Family Home Evening in our Mission

This past Monday for Family Home Evening we had a surprise birthday party for President Burk. There was not room in any ones apartment, so we had it out in front of  Casa four in the car port. Having car ports with these casitas is kind of funny because no one other than one of the temple president councilors has a car of their own, and that is President Galvez and his wife.  We had a lesson and everyone was trying to listen. Then the door to the street was opened and the Mariachi band came it. They played some fun songs like Ceilito Lindo and other popular songs that are popular here in Guatemala. We danced and sang to their music then we went inside the apartment in the hall way where there was cake and ice cream and a few other things to eat. Having the Mariachis over for a family home evening is the exception, not the rule.

Los Mariachis

This was not part of family home evening, but we had the Thompson and Roberts over for some real home made enchiladas this past Saturday after our shift at the temple

President Burk telling Sister Padilla that he only wants one piece of cake

One surprise from last week that we forgot to mention is that we have a new Stake President at home in Eagle Mountain. President Burnham told us the night he set us apart that he might be released when we got home, and we wondered about that when he said it because he had not been in for 10 years yet. But we found out from some visitors who live in the Ranches in Eagle Mountain and who are involved in the FM department, that our stake and another stake were divided to make a third stake called Cedar Pass Stake.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!

We have had some surprises this week. One big surprise to us was that President and Sister Galvez, second councilor in the temple presidency here, are going to become the temple President of the Xela temple in Quetzaltanango, Guatemala. That is the temple we went to see when the temple here in Guatemala City was closed in January for maintenance. 

President and Sister Galvez

 Another surprise that we had, not this week, but last month, was that President and Sister Harris will be leaving next month. Originally they were called to serve in the Panama Temple and that call was changed, just when they received it, to come to the Guatemala City temple as councilor and assistant matron to President and Sister Burk. So they had two release dates. April and September. We are not sure which date is which, but President Harris's father is not doing well and they need to go home to help take care of him. We don't know all there is to know about that, but that was a surprise to all of us.

Guatemala City Temple Presidency
President and Sister Harris, President and Sister Burk (center) President and Sister Galvez

                 We are all praying for President Burk right now. Two new councilors at a time. Wow!

Sister Dick with some ladies from Patzicia on the steps at the temple.

Never in my life have I thought I would translate from English to Spanish. Not even in my worst nightmare! But at our prayer meeting before the first session of the day at the temple this past Friday, President Harris asked Sister Dick to give a spiritual thought. Sister Dick is a single sister missionary from Mesa, Arizona. She was widowed about four years ago. She has been here for 23 months now and has completed her mission here as a temple missionary and will be returning home this next week. While she has been on her mission she has had four new grandchildren and has not seen one of them. Sister Dick has taken Spanish classes and really could have given us her message in Spanish, but she was not sure about doing it in Spanish. So the surprise was - she asked me to translate for her. She even started out in Spanish and I asked if she wanted me to translate that into English. I did my best and it seemed like everyone understood. Amazing! Anyway, her spiritual thought was good. She told about a man that was over-weight and was not very good looking. He was asked by his Stake President to be a worker in the Houston Temple. He was obedient and went to be a temple worker. After his first day he went to the temple president and told him that he had never in his life felt so good. For the first time he could remember, he felt like a king. That is how our Heavenly Father thinks of each of us. We are kings and queens to Him and that is how we should help others feel about themselves, especially at the temple.

Xela Temple

The week in pictures

This is a bit of our week in pictures. We go for walks after our turn everyday at the temple. Sometimes we remember to take our camera along and sometimes we don't. This week, one day we took some more pictures of the temple, but this time we took pictures of the back side of the temple. On Saturday we had lunch with the Thompsons and the Roberts, other temple missionaries. Then on Sunday after our meeting at the temple for all the coordinators and the temple missionaries we went to the Smylie's home for dinner. The Smylie's are a family who are living here and work for the US Embassy. Brother Smylie is in the stake Young men's and Sister Smylie is teaching a Sunday School class in the ward. Because we don't have our own transportation, Brother Smylie picked us up in his car and brought us home after dinner. It was a very nice evening.

The Guatemala flag on a pole next to the temple.

View of the back of the temple looking from the over pass that goes over the street called Vista Hermosa, which is a very busy street next to the temple.

Some of a family who has come to do temple work. They bring everyone and someone stays with the younger kids then while the parents are doing a session then they trade turns

This little guy wants to wrestle with his older brother, but the older brother is dressed to go in to do baptisms and does not want to get dirty.

The back entrance into the temple grounds

A bus that has brought a group from a stake or ward to the temple. The bus is parked behind the temple is a small lot.

the spears of the back side of the temple

We have had a busy week at the temple again. We have helped first timers, people who have come to be sealed and all the others who have come for sessions.

 We noticed that this man was on a tall ladder painting the outside of the Medical building with a roller close to the temple.Another man would load the paint back on to the roller from above him and hand it back down to him. There is a man above him holding the ladder so the ladder does not fall and the man has a rope tied to himself and the ladder so if he falls he won't go down too far. Can you just imagine what OSHA would say to this activity. We were amazed but then again not really, because the work we have observed here is all done by hand.

The Smylie family
We were invited over for dinner with the Smylie family in their apartment. It was a fun evening.

The view of the airport from the Smylie's front room

Dinner with the Thompsons. Sister Thompson has been healing from a fall that broke her right knee cap and her left ankle two months ago. She is doing mostly better now and they wanted to celebrate so they had us and the Roberts over  for chicken from Pollo Compero, which is something like KFC. Brother Thompson does not do much cooking.

A few of the beauties of the earth

fishermen preparing their nets for the next days catch

the longest bridge in Central America over Rio Dulce

an Iguana

pelicans

The world is beautiful. All things were created by God.

 

the walls on either side of Rio Dulce

Big Red Bus or Immovable Car

This week on our walk to and from Paiz, one of the grocery stores that we walk to, we saw one of the big red buses honking at an empty car that was stalled in the bus lane. We have been told to NEVER ride on the big red buses because they are very unsafe. There have been people killed and other bad things happen on these buses. The bus driver would not stop honking. We thought how funny is that. The car is empty. Its like honking at a big rock in the middle of the road to make it move. How is it going to be moved if there is no one in it to move it. Then I had another thought. The big red bus could be like the world knocking on our door trying to get our attention and we can be like the car (or a rock) that is immovable. If we can have a strong testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ that is so immovable like that stalled car was immovable, we will not be moved by big red buses or the values of the world.

We had stake Conference this week-end. At first we didn't think we would be going because we don't have a car to go to the stake center in. But our temple President, President Burk, arranged for all of us to go in the temple vans. We saw people there that work in the temple with us and people whom we have seen in the temple. It was a good conference. So glad we went. At stake conference we were told to not worry about Volcano Pacaya which started erupting yesterday. It is within view of the city. 

the stake center

we saw two future missionaries

cute little girls

and lots of people

some wards came on these school buses