Chancho and Majadito

[February 21, 2016]

The Temple was closed for maintenance this last week, so we've spent it getting to know Bolivia a little bit better.

On Thursday, we had a Bolivian lunch with the Paredes. They are the missionary couple from La Paz who are finishing their mission this week. They are really sweet, fun, humble people. He and I have a running joke about eating "chancho" after our temple shifts. "Chancho" is pork, cooked with certain condiments.

So, Thursday morning, we went with Hno. Paredes to the market, and bought the pork at one of the regular, open meat markets. When we got it home, Hna. Paredes showed Molly how to clean it, which they thoroughly did. Molly cooked the meat in our oven, and Hna. Paredes cooked the bananas, potatoes, and sweet potatoes (camote). It was fun eating with them and visiting over lunch. 

[This is Molly.

"I just wanted to add how much I enjoyed spending the day with the Paredes. I felt like a real Bolivian buying even the meat at the open meat market. Hermana Paredes cooked for many years at a pension and she taught me a lot. We had chancho (pork), papas (potatoes), camote or sweet potatoes, postre (the big bananas when they are green you call them platanos, when they are yellow with black spots they are postre). Postre usually means dessert and they are sweeter and much softer than the green ones. We also had an ensalada (salad) of iceburg lettuce and tomatoes and hierba buena (mint) leaves chopped fine. We baked everything except the salad of course.

I learned that you shouldn't eat certain things with pork such as, avocado or milk products. They will make you sick." ]

On Friday, we took a taxi out to Cliza, just to see if I remembered anything. Cliza is a small town about 6 miles from Punata. We used to walk over there from time to time to proselyte, etc. After Demetrio Carballo had contacted us at church in Punata, we walked to Cliza to teach him.

[Molly again:
"Cliza was a darling small town. They haven't had missionaries there in a while and I don't think they get many North American visitors. We must have looked like "white giants" to them. We got some surprised and and interesting looks."]

We walked around Cliza a bit, and I didn't remember anything. Here are a couple of pictures from Cliza:

Central Plaza in Cliza.

The enclosed, modern market in Cliza.

A regular street in Cliza.

After wandering around Cliza for a while, visiting the cathedral, etc., we took a trufi to Punata along the road that my companions and I walked so many years ago. The feel was similar, but again, I really didn't remember much as far as the environs.

When we got to Punata, we visited the market where I had breakfast every day. Here's a picture:

Market in Punata.

I wanted to take more pictures, but the cholitas demurred and wouldn't let me.

We walked from there to the home of Jeaneth Sanchez and her family. We found it pretty easily. We had called ahead to let her know that we were coming. She was there with her granddaughter:

Jeaneth and her granddaughter cooking lunch for us.

She really wanted to cook us lunch, so as we visited, she prepared and cooked a Bolivian dish called Majadito. It is basically rice with spices, vegetables, and meat cooked in, served with fried bananas and an egg on top.

[Molly:
"I loved watching her cook and hearing her talk. Her happiness bubbled out in everything she did and said. She is a real example of someone who is truly happy living the gospel. I learned a lot from watching her cook as well. Her little granddaughter Charlotte was scared of us at first, but eventually warmed up to us. Jeaneth is a fun grandma and they have a sweet relationship.  

I love sharing these experiences with my sweet companion and seeing the love he has for these people and the love they have for him."]

Here is a picture of Molly (seated), Jeaneth, and the Majadito:

Jeaneth was so excited to cook for us, and as she cooked, we visited. I wanted to know more about the history of the branch/ward here, and kept asking questions. She was so happy and excited to share her experiences and testimony with us.

Jeaneth was born in Trinidad - very hot and humid. Her family moved to Punata in about 1972, when Jeaneth was about 11. From what I could gather, she and her mother (she called her father an atheist) had been looking for a church to go to. They had attended the Methodist, Adventist, and Baptist churches, but didn't feel inclined to continue. When they moved to Punata, they moved into an apartment attached to the building where we held church meetings in Punata, so she started coming to church.

From what I could gather, she felt very good about the church, but her father wouldn't let her or her mother get baptized. 

After three years or so, her father apparently relented. She told us that the missionaries really didn't teach her - she learned everything she needed to know by attending church for those three years. I got the feeling that she finally prevailed on her father, and got baptized - the day before I got to Punata.

