Cool picture

Just thought you'd enjoy seeing how sisters come to this temple. They aren't carrying the normal little suitcase with temple clothes. Instead they are wrapped in a blanket and carried either on their head or on their back. It is so cool to see!

Hidden blessings and funny stories to share

Hello all, Sorry, I have no pictures to share except those you can create in your minds when you read. :) Hidden blessing #1: As many of you know, beginning several years ago, I started getting bruises on my forearms and the back of my hands--really big, ugly bruises. Because of them the doctors told me I should no longer use ibuprofen or aspirin products since they cause more bleeding. That was tough because I relied on ibuprofen for my back. Instead I had to start taking Celebrex (very expensive). Last week when I was working in the temple, the thought came into my mind that in reality the bruises were a HUGE blessing, because at the same time I had gastritis going on, which I was unaware of. The endoscopy I had done a few months ago shows major trauma on the inside of my stomach and some in the esophagus and duodenum. The damage has been going on for years. If I had continued taking the other meds I would have probably had major bleeding. Heavenly Father knew what was going in, even if I didn't, so the bruises actually protected me. Hidden blessing #2: We live up the hill from all shopping and church. Early on I made the trek with great frequency. But it started bothering my back more and more. The spasms were such a problem, that I finally decreased significantly my treks up the hill. I not only had back spasms, but lots of shortness of breath. Well, since then, I have learned that I have a heart problem (which I will get worked up when I get home). The cardiologist told me the symptoms were chest pain (which I haven't noticed), shortness of breath and dizziness. I have had increased episodes of light headedness and shortness of breath. My guess is that my heart issue would have been much worse, it I kept walking up that hill at this altitude (7,800 ft). The back spasms protected my heart. Interesting, huh? Funny story on Spencer: One day in Sunday School class, Spencer was asked to read some scriptures about when Peter, Andrew, James and John were called as apostles. He misread fishermen (pescadores) and instead said "pecadores" which means sinners. There was a chuckle around the room and I whispered what he had done. He didn't miss a beat. He said they might have been fishermen, but they were probably sinners, too, since we are all sinners. Funny story on me: You probably needed to be there to really get the humor on this one, but here goes anyway. One night in the locker room, I asked the coordinator and two other workers about the pronunciation of "-ie" at the end of a name. We all agreed that it should be two syllables (-i-e), since it isn't a diphthong. My observation is that the sisters do that with names like "Sophie", but with "Marie" they always leave the sound of the "e" off the end. One sister suggested that maybe they were trying to make it more like the English pronunciation of Mary. I explained that Marie and Mary are different names in English, Then the coordinator suggested, "Hermana, why don't you just say to them, 'Please pronounce it Mar-i-e' when they say is wrong." My eyes just got big and I incredulously blurted out (in English),"You have GOT to be kidding!!" They all started laughing, even though only one of them understood the words--they all understood the meaning. In fact the bilingual sister mimicked me right back "You have GOT to be kidding." I told them that was NEVER going to happen, I wasn't going to be the gringa that came down from the USA and started corrected their Spanish pronunciation! We could hardly stop laughing and kept shushing each other to be more reverent. What a fun, choice memory.

March 29, 2015 from Spencer

Hi ya'll (saludos a todos), This evening I have some pictures I took in the market. It comes around every Monday morning. I take the hike there and then catch a taxi back. When we need fruits: pineapple, melons, watermelon, bananas, papaya and oranges, potatoes, and eggs, it's way too heavy to pack a mile up the hill. The small stuff like radishes, tomatoes, broccoli, cucumbers, spinach, celery, onions and other are not too heavy--but I never buy just those things. Here are some pictures: She's going to market with her radishes. He is taking a heavy load of potatoes into the crowd. Don't these mangoes and bananas look good? This some of the beautiful cloth that ladies make their skirts with. They even sell shredded vegetables. The watermelon looks inviting, but I'm not sure how clean the knife was that cut it. We always buy a whole watermelon, bring it home, soak it a chloro solution and cut our own. Chinese shoes are cheap and get the job done. This may look very dull to you, but if you love the people as we do, you recognize that these are special people. This is a third world country. What is significant to me is that these are sons and daughters of Lehi and when they are converted they become a delightsome people.

What do the kids do while at the temple?

Some of you have asked what the kids do on Saturday mornings since we are no longer teaching our classes. We took some pictures one Saturday to share with you: They randomly wander around the Annex -- sometimes with adults near by and sometimes just the kids. We donated our coloring pictures to the office staff in the Annex and they loan out the colored pencils and provide pages for kids to color. Sometimes they are waiting for family to finish in the temple and they are part of wedding photos. Mostly, they are just bored and "hang out".

Temple Missionary Paseo

Today we had a fun day. It was planned and arranged by President and Sister Galvez. They have a son who lives about an hour and a half away from here in a community called La Perla. They have a nice pool and picnic area. There were 20 of us who went--including four from the family of the Assistant Recorder (who happens to be the nephew of Sister Galvez). Interestingly, we were the only North American missionaries who went. Some just didn't want to go where there might be mosquitoes. We didn't see any--they usually are out later in the afternoon and we left by 2 PM. Some felt like it wasn't good for missionaries to be in the water. There isn't a church wide policy on that--it is up to the mission president. And some were just tired and wanted to rest. But those of us who went had a wonderful time in a very beautiful location. There was a little stream near the pool with lots of bamboo growing around it. What a fun place for kids to play. Here is a collage of pictures from today's activity. Next to the pool was a house with the color scheme Spencer loves! He wishes we could do the same paint job to our house! Seriously. On the way home we saw typical road side scenes of small markets, people carrying heavy loads and women carrying things on their heads. We were only able to get a few pictures as we drove past. We were happy to have an opportunity to become a little bit acquainted with two new couples (Guatemalans) who will be serving in the temple with us. This week we had an interview with the Temple President. He asked if we wanted to come back in about six months, because he would love to have us. I think Spencer would have said yes. I explained that I needed time re-bond with all of our grandchildren. Especially the little ones--and I have a lot of health issues to follow-up on. But it was nice to have him express his love for us. We love all of you and look forward to seeing you in a few months. Jeanine