November 21st

The birthday dinner.
 

November 21^st: Today was census day.  We had our census taker spend about 15 minutes with us as we answered the many pages of questions.  Everyone in the patron housing building was done by 10:00am so we decided to move up thanksgiving dinner to 4:30pm.  All the North Americans are meeting at Pres. Dyer’s house for dinner.  Mom has assigned everyone something to bring.  We are making the dressing and then I will go up and make the gravy.  The Dyers are cooking the turkey.  Thanksgiving dinner was the best.  The food was great and everyone had a good time. 

Thanksgiving Dinner

More Thanksgiving Dinner

 Everyone says Hi!

After dinner the Dyers showed a video about gratitude and then mom passed out pieces of paper in the shape of the number 4.  On one side it said “I am thankful” and on the other side it had a word like tree and the person who selected this one would then have to tell about what tree he or she was thankful for.  There were some very interesting ones and some very spiritual ones.  But all in all it was a nice way to end our Wednesday thanksgiving day celebration.

November 23^rd:  We worked the morning shift and in the afternoon I went to the dentist.  I am starting to have a problem with a tooth.  The dentist thinks that I might have a cavity under the old amalgam filling.  So next week they will take out the old filling and if I have a cavity and it is too close to the nerve I will have to have a root canal.  Not a happy thing.  But if I have to have it done, at least it will cost about one fifth of what it would cost in the states.  We went to a surprise birthday party for Brother Quiroga who is one of our temple workers.  He is a former stake president form Sucre but now lives here in Cochabamba.  His daughter is married to Jimmy Vasquez who will be speaking to us tomorrow in our devotional for the temple workers.  The surprise party is at Jimmy’s home.  Well the Perezes and mom and I went up to the temple and met Pres. Crayk and Connie at about 7:30pm.  Pres. Crayk had gotten some directions from Jimmy.  We were off and drove to where we had been to told to go and then Pres. Crayk was to call Jimmy and he would meet us where he had told us to drive to and then he would lead us to his house.  No answer on his phone.  So we drive around and ask people if they know of the street named such and such.  No, no one knows where that street is.  Pres. Crayk keeps trying to call Jimmy, no answer; he calls the temple and talks to Johny Candia.  Finally Jimmy calls the temple and tells them to tell us to sit tight he will come and get us.  We finally arrive at about 8:30pm.  We miss the surprise part.  They have been waiting for us to serve dinner. 

Mom and I at the Birthday Party.

Brother and Sister Quiroga

Brother and Sister Jimmy Vasquez

We sit down and start to eat and then a mariachi band arrives and serenades us. 

The Mariachi Band and Brother Quiroga's Birthday Party

It is so loud you can hardly have a conversation.  Then people start dancing.

The trumpets were somethings else! 

Brother and Sister Perez they are from Venezuela.

Pres. and Sister Crayk dancing to the Mariachi Band.  Sorry Pres. I had to put this in.

 Sorry Pres. Crayk  too cute.

After the band leaves they serve the cake and they have a tradition that the birthday person has to take a bite out of the cake before it can be cut.  Well, as the person is taking a bite, someone else pushes their head into the cake.  I think you get the picture of what their face looks like after this happens.  What a cultural experience.  Home about 10:30pm.

Brother Quiroga gets the first bite of his cake.

November 25^th:  President Crayk assigned us to go to the Sacaba ward today.  It is a new ward in the new Sacaba stake.  Before the stake was formed from the University stake it was a branch.  But it was made a ward when the stake was created.  It is the only ward in the city that meets in a rented house.  We were driven by one of the temple security.  It is quite a ways out and we would not have found it without a driver.  The sacrament meeting was the primary program, Haz tu lo Justo, Choose the right. So I didn’t get a chance to give a message.  There were about 20 kids in the primary and they were so cute. 

Mom and 3 of the primary girls from the Sacaba ward.

