It is GORGEOUS here

It is Gorgeous here. There are so many beautiful plants, flowers, trees. The birds and other animals are also beautiful. AND the people are very very beautiful. Here are some examples. When God created this world He sure didn't leave out beauty.

us by a river

this tree is call the "tree of life" here

Sister Dick (one of the single Temple missionaries) with some of the ladies who come to the temple to do temple work

flowers growing in a dead tree

trees create a canopy

a red headed wood pecker

Platanos and dinner

We were given some platanos (Plantains) the other day. They look like over ripe bananas but they are hard. So, we looked up how to fix them. This is what we did.

The peels don't just peel off, so we cut the skin of the peel and take the peel off in four or five lengths

slices the plantanos

fry the slices on one side until golden in color

then fry on the other side the same

take out and put on saran wrap or wax paper and fold wrap or paper over. I used saran wrap

smash the platano slices with a glass or cup to look like above

now they slices are ready to put back into the hot oil once again

here we are putting the slices back to re-fry in hot oil

here the platano slices are frying the second time to look like below

shake a little salt on the slices and they are ready to eat with fry sauce or  ranch dressing or a sweet sauce if you like. Ymmmm they are good!!!!

We went with the Viveros and the Britains to dinner at this very good restaurant in the City of Guatemala. It is the same restaurant that we went to with Natalie and Derek when they were here in Guatemala. They have the best beef that we have had here, hands down.

the Britains are temple missionaries from Canada, however, Sister Britain was born and raised in Peru and only left Peru when she was older. That is where she met Brother Britain. They will have completed their mission here on October 30th. We wanted to let them know we were happy to have known them.

Above and below is a picture of what we ate that night. Salad with avocados, tomato and red and white onion slices. The beef is in the bowl. The fries came with the meal and the vinegar was on the table. The condiments were all spicy.

I think we were hungry when we did this blog.

Our trip to Mixco Viejo

 These were the signs at the entrance of the ruins of Mixco Viejo in Guatemala. Mixco is the city close by that we traveled through. Viejo means old.

The workers (maintenance) were eating their lunch when we first arrived. We asked them a few questions and talked with them a bit. They told us that the inhabitants lived here because it was high on the mountain top and the people could protect themselves because they could see who was coming. This area was destroyed about the time that the Spaniards came.

The views were incredible

 These are a couple of the ruins that we saw. There were a couple of ball courts also.

This group (a family and close relatives) were there to pray at one of the altars. When they finished we visited with them for a little while. We told them that they were descendants of Lehi and they could find out more about their ancestors by reading the Book of Mormon. But when we should have given them the Book of Mormon, not one of us had one with us. 

 As we were walking around the grounds, we talked with other visitors who were from the area. I asked them if these ruins had any special religious significance. One of the ladies said that they come to pray to Jesus Christ to ask Him to bless humanity and the elements. We told them that we also believe in Jesus Christ and that He does hear and answer our prayers.

The group who were on this trip are from left to right: Blair and Joan Murri, Dr. Wilhelm and his wife, Dr. Cameron and his wife, Jose and Mayra Viveros (drivers) Pat and Gary Barlow and Paul and Elaine Pitcher.

On Monday we went on a short day trip to Mixco Viejo ruins. We left about 8:30 in the morning and returned at about 4:30 in the afternoon. On the way we saw some interesting sites.

We saw these ladies as we were traveling to Mixco Viejo. They had water in these vessels on their heads. The posed for us to take their picture. We think it is incredible how they can carry heavy items on their heads, especially liquid. 

Going through town the narrow streets were obvious.

These little golf carts are used like taxis. Here they are called "tuk tuks"

We can see a furniture factory ahead. We saw many furniture factories in these area

We see clothes hanging out on the line all the time. Even in the rain. Here is an example of where they have to hang their clothes to dry.

General Conference was GREAT!!!

 General Conference was GREAT!!!!! This year was the first year that the General Priesthood meeting was broadcast so we invited some of the full-time temple missionaries over to watch Priesthood meeting with us. We had to go to the empty casita next to us because our TV would not pick up BYU TV to get conference. We were able to watch conference and we enjoyed eating together just before it started.

the Elder and Sister Lopez, Elder and Sister Zamora, Elder and Sister Valasquez and Elder Murri

 The plants here in
Guatemala are so beautiful.

 We went for a walk past the President of Guatemala's residence. Above are the flowers in front of his house. There are walls around so we can see only the top of his house. The guards were very alert.