Trip to Quetzaltenango or Xela as the Mayans call it

     On the morning of June 30, 2014, we set out for the fourth time to visit Xela.  We had tried to visit here in September of 2011 with the missionaries from El Salvador, but our visa's didn't come so we had to stay home.  We again tried in January of 2012 but the road was blocked by students protesting so we again didn't get there.  We tried the third time in January of 2014 but I broke both legs so again we stayed home while the missionaries from Guatemala went.  This time, Sister Paniaqua, one of our single senior Missionaries invited us and Sister Tanner to go with her to Xela to visit her family and see the city through her eyes.  We were very excited to go.  We arrived at the bus station at 6:00 AM

                                       Los Thompsons, Hermana Tanner, Hermana Paniagua 

     We were told that the bus would not be running on this day.  We and two other men had called on Sunday to confirm that the bus would be running because the 30th is a holiday here.  We figured that we would just have to chalk this up as our 4th try and go back home.  Hermana Paniagua and the other two men were more persistent.  We waited for 30 minutes to make sure that the bus was indeed not coming, then walked two blocks to another bus station and were able to catch a different bus.

     We were supposed to travel on a bus called ADN but were able to catch this one, called Frente de Norte.  It was to be a direct route, but we did stop a few times to let on other people and to let others off.  The drive was beautiful as we were able to see the countryside.  We went up and down mountain passes and the air got cooler and cooler.  We arrived in about 4 1/2 hours and were met by Hermana Paniagua's nephew who would be our driver and guide for the next three days.  We went to lunch at one of their favorite sandwich shops and were met by one of her brothers and his family.

     Brother Raul holding Raulin, Hermana Paniagua, Nephew Randy (our driver and guide) sister-in-law Eva holding Evaugelina in front of the restaurant.

The town square was very old.  The town itself is huge, but had the feel of a small town because there were no high rises.  Our driver knew every side street, having been a taxi driver at one time, so we missed any heavy traffic.  Here are a few pictures of the town square.

 This is the oldest cathedral in Xela.  Part of the church was destroyed in an earthquake

 You can see the new construction of the cathedral as they are trying to rebuild it

                                                   The decoration around each window

 This is where the missionaries stayed when they came in January, and where President Burk hit the sidewalk with the door of the van and had to tie it shut for the trip home.

When we saw these dancers, we thought that it was three young men dancing, but it was only one, the middle, and the puppets danced with him because of the pipes holding them together.  It was very fun to watch.

Hermana Paniagua with her brother, Raul

     We drove to the top of a mountain named Baul.  From this height, we could view the whole city.  There was a beautiful park there and we ran into a dancing group who were practicing and taking pictures for their performance at the National Theatre.

We could spot the Temple in the valley from here

The sad thing is that there is construction in front of the temple and within a year you won't be able to see the temple because of it.

The park at the top of Baul

 Before we headed to the park, we had to stop in City Center to buy me a jacket.  The air is definitely cooler here and a jacket felt real good.

These kids were enjoying the slide down the mountain.  The day had been sunny and beautiful but just as we were leaving the park, the rains came in.  We could not see anything as we drove back down the mountain.  We were glad that the rains had stayed away so we could view this valley from this viewpoint.  It poured for the next couple of hours but we didn't mind as we were at the Albamar for supper and to listen to the Marimba Band.

 Hermana Paniagua and her nephew, Randy enjoyed the dancing.  You can still see the rain drops on Randy's shirt.  The food was real good.  It had been a real long day by now so we went to the motel for a good nights sleep before we continued our adventures.

 Our motel, the Mayaland

                                       Huge king size bed with clean sheets and towels daily.

 We had hot water.  The breakfast was included in the price of the motel, only $50.00 a night.

                                                    Scrambled eggs, beans and tortillas

 We are outside the motel, waiting for Randy and Hermana Paniagua to pick us up to go to the Xela Temple.

                                                            The city in the background

One of the volcanos that we could see from the motel.  And then we got to visit the Xela Temple.  It was beautiful and we enjoyed the morning there.

 

We were invited to lunch at the home of Hermana Paniagua's other brother.  He is quite well to do and is the boss that Randy works for.  He paid Randy his normal wages and gave him a company car to drive us around while we were in town. 