Over the next few years, Hna. Lopez took Jeaneth under her wing and helped her learn more and more about the church and the Savior. Jeaneth's testimony strengthened, and she loved what she was learning.

She was active continuously, from what I could tell, until the branch closed. Her father wouldn't let her go to Cochabamba to go to church, and eventually she took a job teaching children out in a small community away from everywhere.

She always asked about the church, and the missionaries, but wasn't able to find them until she moved back to Punata to take care of her dying father (her mother had died some 20+ years before). The first week back in Punata, she asked for and found the missionaries, and attended church there for the first time in many years. When they found that she was a member, they called her to teach Primary. She said that she just cried and cried that Heavenly Father still remembered her.

Since that time, she has been to the temple, and said that she had done the ordinances for her parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, but still had others she wanted to work on. She doesn't have a computer, and needs help with this, so we invited her to come to the Family History Center here at the temple, and we'd help her in any way possible.

So, it really feels like we are continuing the work done so many years ago to find and baptize people by helping them complete the work in the temple for themselves and for their families.

Adventures

[February 17, 2016]

I have had some good growing opportunities in our wards lately. One Sunday, Hno. Delgadillo, a member of the bishopric who was conducting that day, asked me if I would say the opening prayer. I said yes with a bit of a cringe. I figured I'm a missionary, I should say yes, even if it makes me nervous. I made a lot of mistakes but I felt good about it and these sweet people are very kind and forgiving.

The next Sunday  I heard the bishop (of the other ward) say over the pulpit, that Hna. Lyon would give the closing prayer. No opportunity to say no to that one. I did a little bit better that time.

Then this last Friday we got a call from Hno. Delgadillo inviting Charlie and me to speak in church in two days. Charlie asked me if I would be willing to do it on such short notice. I said, of course, because I know that The Lord will help me. He did. My topic was "The Great and Spacious Building represents the vain imaginations and the pride of the world" and Charlie's was "Don't seek after the vain things of the world because you can't take them with you".

I told about us and then I compared the Great and Spacious Building to the Temple and how Satan always has his counterfeit. What the Pride of the world offers compared to what the Temple promises. I felt good about it and I know the Spirit helped me to get through it.

Charlie's talk was amazing. He spoke with such love, enthusiasm and testimony. He didn't read any of it but just spoke freely from his heart. I love to hear him speak. He made me cry. He shared things that the congregation could relate to and they were listening to every word, you could hear a pin drop it was so reverent.

Then we taught our class. The students in our class participated with good comments and questions. Charlie is a very good teacher. They trust him and feel loved by him. I'm grateful that I can give a small part of the lesson each week, not too overwhelming but participating in my own way.

Here at the Temple, we will have seven of our missionaries completing their missions within this next week. We will miss their friendship and the temple will definitely miss their service. If you are reading this and considering a mission we could use you. It is like a paradise here. Anyway, Sister Valdizán is one of the missionaries going home, so we had her over for dinner Sunday night. She cuts all the missionaries' hair at no charge. She is one of the most serving, selfless people I know. It was fun to have her here for the evening.

She and the Parkers (our across the hall neighbors) left Monday morning at 4:30 am. We got up to see them off. It's a tradition here to give a send off to the ones who are leaving, even if it's at 4:30 am. The Jensens always drive them to the airport, we all hug and get teary, very sweet.

The temple is closed this week. So you guessed it, we went to La Cancha again. One of the sister missionaries wanted a hat like the cholitas wear. I don't know if you can get them anywhere other than La Cancha, but you can get everything there so we told her we would get it for her.

We are always up for an adventure so we took the #3 bus through La Cancha, past the airport, but not all the way to the end of the line. We got out and walked a couple of blocks to the water park. It was closed and some boys told us that it is only open on Saturdays and Sundays when school is in session (school started a couple of weeks ago). We walked all the way around it and didn't see anything in the way of water activities until the very last part, we did see a lake (very small) with boats and two big swan paddle boats as well as some slides and what looked like splash pads in the distance. It would be fun to come back when it is open. We walked to La Cancha from there.

