May 21st through May 27th

May 21^st through May 27^th:  Monday we had Family Home Evening at the Records Operations Center where they oversee the contracts for digitalizing government and religious records in the Central American Area.  They are involved in photographing old records and then preparing them to be indexed for genealogical research.  It is really interesting what they are doing to preserve these records before they deteriorate from the humidity and their age.  We then came to our home and had refreshments.  

Family Home Evening at the Records Operation Center.

Brother Obed Ocampo is in charge of Family Search for the area.  He explained what they do in the ROC.

Then we had to have refreshments.

Tuesday we went to paint class and then did the afternoon shift.  

I finished Jake.

Wednesday we did the morning shift.  Thursday we did the afternoon shift.  Friday we left early and drove to Antigua and had breakfast at a restaurant that is on the side of the mountain that overlooks the town.  

Breakfast at El Tenador (The Fork) above Antigua.

This is a panel from a mural of the history of Guatemala.  Can you figure out who would be two blonde young men in white shirts carrying blue books?

We then drove the “back way“ to Comalapa.  Lola, our GPS, was trying to get us past all the traffic that is in Chimaltenango, but we were on dirt roads for most of the detour.  We did get past about half of the traffic.  I am not sure it was worth the effort.  We wanted to visit Comalapa because we read that there are many painters in the town that follow the folk style of Andrés Curruchich, a famous artist from Comalapa.  We visited the market and bought a plastic shopping bag, a ceramic pot, some vegetables, and some flowers.  We visited one of the galleries, but didn’t find a painting that we both loved.  We did enjoy looking at the murals around the cemetery on the way out of town.  

Market Day in Comalapa.

Click below to see the market.Market in Comalapa

 The market in Comalapa.

Mom with her new shopping bag and her flowers.

This man was selling his hand thrown pots.  We enjoyed watching the women negotiate with him.  At one point, he turned over a pot and stood on it to show how strong it was.  We hadn't intended to buy a pot, but they were selling fast and we decided we had to have one.  When the woman in the picture saw the pot we had purchased she smiled and said, "Frijoles!"

This pot cost about $2.75

Mom bought pink carnations from this lady--two bunches for 67 cents.

The Catholic Church in Comalapa.

The door to the church.

Inside the church.

This church is right next door to the yellow church.  It was not open.

Another street in the market.

We went to an art studio in Comalapa where they had this folkloric dance costume, complete with mask, on display.

There were wonderful murals painted on the walls of the cemetery.

You can see some of the vaults on the other side of the wall.

Each panel on the wall had a different picture.

Christmas procession with baby Jesus.

Folk dance with masks

Dreaming of a computer and learning to read.

Easter procession of Christ carrying the cross.

Some just depicted life.

We had a nice long traffic jam trying to get past Chimaltenango.  We arrived back home about 2:00pm, just before one of the first big rainstorms of the rainy season.  We will have lots of afternoon and evening rain now through September.  

The traffic slowdown at Chimaltenango.

Click below to see the traffic.Chimaltenango 


This was after we got past the stop-and-go part.

One of our first big rainstorms.

Click below to see the rainstorm.Rain Storm

Saturday we did the early shift and we were crazy busy.  In the afternoon, Mom gave a talk to about 100 sisters from Santa Lucia and then we went to the viewing of one of our temple workers, Victor Figueroa, who died unexpectedly following some surgery.  We got lost trying to find the house where they were having the wake.  It took us more than two hours.  By the time we got home it was nearly 6:00pm and we noticed that there were still a lot of buses in the parking lot.  We drove by the front of the temple and saw many people walking around.  The crazy busy day never let up and we set a record for ordinances, at least since we have been here.  

The Relief Society sisters from Santa Lucia.

Sister Ceballos, (left of Mom) is the Saturday afternoon coordinator in the temple and she is also the District Relief Society President in Santa Lucia.  She is here with her two counselors and secretary.

We helped this couple get sealed on Saturday.

Let's count the buses in the temple parking lot at 6:00pm Saturday.  One, Two, Three,

 Four, Five,

Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten.

At 6:00pm, when we got back from the viewing, there were still lots and lots of people at the temple.

Sunday we got up and took the Reynas, one of our local missionary couples, with us to the district conference in Cuilapa.  This is their home district and they wanted to say hi to all their friends and family.  Their son is one of the counselors to the district president.  It was a nice conference and we enjoyed the out-pouring of the Spirit.  

The Sunday market sets up in front of the church in Cuilapa.

The choir practicing before the conference.

After the general session.

President Shumway, President Salazar and me.

View of the parking lot from the second story of the church.

I have been battling a cold for the last few days and when we got home we had a quick dinner and I went to bed.  After a nice long nap, Elders Holman and Jenson came over and administered the sacrament to us.  They have received permission from our Bishop to do this on the Sundays where we have missed the sacrament because of a conference assignment.  What a blessing to be able to participate in this ordinance now on a more regular basis.  We had a great week and feel so very blessed. As a side note, one of our good friends, Martha Cooper, in now the director of an NGO that has a secondary school outside of Otavalo, Ecuador.  Like many indigenous communities in central and south america, local schools do not go past the elementary level.  In order to continue their education, children 12 to 18 years old have to travel to larger cities and the cost is prohibitive for their families.  This school is fully accredited by the Ecuadorian Ministry of Education and not only advances their schooling, but has a demonstration farm that teaches sustainable agriculture. They are doing really great things.  If you are interested you can check it out at:

childrenoftheandeshumanitarian.org