 Karina and Armando, brother and sister-in-law with Hermana Paniagua and their children, Jeane and Jose.  We had a delicious meal of BBQ chicken and rice. 

We drove through the center of the city open market.  The fruits and vegetables looked wonderful. 

 Then Hermana Paniagua and Randy parked the car and we walked down town and into the city market where the people buy all their groceries, clothes, shoes, and anything that you can imagine.  This is one great big building with hundreds of small shops inside.

                                Meat market

Antique sewing machine still in use.  I wanted to purchase a typical skirt and blouse like we had seen the dancing girls wear so we went to the dress shop.  I picked out the color of both the skirt and blouse and while we waited, they sewed the hem and fixed the blouse.  These are the ladies that owned the shop and helped me.

 They put the finished product on me so that we could know how to do it (right over the top of my clothes as there are no dressing booths there)  What you see is the whole shop.

There is enough fabric in this skirt to make three skirts.  As close as I could measure, it has about 8 yards of fabric.  I can't wait for you to see it in person, the details in the blouse are amazing.  As we left, I got hugs from women who thought I had done a good job picking out this outfit. 

        Statue of a marimba with a dancing girl on top with Hermana Paniagua, Hermana Tanner and Los Thompsons

 The custom in Xela is that you eat your breakfast around 6 or 7, then have your big meal of the day around 1:30.  Then at 5-6 you stop in at one of the many little shops for hot chocolate and a bread of some kind to dip in the hot chocolate.  That is your supper.  We loved this custom cause you didn't have to eat a lot just before bed.  But Hermana Paniagua wanted us to try enchiladas so we included this with our hot chocolate. 

 Enchiladas here are a tortilla tipped with tomato sause, then a mixture of chicken, onions, and tomatoes, then topped with peppers if you wanted it.  The end of another wonderful day and back to our motel. 

     Our third and final day in Xela, we headed out of town and up another mountain to visit the Georginas Piscinas de Aguas Termales, or the mineral hot springs.  We drove through the rich and beautiful farm lands of Guatemala.  These next pictures are of the countryside and people.

     The drive was so interesting and the clouds stayed away so we could see the countryside.  We arrived at the hot pools and enjoyed the mineral water.

 These first pools were not as hot as the next ones and had most of the people in them.

 This pool was right at the source of the hot water and was so hot we could only dip our feet in.

 Only Hermana Paniagua was able to actually get into the water.  We headed back to the cooler pools to soak our weary legs.  It really felt good on my legs.  We may have to spend a lot of time in Hagerman when we return.

  As we headed back down the mountain, again the clouds came in and visibility was limited.  We were so thankful that we had taken the pictures on the way up the mountain.  Randy didn't want to take us back to the city of Xela cause he would have to go back to work, so we headed to the coast and would catch a bus there and go home along the coast instead of through the mountains.  It was an interesting drive and the climate changed.  It got real hot and humid.  We, with Hermana Tanner, caught a bus that was not in the same class as the one we had taken from Guatemala City.  When the rains came, the sky light in the roof of the bus began to leak and President Thompson had to use his umbrella in the bus to keep dry.

 

We arrived back in Guatemala at the central bus station or the cenma.  Our taxi driver was not happy that we arrived there.  He is not allowed to enter and was really worried about our safety.  He walked us to a well lighted area, with two police officers very near and said, don't move.  He went for his car, which took an hour, and pulled up on the street outside the station.  We arrived back to our apartments about 6:00 PM on the 2nd, tired but happy that we had finally made it to Xela and enjoyed our trip, seeing Xela through the eyes of Hermana Paniagua and her nephew, Randy.  We will spend Thursday getting our laundry done and packing for our trip to El Salvador on Friday. 

