November 2nd through November 8th

 November 2^nd through November 8^th:  Wow what a week!  

Monday I went first thing and had an X-ray taken of my chest.  It was in a high rise building 1 block from the temple.  They said I could pick it up in 30 minutes, but when I went back, they said maybe in another hour.  At 9:00am we went over to the Wilson’s, a temple missionary’s apartment where they had arranged for one of the sisters who is a temple worker to come over and she would give a cooking lesson on a couple of Guatemalan dishes, enchiladas (not like they make in Mexico, more like a tostado), doblados, and I can’t remember the name of the other one.   We watched as she boiled the plantains, big bananas, then mashed them.  She then showed us how to make a small pancake, fill it with refried black beans sweeten with sugar and cinnamon, fold it over and then I fried it. That’s the dish I can’t remember the name of.  

Filling the mashed banana with re-fried beans.

I cooked the banana things.

Our cooking teacher.

It was getting late and we needed to do some shopping, so Brother Wilson went with us to show us how to get to Walmart and back.  We did our much needed grocery shopping and then when we got back, they had everything else cooked, so we got to eat a wonderful lunch.  After lunch we went back home and started putting away the groceries and I walked back and got my X-ray.  We then hosted Family Home Evening for 21 people.  We had all the temple missionaries, my two counselors and their wives and all the Area missionary couples and one single sister who all live in the temple apartments.  We just went around the room and everyone shared something we should know about the couple.  It was quite interesting.  Those that are not temple missionaries, but who live in the temple housing, work 2 shifts as temple workers and are a big help.  I’m so sorry I forgot to take a picture.  I guess I am out of practice.  We then shared a potluck snack.  Elder/Doctor Province, the Area Medical Doctor, looked at my X-ray and said that I have pneumonia.   He gave me a prescription and I asked if it would be alright if I went in the morning to get it filled.  I was so tired and wanted to go to bed.  I did not feel all that great.  He came back to the house about 15 minutes later with the pills.  Everyone is so nice and willing to serve each other.  Tuesday we had the first shift of the day so we went to the temple at 6:00am.  There were already a few workers waiting for us.  We stumbled through our shift not knowing exactly what we were supposed to do, but with the help of the coordinators and the recorder we managed.  At noon, Brother Rosado came to the temple and I had the privilege of setting him and his sweet wife apart as my second counselor and as an assistant to my wife.  At 1:00pm Brother and Sister Rosales came and I set them apart as my first counselor and as an assistant to my wife.  I now have counselors who can function.  President Rosales then took over and we went home for lunch.  After a quick lunch, I went with the assistant recorder, Brother Carranza to get our NIT, something like a tax number.  They can’t ship our stuff from the states until the company that is going to get it through customs has this number.  We only had to stand in a line for a couple of hours.  I got home about 5:00pm.  Chris has managed to get all of our things put away and organized.  The kitchen is so big and has so many cupboards that it takes forever to find what you need, but other than that, we are very comfortable.  We feel very blessed with the accommodations we have here as you will see from the pictures.  

Looking at our front door from just inside the door to the street.

Our car and garage.

Stairs up to the upstairs maids quarters and a balcony.

Looking out our front door to the door at the street.

Looking down the hall from the front door.

Our home office.  I am in the process of organizing papers,

Stairs down to a half bath and stairs to the second floor.

Kitchen

Laundry room.

Patio off the wash room.

Downstairs maid room.  I don't make mom sleep here.

Storage room.

Dinning room, table seats 12.

Patio off the hallway to the living room.

Living room.

Alcove between the living room and the backdoor.

The back yard with a propane grill.

Hall to the master bedroom.

TV room just outside of the master bedroom. Yes, they recline and are very comfortable.

Master Bedroom

Master bath

Master bedroom

View of the temple from our bedroom window.

Master closet

Guest bedroom on the main floor between the kitchen and the master bedroom.

Guest bedroom bath.

Upstairs TV/family room.

Upstairs bedroom #1

Upstairs bath between two bedrooms.

Upstairs bedroom #2

View of the temple from the roof.

View from the roof.

Upstairs maid's room bedroom #3

Upstairs maids bath.

Patio outside upstairs maids room.

Wednesday we went over to the temple for presidency meeting.  I went home and made a taco salad for lunch.  All this week, the pain just under my ribs when I cough has been getting worse and worse.  After lunch, the pain got really bad and I called President Rosales who was off and asked him to cover my shift.  Mom then called Doctor Province and told him that I was in a lot of pain and that I needed to go the hospital now, not in the morning.  He and his wife said they would come and get us and take us to the hospital.  Sister Province drove us and Elder/Doctor Province called ahead and had the doctors, an internist and a surgeon waiting for us.  I was really in a lot of pain by this point and I knew something was really wrong.  They examined me and were sure that I had gall stones.  The examining doctor could feel something hard and enlarged.  Just to make sure they sent me for an ultra sound.  Guess what!  They couldn’t find any stones.  So they took me for either a Cat Scan or a MRI.  When the results were read by the doctors they said I had a tumor and that it was most likely a Desmoid tumor which is benign but that it will need to be removed.  They said it was not critical to do the operation right away, but felt that my lungs need to be clear from the pneumonia before I could have surgery.  The two Guatemalan doctors suggested that I go back to the states to have it done.  Elder/Doctor Province thought that if we wanted to have it done here we would be fine.  By this time, they had given me some good drugs and I was feeling much better.  