As always we enjoyed our adventure at La Cancha. I asked a Cholita where I could buy a hat like hers and she smiled and said "La Pampa". So we asked another younger worker where La Pampa is. "Más alla." Or "over there". Well we did find it and they had lots of hats, several different vendors.

After trying on a lot of them, I found one that I thought might fit the sister missionary, and if it didn't I would just keep it for me. It was so cute. It's a straw hat with a wide brim that they paint white or tan which makes them very stiff. I discovered in trying it on that most of these hats have an elastic that you put behind your head to hold them on.They also have a trim and cute flowers. We brought it home and it fit her just right.

As we were sitting on the bus I had an overwhelming feeling come over me and it made me smile. I loved the people, the scenery, my companion, everything. I felt so grateful for the opportunity to be here. I want to make every moment count. I want to be an instrument in the Lord's Hands. I want all the people here to know that they are loved. I know that my mission here is to serve in the temple, but as we are out and about we represent The Lord Jesus Christ and wear His name on our chest. I hope as they read my badge they will feel my love for them and connect His name with that love.

Today, we went with 3 other missionary couples to a beautiful park in the mountains called Pairumani. We took Trufi 209 out to Quillacollo, got off at Plaza Bolivar, and caught Trufi  211 up to the park. Everything was so beautiful!!! The countryside is beautiful, well kept farmland.

At the park, there were giant eucalyptus trees, lush greenery, a camping area, picnic tables and at the top, a waterfall.They have diverted the water from the waterfall to use for irrigation.It runs through the park in a very aesthetically pleasing cement walled canal. The walls of the canal are about 2 feet high and a foot thick, just perfect for sitting on and wading. The other sisters and I put our feet in the cold water before we came home. We hiked up a beautiful trail - a bit steep and rocky in places - to the waterfall. We went through a little tunnel and part of the trail was very narrow with a pretty steep drop off on the one side. But it was all beautiful. We brought our lunches and picnicked on a log. As we left to go back to Plaza Bolivar we counted the people in our Trufi - there were 21! We left about 8:30 in the morning and got home about 2:45. A great adventure with good friends.

Here are some pictures from the Park:

The canal with the diverted water running through the park.

This little lady was preparing to lift the headgate to let the water flow
down a separate canal. That's Elder Hill talking to her, and
Elder Russell walking past.

You know who just at the entrance of the tunnel.

Molly walking along the trail with the drop-off to the right.

Another view of the trail with Elder Angle.

Finally - the waterfall. Really, just a diversion dam with an overflow.

A view of the Cochabamba valley from Pairumani. It was a hazy day, but very beautiful.

Through the fence at the waterpark.

Not the best picture of a 21 passenger van, but I was crammed in the back seat when I took this.

Tomorrow we are we are looking forward to preparing a traditional Bolivian meal for the Paredes. They are completing their mission next week and going back home to La Paz. They have children and grandchildren and even a couple of great grandchildren in La Paz, Santa Cruz and Brazil. After visiting their family for 6 months, they plan on coming back to Cochabamba, renting a place and working in the temple every day. There are quite a few couples here who have moved far from family to serve in the temple. Charlie has mentioned the Paredes in the blog before. They are both very humble hard working dear friends. Neither one speaks any English. Hno. Paredes and Charlie are doing the shopping in the morning and Hna. Paredes is coming over at 11:00 to teach me how to prepare it. We plan on eating at 1:00. We are having pork, sweet potatoes, fried bananas, I don't remember what else, but I am looking forward to it.

The Temple in the evening.

La Cancha 4 times in 4 days

[February 4-8, 2016]

I've been having problems with the printer, so we went down to La Cancha on Wednesday to get some parts and ideas. I also needed some black ink (30cc's, or about 7-8 times what a single cartridge costs. The cartridge costs 100-150 Bolivianos, or $15-$20. The 30 cc's of ink, which I can add to the refillable cartridges myself, cost me 35B's, or $5, for a discount of about 95%). The technician at the computer place showed me how to clean my problematic printer cartridge, so we headed back home with some ideas.

Since school all started this week, it was really crazy with people getting school supplies, clothes, etc.

On Thursday, Molly needed some fabric, and one of the ladies we work with told us about a fabric store in La Cancha, so we headed down again. What a find. The picture below shows about a third of the store:

La Casa Victoria in La Cancha - fabric, fabric, fabric!

