Saturday morning we prepared to have a normal teaching day--prepared a different lesson and made 100 copies of a new handout. Here's what actually happened: At 9:15 a ward Primary arrived--along with our normal "temple kids". We were OK at that point. Then an entire stake arrived and part of another stake--we were not prepared for 175-200 people in one crowed room in the annex. For the pictures to color we used a mix of the new and the old ones!
When the wards from the second stake arrived, there literally was no place left to sit (we already had two kids in every chair) and almost no place to stand.
We learned that another Primary was coming at 4 PM. Normally we are in the temple from 12:30 to 6:30 PM. Instead we made 200 more copies of our hand-out, we both collapsed for awhile and Spencer went to help with the veil at 2:30 and 5:30, but I stayed and organized things for a new group. It was nice to have the normal size class of somewhere between 30-40 kids that afternoon. Spencer gets them lined up for the tour of the temple grounds and entering the waiting room.
There was a mission reunion having a meal in the comedor (dining room), so we had to skip the Eternal Family Bingo and go back to coloring in the main room of the Annex.
The most rewarding part of Saturday was completely different--that evening we did a group Skype call. Six of my siblings and spouses were at Ron and Marilyn's cabin, and Carl and Linda were in New York. Spencer and I were in Guatemala--and we were all able to visit simultaneously. That relieved many of my muscle aches with sheer joy!
Today (Sunday the 19th)we had a fun day. We traveled with a counselor in the mission presidency (who happens to also be the temple engineer and our friend) out to a remote branch. It took about 2 1/2 hours. Only one hour was on paved roads. The last 45 minutes the road was worse than some of Dad's ranch roads--in other words it was mostly non existent. On the way out we met trucks hauling people and produce to market. On the return trip, we met the same trucks headed back home. Sometimes we literally were 2-3 inches from the mountainside in order to let them pass.
The Xepan branch was really choice. The people speak Quiche and Spanish. The schools are bilingual. The missionaries live in a little apartment built on the same property as the chapel. The building was relatively new and very clean. Some members walk 1 to 1 1/2 hours to get to church. In years past people walked 3-5 hours to get to church. In 1978 when Boyd K. Packer was here to dedicate a chapel he was a vision and said that someday there would be many chapels on the mountain tops in this area and you would be able to see from one chapel to another. Now there are 16 chapels in the tops of the mountains and you can literally almost always see the next one over--even though they are many miles apart and there is treacherous terrain in between. We have arrived here when the prophecy was fulfilled.
On the way home we took a few pictures of what we dubbed the "Bryce Canyon" of Momostenango.
We also passed a man on the road with a load of wood on his back--we have seen this so many times but we usually can't get a good picture. There is a strap that goes around his forehead to help him carry the load.
Once you see the loads they carry here--even small children, you feel like a "woose" to complain about hard physical labor.
Well, this has been long--Spencer's is long, but filled with fun pictures, so I'd better sign off.
We love you all!
When the wards from the second stake arrived, there literally was no place left to sit (we already had two kids in every chair) and almost no place to stand.
We learned that another Primary was coming at 4 PM. Normally we are in the temple from 12:30 to 6:30 PM. Instead we made 200 more copies of our hand-out, we both collapsed for awhile and Spencer went to help with the veil at 2:30 and 5:30, but I stayed and organized things for a new group. It was nice to have the normal size class of somewhere between 30-40 kids that afternoon. Spencer gets them lined up for the tour of the temple grounds and entering the waiting room.
There was a mission reunion having a meal in the comedor (dining room), so we had to skip the Eternal Family Bingo and go back to coloring in the main room of the Annex. 
The most rewarding part of Saturday was completely different--that evening we did a group Skype call. Six of my siblings and spouses were at Ron and Marilyn's cabin, and Carl and Linda were in New York. Spencer and I were in Guatemala--and we were all able to visit simultaneously. That relieved many of my muscle aches with sheer joy!
Today (Sunday the 19th)we had a fun day. We traveled with a counselor in the mission presidency (who happens to also be the temple engineer and our friend) out to a remote branch. It took about 2 1/2 hours. Only one hour was on paved roads. The last 45 minutes the road was worse than some of Dad's ranch roads--in other words it was mostly non existent. On the way out we met trucks hauling people and produce to market. On the return trip, we met the same trucks headed back home. Sometimes we literally were 2-3 inches from the mountainside in order to let them pass.
The Xepan branch was really choice. The people speak Quiche and Spanish. The schools are bilingual. The missionaries live in a little apartment built on the same property as the chapel. The building was relatively new and very clean. Some members walk 1 to 1 1/2 hours to get to church. In years past people walked 3-5 hours to get to church. In 1978 when Boyd K. Packer was here to dedicate a chapel he was a vision and said that someday there would be many chapels on the mountain tops in this area and you would be able to see from one chapel to another. Now there are 16 chapels in the tops of the mountains and you can literally almost always see the next one over--even though they are many miles apart and there is treacherous terrain in between. We have arrived here when the prophecy was fulfilled. 
On the way home we took a few pictures of what we dubbed the "Bryce Canyon" of Momostenango. 
We also passed a man on the road with a load of wood on his back--we have seen this so many times but we usually can't get a good picture. There is a strap that goes around his forehead to help him carry the load.
Once you see the loads they carry here--even small children, you feel like a "woose" to complain about hard physical labor.
Well, this has been long--Spencer's is long, but filled with fun pictures, so I'd better sign off.
We love you all!
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