April 2nd through April 8th

 April 2^nd through April 8^th:  Monday, after shopping, we drove to Antigua so Sister Hurst could see the physical therapist again.  Mom and I did some shopping for our visitors (Ginny and Sam, Xela and Willa) that are going to arrive on the 10^th.  That is today in about 2 hours.  We are so excited to have them come and visit. 

Come to Poppa.

Look who we found at the market in Antigua.

Mom made the skirt and we bought the tops in Antigua last Monday.

Matching outfits for the girls.

Wednesday on our morning walk, we found that the Catholic girl’s school across the street from our home were making flower carpets for a Holy Week procession that they were going to have later in the day.  Wait till next week and see the carpets from Antigua.  

The flower carpets that the all-girl Catholic school made on our street for a procession they were going to have on Wednesday for Holy Week.

More of the carpets. 

We then went to our paint class and then to our shift at the temple.  

Mom says she is done with this one.

I think I am calling Ellie's painting all done.

Mom's new painting.

I worked on Kimball this week.

I am starting Badger's picture.

I am starting Moose's picture.

During our shift on Friday, a young woman and her mother came to the temple directly from the hospital.  The young woman was serving in the Nicaragua mission when she had her appendix out.  Her white blood count would not come down, in fact, it went up.  The mission nurse had been in contact with the area medical doctor and they had decided to send her home to Guatemala for further tests.  They had just learned that she had leukemia and would start chemotherapy the next day.  Both the mother and daughter were tearful and had come to the temple seeking peace.  Mom was briefly told about their situation before she went to help in initiatory.  To her surprise, the wife of the area medical doctor was also in the temple.  She was touched to learn that this young missionary was also in the temple.  They had suspected that she might have leukemia and they had been praying for her.  She and her husband were able to meet with the missionary and her mother in my office and reassure them.  I broke another rule and gave her a blessing.  It was a very special experience to comfort them and give them a big hug. We love the sweet tender mercies that happen in the temple.    Mom then went to a luncheon for all the sisters who have a birthday in April, mom included.  

The April Birthday luncheon.

Saturday got up at 3:00am and we went to the early morning shift at the temple and then at 8:00am President Funes took over and we headed for Salama for their district conference.  We took Elder and Sister Price with us.  It took us just over 4 hours and it should have only taken about 2 ½ hours.  The traffic was really bad and we sat in a traffic jam for about 45 minutes.  

Stuck in traffic.

Going nowhere fast.

Lunch in Salama.

We stopped at a light and this guy was polishing his bus.

We went to the adult session and mom and I both spoke.  There were only about 20 people in attendance.  Elder and Sister Call, who are assigned to serve in the Rabinal branch, came to the conference and then came over to our hotel and played “5 Crowns”.  

Sister Call and the group leader from Cabulco.

Sunday morning I spoke in the priesthood session and then mom and I both spoke in the general session.  I would estimate there were about 200 people in attendance.  It was a nice conference and we feel so blessed to have the opportunity to attend and talk in all these meetings.  

Flowers at our hotel in Salama.

Flowers at our hotel in Salama.

Flowers at our hotel in Salama.

Flowers at our hotel in Salama.

Flowers at our hotel in Salama.

Flowers at our hotel in Salama.

President Lopez, the district president, and President Faundez, the mission president.

The mission presidency L to R President Poou, me, President Faundez and President Vela.

District Conference Sunday morning.

The Choir.

Members from Rabinal.

We drove home and then we finished off the day with a “Break the Fast” dinner with all the senior missionaries here in Guatemala.  It was a great week.  We worked every day this last week so that we can have next week off to spend with Ginny’s family.  Good times are a comin’. 

More bad traffic going home.

Some of our neighbors on the road home.

March 27th through April 2, 2017

March 27^th through April 2, 2017:  We just got finished listening to the last session of general conference and it was wonderful.  I had to wipe away tears a few times as the Spirit confirmed the truth of the gospel principles that were taught.  I was able to listen to all the sessions the last 2 days and I feel it is such a blessing to watch and listen to apostles and prophets. Monday we had a family home evening for the Fillmore’s.  They leave next week and we will miss them so much.  Even though they only worked Friday and Saturday nights, they blessed us and everyone else on those shifts. The Johnson’s from Arizona have some medical issues that they need to get resolved and informed us that they will not be able to serve here in Guatemala.  In 4 months we will be down to one North American couple, the Winkfield’s.  We really need everyone who reads this blog to talk to your friends and family and help us get at least one or two couples coming.  

Family Home Evening.  

Family Home Evening.  

Elder and Sister Fillmore

Wednesday we had our paint class and then we spent the afternoon cooking Chinese food for Elder and Sister Curtis, one of the Area Medical Advisors, and Josh and Jill Smith, our paint instructor, their 3 kids,  and Josh’s parents who are visiting and are thinking about replacing the Curtis’s next year.  It was a nice evening and we enjoyed having them to dinner.  