We found what we needed, and came back home.

By Friday, I had done everything I could to resuscitate the printer cartridge without success, so we figured we'd go down to the computer store and buy a new cartridge. We hadn't taken into account how much the strike by the transportistas would affect things. Folks told us that La Cancha would be open, we'd just have to walk all the way down, which we've done before without any problem.

So we headed off, and found the streets amazingly empty. Quite the change from Wednesday. There were no trufis or buses, and no "official" taxis. On some of the plazas, like Plaza Colon, the taxi drivers had parked their cars to block all the surrounding streets, so the only vehicles that got through were motorcycles. Quite interesting. 

We got all the way down to La Cancha (5 km/3 miles), and found out that the transportistas' strike had closed off the street where all the computer shops are. Lots of the other shops were open, but not the one we needed. Then we walked back home. Lots of fun seeing all the people, etc.

We tried again on Saturday, but caught a bus down, so we didn't have to walk. It started to rain while we were there, so we ducked in and out of little shops to stay kind of dry. We got a new cartridge, and the computer tech also sold us a new refillable cartridge as well, and when we got home, everything worked with the printer, so we're good again. I really needed it this week, since Hno. Paredes wanted me to print pictures of all the missionaries so he could put them in his book of memories before he leaves in two weeks.

Whew.... four visits to La Cancha in four days. There are some of the missionaries here who avoid La Cancha at all costs. The crush of people, the massive amount of vendors and products, the smells, etc., can be a bit intense!

Followup on the Puno group:

The members from Puno finally found flights out to La Paz on Saturday morning at 6:00 am. They got help from their Stake and the Area Presidency, but still had to walk across the border between Bolivia and Peru on their way home. The blockades were finally lifted (with a bit of police/army intervention in the one at Parotani between here and La Paz) late Saturday night. Estimates were that the traffic was backed up for 20 km, four lanes wide (the road is really only two official lanes wide), and would take quite a few hours to clear. 

Sunday

We had a pretty normal Sunday - attended church out in the Linde/Rosedal wards as usual, and reviewed the first Temple Preparation lesson with our class. Hno. Zacharias Flores was baptized Saturday morning while we were working in the temple. He and his wife were so happy when we saw them on Sunday.

Here are a couple of pictures we took in our wanderings over the last week or so:

Typical construction. The facades can be very fancy, but the basic structure is the same - concrete floors and pillars
(note the way a new floor is laid with the forms being held up by multiple "sticks"), with bricks laid to fill in the spaces.

Summer flowers. Very pretty.

Flowers at the temple.

A strange tree at the Temple - note the thorns. You wouldn't really want to climb this one.

The Temple on a cloudy day.

27 Miles to the Temple on Foot (correction - 25 km or 16 miles)

[3 February 2016] Wednesday

We started our month (actually just two weeks, since the temple will be closed for the last two weeks of the month) of working in the mornings yesterday. It's really nice to visit with these workers, whom we haven't seen for a number of months, now. Everyone we work with is really sweet.

We had a really sweet experience today with a group of members from Peru and some apparently from Chile. But first, a little bit of a Bolivian back-story.

Here in Bolivia, when someone doesn't like something, and they have a large enough group to actually create an impact, they block traffic to make their point. We ran into one of these traffic stoppages a couple of months ago in downtown Cochabamba, where a group from a neighborhood was protesting the lack of paved streets in their neighborhood. They blocked the main intersections downtown, and shut down traffic for a couple of hours.

Well, on Sunday, the transportation workers union decided to shut down all the highways coming into and going out of Bolivia over taxes and tariffs imposed on their cargo, and to make it even more painful, to shut down all of the roads between the "departments" or states in the country. They do this by parking their big rigs sideways on the highways, and traffic backs up for miles. 

They started this current "bloqueo" on Sunday, but apparently, it wasn't quite complete, because this bus full of members got all the way to Parotani, which is about 45 km (27 miles) from the temple before they could drive no further. They got stopped there sometime in the morning, and rather than just wait (which could be days or weeks before the government decides the pain is bad enough to negotiate), or try to go back, they got out and walked, luggage and all.

[Correction: They walked 25 km/16 miles to Quillacollo, where they found transportation the rest of the way to the temple. And, it really hadn't started raining out there at that point in the day. Nonetheless, an inspiring story.]