I'm off to get an ultrasound.

The white mass at the top left is what the thought was a tumor it should have looked like the white line on the right.

We got released and went home.  I started taking some pain and anti-inflammatory pills.  I called the Temple Department to talk to Elder Richards, but he was traveling, so I talked to Brother Coburn, the managing director.  I told him the whole story and he said to call back in the morning and Elder Richards would be in and would want to talk to me.  We called all our kids to tell them what was happening.  I asked that the doctor email me the photos of the MRI.  I send them to Elder Richards, who is a surgeon and to our good friend and surgeon, Brent Christensen.  President Rosales and President Rosado, my two counselors, came over after the evening shift and gave me a beautiful blessing.  Mom and I both fell like everything would be alright.  

Mom and I in front of the temple.

Thursday morning I call Elder Richards and explained what had happened.  He said that the mass in the MRI might be a hematoma and that maybe we should watch this for a little bit.  I noticed in the morning that I was starting to get some bruising about 6 inches below where I have the pain.  So I sent pictures of the bruising to Brent.  We got dressed and went to the temple and relieved President Rosales.  We got there about 9:30am.  He worked our shift yesterday while we went to the hospital, so we are working his shift today.  Normally we would have been free today.  I still had pain and was a bit uncomfortable, but it was manageable.  We finished the shift and went home and had lunch.  Then we went with Brother Carranza for a ride to find our way to the Stake Center where we will be speaking on Saturday and Sunday.  The traffic was horrible and it took us about 1 ½ hours to go there and back.  I was ready for some rest.  

Thursday morning.

Friday there was more bruising and blood pooling.  I took another picture and sent it to Brent and Elder Province.  We went to the temple and did the morning shift. After our shift, Elder Province came to look at the bruising.  We also got an email from Brent.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaTO8_KNcuo

It's not a tumor (thanks Arnold)

They both agreed that it more likely is a hematoma and that I will probably not need surgery.  Over time, the body will absorb the blood and I will be fine.  Boy do we feel blessed.  I did not want to have to have surgery.  We went exploring after we had lunch.  We both have been given smart phones and we decided to let Siri lead us to a different Wal-Mart.  The afternoon traffic was really bad and it took us a couple of hours to get there and back.  The missionaries tell us that it is usually no more than 15 minutes each way.  

Saturday moring.

Saturday we had the middle shift.  On Saturdays there are sessions starting at 5:00am and they go as often as there are patrons, usually about every 45 minutes.  There are 3 shifts for the presidency.  The middle shift does the training for all 3 shifts.  We did the training for the second shift of workers at 9:00am, at the start of their shift,  then the training for the first shift of workers at 10:00am.   They start at 4:00am and finish at 10:30am after their training. Then we did the training for the third shift of workers at the beginning of their shift at 1:30pm.  Then our shift ended and we went home for lunch.  We left for our stake conference assignment at 4:30pm not knowing how long it would take us to get there.  The traffic was much lighter and it only took us a half hour, so we arrived an hour early.  We met with Elder Ocampo, an area seventy, who lives in Honduras.  We had a nice meeting with him and President Munoz, the stake president.  We were sitting on the stand and he told us we had 15 minutes between us.  I had told Chris that she did not need to speak, because in the email I got it said that I would only have 10 minutes in the meeting.  Mom had to get a talk ready as she sat there.  “Lesson learned”-- always be prepared.  I think our talks went well we both felt the Spirit and we were complimented by Elder Ocampo and many others.  We then had dinner with the Stake Presidency and their wives and Elder Ocampo.  It was fun to talk and hear about their families and how they came into the church.   We got home about 9:30pm, way past my bedtime.  Sunday we got up and took another picture of the area of the bruising and blood pooling.  It seems to get larger each day.  

Sunday morning.

We then went to stake conference where we both got to speak again.  It is so fun to speak and feel the Spirit bear testimony of this work.  It was a great conference and we enjoyed it so much.  We came home and had lunch.  We spent the afternoon and evening calling kids and grandkids and getting a little more organized.   It was a wild week but we are so happy to be serving once again in The House of the Lord.  

Stake Conference L to R  Mom. Sister Crapo, President Crapo, Mission President, Elder Ocampo, President Munoz, President Juarez, and President Ariaga.

30 minutes before the conference starts.

The choir.

