August 22nd: Today was
spent finishing blogging about our trip and working on new talks. We got together with everyone that went on
the trip and had a Mexican dinner at the Cardon’s to watch pictures that Bob
had taken. Afterward Pres. Crayk informed
mom that he would not be able to go with us to the Llallagua District
Conference this weekend and that we would be on our own.
August 23rd: With the
pressure of having to give 3- 20 to 30 minute talks this coming weekend, I
spent most of the day working on a talk about our experiences in China and how
God is in control and can do His own work.
This District is in the La Paz Mission, Pres. Quintanilla will be
presiding and we will have to leave at 6:00am on Saturday. Someone from the Security Department of the
Temple will drive us in Pres. Crayk’s car.
August 24th: I
finished my talks for this weekend at about 5:00pm today. I have been nervous that I won’t have the
right type of talks for a group of people who can’t come to the temple all that
often because of the cost of traveling.
We watched that last episode of Downton Abby but half way through mom’s
computer overheated and died. Que
lastima. We will have to wait till we
get back to see how it ends.
August 25th: I woke up
at 4:00am even though the alarm was set for 5:00am. We left on time, 6:00am with Samuel Ramos as
our driver.
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Much of the landscape looks like it could be Utah.
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This could be southern Utah red rocks and all.
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On top of the world.
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The drive to Llallagua means
we have to first drive to Oruro 12,179 feet above sea level which is about half
way to La Paz and sits on the altiplano.
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The Altiplano 12,000+ feet above sea level.
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It is 2 ½ hours of switch backs and we had to cross a mountain range
with the highest pass at 15,111 feet above sea level. That’s 3500 feet higher than the top of Mt.
Timpanogos. My ears did pop a few times.
Cochabamba is 9300 feet above sea level.
Lhasa, Tibet is 11,450 feet above sea level and Llallagua is 12,779 feet
above sea level.
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A mining town on the way to Llallagua.
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The pigs were having a feast.
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We arrived about
noon. It took us awhile to find our
hotel. Pres. Crayk said we would be
staying at the Llallagua Hilton. Not quite
a Hilton, maybe only a 2 star hotel. But
Hotel Llallagua was clean and had 4 or 5 blankets on the bed and we would need
them all.
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Llallagua Hilton.
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Front desk at the hotel.
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The Hotel courtyard this doubles as the laundry room.
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Our room.
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The heater / shower head that I could not get to work.
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We went and had chicken for lunch
in a place that most would question whether it was sanitary enough. We then went and found the church. The streets in Llallaqua are small and
sometimes blocked with people selling everything.
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Llallagua's narrow streets.
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Catholic church and crowed streets.
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More crowed streets.
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More crowed streets in Llallagua.
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Lots and lots of Cholitas.
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Natives in native dress.
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We changed our clothes and got to the church
about 3:30pm. Pres. Quintanilla was
already there and said he wanted me to speak for 30 minutes in the priesthood
meeting and that mom and I could split 30 minutes in the Adult meeting. He did not know yet how long we should talk
in the general session on Sunday. The
priesthood meeting started with 4 men in the audience. By the end there were
maybe 25. I spoke on sacrifice in the
priesthood session and I feel good about the talk. Pres. Quintanilla followed me and said that
obedience is better than sacrifice. I’m
not sure he understood the point I was trying to make. Mom spent the time with Sister Marie Telles,
the district relief society president, in the kitchen with 2 heaters.
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Mom and her new friend Sister Telles.
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I on the other hand had put on my blue sweat
shirt that is my pajama top over my shirt and under my suit coat.
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This is just to show you my pajama top under my suit coat.
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It had started to rain during lunch and it
was very cold. For the adult session
they brought the 2 heaters to the stand and they helped, but Pres. Quintanilla and
his wife never took off their winter coats.
There were about 50 to 60 members in assistance. Mom spoke about being a covenant people and
had her new friend, Sister Telles, help her by reading the quotes she had in
her talk. I used my new talk about some
of our experiences in China. I feel good
about it and I could see a few people drying their eyes as I explained why I
thought Mormons are always happy. We got
back to the hotel about 9:30pm and had a hot chocolate and a piece of bread, so
much for dinner. It was so cold, mom
wore her fleece to bed and I put on an extra pair of socks. We couldn’t see our breath but it had to be
close.
August 26th: We didn’t
want to get out of bed it was the only place that we could stay warm. Mom wanted me to figure out the eclectic
heater for the water that is part of the shower head, but alas I couldn’t make
it work. Needless to say we didn’t shower;
in fact I didn’t even shave. We went to
breakfast and had a cup of hot chocolate and a piece of bread same as our
dinner last night.
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We are ready for breakfast.
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We walked to the
church and we were told we had 15 minutes to split between us.
Mom really liked the flowers. Sunday morning.
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Well, after the meeting started, the Mission
Pres.’s wife leaned over and told mom to talk as much time as we wanted. The first speaker had not showed up, so mom
talked for 15 min. and I talked about 25 minutes. I said that I love following mom because she
always has the ability to bring the Spirit.
Mom talked about the growth of the church and I spoke about the temple
and how to prepare to have a better experience in the temple. The chapel was
filled with over 200 saints. I felt like
we both spoke with the Spirit and did a good job.
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Right after the closing prayer Sunday morning session.
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We went back to the hotel and had lunch and
then got in the car and never stopped until we were back at the temple at
6:30pm. Just over 5 hours. We went to bed at 9:00pm.
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Llama crossing.
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| Larry the llama. |
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