Mom's painting.  She did a lot of this with a pallet knife.

I got Ellie's eye lashes and highlights painted last Wednesday in class.

This is the photo I have been working off.

Thursday after our shift, I finished the painting of the little Indian girl and got a first coat of paint on Kimball, Kate’s oldest boy.  

The picture I am working off of Kimball.

With just the underpainting.

Kimball,  Kate said he looks like an Elf from Lord of the Rings.

I got her blouse finished.  I am calling this one done.

This is the picture I was working from.

Mom snuck in and took this while I was working on the painting of Kimball.

Friday morning I worked on 2 sketches of Badger and Moose, Ellie’s two big brothers and John and Jill’s two oldest boys.  We then had the afternoon shift.  

Badger

Moose

Saturday the temple was closed for conference and we went shopping in the morning to get ready for all the missionaries that we had to dinner between the afternoon session and the Priesthood session.  We had Chinese chicken salad; the same one Connie Crayk would make for all of us in Bolivia.  We tried to call Lee and Connie, but could not get them.  

We came in from our walk and I saw this hibiscus in our entryway.

These flowers were all along the wall across the street from our house.

This is an old picture of the temple.  The hills in the background are now filled with buildings. 

Sunday we watched conference and then I worked on the blog and did more family research.  I printed over 900 names this last week and we both continue to search out our long lost cousins.  We are so blessed and feel so thankful for this wonderful assignment.  Sorry there are so many pictures of my paintings but I wanted our kids to see what we have been up to when not in the temple.  

March 20th through March 26th

 March 20^th through March 26^th: Monday after shopping we went to a birthday party for Sister Rosales.  It was a lot of fun to celebrate with all the other temple missionaries.  We are blessed to serve with such devoted and all-around great people.  We have truly made eternal friends. 

President Rosales took pictures of all the couples at Zenia's birthday party.

They served lunch at her party.

The wind actually blew the candles out.

Those smiles are not fake, we really are happy.

Tuesday we had presidency meeting and then did the afternoon shift.  The Elder and Sister Call who are serving in the Coban Mission and assigned to Rabinal came to the temple and are staying with us for 2 nights.  Wednesday we went to paint class and then went to lunch with the Call’s and afterwards went to Beauty and the Beast.  

Mom's new picture week 2.

This is Ellie, my oldest granddaughter.  Week 3

Wednesday afternoon's diversion.

We then played a game of Up and Down and Sets and Runs.  It was fun to spend some time with them.  Elder Call is the Branch President and also supervises a small group in another town.  They are on their own and I know how important it is to get your batteries recharged.  I hope we helped them.  Friday afternoon during our shift we had a group of women come from the Milagro stake and they had about 20 women who were not endowed and so I went over to the Nursery and spoke to them and then we had about 70 women from the Monserrat stake come at 6:30pm.  Mom spoke to them and we ended up filling two sessions for them and finished up about 10:30pm.  It was a great day, long but great.  Saturday I did some painting and talked to the kids.  I started a painting a few weeks ago of my granddaughter Ellie and my wife explained that if I do one of them I had better be prepared to do them all.  So I have asked some of my children to send me pictures of their kids about the time they were baptized.  That way they all will be painted at about the same age.  I only have 6 that have been baptized, so I will have to get them done and then do the others as they turn eight. It is the first time I have tried to paint a living person that everyone knows.  I hope I have not made a serious mistake by taking this on.  We went to a ward activity where everyone brought a food from a foreign country where they had lived.  We took pot stickers to represent China.  

Ward activity Saturday afternoon.

Lots of interesting food from different countries.

The food was great and all our pot stickers got eaten.

The ward had requested photos from the different places we had served or visited.  They then showed a slide-show and it was fun to see the many different countries people had visited.  We came home and mom watched the women’s conference and I got to watch some March Madness.  Sunday we went and spoke at the Lo de Coy ward.  About 4 weeks ago, we missed a fireside that I had agreed to speak at and this was a second chance to redeem.  At the time, we were training in the temple and when I accepted the speaking engagement weeks before for the fireside; neither the recorder nor I got it on the calendar.  I felt really bad and hope that we did a good job in the sacrament meeting.  Sunday afternoon we trained a group of stake leaders from the Bosques de San Nicolas stake.  The weeks are flying by and in two weeks Ginny and her family will be here to visit for Easter and we are so looking forward to seeing some grandkids.  Chris has been buying toys for the girls and plastic eggs for Easter and getting everything ready for their visit.  Life is so good and we are so happy to be able to serve the good people of Guatemala.  Our lives are much richer for this experience.  We are so blessed.