October 26th through November 1st:

October 26^th through November 1^st: Monday we started packing and then went to lunch with Lee and Connie Crayk, and Lynn and Diane Crayk.  These are some of my favorite people.   We had so much fun reminiscing about our time together in Cochabamba.  They all promised to come and serve in Guatemala in a year or so.  I am going to expect that they keep this promise. Tuesday mom went to lunch with Kate, Charlotte and Courtney Brown.  Courtney is my niece, daughter of my sister Alice.  She was out of town when we had the reunion in August.  They had fun.  I went to Moose’s school and did a power-point presentation on China.  It was fun to talk about our experience there and it brought back lots of memories.  Wednesday mom went on a walk with Merritt Stites and then got her hair cut.  I stayed home and did family history.  Thursday we attended the Halloween parade at the elementary school where Charlotte’s kids attend.  

Tilly, the chicken, with Nana

Tilly and Charlotte

Luke 

Evan

Miles

Kate's kids with their grandparents the Hansens. L to R Abby, Stanford and Kimball.

John the pirate with his four kids, L to R, Jake, Ellie, Badger and Moose.

Sam and Ginny with their two daughters, Willa and Xela.

James' kids, Rigby the bat, Emme as pinkie pie , and their cousin Colton the spider-man.

I then tended Tilly while mom went to the temple.  Mom spent the afternoon at James’ home tending Rigby and Emme.  In between everything, we were trying to finish packing.  Friday I went to a session in the Salt Lake temple on the session that my older brother, Van, had a part.  It was nice to be back in the place where we have so many memories and where our temple experience really started.  Mom went and visited Kirstin and Campbell who are both still in the hospital.  

Campbell

Mom and Campbell

We are hoping the can go home tomorrow.  After the session Chris and Maude met us in the temple and the 4 of us did family sealings and then went to lunch.  Van and Maude have been so generous and kind to us.  We love them and it is so nice to have such a great big brother.  I called the only cousin I have on my father’s side.  Earl is the son of my uncle Earl.  He never married and lives in Melrose, MA.   He is about my age.  I explained to him that I had been going through all of our things trying to get everything in storage and that I had come across two pictures of his father from before he got married to Earl’s mother and I asked if he would like them.  He said he would and I got them in the mail to him.  I drove the Xterra down to James’ so he can sell it.  Kate met me there and drove me to Charlotte’s home.  We had pizza for dinner and took some last minute photos of their kids with us.  

Friday night pizza 

Charlotte's kids, L to R Evan, Miles, Tilly and Luke

Kate's kids L to R Stanford, Kimball and Abby

We finished packing about 8:00pm.  Saturday Charlotte got up early and took us to the airport.  We had uneventful flights and arrived in Guatemala City at 7:30pm.  

On our way at the Salt Lake Airport

President Burk, his wife and Oscar Abadillo, the temple recorder, met us and drove us to our home.  President Burk is living in one of the missionary apartments so that they could spruce up the temple president’s home.  It is lovely and HUGE.  They told us it was a 5 bedroom home, but it has 6 bedrooms and 5½ baths.  Lots of room for visitors—hint, hint.  I’ll include pictures next week.  Sunday, I am still fighting a stubborn cough and cold and I was up at 3:00am.  I revised my talk for the devotional today.   I went for a walk about 8:00am.  We then went to fast and testimony meeting at the church next to the temple.  After the meeting we went to the temple and we spent the next three hours touring the temple and getting an orientation from the Burks.  They have done a great job and the temple is beautiful.  We had a quick bite to eat at the Burk’s and then it was off to the annual Devotional for all the temple workers and employees at the temple.  The Burks spoke first and thanked everyone for the love and friendship they had received and said good-bye.  I can’t imagine how that is going to feel.  Mom then spoke and did a great job.  She has a way of bringing the Spirit.  She didn’t have a lot of time to prepare, but did a fantastic job.  I felt good about my talk.   I got pretty emotional as I talked about how the temple can change lives and that we can all use the temple to receive personal revelation.  Then the Area President, President Dunkin, spoke.  After the meeting he said my message was very powerful and he wants me to speak to all the stake presidents because that it is exactly what they need to hear.  I was blown away by his enthusiasm.   After the meeting there was a reception line for anyone who wanted to say good-bye to the Burks and then meet us.  It took more time to do the reception line than the devotional.  

The reception line after the devotional

Mother and daughter, both ordinance workers.

My two counselors and their wives.  On the left, the Rosales and on the right the Rosados.

President Burk and his wife.

L to R the Rosados, the Burks, the Normans, and the Rosales

We then hurried to the Break the Fast at the area offices.  All the senior missionaries have a get-together once a month.  There are about 20 couples here.  It was fun to meet them.  Mom was concerned about my cough and cold.  She talked to one of the medical advisors who just happens to live right next door to us in one of our temple apartments.  He came over after the last meeting of the day and suggested I get a chest X-ray to see if I have pneumonia.   He wants me to take an antibiotic, but doesn’t know which one until he rules out pneumonia.  I’ll have to do that tomorrow on our P-day.  What a day!  It certainly went fast.  Next Saturday and Sunday we will speak in our fist stake conference.  Hang on, it is going to be a wild ride.