February 20th through February 26th

President Funes getting turned around and around before he starts swinging at the pinata.

February 20^th through February 26^th: Monday we took all the missionaries that live in the temple apartments and the Elder and Sister Call who are assigned to Rabinal (23 in total) to Las Colinas, a church property outside of Chimaltenango that the church uses as a camp for youth conferences. In December, during an area EFY , the “Face to Face” with Elder and Sister D. Todd Christofferson  originated from one of the buildings on this property.  It is a huge property and we walked around for about an hour and then put up a piñata and took turns trying to knock it down.  We had a lot of fun and some of our missionaries were like little kids when the candy finally fell on the ground.  We then had lunch.  We had arranged to have our lunch prepared by the caretaker’s wife.  

Starting our hike.

President Rosales was our guide.  He had been here on a number of camp outs with the youth.

Things were pretty dry.

It is a beautiful property.

This security guard wanted to make sure we did not get lost.

This property was once a coffee plantation.

Coffee bushes.

This tree got knock down but is still growing and has green leaves trying to reach up into the heavens. 

Resting after our hike around the property.

President Rosales resting up after our hike.

They had a number of large fields where they would set up tents for the campers. 

They have room for more than 1000 campers.

These buildings are restrooms and showers.

This is the building where the Face to Face with Elder Cristofferson was held. 

Doesn't she look cute.

During the week, mom and I went shopping for the pinata.  It cost us $5.00.

Mom did not have much luck.

You had to really hurry if you wanted some candy.

Brother Reyna is quite the jokester.

Lunch is served.

This is our crew.

Friday we had our paint class and then mom went to a birthday luncheon for Sister Hurst and Sister Wood.  

I finished this painting during the week and took it to show Jill, our teacher.  I really enjoyed doing this one with a pallet knife.

I worked on her eyes, mouth and blouse.

Mom added the background.

The Sisters luncheon for the birthday girls.

They started with desert.

The birthday girls.  Sister Wood on the left and Sister Hurst on the right.

Saturday we had the early shift, 4:00am to 12:00 noon.  It is very early to get up, but we love being in the temple on Saturday morning because it is always full of faithful members and is so busy.   We came home and had lunch and then went to the Guatemala stake conference and I spoke in the Priesthood session and then mom and I spoke in the adult session.  

Priesthood session Guatemala stake conference, Saturday afternoon.

The choir for the adult session Saturday evening.

Adult session Saturday evening.

Sunday we got up early and went to the Esperanza stake conference and spoke in two different general sessions.  Elder Ochoa had invited us to attend this conference with him and so we split our time between two different conferences on Saturday and Sunday.  

Choir for theEsperanza stake conference Sunday morning in the Leyenda ward building.

1st general session in the Leyenda ward building.  This was 2 wards.

Flower arrangements for the 2nd general session in the Esperanza ward building.

I love the Bird of Paridise flowers.

2nd general session Esperanza ward building.  4 wards.

2nd session Sunday morning.

President Castanon.  I don't have a n with a squiggle over it.  His name would be pronounced as Castayon.

President Lopez, 1st counselor and his family.

We got to talk to some of our kids in the evening.  Tilda (3 years old) says her name is not Tilda anymore and that she is now Mary and her dad is her “lamb”.  We laughed and laughed at her and her imagination.  It was a great week and we enjoyed so much the conferences we were able to go to and speak at.  It is always an uplifting experience to feel the Spirit witness so strongly of the truths of the gospel of Christ.  This is one of the many blessings of being the temple president.  You get invited to a lot of conferences and have a lot of opportunity to bear testimony of the temple.

Elder Rasband presenting a Cristus to the director of the children's cancer hospital.

Elder Rasband visited a children's cancer hospital and presented them some donated equipment.

February 13th through February 19th

 February 13^th through February 19^th:  This week went by really fast and I didn’t take pictures of some of the things we did.  Tuesday after our shift and presidency meeting we went and found the new P F Chang’s restaurant and had a Valentine’s Day lunch together. 

Valentine's Day lunch.

Wednesday was a busy day with our painting class and then straight to the temple for our afternoon shift.  

mom's

Mine

We went to dinner at Applebee’s after our Saturday shift with most of the temple missionaries.  Sunday afternoon we had a training meeting for the Utatlan stake restricted workers.  Elder and Sister Call from Rabinal arrived just as we were leaving the temple.  They are going to stay with us for two days.  They had to come to the capital to meet on Monday with immigration.  Sorry for the lack of pictures but I promise to do better next week.  We have a fun activity planned for Monday.   

