July 3rd through July 9th

 July 3^rd through July 9^th: Monday morning early we took the Prices to the airport.  We will really miss these two dedicated missionaries.  They served 23 months and while we were here they never missed a day and were the last ones to leave with us at the end of the night.  They did all the recording for the afternoon shift.  They will be hard to replace.  

The Price's are all loaded up and we are headed to the airport.

We then loaded up with the Winkfield’s and the Gordon’s and headed for El Salvador.  It only took us 3 ½ hours to get to San Salvador.  We found a mall and had lunch and then found the home we had rented.  It was an older home in the foothills of the San Salvador volcano, but it was clean and comfortable.  

This is the back patio of the home we are staying at.

This is the backyard.  It is filled with beautiful plants.

Chris and I went shopping and got food for dinner and for breakfast.  After dinner we went and found the temple.  We stopped in for ice cream with the Ward’s, a missionary couple who had visited us in Guatemala during their break and who the Winkfield’s were originally going to start their missions with.  The temple is beautiful at night and in the day for that matter.  

So incredibly beautiful.

L to R the Ward's, the Winkfield's, mom and the Gordon's

Tuesday we got up, had breakfast, and went to a session at the temple.  It is really a beautiful temple.  We had a nice experience there.  

Tuesday morning at the temple.

These carving were around the large windows on each side of the building and the entry.

The craftsmanship was evident in every detail.

The stone work on the temple was amazing.

The front doors had matching details.

I enjoy the adventures we are sharing.

Each side of the temple has this massive window.

We then drove to the beach and had lunch at a restaurant overlooking the ocean.  We found a beach where there are waves for surfing and watched the surfers for awhile.  Mom got her toes wet.  

Lunch at the beach with a great view of the Pacific.

The waves were crashing onto the cliffs.

Click below to see the ocean.
View the waves and the ocean.

Looking west up the coast. There was a sea cave right below the restaurant. 

The beach was all rocks no sand.

Those tiny black dots are surfers.

Mom headed out to get her feet wet.

We then drove back to San Salvador and went downtown to see the cathedral and the main plaza.  The Plaza was under construction and there were a lot of construction walls.  So we did not see much.  We played hot dice after dinner.  Thanks Bob and Tammy for that Christmas gift from our time in Bolivia.  

The cathedral in downtown San Salvador.

Beautiful stain glass windows.

This is the national palace.

Wednesday we drove to the top of the volcano or at least as far as you can drive and had to wait for the man who collects the entrance fee to come so we could climb to the top and look down into the crater.  Mom did not climb, but instead stayed behind with Sister Gordon.  It was a huge crater and only took about 15 minutes to reach the top.  The views were spectacular. 

View from the parking lot at the top of the volcano.

The climb up was not bad but there were a lot of steps.

I am trying to get a picture of the steps.

The sides were very steep.

The crater with a small crater in the bottom of the huge crater.

After our hike we needed a picture of everyone. 

On the way down the volcano, we stopped at a view point. 

The views were indeed magnificent.

We then headed for a small town called Suchitoto.  Mom read about it and it is suppose to be like the Antigua of El Salvador.  Well it does have a nice church, but is tiny in comparison to Antigua.  We ate lunch on the main plaza.  We had pupusas, an El Salvadorian food of two tortillas filled with beans and cheese or spinach and cheese or chorizo and cheese.  You get the idea.  They were delicious and filled us up.  

The church in Suchitoto.

The three amigos.

The church was massive.

Beautiful carvings.

All the columns had been stripped and you could see how they had been made.

The church without people blocking it's architecture. 

She was making up our order.

Waiting for lunch.

We then headed home.  We got home about 5:00 pm.  Thursday we took everyone shopping and then spent the rest of the week doing family history and painting.  Sunday we went to church at our ward and then went to dinner at the Frampton’s.  He is one of the two area medical advisors.  They live here in the temple housing.  It was a very relaxing week but filled with some good experiences that we will not soon forget.  One more week until the temple is back open.  