What's more impressive, was that yesterday was one of the rainiest days we've had in quite a while. When we got out of the temple at 2:00 pm, it was raining, and it didn't stop until after 8:00 pm. Also, this group wasn't just a bunch of youth coming to do baptisms for the dead. There were 75 people in all, ranging from "ancianos" (basically anyone older than Molly and I), to parents with infants, and youth.

From the report I got, by talking to the Bishop, the youth made it here in six hours, with the older ones coming in after ten hours of walking, carrying their luggage, in the rain.

When we got up this morning, we heard about these faithful, diligent saints, and figured that they had showed up, and just dropped into bed.

Nope! The youth showed up in the baptistry, couples that had come to be sealed came to the temple, individuals who had come to receive their own endowments came, and they all showed up again this morning.

In fact, the first person at the temple at 8:30 this morning was one of the older ladies in the group. Her story was that she had walked 125 km (78 miles) in 10 hours. Pretty impressive! I think she is the one that Molly worked with in Initiatory this morning, so I'll let her add her two bits.

[Molly: I had heard about these faithful saints walking to the temple, so when I saw a sister from Chile with a stack of family cards I asked her if she was one that had walked all the way to the temple. She said yes and her arms hurt from carrying her luggage. I hugged her and thanked her for her example of faithfulness and that her ancestors must be very grateful for her sacrifice in their behalf. It was hard to hold back the tears as I helped her through the initiatories for her ancestors. It gave me a whole new perspective. I am humbled and grateful to be able to serve these dear faithful saints.]

Anyway, this is just a small example of the kinds of faithful, dedicated saints we work with every day here in the temple. This group just went the extra 27 miles to do it.

The Cochabamba Temple - 22 January 2016

It's all about love

[January 25, 2016]

As I read over my journal of this past week to see what I could put in this blog I noticed a theme. The theme for this week and really the overall theme of the whole mission is Love. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is all about love. Our Heavenly Father's Plan for His children is all about love. The Temple and the beautiful ordinances performed there are all about love. Families are all about love.

This is a quote from one of my journal entries this week:
"The special thing about the  temple tonight were the workers. I felt like it was my special day. I felt so much love from all of them. Everyone that I saw hugged me and made me feel so special. I love these sisters so much."

Another night a group from the Linde Ward (that we attend on Sundays) was in the temple. It was so sweet to see them. They feel like family to us. A sweet woman who always bears her testimony in Quechua (the indigenous language of Bolivia) just had her son return from his mission and both of them were there. She was excited to introduce him to me.

Charlie mentioned in the last blog entry about visiting the Flores couple, very sweet and very poor. I wanted to learn some more phrases in Quechua so I could communicate (at least help her feel welcome and loved) a little with her. Some of the sisters that serve with me in the temple speak Quechua. When they heard I wanted to learn Quechua they were all willing to help. It was fun to have so many come up and give me a new phrase or ask me a question in Quechua. I love these sisters!

Hna Eguino is a darling sister ordinance worker close to 80 years of age. She loves everyone and everyone loves her. She especially loves the North American missionaries. She is always smiling and hugging (even more than the rest of us). I love to hear her perform the ordinances, with such feeling, testimony and love. She reminds me of my mother. At times one of her grandchildren will come to the temple and she is so excited to introduce them to all of us. Her daughter who lives far away came to visit this week. They attended the Temple a lot together. One night I was assigned to help with the session that she and her daughter were in. I loved watching them together. They reminded me of my mother and me when we would go to the temple together. I was so touched by the great mother-daughter love they showed. I shared this with Hna Eguino and she told me she would be my mother away from home.

Today is my Mother's Birthday. She is a very young 90 years old. I got to talk with and see her and my sisters yesterday on Skype. We have a slumber party every year for her birthday so they all Skyped with me. Their theme this year was "Love". I love these beautiful, faithful, talented, fun, intelligent, spiritual, loving women. It was so fun to see them, I almost felt like I was there.





Here is a picture of my beautiful mother at one of our last Slumberettes in American Fork, Utah. Jo always gets us matching pajamas. Isn't she beautiful!