       I will blog about our next adventure tomorrow.  It is time to head to bed now.  We send our love to all.  Love Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma, Lon and Nancy

11 Buses and we are in charge!!!

Dear Family and Friends:
    We spent our week in the temple being trained how to perform our new callings as Second Counselor in the Temple Presidency and Assistant to the Matron.  Tuesday through Friday we served closely to President Galvez and President Burk and their wives to learn our responsibilities.  We felt really good about everything and deep inside knew that we were as ready as we could be.  Friday evening President Burk came for a visit and let us know that he too felt that we were ready and that tomorrow we would be in charge of the Saturday Morning Shift and he was spending the day with his family who have come for a visit.  Suddenly we didn't feel so prepared!  After the initial shock wore off, a peace came over us and we knew, again, that we were prepared.  We know that our Father in Heaven has been preparing us for this very day for a long time.
     We opened the temple at 4:00 AM.  By 5 we had the first session started and people preparing for the 2nd and 3rd.  It was all going very well, considering we only had the temple missionaries there.  We only had 5 missionaries to handle a session every half hour and all of the other things that needed done.  The thought ran through my head that if none of the Guatemalan Obrera's came, we would run out of temple missionaries by 7 as they would all be officiating a session.  At about 6:30 the local obrera's started trickling in and boy were we thankful to see them. 
     One of our new responsibilities is to give some instruction to each person who comes to the temple for the very first time, to help them relax and understand what is going on.  President Thompson had been able to do this a couple of times during the week but I had never even read the instructions of what we were to teach.  Between 8 and 12, President Thompson had given instruction to 8 men and I had given instruction to 11 women.  For President Thompson this wasn't such a miracle, but for me, with my limited Spanish it was indeed a miracle.  Our Heavenly Father blessed us with the language when we needed it and the other workers and the participants seemed to understand anything that we needed to say. 
     We have a very little temple as far as building is concerned, but we can do a session every half hour so that helps.  By 1:00 we had completed about 496 endowments.  We have no idea about the baptistery.  All we know is that there were young people continually from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM.  We found out that we had 11 buses in the parking lot.  We ran out of a lot of sizes of clothing and a lot of people had to use size 7 slippers when they needed size 6, then we ran out of the 7's so they had to use 9's.  The laundry did all they could to keep up with the demand.  It was the busiest day we have ever seen since we arrived.  We were  "baptized by fire".  But we had peace in our hearts all day, knowing that this is the work of our Lord and His house, and He is in charge.  We put in an 11 hour day and came home totaled, but very happy. 
     We were set apart by President Burk and are very excited to be serving with him and Hermana Burk.  This new calling is going to be filled with challenges and miracles and blessings beyond measure.  We are so thankful for the opportunity to serve this mission here in Guatemala.  We are thankful for the support of our children and grandchildren.  Without their love and support, it would be impossible to be away from them so long.  We thank each of you for your prayers in our behalf.  Just keep them coming.  We will need them.  We love our Heavenly Father and rely on His help in all we do.  May God bless you.  You are in our prayers.  Love Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma, Lon and Nancy

  

We are leaving in the morning early for Quezaltenango to visit the Xela Temple and see the sights.  We will return to Guatemala on Thursday and leave again for El Salvador on Friday to visit for the weekend.  We will miss blogging next week but will catch up with pictures and details of our trips the following week. We love you.

New Callings

     We went to dinner on the 21st, Saturday, to celebrate our 42nd wedding anniversary.  We have celebrated our anniversaries here in Guatemala twice (this year and in 2011 when we were on our Book of Mormon Tour) and in El Salvador twice.  We have spent our last 4 anniversaries here in Central America.  We finished our shift and walked to Pollo Campero for dinner.  We enjoyed ourselves and made it home before the rains came.

     The carrots here are big, sweet, and tender.  This farmer is on his way to the market with a nice harvest.

     On June 6th, 2014, while at the temple, we received word that Elder Amado, our area President here, was trying to find a time to visit with us.  At the time we were both in a session and couldn't meet with him.  On this Friday, it was raining cats and dogs so we didn't go out for our walk as usual after our morning shift.  Elder Amado called on the phone and visited with Elder Thompson for a few moments then talked to me.  He was given the assignment by the First Presidency to extend the call for Lon to be the Second Counselor in the Temple Presidency here in the Guatemala City Temple and for me to serve as an assistant to the Matron.  We had figured that the counselor had been picked long before this and that it would be a Guatemalan.  So we were completely surprised.  We assured Elder Amado that we only have one goal and that is to serve our Heavenly Father whenever and where ever we are needed.  We have had two weeks to ponder and pray about this new call as we have not been able to tell anyone about it till now.  With humility and faith we will move forward to accomplish this new responsibility.
     President Burk announced our call at Family Home Evening today.  We had a dinner of lasagna with all the fixings and birthday cake for President Galvez.