February 6th through February 12th

 February 6^th through February 12^th: Tuesday we had a long day at the temple, presidency meeting and then the afternoon shift, finishing up about 10:00pm.  But we were busy and the time flew by.  Wednesday we traded with the Rosales so we could go to our paint class.  It was fun and we are learning a lot.  

After fourth class.

After fifth class.

After second class.

After third class.

Friday after our shift, we went to dinner with President and Sister Faundez from Coban and Elder and Sister Fillmore.  

Dinner at Applebees.

Saturday we went over to the temple and welcomed Bishop Davies of the Presiding Bishopric and Elder Ochoa.  They were here to look at all the properties around the temple.  Mom and I then had the opportunity to have lunch with Elder Rasband, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Elder Christensen, one of the 7 presidents of the Seventy and his wife, Bishop Davies, second counselor in the Presiding Bishopric and his wife, Elder Duncan, the area President and his wife, Elder Camay, an area Seventy and his wife, 2 mission presidents and their wives, the MTC president and his wife and about 20 stake and district presidents and their wives.  Elder Rasband took the time to walk around the room and shake hands and say hello to everyone.  

Some of the guests at the luncheon.

Elder Rasband welcomed us and thanked us for our service.

Lunch with Elder Rasband, Elder Christensen and Bishop Davies,  I sat next to Bishop Davies during the luncheon.

I then had the opportunity to sit on the stand with them during a Priesthood Leadership Conference.  Elder Rasband was the first speaker and his message to the leaders was that they needed to help the members increase their faith in Jesus Christ.  He invited me to bear my testimony about how the temple can help us to have greater faith in Christ.  As I stood next to him, he had his arm in mine and was holding me close. I felt his love and our Savior’s love.  I was surprised and a little nervous, but it was a subject that I have used in other talks so I didn’t make a fool of myself.  I was the only person invited to share their testimony.  Elder Christensen spoke next.  When he was done, they excused Elder Rasband.  He had been going all day and had an area-wide broadcast for all the young single adults in the evening.  He also had not been feeling well.  Bishop Davies, Elder Duncan and Elder Camay spoke and then they invited the stake presidents and bishops to ask questions.  They assigned different people to answer questions.  I gave a few comments about how returned missionaries could serve as ordinances workers to help them stay active and faithful.  

President and Sister Faundez stayed at our home Friday and Saturday night.

Sunday we went to a special stake conference in the Palmita stake.  Elder Rasband was presiding.  He asked me to take 5 minutes and talk about the temple.  I really felt the Spirit and with my nose running and tears in my eyes, I talked about how the temple can help increase our faith in Jesus Christ, adding on what I had said the day before.  I used a quote that I have to translate back into English because I’m not sure where I read it.  It says, “As you contribute to this great work, talking about temple work, your knowledge and faith in the Savior will increase and you will receive a testimony of the certainty that life continues on the other side of the veil. You will receive protection from the temptations that surround you and you will prepare yourself, as well as prepare the world in which you live for the second coming of the Lord.”  I talked about the need to not only know about Christ, but that we need to come to know Him, as taught by Elder Bednar. Quoting John 17:3, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” I said that I did not know of a better place, not only to learn about Jesus Christ, but to come to know Him, than in His house.  During Elder Rasband’s closing talk, he complimented me on my testimony of yesterday and today.  He said he could tell that I was a servant of God and that I had a great love of the temple.  He spoke a lot about the temple and that it needs to be the focus of our lives.  After the meeting he walked by me and stopped, said thanks and then said “I hope what I said helps.” I know he was talking about the temple and attendance, but his kind words about me lifted my spirit and made me feel like my service is of value and recognized.  

Palmita Stake Conference.

Everyone is standing so Elder and Sister Rasband can leave.

It is the first time in my life that I have spoken in a meeting and rubbed shoulders with an Apostle of the Lord.  I will never forget the feelings of this last weekend.  I told you last week it just keeps getting better and better. We are so blessed.

January 30th through February 5th

 January 30^th through February 5^th:  Tuesday I had a meeting with the area presidency and then our temple presidency meeting.  I am so impressed with our leaders and how hard they work to help the members come unto Christ.  They are true disciples of Christ.  Thursday, on our day off, we went with the Fillmore’s to Antigua to learn where the shop is that makes a nativity set that many of the missionaries like.  Sister Fillmore could only find one of these clay nativities in a hotel gift shop, but she heard they were made in a certain city.  So she went on a personal mission to find the “factory”.   It is a very funny story of asking people on the street and finally finding the woman who had the molds.  Her husband had recently died and she was so grateful to have someone interested in buying these clay figures.  So now Sister Fillmore is her distributor and the missionaries can buy them for half the price that they sell for in stores (if you can find them).  

