Very little city planing. Houses are as close as you can build them. A lot of streets are just a path to walk down.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Gods canoe trip to the underworld.
Guatemalan nat. tree 120 ft 100 years.
Our first big temple
For the kids Tikal is were Gummie worms come from, they crawl fast!
In the ball court looking at guest house or leaders rooms. Compamy Boxes?
Young Elder Drake is 6 feet tall standing at the base.
Elder James 5'8" leaders marker, each leader makes one. Like theWashington Monument.
Jungle is everywhere "rain forest" the tallest temples just poke up.
Barbara "I'm not climbing up there!"
Friday, July 20, 2012
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Update for the Jensen's Blog: We will miss the Bowers, Ralph and Jo. They will be moving to Esquintla the end of this month and we have had some wonderful times with them. They arrived the night after we did here in Victoria Suites. They have been wonderful friends while they have been here and now they are moving away to help the branches become wards so Esquintla can become a stake.
They invited us to go with them to see the Lehi stone in Sinacote today. We always ask permission to leave the mission when we will be going somewhere outside of the boundaries. Pres. Stay gave us permission and said Lehi means jaw bone in Hebrew.
When we got to the area the missionaries were able to connect us with two young men who are members of the branch there that were willing to show us around. The Elders would have gone with us but they had a baptism and some discussions they didn't want to miss. We were anxious to go see the Lehi stone but they encouraged us to go to see "Ingenio de Baul Museo." We went down a long road with lots of potholes through the cane fields, to a fenced off area that appeared to be closed. One of the young men, Octavio, got out and spoke with the guard. He opened the gate and allowed us to enter.
As we drove on a little further, we could see that the area was an old sugar cane processing plant. It was huge and no longer being used. It looked like a great operation in it's day. We parked and proceeded to an outdoor patio area where they had removed the roof and were working to replace it. There were many rock figures that had been covered to protect them during the work. When they were excavating to build the cane processing plant, they had uncovered many stone figures.
As we came up to a carved statue of a Jaguar, I told one of the workers that it gave me goosebumps to think of the history of these statues. I asked him if he knew of our church and why that would be. He said "No". I proceeded to tell him about the Saviour's appearance to the people in America after His resurrection, and how Joseph Smith prayed to know which church was true. How he saw the Father and the Son, who told him none of them were true. I had brought one Book of Mormon with me, hoping to have an opportunity to give it away. I told them that I would go get the book for them if they were interested. They asked me to please do that.
I walked over to the car and got the Book of Mormon. As I walked back to the area where they were, I noticed 2 guards sitting close by. I decided to give them a pamphlet. As I came up to them and explained who we were, one guard looked at my book and said, "May I have that book?"
He repeated that several times in our conversation. I opened the book to 3rd Nephi Chapter 17 and told him that was one of my favorite parts. He started to read out loud. As we talked a little more, he explained that his daughters were members of the Church. He seemed very please with the book.
We took the names of those who were interested, that we had promised a book to, and told them we would send the missionaries to tell them more. I surely do hope that they were able to get the book they were asking for. In our conversation it came up several times what a special spirit there was at this place. Each time that I mentioned it, they would nod their heads yes. Our guides said that this could have been the area of the Zoramites.
We attempted to see the Lehi stone. It was in a sugar cane field and the cane was about 12 feet high. They told us that there were rats big enough to eat a chicken in the cane and that there were snakes big enough to eat those rats. Needless to say we were watching every step. We walked with our guides up a dirt road in the cane and searched but we could not find the stone. They told us that people had tried to remove the stone with heavy equipment but found that it was much bigger than it appeared on the surface. They harvest the cane in January and if we return then, we might be able to find it.
We took our guides to lunch at a Chinese restaurant and had a great time visiting with them. They were both returned missionaries and we talked a little about their missions. The interesting thing that we commented on after, was how you can go anywhere in the world and find a member of the Church and almost instantly feel that you have a friend that you can love and trust. The women here give each other a hug and a cheek kiss even if they don't know each other, as a greeting. How welcome that makes you feel.
