July 3rd to July 9th:

July 3^rd to July 9^th:  Thursday morning we went to the temple before 6:00am and there were already 3 buses there.  I hurried and got my clip board and the sheet I fill out with all the information about the group and went outside and found the stake president.  We got everything organized and everybody in the temple shortly after 7:00am.  I was the second sealer for the morning and I stayed busy sealing for most of the morning.  I got the second group who came at 12:00 going and went home about 1:30pm for lunch. We went back for the evening shift and I was the assigned sealer for the evening.  Friday, I helped get things going again early and again was a second sealer so that we could accommodate more patrons.  I got home around 3:00pm.  Chris spends her days in the office, registering ordinances, printing family cards, and solving problems.

Another bride and Groom and Kids.

 Saturday, I was at the temple before 6:00am again and coordinated the 3 buses of patrons that arrived.  For the third day in a row, I sealed most of the morning so that we could have the maximum number of patrons in the temple at the same time.  I finished up at 2:00pm.  Pres. Atkinson called in the afternoon and told me he had a proposition for me.  If I would cook Sunday dinner for he and his wife and the new mission Pres. and his wife he would pay for the food.  That was a no brainer for me.  So I took his car to Walmart to shop for Sunday dinner.  Sunday, I got up early and started cutting up all the veggies.  I planned on cooking 3 dishes.  Sweet and Sour Chicken, Kung Pao Shrimp and a Eggplant dish with hamburger.  I had been trying to call one of the Stake Presidents for a couple of days.  We decided to go the church that is right next to the temple and guess who was at that church for the meetings?  Yep, President Leon!  So after sacrament meeting, I got to have a meeting with him and discuss the things that I needed to get updates on.  There are no coincidences in the church.  After sacrament meeting, I made friends with Alan and Diego, twin 7 year olds boys.  Mom took a picture of them with me and during Primary one of them made me a card.  It was so cute.

The card from Alan.  It says "have great days Elder John, happy days, thanks for being my friend, you are a good person, ??, have a good trip Elder John, thanks because you took a picture of me with you, kisses and hugs.  This made my day.  It made me think of my grand-kids back home.

My new friends Diego and Alan.

After the block of meetings, I got serious about cooking.

That is Sweet and Sour Chicken.

We had a good dinner and everyone enjoyed the food.  I thought the Kung Pao was a little salty, but all in all it was good.  It was fun to hear about the training that President and Sister Madsen received from the brethren.  It followed a lot about what we read in the Deseret News, that there will be more emphases on getting new converts to the temple “Begin with the End in Mind” (Elder Nelson) and that missionaries are to stay in contact with their converts for at least a year. 

Sunday Dinner with the Atkinsons and the Madsens

Monday, we went over to the temple and helped Pres. Atkinson get a report finished and sent off to SLC and prepared training materials for the new temple counselor and his wife, the Penas.  In the afternoon, he let us take the car on a little excursion.  We are trying to make sure we know where we want to take Ginny and Sam and the girls when they come in 2 weeks.  We can hardly wait.  We visited 5 little towns about 30 minutes south of Oaxaca.  Ocotlan, is the birth place of Rudolfo Morales, an internationally known artist.  He set up a foundation to help his home town.  They have restored an old convent into a museum that was quite interesting.

Mom and our guide.

 

Some of the restored walls of the 16th century convent.

Some of the restored walls of the 16th century convent.

Many of the pictures had been beautifully restored.

Many of the pictures had been beautifully restored.

It had some neat old furniture.

On the roof of the convent.

This was the last painting that Morales painted before his death.

This is a tapestry designed by Morales.

These are columns Morales painted.

The building had also been used for a prison for almost 100 years.They also had a beautiful church, Santo Domingo Templo, attached to the restored convent.

Outside the Santo Donmingo Templo.

Mom outside the Santo Donmingo Templo.

Mom outside the Santo Donmingo Templo. Beautiful carved doors.

Mom outside the Santo Donmingo Templo.

You can't believe the size of these doors.  They are about 5 inches thick.

The convent is attached to this church that has also been restored.

Santo Donmingo Templo

The dome of then Santo Donmingo Templo.

The municipal building in Ocotlan.

Next we visited San Antonino  which had nothing to offer in the way of things worth seeing. 

The only picture I took in San Antonino.  The church was closed for renovations.

Next we went to San Tomas which is famous for textiles.  We will go back and shop there when Ginny is here.  Then we visited San Martin which had many workshops that produced carved and painted animals, both real and imagined.  It was interesting to stroll through these, but the prices were high. 

The 3 alebrijes that mom bought.

Mom in one of the shops that sell alebrijes.

Our last stop was San Bartolo which has a nice museum and is famous for black pottery.  So all in all, it was a good trip and we have somewhere to take Sam and Gin when they get here.  Tuesday, I started at 7:00am working on agendas again and finished with pres. meeting at 1:30pm.  We took a quick lunch and then we were back at the temple at 3:00pm.  Chris went on a session and I worked on all the things I needed to get done in the office and went home at 7:30pm. Chris stayed in the office until about 9:00pm.  I was asleep when she got home.  Wednesday, I worked the morning shift and a couple hours in the afternoon.  The Penas arrived this afternoon and we had them and Pres. Atkinson and his wife for dinner.  I made tortilla soup and mom made brownies.  They seem very sharp and eager to help.  We are glad to have them here.

Dinner with the new Counselor and his wife the Penas.  They are on the right.  Pres. Atkinson and his wife in the middle.

We got more flowers on our bird of paradise plant.