The artisan "factory" outside of  Pastores, close to Antigua.  The woman had two employees who roll the clay, fire the figures and then paint them. 

The three Wise Men.  

The nativities have all the pieces hand-painted with traditional dress from different parts of Guatemala. 

We had lunch in San Felipe and visited the church there.  

Elder and Sister Fillmore with mom outside the church in San Felipe.

The alter in the church in San Felipe.

Sunday afternoon we had our coordinators meeting and then a training meeting for all the temple workers.  We had 184 workers attend.  We had 5 different rooms and the presidency and the 2 recorders rotated to each room.  We made presentations about the importance of the patron experience and being guided by the spirit.  We feel like it was a success and we had many complimentary comments.  We then took all the North American temple missionaries to the monthly break-the-fast dinner at the area offices.  As you can see in the picture, there are about 15 couples serving here in the city.  It is fun to see them once a month and enjoy getting to know them and what they are working on.  They are such great examples of service and dedication.  

After church I looked up at the temple and thought this was a great picture.

Break the Fast Dinner.

We learned this week that our Ginny and her family will be visiting us for Easter.  We are so excited to have them come and spend some time with us.  Ginny and Sam lived in Chimaltenango for a few months right after they graduated from college and before they moved to New York City for Sam’s first job.  They named their first daughter Xela which is the nickname for Quetzaltenango.  It will be fun to take her to see the city she is named after.  In Mayan the X is pronounced SH.  We had a great week and appreciate all the experiences we are having.  We have a treat coming this next week, a visit by Elder Rasband.  I am invited to a couple of meetings with him.  I am so excited to hear and sit at the feet of one of the twelve Apostles.  Can life get any better?  It seems to get better and better.  

January 23rd through January 29th

January 23^rd through January 29^th:  Monday, after shopping, we took the Hurst’s, Winkfield’s and the Price’s to see the ruins at Kaminaljuyu.  These ruins date from 800 BC to 900 AD and are some of the oldest in Guatemala. Kaminaljuyu was at the center of a trade network between the Pacific Coast, the highlands and the Maya lowlands.  There is evidence of enormous irrigation canals.  There is not much left because most of the ancient city has been built over by the expansion of modern-day Guatemala City.  The archaeological park has a small museum and the most interesting thing I learned was that the early ball game used a goal in the center of the playing field that was stuck in the ground, not on the side of the court like in Chichen Itza.  

Diorama of Kaminaljuyu.

Pottery from Kaminaljuyu.

Pottery from Kaminaljuyu.

Pottery from Kaminaljuyu.

Pottery from Kaminaljuyu.

Excavations at Kaminaljuyu.

Excavations at Kaminaljuyu.

Excavations at Kaminaljuyu.

Replica of the stone goal used for the ball game.

Goal at Chichen Itza.

We had a family home evening for everyone in the evening.  We switched presidency meeting to Tuesdays because Jill Smith, our art teacher, changed the class from Friday to Wednesday.  So Wednesday morning we went to our art class and then did the afternoon shift.  

My new attempt at a portrait. 

Mom's is really coming along.

Thursday, mom drove Sister Price to the area offices so they could car pool to the children’s cancer hospital, where they spent the morning helping children make bracelets and play with play dough. 

At the children's cancer hospital.

Children and their parents are waiting
 to receive treatment.

In the afternoon, we worked the night shift again because we had to switch with the Funes’ so we could have Friday to attend the senior missionary zone conference.  

Mom with Sister Chew from Patzicia.

Friday we went to the zone conference and then had a nice lunch afterwards.  Elder Ochoa and his wife spoke to us along with 3 senior couples that will be leaving before the next zone conference in April.  Sister Smith told a touching story about leaving her family at the airport and walking away from them and with tears in her eyes saying to her husband “We are doing this mission for our grandchildren.  How can we expect them to serve missions if we are not willing to serve?” We, like all senior missionaries, feel exactly like Sister Smith. Elder Smith, who is one of the dentists at the dental clinic, told a story about a Bishop who brought 8 future missionaries from 12 hours away. He said, “We know when they come from so far away that they will need a lot of work and that many of them will have never seen a dentist before.  Such was the case with this group.  We could not get all the work done in one day and they had to stay over two nights in order to be get all the work finished.  We found out that the Bishop had arrived with 800 Quetzales or about $100 dollars.   By the second day they had run out of money and so we made lunch for them at the clinic.  They said they were fine but they devoured everything in sight. Their sacrifices bore a powerful testimony to us of their desire to serve a mission.”  All three of these soon to return missionaries’ testimonies were a spiritual feast and we all came away uplifted and edified.   