Priesthood meeting was on the second floor and the young men and young women met on the third floor.  This was a very large building, but it is made out of cement and not entirely finished.  The main room is tall and narrow and the sound reverberates off the walls.   But, it has much more room than the ward house in Tiquipaya.  We can home and had some lunch and then we went to the temple for the devotional for all the temple workers.  What a great meeting.  I gave the opening prayer.  Jimmy Vasquez, the director of seminaries and institutes, spoke about walls and the need to fortify our spiritual walls.  Pres. Crayk spoke and did a great job.  He had just finished a stake conference and talked a little about his new idea to give a polished rock to everyone in the Cobija stake, the stake he was at that morning, who would commit to come to the temple in 2013 on a more regular basis.  Our concluding speaker was Elder Cabrera.  He did a great job of thanking the workers for their service and Pres. Diaz gave the benediction.  It really was a nice meeting. 

November 26^th:  We went to La Cancha today.  Pres. Crayk needed to stock up on polished rocks.  He bought 42 sacks of 20 rocks per sack.  That’s 840 rocks for you math challenged folks.  He plans on giving these away to everyone in every stake in Cochabamba that will make the commitment to come to the temple on a more regular basis in 2013.  We wandered around La Cancha looking for buttons and toys for the orphanage.  Those of you who have followed our blog for a year now, remember that every year for Christmas, the temple missionaries go to this orphanage for children with disabilities.  We always try and bring gifts that the kids can play with and will not get destroyed too quickly and then we also try and help do some kind of major project for the facility.  This year we are trying to raise enough money to replace the metal gates at the front of the facility. They have to stack things in front of the gates because some of the children try and climb under them.  If any of you would like to help in our efforts to provide a little Christmas for these kids who have nothing, we would appreciate it and you could send a check made out to my daughter:  Charlotte McBean, 656 East 250 North, Bountiful, Utah, 84010.  She will deposit it in our account and I will make sure it is used to help these kids.  I have posted some pictures of last Christmas.

Sister Ahlstrom handing out some presents for the kids.

The tables we bought last year for them to eat on.

Sister Cardon talking to one of the orphans.

After 3 hours at La Chancha we hit Burger King and on the way home we stopped and had ice cream.  If you thought we were done for the day you would be mistaken.  After dropping off all our purchases we went and saw “Breaking Dawn 2”.  Now that was a full P-Day.

November 27^th:  I went up for my turn for the first hour and then we had Pres. Meeting.  President Crayk was all ready to make assignments to all of us to go this Sunday to every ward in Cobica stake and hand out polished rocks.  His best laid plans were thwarted by el Dia de Peaton, the day of walking.  This coming Sunday is another day when you can’t drive your car and there is no public transportation.  If you go anywhere you have to walk.  And the following week there is a stake conference in La Paz and also a coordinating council meeting here in Cochabamba.  He really wants to get the rocks to the wards so we will ask the Bishops to come to the temple sometime this week and we will talk to them about the commitment and ask them to hand out the rocks to those in their wards who will make the commitment to come to the temple on a more regular basis this next year.  My dentist appointment did not go so well.  After waiting 30 minutes, I asked for a new appointment.  I still don’t have much patience.  So next Monday we will try again.

November 28^th:  This morning on our shift, the sealer, Brother Candia, said that he had to leave to take a family member to the doctor.  So he officiated the first session and then left.  So I became the sealer.  After the first session, I sealed for an hour with patrons, from Santa Cruz and La Paz, who had been on the first session.  Then there was a young couple from La Paz who were married on Monday and had now come to be sealed.   This has got to be the best part of being in the Presidency.  This young couple was so cute and both had joined the church when they were young around 10.  He was a returned missionary and his parents were there.  She had her sister and her husband.  I can’t describe the emotions and feelings, but sitting here remembering, tears are flowing down my cheeks.  I had put a roast in the crock pot before going to the temple and mom had put baked potatoes in the oven.  So we invited the Vallenases and Sister Castilla to lunch.  Sister Castilla goes home this Saturday to Argentina after completing her mission and we wanted to say good bye.  We had a nice lunch with them.