 

We ate in the garage of the President's house

We met all together to say goodbye to Elder and Sister Olson who are finishing their 18 month mission and will fly home to Rexburg, Idaho on the 30th.

     We also said goodbye to President and Hermana Galvez who will fly home to Tennessee on the 30th to spend a few months with their families before heading to Quezaltenango to be the Temple President and Matron of the Xela Temple.

      This week, we will be trained by the Temple Presidency each day during our morning shift.  We will greatly miss being able to perform the temple ordinances daily.  We will be set apart on the 28th of June and will then have a 2 week break for cleaning and will begin our new assignment on the 14th of July.  It has seemed like a dream up to now.
     Our lives will change and our schedules will change.  We will open the temple one morning and preside on the AM shift, then the next day we will preside on the PM shift and close the temple.  The third day we will have off and then start over again.  Our service in El Salvador was all about teaching all that we knew about temples, and this mission is all about learning.  We have learned so much already and have much more to learn.  A few things that I have learned is to let my husband take care of me, learned to call neighbors to come and help me, and learned to walk without a limp.  Elder Thompson has learned to cook, to care for me, to be a sealer. 
     The hardest part of this new call will be on the weekends.  With 27 stakes in this temple district, every weekend the Temple Presidency takes turns visiting Stake Conferences and talking at firesides.  President Burk assured us that we WILL have plenty of opportunities to talk in Stake Conferences and at firesides.
     As we have worked in the temple off and on for the last 14 years, we know more than ever that the gospel is true and that we have a Heavenly Father that truly loves each and every one of us and has given us the way to return and live with him again.  We love our family so much and without any doubt, know that through the temple ordinances that He makes it possible for all families to have their children and loved ones for all eternity.  I have felt this more than ever as I have been able to seal families and to feel without any doubt his love and desire for us to be happy.  We have learned through revelation the importance of family and the only happiness we will have is to be with them forever.  Through His atonement all children can receive eternal life and exaltation.  We love serving and as we study and learn, we have a greater desire to live better.  What a privilege it has been to serve in our Father's house, where he is the head of all learning.
     We send our love to all.  Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma, Lon and Nancy

Happy Father's Day

     We hope that each of you fathers had a wonderful Father's Day.  We are so thankful for our Fathers, for their examples, teachings, love, and the fun memories that they left us with. 
     This week went by so quickly for us.  We have a rain storm at least once a day, and sometimes the storm lasts all day or all night.  Everything is green and beautiful.  But we do miss the blue skies. 
     After serving in El Salvador, we thought that we knew the Spanish names but we have come across a lot of new ones here.  There are a lot of tribal languages here so the names are very different.  Here are a few examples:  Ixpancoj (pronounced ishpancoh, with a very hard 'h' at the end),Tiul, Caal, Ico', Coc, Curruchiche, Chiqua, Insausti, Recancoj, Canasuj.  The x's are pronounced with a "sh" and the "j's" are always a very hard 'ha'.  It is hard to do when it is at the end of a name.  Last Wednesday, the 11th, Elder Thompson had the opportunity to seal a family together for time and all eternity.  He really struggled with the names.  They spoke Kackchiquel but also spoke Spanish.  The father:  Ruby Leonel Ajquill Sigvinajay, the mother: Maria Francisca Ajmac Ajpuac, and the children: Oliver Alejandro Ajmac Ajpuac and Gerson Francisco Abinadi Ajquill Ajmac. 
     When women come to the temple, and need to rent a white dress, which is almost everyone, we have a ruler on the wall that we measure their height by so we get them the right length of dress.  We measure them from their shoulder to the floor.  I would take a 52" dress.  The size that we use most is 48".  We have dresses from 44" to 58".  When the Senahu saints came, they are true Mayans, they used the 44" dresses and they were long on some of the women.  We measure the men for slacks from their waist to the floor.  The size that we use most is 35".  I think that most of our grandchildren would be as tall or taller than the average person here.  Of course, we do have a few who are taller than we are,  and you know that we are tall people. Ha Ha.
     We received a new Bishopric last Sunday.  This week, the first and second Counselors spoke and it was very interesting to hear about our second Counselors call.  Our new second Counselor in the Bishopric is Levi Smylie.  He is a very accomplished pianist and singer.  He and his family came to church last week early cause we had choir practice before church to go over our song once before  performing in the meeting.  He directed the choir and his wife played for us.  Anyway, the Stake President ushered Bro. Smylie into a room and asked him if he would be the second counselor.  He had no opportunity to talk to his wife but he has great faith and knew that this was a calling from his Father in Heaven so he said yes right there and then.  He came in and practiced with us, the meeting started and before he had a chance to even whisper to her, his name was announced as the second counselor to Bishop DeLeon.  He didn't even know before this time who the bishop was.  Sister Smylie has great faith also and will be a strength to her husband in his new calling. 
     Sorry, no pictures this week.  We send our love to all.  You are always in our thoughts and prayers.  Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma, Lon and Nancy

