July 29th through Aug. 4th: Monday,
July 29th, we had a great activity. We were given a tour of the non public areas
of the temple by two of the engineers.
We saw all the mechanical rooms and went into the basement and walked
around the oxen that hold up the baptismal font. But the highlight of the tour was the
tower. We climbed up the inside of the
tower and were able to climb out onto the roof of the different levels of the
tower, great views and very interesting.
This was something that I will always remember.
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| I got this picture from Elder Hoopes' blog. Thanks Jack. |
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| View on the patron housing building from the tower. |
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| Sister Harrison and mom on the roof of the temple. |
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| Looking down on the gardens from the tower. |
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| Me on one of the ledges of the tower. |
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| Looking down on the gardens from the tower. |
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| The stairs we climbed up. |
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| The front gate and guard house from tower. |
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| The group that went on the temple tour. |
We had our combined FHE and a potluck dinner
in the evening. Mom and I had the
opportunity to speak as this was the last combined FHE we will attend. After we ate, someone asked Brother Mogrovejo
to dance for us. He taught dancing in La
Paz. This turned into a hilarious and
wonderful exhibition.
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| Family Home Evening and dinner. |
Tuesday, I attended a meeting with a
group from Juli, Peru. Elder Harrison
tried out his powerpoint lesson on the temple.
We assigned him the job of making a lesson we would use for firesides to
get people excited about the temple.
Then Pres. Crayk spoke to the group.
It was a good meeting.
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| The group from Peru. |
Wednesday, we had the morning shift and
then I went with Pres. Crayk to the airport to send off the Cardon’s. They will be greatly missed. We have enjoyed their friendship and working
with them in the temple.
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| The young couple I got to seal from Arequipa, Peru. The kids are nieces of the groom. |
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| Saying good-bye to the Cardons. |
Later in the
evening we attended the concert of the BYU students playing with the Fundacion Sinfonica
Cochabama youth orchestra at the Universidad Stake building. It was packed and the concert was great. We were both relieved when it was over. Mom was the driving force behind this concert
and the one tomorrow night. We will be
on shift tomorrow, but Pres. Crayk will go and support Fito and the BYU
students.
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| The crowd at the concert Wednesday night. |
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| The violin quartet. |
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| Ben directing. |
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| Will directing and Ben playing. |
Friday, we went shopping for souvenirs to take home to family and
friends. We have avoided this, but the
time has come to start preparing to come home.
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| A little girl mom saw while we were shopping. |
Pres. Crayk and his wife took us, Pres. and Sister Dyer and Elder and Sister
Cabrera to dinner to celebrate their 40th anniversary and our 40th
anniversary tomorrow. That’s right; we
were married one day apart in August of 1973.
We enjoyed good food with great friends.
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| Anniversary Dinner with L to R. Pres. and Sister Dyer, Pres. and Sister Crayk, mom and I, and Sister and Elder Cabrera. |
Saturday, we worked the
morning shift and then for our anniversary we attended another concert by the
Fundacion Sinfonica Cochabamba and the BYU students at the University San
Simeon. It was well attended and we
enjoyed the evening.
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| The concert Saturday night. |
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| Fito directing. |
Sunday, we had planned on attending the
Universidad ward, but mom woke up and had the idea of asking the Hoopes if we
could go to the branch they attend. They
are senior missionaries in the Cochabamba mission and have a truck. The branch they attend, Bella Vista
(Beautiful View), is a good 45 minutes away.
It was fast day so, I thought, “Well I will just bear my testimony and
won’t have to give a talk today.” I did
just that. But after fast and testimony
meeting the branch president asked Elder Hoops if he could teach the priesthood
lesson. He said, “No, but I’m sure that
Pres. Norman would like to.” So I taught
the priesthood lesson. The majority of
the people in the branch speak Quechua, so the branch president gave the announcements
in Spanish and then in Quechua.
Sunday School went between Spanish and Quechua.
Relief
Society meeting was taught completely in Quechua. My lesson, however, was only in Spanish.
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| Relief Society in the Bella Vista Branch. |
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| This sister received her endowments and was sealed last Friday. |
After church we visited four families. The first was the home of the branch
presidents parents, then 2 families that have been assigned to the Hoopes as
their home teaching families and the other of a young girl who has a cleft
pallet and mom wants to see if Sister Tapia, one of our coordinators, who is a
doctor can help her get some medical treatment.
We left at 8:00am and got home at 3:00pm. It was an enjoyable visit to the Bella Vista branch
with the Hoopes.
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| Mom and I with the Branch President and his mother. Their family grows roses. |
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| Elder Hoopes feeding the carp at the home of the Branch President's parents. |
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| One of the new families that the Hoopes will home teach. |
1 comment:
Love you guys! Looks like you are staying busy
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