We also had a chance to go to Santa Lucia to see the Pacific Ocean. As Dale and the Bowers went swimming on the black sand beach, the waves were so strong that it knocked them over and filled their pockets with sand inside out. The beach was clean and there weren't many people there. The name of the place we stopped was Alcatraz. The James's, Kent and Terry were also with us and we sat under a palm leaf shade and felt the breeze.
The thing that I want to remember about our trip is how beautiful the country is. It is so green and rugged with mountains everywhere. Everywhere we are reminded of these special people and their heritage of being the descendants of Lehi.
They invited us to go with them to see the Lehi stone in Sinacote today. We always ask permission to leave the mission when we will be going somewhere outside of the boundaries. Pres. Stay gave us permission and said Lehi means jaw bone in Hebrew.
When we got to the area the missionaries were able to connect us with two young men who are members of the branch there that were willing to show us around. The Elders would have gone with us but they had a baptism and some discussions they didn't want to miss. We were anxious to go see the Lehi stone but they encouraged us to go to see "Ingenio de Baul Museo." We went down a long road with lots of potholes through the cane fields, to a fenced off area that appeared to be closed. One of the young men, Octavio, got out and spoke with the guard. He opened the gate and allowed us to enter.
As we drove on a little further, we could see that the area was an old sugar cane processing plant. It was huge and no longer being used. It looked like a great operation in it's day. We parked and proceeded to an outdoor patio area where they had removed the roof and were working to replace it. There were many rock figures that had been covered to protect them during the work. When they were excavating to build the cane processing plant, they had uncovered many stone figures.
As we came up to a carved statue of a Jaguar, I told one of the workers that it gave me goosebumps to think of the history of these statues. I asked him if he knew of our church and why that would be. He said "No". I proceeded to tell him about the Saviour's appearance to the people in America after His resurrection, and how Joseph Smith prayed to know which church was true. How he saw the Father and the Son, who told him none of them were true. I had brought one Book of Mormon with me, hoping to have an opportunity to give it away. I told them that I would go get the book for them if they were interested. They asked me to please do that.
I walked over to the car and got the Book of Mormon. As I walked back to the area where they were, I noticed 2 guards sitting close by. I decided to give them a pamphlet. As I came up to them and explained who we were, one guard looked at my book and said, "May I have that book?"
He repeated that several times in our conversation. I opened the book to 3rd Nephi Chapter 17 and told him that was one of my favorite parts. He started to read out loud. As we talked a little more, he explained that his daughters were members of the Church. He seemed very please with the book.
We took the names of those who were interested, that we had promised a book to, and told them we would send the missionaries to tell them more. I surely do hope that they were able to get the book they were asking for. In our conversation it came up several times what a special spirit there was at this place. Each time that I mentioned it, they would nod their heads yes. Our guides said that this could have been the area of the Zoramites.
We attempted to see the Lehi stone. It was in a sugar cane field and the cane was about 12 feet high. They told us that there were rats big enough to eat a chicken in the cane and that there were snakes big enough to eat those rats. Needless to say we were watching every step. We walked with our guides up a dirt road in the cane and searched but we could not find the stone. They told us that people had tried to remove the stone with heavy equipment but found that it was much bigger than it appeared on the surface. They harvest the cane in January and if we return then, we might be able to find it.
We took our guides to lunch at a Chinese restaurant and had a great time visiting with them. They were both returned missionaries and we talked a little about their missions. The interesting thing that we commented on after, was how you can go anywhere in the world and find a member of the Church and almost instantly feel that you have a friend that you can love and trust. The women here give each other a hug and a cheek kiss even if they don't know each other, as a greeting. How welcome that makes you feel.