Time to brag!!

      Just want to share pictures of a few of our grandchildren and let you know what wonderful, special grandchildren we have.  We are so proud of them all and the accomplishments that they have achieved. 
      First of all, we have a high school graduate.  Kyleigh, Justin and Shayla's oldest, has graduated from Kimberly High School. 

                                         A very proud dad, Justin, with a beautiful Kyleigh

                                                         Shayla, Kyleigh, and Justin
          Shayla and Justin also have two very adventurous mountain climbers who have just finished this year of school with honors.  Gideon and Ryanne

 

     Mason is busy playing baseball this summer and Riley, Aydan, and Dillon are all growing up so fast.  They will all enjoy no school for a couple of months.

     Tracy and his family just enjoyed their first campout and 4-wheel trip.  They went up Baker Creek.  Isn't it beautiful.

            

                 Ashton, Eisley, Chandler with Mom and Dad

  Ginger's daughter, Jaikka, just received an award for having all A's and received the Gold Presidential Award.  She not only excels in school, but is enjoying dancing with a dance competition group.

                                        

     Mindi's three have also been busy.  Nathan just returned from a Trek and is working on his Eagle Project.  He is now taller than his Grandma and close to the same size of his Grandpa.  By the time we get home, he will be taller than Grandpa, I'm sure. 

      Hannah just returned from Girl's Camp.  She plays the flute and piano, but is bashful and Grandpa has a tough time getting her to play for him.

 

   And last of all, Isaac has been busy not only with his running, but with his scouts.  He just received his Arrow of Light.

                                            

     We just love getting pictures of the grandchildren.  It is great to be able to Skype with most of them a few times each month.  We are sorry that we have to miss watching the kids grow, but we know that we are where we are supposed to be right now.  We pray that each of our grandchildren will continue to grow and achieve and be examples to their families and friends.  They are spread from the first grade to high school.  We are very proud of them and send our love.  May God bless them with those righteous desires of their hearts.  Grandpa and Grandma

The Apple Factory

Dear Family and Friends:
    Sorry to be late writing this week, but we played on Monday instead of writing to you.  We have tried to visit the Apple Factory since our first year in El Salvador and we finally made it there. 

                  

It rained the whole day.  The Apple Factory makes beautiful wood products.  All the streets in Antiqua are cobble stone.  It used to be the capital of Guatemala, but was destroyed by an earthquake and the capital was moved to Guatemala City. 

 

This is the owner

We traveled to Antiqua with Elder and Hermana Burbidge.  She is the nurse at the CCM.  They have a car and we got to go along for the day.

 

     As you go through the front door, they have piles of products in all stages of production.  Everything is hand made and painted.

 

 The finished products are amazing.  But you have to look around cause it is all stacked up.  We found some treasures that we didn't think that we could live without.  The Burbidges are having them make a clock and we loved it so we are going to have one made for us too.

It has the Mayan calendar with a tree of life in the center.  It is not painted yet so we will have to return another day.

    

  Here are a couple of treasures that we couldn't live without.  We just don't know for sure how we will get them home. 

  After the Apple Factory, we went to the city center to look around town and find a place for lunch.  This is the volcano named Fuego.  It has been spitting smoke and debris for months now.  The trees are the edge of the city center.  We had visited here when we took the Book of Mormon tour in 2011.  We remembered the fountain in the center of the park.   

