December 8th through December 14th

December 8^th through December 14^th:  Monday we went on another paseo.  We went with Laura and Luis Perez, the Penas and the Rays to Coixtlahuaca and San Pedro and San Pablo de Teposcolula.  Both of these towns have old Dominican Churches and Monasteries.  Both had large restoration projects going on.  These really are magnificent buildings worthy of preservation.  I’m not sure who is paying for the work, my guess is that it is the federal government.  They were both about a half hour north of Yanhuitlan, one to the northeast the other to the northwest.  That made for a long day, Yanhuitlan being 1 ½ hours north of Oaxaca.  I think it is hard to capture in photos how large, detailed and how breathtaking these buildings are.  Both of these churches had open-air chapels and monasteries attached to the regular church.  The indigenous population at the time of their construction, mid 1500’s, was more than a hundred thousand, so they built these open-air chapels to accommodate the masses.  Now they sit in small towns of only a few thousand people. 

The front of the church San Juan Bautista in Coixtlahuaca.

The side door to the church in Coixtlahuaca.

What is left of the open air chapel at the church San Juan Bautista in Coixtlahuaca.

You can see how the open air chapel attached at one time to the church in Coixtlahuaca.

Courtyard in Coixtlahuaca.

The courtyard of the monastery in Coixtlahuaca.

The walkway around the courtyard at the monastery in Coixtlahuaca.

Stone work above the door at Coixtlahuaca.

More stone work at Coixtlahuaca.

I am always impressed by the beauty of the stone work.

The inside of the church in Coixtlahuaca.

One of the side alter pieces in Coixtlahuaca.

The ceiling in the entry at Coixtlahuaca.

Two old men waiting for their wives.

Mom and Sister Ray by the wall that surrounds the church in Coixtlahuaca.

San Pedro and San Pablo.  The open air chapel is on the left, the church in the middle and the monastery on the right.

The open air chapel.  See the man standing up by the alter.  You get a sense of how big this is.

The alter inside the church at San Pedro and San Pablo de Teposcolula.

The organ loft.

Old Confessional.

Cabinet for the alter pieces in the church in San Pedro and San Pablo de Teposcolula.

This door is 5 or 6 inches thick and over 20 feet tall.  I can't even imagine how much it must weigh.

This gives you an idea of the height of these doors. There is another 4 or 5 feet above where the sunlight stops on the door.

Door to the monastery in San Pedro and San Pablo de Teposcolula.

This is the door to the monastery.  It has a little window in the center.

Tuesday, we were back at the temple, first in the morning with presidency meeting and then in the evening for the sessions.  Wednesday mom got to go to the dentist and have a bone graft on her jaw. Such a lucky girl. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, the temple was near or at capacity.  We set all kinds of new records.  There is such energy in the temple when it is full of saints, all wanting to do the work for their ancestors.  One stake president had challenged each ward to bring 100 family names to the temple.  The baptistery started early in the morning and went all day long.  All of the groups that came this last week brought family names to have their work completed.  Mom was very busy helping people get names printed and doing paper work to be able to seal living members to their parents or spouses who had died.  I kept really busy organizing the different tracks that each group would be on.  (Example:  Group A: Go to Session 1, then half to sealings and half to Session 3. Then the half that went to sealings go to Session 4. I then scheduled their lunch and when they would be back for session 6 or 7.)  There were days when we had 5 different groups, each on a different track.  It is like herding cats and everyday you have to “audible” and change the game plan.  Like when a couple show up who have an appointment to receive their endowments and then be sealed, but come with 15 family members who want to go on the session with them.  You have already planned who will be on the session and have to move some of them to sealings and redistribute the tickets to make room for the 15 people that you didn’t know would be attending with the couple.  Things always work out and you realize the Lord is really in charge.  Thursday in the evening we went to the ballet and saw the Nutcracker, performed by a Russian ballet troupe

The theater Alcala.

We are all ready for the ballet. L to R, mom, the Atkinsons, the Rays, and the Penas.

The Nutcracker

Video of ballet.

and Saturday night we went to a Christmas performance by the full time missionaries.  They had some share their talents and then they all performed Christmas songs. 

The missionary Christmas performance.

The missionary Christmas program.

Selfie, waiting in line for the Christmas program.

Sunday we went to church in the Ixcotel ward and then we went to their ward council meeting and talked about the temple with them. In the afternoon I had meetings in the temple for 3 hours.  Mom got to stay home and wrap Christmas presents and interview a Chinese therapist on Skype for the CAPA program.  We watched all our grandkids “perform” the Christmas story over Facetime.  We are so grateful that they will get together and try to keep some family traditions, even though it is pure chaos with 13 kids, all under 12 years old.  We smiled and giggled watching them, but their parents were probably glad when it was over and they could take them home to bed.  It was a really good week and we received a lot of tender mercies.

These animals are motorized and you can pay for your kids to ride them in the mall.

Mom thought some of our grand kids would like to ride these.