June 26th through July 2nd

 June 26^th through July 2^nd:  Monday we hosted an open house for Brother and Sister Reed.  They have lived in Guatemala for 7 years.  The last few years he has been the Director of Temporal Affairs for Central , as well as the first counselor in our ward bishopric.  They are the kind of people who quietly serve behind the scenes and make enormous contributions.  We had an Open House to say good-bye to them.  They will be missed.  

Brother and Sister Reed.

The open house for the Reeds.

The open house was a success and a lot of people came to say good-bye to them.

We then had Family Home Evening to say good-bye to the Prices who will leave next Monday.   This is the second mission for John and Sally.  John has been the assistant volunteer recorder in the temple and Sally has taught Primary.  They have also hosted a FHE the Young Single Adults in their apartment.  We will really miss the kindness and generosity of the Prices who have served faithfully and have blessed the lives of many people here.  They gave a Book of Mormon to one of the guards for the subdivision that we walk through and he got interested and has been to church the last two weeks and he has a baptismal date for the 19^th of July.  It’s too bad they won’t be here for his baptism.   The Hursts got their mission call to be PEF missionaries in the Dominican Republic.  They will be teaching self-sufficiency and they are perfect for this assignment. 

Farewell FHE for the Prices.

Elder John and Sister Sally Price.  We will miss their happy smiles.

Tuesday,the Montserrat stake brought 150 youth to the temple starting at 5:00 am.  They finished up about 9:00am and then I spoke to the group.  We then had presidency meeting. Then we had another group of 100 youth from Petén that started at 10:00am. 

One of the youth groups that came to the temple this week.

Wednesday we had one more art lesson before the Smiths go to Alaska for their summer vacation.  We did the afternoon shift following the art class.  

Moose is starting to look more like Moose.

Mom's new painting is coming along.

Thursday we did a run to the hospital to give out baby kits.  Sister Price and mom and I were the only one that went.  We then did the afternoon shift. 

Sister Price and Mom and some of the new moms.

We gave out about 100 kits.

Friday was a national holiday and the temple was closed in the afternoon.  We had all the missionaries start at 4:30am because one of the stakes said they would come and fill the temple from 5:00am, until we closed and they did.  They brought over 100 youth to do baptisms starting at 5:00am. We had 12 sessions in the morning and they were all at capacity.  We usually only have 5.  We had a family with four children arrive at 11:30am from Petén who wanted to be sealed.  The parents need to be endowed first.  They had left at 8:00pm the night before and had traveled all night, but there were accidents and delays on the road.  So we started a session for them at 1:00pm, even though the last scheduled session was at 11:00am.  We were so grateful for several workers who volunteered to stay late to help them.   We got done about 3:30pm and had been at the temple since 5:00am.  We then went to dinner with the Price’s, Winkfield’s and the Gordon’s.  Elder Price has made a clay figurine of a Mayan man with his hands on the head of another person who is sitting.  The original is in the National Archeological Museum in Mexico City.  He made a mold and then he cast  the statues in resin. He gave one to mom at dinner.  She loves it.  

Dinner Friday night.

The Mayan figure that Elder Price made for mom.

Saturday was one of the busiest days we have had at the temple.  It was great to see the temple at capacity.  Sunday we went to church at our home ward.  In the afternoon we went to the monthly “Break the Fast” dinner at the area office.  The three new mission presidents and their families were introduced to us.  One has a six year old and a 16 year old daughter.  It was fun to meet them and see their eagerness and energy.  

Cleaning up after "Break the Fast".

L to R Elder and Sister Curtis, area medical advisor (left) and the family of President and Sister Cluff, newly assigned mission president in  Guatemala. 

We are going to be on our 2 week shut down for maintenance starting tomorrow.  We are headed to El Salvador to see the temple there.  We had a great week.