Zone Conference.  I am sitting next to Elder Ochoa.

Sunday we went to the Las Victorias zone conference.  Elder Valladares was presiding.  He is from Honduras.  I spoke, mom got the day off.  It was a nice meeting and we enjoy so much being with the saints.  

These are not fake flowers.  So colorful.

Mom with one of our ordinance workers' Sister Garcia.

After stake conference.

We hurried home and got a bite to eat and then went to the temple and had a planning and goal setting meeting with the presidency and Brother Abadillo, our recorder.   We Facetimed our kids in Utah for their monthly dinner together.  Dinner was over and they were playing a game.  We laughed right along with them.  Technology is such a blessing.  We had a great week and we count our many blessings often.  We still have to pinch ourselves every now and then to see if all these wonderful things are really happening to us.  

January 16th through January 22nd

 January 16^th through January 22^nd: The temple re-opened again this week after two weeks of maintenance and we are grateful to be back at work.  We enjoyed being back in the temple with the workers and the patrons.  Wednesday after presidency meeting, I took mom to the dentist to have a cast made for the crown she needs.  Elder Smith, the missionary dentist, just happens to be a prosthodontist.  He has not done a crown since he arrived here in Guatemala over a year ago.  Elder Sanford, who has since gone home, who cut mom’s tooth in half, didn’t have a lot of experience doing crowns and Elder Smith had never done a  root amputation.  Don’t you think that is interesting?  Ok, back to the story.  Elder Smith made the cast and said that the clinic happened to have the material to do the mold--someone must have brought it down from the states as a donation.  Remember Elder Smith has been here over a year and has not done a crown in all that time, but the clinic just happened to have the material to make a mold.  Since the clinic does not do crowns for the missionaries and prospective missionaries, they do not have a relationship with a lab that can make the crown. Doctor Hales, from Las Vegas, was visiting with his wife at the clinic the day we were there. Mom and Elder Smith were discussing how they were going to get the crown made when Brother Hales said “Why don’t I take the mold back to the states and have it done there?”  Elder Smith said “Well my son is coming to visit in two weeks, if you could overnight it to him in North Carolina he could have it made and bring it with him in two weeks.”  Problem solved.  That is a lot of coincidences.  Elder Sanford being here to cut her tooth in half, Elder Smith being here to do the crown, the material being here to make the mold, Brother Hales being here to take it to the states and Elder Smith’s son just happening to be coming to visit and being a dentist himself who could get the crown made.  Or it is the Lord taking care of his servants.  We choose to believe the later.  

While mom was being worked on at the dental clinic I visited the last two of the new pups.  The other 6 had been adopted.

I have never seen such big radishes.

Friday, I drove mom, Sister Price and Sister Winkfield to Sister Duncan’s apartment.  They spent the morning getting things ready for a visit to a children’s cancer hospital where they will share games and activities with the out-patients waiting for treatment.  

Mom and the other Sisters getting things ready for a service project with the children's cancer hospital.

This is the daughter of one of our temple workers, Sister Paiz on her wedding day and Brother Zea, who is the son of one of our engineers.

Saturday I tried finger painting.  I saw a video of a woman who finger paints fine art.  It was fun and I will have to try it again.  

Finger painting.

Sunday we took the Reyna’s with us to a stake conference in Patzicia.  Elder Alonzo and Elder Galvez were there to reorganize the stake presidency.  I was asked to speak and I felt the Spirit very strongly as I spoke about President Uchtdorf’s talk about the plan of salvation and his question to all of us:  “What will I give because I have received so much.” It was a very good conference and we felt blessed to have been invited to attend and participate in our small way.  

Mom and the Reyna's with some of the sisters in the choir.

They had three of these beautiful floral arraignments. 

The choir.

The house was packed.

I think I am getting old and senile.  I got ready for church yesterday and was sitting at the computer when Chris walked in and said, “You have white socks on”.  I usually cheat and wear white socks when we are going to the temple, but not when we are going to church.  Another example is that after cleaning up the Rummikub game, I tried to put it away in the freezer.  Yes, Tad and Tove we are playing Rummikub almost every day to try and not lose our minds.  The refrigerator sits right next to the cabinet where the games are stored, but still.   I told mom that if she finds the Rummikub game in the freezer it will be time to put me down.  We feel blessed and protected and honored to serve the good people of Guatemala.