We also had a chance to go to Santa Lucia to see the Pacific Ocean. As Dale and the Bowers went swimming on the black sand beach, the waves were so strong that it knocked them over and filled their pockets with sand inside out. The beach was clean and there weren't many people there. The name of the place we stopped was Alcatraz. The James's, Kent and Terry were also with us and we sat under a palm leaf shade and felt the breeze.
The thing that I want to remember about our trip is how beautiful the country is. It is so green and rugged with mountains everywhere. Everywhere we are reminded of these special people and their heritage of being the descendants of Lehi.
Las Lomas Branch July 2012
They call it the boxer found when sugar factory was built.
Washer women washing cloths in the creek.
At the beach South West of Santa Lucia.. note the black sand.
Look close and you can see a Jaguar.
A chicken bus leaving town baskets are empty.
Found in digging foundations for sugar plant.
Same as above. No way to date rock.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Just a note about the pictures Dale has put on the blog. The top one is of the predominant means of transportation here. I'm not sure if we have mentioned the "Chicken Buses". Most of the people travel from one town to another using these buses. They are decorated each one differently, old used school buses from the US. You can see them especially in the morning full to overflowing with people and loaded on top with baskets of goods to go to market or to sell on the street. They make many stops along the way and only charge a few quetzales to ride. There is a helper who takes the money and yells out the destination. He helps the driver to know when everyone is loaded- the conductor of the bus.
The next picture was of a dam. You can see a very small trickle of water in the bottom. The thing that was impressive was the water marks on the sides. You can see that there are times during the year when there is water almost to the top. There was a young girl who was washed away in a torrent such as this recently.
There is a cathedral near downtown that we were very impressed with. It isn't open to the public very often. We just happened to hit it right after they had a meeting. They were very gracious to let us in and we tried to be very reverent. The work inside was very beautiful but didn't have the copious gold that many of the cathedrals have. It was built in 1902 and had a very good spirit about it instead of the oppressive spirit that you can have at some of the older ones. The pillars and much of the interior work was plastered with crushed quarts. There were many beautiful stained glass windows and a gorgeous wood carving of Jesus before Pontius Pilate. Outside there were signs of the masons in the cement work. We felt very lucky to have the opportunity to see inside this particular cathedral.
In zone 1, there is a central market that we visited in the next picture. Our friends were looking for blackberries to make jam and for $1.50 they were able to get a pound of beautiful blackberries. There are so many interesting things at the market. At this particular market you are welcome to bargain with the sellers for a better price.
Dale took a picture of a sewing machine, a new one that looked just like one our grandmothers may have had. It is capable of treadle or of electricity. It was selling for just over $100. Dale was pretty excited about it.
The next picture was of a dam. You can see a very small trickle of water in the bottom. The thing that was impressive was the water marks on the sides. You can see that there are times during the year when there is water almost to the top. There was a young girl who was washed away in a torrent such as this recently.
There is a cathedral near downtown that we were very impressed with. It isn't open to the public very often. We just happened to hit it right after they had a meeting. They were very gracious to let us in and we tried to be very reverent. The work inside was very beautiful but didn't have the copious gold that many of the cathedrals have. It was built in 1902 and had a very good spirit about it instead of the oppressive spirit that you can have at some of the older ones. The pillars and much of the interior work was plastered with crushed quarts. There were many beautiful stained glass windows and a gorgeous wood carving of Jesus before Pontius Pilate. Outside there were signs of the masons in the cement work. We felt very lucky to have the opportunity to see inside this particular cathedral.
In zone 1, there is a central market that we visited in the next picture. Our friends were looking for blackberries to make jam and for $1.50 they were able to get a pound of beautiful blackberries. There are so many interesting things at the market. At this particular market you are welcome to bargain with the sellers for a better price.
Dale took a picture of a sewing machine, a new one that looked just like one our grandmothers may have had. It is capable of treadle or of electricity. It was selling for just over $100. Dale was pretty excited about it.
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