                                       

 We went to the Jade Factory and took a tour and had lunch there. 

 It never did stop raining.  But it couldn't dampen our spirits as we had a wonderful day with friends.  We got home in time for Family Home Evening at the Barlow's.

Hermano Jose y Ema Funas  (obreros del temple)

They work three days in the temple.  They have no car and ride a bus each day for a couple of hours to get to the temple.  They are wonderful, dedicated people.  She is the one who made me the doily for Mother's Day. 

     We had a wonderful P-day.  Our week in the temple was great also.  Friday and Saturday were very busy and Elder Thompson was able so seal two more families together forever.  This mission is wonderful.  We are so happy to be here serving in our Father's House.  We send our love to all.  You are always in our thoughts and prayers.  Lon and Nancy, Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma 



Cha'bil Culonic, Bienvenidos, Welcome

    This was probably the busiest week that we have had here since our arrival.  We put in longer days than usual but loved every minute.  The stake from Senahu arrived with 2 buses on Tuesday afternoon and stayed till Thursday morning with 80 people and the second group came on Thursday afternoon and stayed till Saturday morning with another 30 people. 

Senahu is about 8 hours from Guatemala City and these are the buses that they traveled in.  It is a town were the indigenous Mayan people live.  ' These people are small, most men are about 4'8'' to 5' and the women are 3 1/2 ' to 41/2' tall.  They wear beautiful hand made skirts and blouses and are so loving.

  The only problem is that they don't speak Spanish!  They speak Q'eqchi', or Quechi' as the Guatemalans call it, or Kekchi as the internet describes it.  It is an old Mayan language that is nothing at all like Spanish.  We were blessed to have 4 women and 7 men come the week before to learn how to best help this week.  They are temple workers who speak both languages. 
     Here is a few examples of their language:
Thank you --  Gracias --  Bantiox herman  (the x is pronounced as sh)
What is your last name? --  Cual es su apellido? -- Ani 'LixVuelt la' aca'ba?
My name is -- Mi nombre es -- Lain in ca'ba
And to make it even harder, the vowels and consenents have different sounds than in Spanish. All we could do was give lots of smiles and hugs and use a lot of sign language to communicate.
     The first group had 27 children to be sealed to their parents.  These children were in the temple nursery Wednesday morning, and of course they don't speak Spanish, so one of our Quechi' speakers had to be in the nursery.
     We asked a group of them if we could take a picture and that led to the following pictures.  These are very poor, humble people.  Not one of them had a camera and none of them have internet so we will develop the pictures and send them to the mission president in that area so that he can get them to these families. 

                                                             Jacinto Rax family

                               Ignacio Che and his wife, they wanted the traffic in the picture

                             Carlos Sacul and Manuela Maquin with Ignacio Che and his wife
     By noon on Saturday, we had completed over 300 endowments and the temple was still filled to overflowing. We had sessions every half hour.   The laundry was piling up faster than the workers could get it washed and ready to be used again.  I am sure that our Father in Heaven was smiling this day.  We had English, Spanish, and Quechi' patrons in the temple all day.  We love this work, service that we are able to give.
     As we were walking one day this week, we spotted this ahead of us.  We know that this soil is rich volcanic soil and that the rains are coming daily but a tree growing out of a man hole cover right in the middle of the street?

As we got closer we found out the answer to this puzzle.

 There is new cement around the man hole cover and the tree keeps the cars from driving over it until it is cured.  It has been there now for a week and is starting to look pretty wilted.

     Today is garbage pick up day.  The garbage is put into the big white bags and hauled off in the trucks.  This is the driver taking a break.  There is usually 4 or 5 young men running from door to door to collect the garbage and bring it to the trucks. 
     It started raining last night around 6:30 and has not stopped yet.  The skies are gray and it looks like it could rain for the rest of the day.  We have been lucky all week and got a walk in either before the rain or after a storm.  Today may end our luck and we may not get to walk. 
     We are enjoying our time here in Guatemala City and love serving in the temple.  You are all in our prayers daily and we love and miss you.  May our Heavenly Father's blessings be with you this week.  We send our love to all: Dad and Mom, Grandma and Grandpa, Lon and Nancy