We were able to teach our first Sunday School lesson yesterday. It was a wonderful experience. Charlie did a beautiful job, everyone in the class participated, I participated as well. I am looking forward to getting to know these sweet people better and seeing their progress as they prepare and work towards going to the Temple.

Last but not least, we are so grateful that we can see, through Skype and Face Time, our children and grandchildren each week. Their lives have not all been easy since we've been gone and some are experiencing very hard trials right now, but they say our mission is blessing them. I do know with all my heart that The Lord keeps His promises and He has told us He will take care of our children while we are serving. I'm grateful for this testimony and for the faith and strength our children exhibit as they faithfully meet their challenges and as they lovingly serve and support each other.

Preparing for the Temple

[January 19, 2016]

On Sunday, we were invited to work with some of the members of the Rosedal Ward to either help them prepare to go to the temple, or to encourage them to work towards being Temple Workers. We got to meet a few of them there at church. One is a widower who needs some encouragement, another was a couple where the husband is endowed, but the wife is not, yet. The goal is to work towards their being sealed as a family in the temple.

The last one we met was an older couple, the Flores - easily in their eighties. She has been a member for 30 years or more. From what we gathered, she married her current husband some 15-16 years ago in Oruro. They've been going to church together ever since they got married.

In the course of the conversation, the question as to whether he had ever been baptized came up, so the High Priest Quorum Leader said he would check on that. He then made an appointment with them and us to meet at their home later in the afternoon.

So, Molly and I went to the Flores' home with the High Priest Group Leader and his father, who is a counselor in the Temple Presidency - President Mogrovejo.

Their home (rented room) was a single, very humble room with their kitchen outdoors to the side (with rabbits, dogs, chickens, etc. wandering around inside and out).

Just as a bit of background, I need to describe how "homes" are constructed here (outside the ritzy area, where they look very much like home stateside would look).

The typical home is a series of rooms built along the insides of a wall encompassing a lot that might be 40-50 feet on a side. The inside of the lot is open, where they might wash clothes, dishes, etc. The water for the family is piped in here. If they have piped in water, they will probably have a plumbed bathroom as one of the rooms along the walls. The center area in the nicer "homes" is tiled, or concrete at least, with good drainage built in. In the case of the Flores', the center area was just dirt/mud/rocks - very difficult to navigate.

In many cases, multiple families might rent rooms from the owners of the lot, with each family having a room to themselves, sharing the kitchen, possibly, and sharing the bathroom. As could be imagined, the owners really make or break the living conditions. Because the Flores are so poor, they have to take what they can get. Hopefully the ward can figure out how to help them find a better situation soon.

The conditions are very poor, and the High Priest Quorum has been working to improve things for them - added a concrete step outside their room to make entry and exit safer, planning to paint and clean things up, and eventually help them find a place for them where they can be better watched over. All they have for income is a government subsidy that amounts to 400 Bs a month - about $USD 60. That has to pay for rent, food, any medical care beyond visits to a doctor's office, etc. He has cataracts, so he no longer can read much, and is very hard of hearing.

As we visited with them, though, their love for each other was clear. He would pat her hand, and was so very attentive as they visited with us. Sure enough, he never was baptized. Because he was attending church faithfully with her when they moved here, everyone just assumed he was a member. In addition, he is very fluent in his understanding of the Bible - he's studied it his entire life. That contributed, I'm sure, to people just assuming he was a member.

So, the Ward Mission Leader has contacted the missionaries, and they'll work with him through the discussions. If he chooses to be baptized, we'll start working with them on Temple Preparation then.

Afterwards, we went to visit another couple - the Siles - who were among the first temple workers when the temple was dedicated nearly sixteen years ago. They've been married for over 60 years, but they are both spry and very alert and fun to visit with.

They told us of their conversion, which was very interesting.

They moved to Oruro when their oldest daughters were older teenagers. Hno. Siles worked out of town, so Hna. Siles was basically raising the family. The girls heard of the church through friends, and wanted to go with them. They got baptized, and some years later, the oldest one chose to serve a mission. When she got home, she gave her mother a Book of Mormon and told her she needed to read it. As she read, she says that she was just filled with the spirit. She got baptized, and the second daughter went on a mission. When she got home, she told her father that he needed to quit drinking and join the church with the rest of his family. So he decided to investigate, and ended up being baptized as well.

