Lions y Tigers y Bears, Oh My!! and Amatitlan

Dear Family and Friends:
   Just thought that we would let you know that the Fuller Brush Man is alive and well here in Guate.

                Isn't he cute.  He walks all around the city selling his brushes door to door.
We walked into the grocery store one morning and were thrilled to see that they were celebrating the Boise State Football Team's victory in the Fiesta Bowl.

        With the temple still closed on the 16th of January, we had one last place to visit.  The museums and the zoo are closed on Mondays so the only time we can visit them is when the temple is closed.  We headed out with the Gardner's and the Eberhard's to visit first the Archeological Museum.  When the man collecting the entrance fees told Elder Gardner that we had to pay the expensive price to enter because we were not locals, Elder Gardner told him that we were all "chapines"  (Guatemalans)  The man laughed and laughed.  He was surprised that we knew that slang word so we had to get a photo with the 4 "chapines"

                   President Thompson, Elder Eberhard, The real chapin, Elder Gardner

 The Gardner's and the Eberhard's heading up the stairs to the Museum.  This museum has a mural on one wall that shows the coming of the Catholic Church, and then the Christians and then two Mormon missionaries in their white shirts and ties with Book of Mormon's in their hands. 

   We went to lunch before heading to the Zoo.

                The Eberhard's, The Gardner's, The Thompson's

It was a new restaurant and we were thrilled that it was very clean and the food great.

   On to the Zoo.

 We had been told that it was a must to see but my photo's of the lions and tigers didn't turn out.  But the bears did---

 

And the Giraffe's 

                                                                   The hipo's

 And Elephants too.  The snakes were very interesting and different and the birds were amazing.

 

 

 We had never seen a white peacock before.  They were so elegant and beautiful.  This is a very nice zoo.  The animals and grounds were well cared for.  But they let in real strange creatures sometimes.

                         

     We opened the Temple on the 19th of January for a special session for the missionaries at the CCM.  They were leaving on Tuesday morning for their assigned areas and had not been to the temple yet.  It was a wonderful way to break us in again after our two weeks of playing.  Only the Temple Missionaries came.  It was a fun day.  The temple was full all week long as the patrons kept their New Year's resolutions.  We pray that the resolutions will last for the whole year, not for just one or two months. 

   We welcomed in our new missionary couple at FHE on the 19th.

The Rosado's have been living in Utah for a few years.  They are originally from Quezaltenango, Guatemala.  They served here in the temple presidency in 2010 but had to be released because of Hermana Rosado having health problems.  They don't speak much English.  They are very happy to be back and we are enjoying getting to know them.

     Sunday, the 25th, we were picked up at 6:00am by Francisco Pena.  He is our Saturday morning shift coordinator.(4:00am shift)

                        Hermano Pena and his wife

 

 It took about 30 minutes to drive to the Amatitlan Stake Center.  We were ushered into a classroom that Hermana Pena had decorated in honor of the visiting authorities.  It was very humbling to realize that we were the visiting authorities.

 

I waited here during the Priesthood leaders meeting that Lon had to speak at.  After that meeting, we were served sandwiches, fruit, crackers, cookies and fruit drinks.  We both spoke in the general meeting from 10-12.  It was a great conference. 

              The front door of the church where 3 wards meet

 

                              view of the surrounding area

                                     The Volcano Agua

After the conference, Hermano Pena and his wife took us on a tour around the Amatitlan Lake.  It is a huge lake and as long as you looked at the water and the distant shore and not at the garbage under your feet where we were standing it was beautiful.  We had about a 2 hour ride back to our apartment.  We do enjoy visiting new places here and seeing them through the eyes of the natives.

 

 

It was a wonderful Sabbath.  We got home about 3.  We do enjoy being with the saints in their conferences.  This day was really special as we were treated like we were celebrities.  We send our love to all and pray that you are healthy and enjoying every moment of your life.  Time goes by so fast, try not to let it slip away.  We love you all Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma, Lon and Nancy