dresser and this is his granddaughter.

As we drove around seeing the different sites,  most of the streets were flooded.

Streets quickly became rivers.

200 year old Anglican church.

This might get old quick.

Even with things being overcast, the ocean is beautiful.

In the evening, we again went the  Magnusson’s  home for some supper.  They are doing a great job and are very gracious hosts.  The Adams, another senior couple joined us for supper.  They are the CES coordinators for the country.  They told us all about the youth camp they had just had.  They leave in about two weeks and have been a great blessing to the youth and young adults here in Belize. It was a great trip to Belize and we feel so blessed to be able to share our testimonies of the temple with the saints of this temple district.  We can now look at the calendar and see what we will be doing for each of the next 9 Sundays.  It is going by too fast and we will miss so much the wonderful people of Guatemala and Belize, but what an adventure this has been.  Words cannot describe all of our thoughts and feelings.  In a few short weeks we will be headed home and as President Atkinson said, when I asked him how he was doing shortly after he got home, "I am learning how to be irrelevant."  That, I am afraid, will shortly be our lot.