Since their baptism, they have shared the Book of Mormon with all their family members, spouses, etc. According to Hna. Siles, many, many others have joined the church, with some 27 having served missions as a result of their daughters joining the church so many years ago.

Their home was typical as well - except very much better cared for. The center court was tiled, walls were painted and plastered, and very clean. The "living room", where we visited them, was immaculate, but with well-worn furniture. Just like with the Flores, they had a family renting a room in their lot. Conditions, though, were very much better than with the Flores.

So, all of this reminds me of my time so long ago of being a missionary here, and makes me more appreciative of the work and sacrifices that these members make. And of the blessings they are receiving.

As we work with them to achieve their goals of coming to the temple, of receiving the blessings of the temple ordinances, and of being sealed as families, we are grateful for the power and blessings of the temple that we've seen in our family.

Families are forever, and as we pray for and anxiously wait for and listen for news as our children and their families work and strive and live through their trials, we are sweetly comforted knowing that Heavenly Father knows us and our family, and will always be there to lift us up.

Being here at the temple is so sweet. To see the continued missionary work that we are able to assist in to bless the lives of so many here gives us so much joy. And to know that the power of the temple ordinances, and the promised blessings of the gospel and of the covenants we make in the temple will bless our sweet children and their families in the face of difficult times gives us deep peace.

Serving Others

[December 30, 2015 - January 12, 2016]

Just to catch up a little bit...

On New Year's day, we took a walk up the hill behind the Temple. There are some radio/TV antennas up there, and a maintenance building. While heading back down to the Temple, we came across this little Cochabambina. This is very typical dress for the more indigenous of the population. She's holding a bowl full of choclo - big kernels of corn that have been boiled.

We also met this very relaxed bovine:

Although he was behind a fence, he appeared capable of finding a way to get out if he had wanted.

On Wednesday and Thursday (6th and 7th), we got to coordinate the quarterly visit of the Cochabamba Mission missionaries to the temple. There are about 150 in the area, and they are split across four sessions - two each day. It is really fun to visit with them, and see their youth, vitality, and energy.

I visited with one Elder who is serving in Arani right now (a few miles from Punata, and in the Punata Ward), and is very driven to learn. He has taught himself Quechua. He says that there are only two member families there in Arani right now that are active.

On Thursday, I met an Elder who came in October to do work for one of his ancestors, but didn't quite finish. Last time, he got the initiatory done, but couldn't get the endowment finished. When he came this morning, he recognized me and told me he was going to do the endowment today. It was really fun talking to him. On the way out of the temple at 10:00 or so, there were still a lot of missionaries milling around taking pictures in front of the Temple. He was there, and wanted to take a picture with us.

On Sunday, Molly and I read a chapter in Neal A. Maxwell's book, "All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience" together about Service. It was really meaningful - there are lots of ways to serve, but we have to start by thinking outside our own interests. In our world today, it seems that everyone is lobbying for their "rights", while efforts towards lifting others, serving, sharing blessings, and watching out for others has been completely lost. At least in the visible, public arena.

We are really blessed here to be able to see all the small acts of love and service that these generous, kind, Bolivian members offer. Fortunately, these kinds of efforts exist in all parts of the world - they just don't get any publicity.

On Monday, we had FHE with the missionaries. President Jensen talked about the different versions and edits of the Book of Mormon through the years. Changes to the Book of Mormon over the years have been attempts to clarify and correct errors based on handwriting style, grammar clarifications, spellings, etc. None have changed the purity and simplicity of the doctrine. It was interesting to think about all the problems that would arise in printing a book that has 150 million copies having been printed and distributed through the years.

Lisa Wiggins, Sawyer's other Grandma, texted Molly to let her know that Sawyer is doing very well. They removed his PIC line, and are looking towards April to revise his colostomy.

It's interesting to note that the promises of the Lord aren't that all our problems will disappear when we make good choices, when we serve others, and even when we consecrate our time and talents to His service, but that He will make us capable of bearing the burdens. The great Plan of Salvation and Happiness are designed to help us learn to be more like Him, to bring us closer together as His children, and to progress. We are truly grateful for that Plan, and for a family who are all working hard to love and support their families as they progress towards that goal.