Week 6   ... Sept 25 - Oct 1, 2017 Monday Fruit truck comes about 8:15 am every Monday. Their prices are lower than Walmart’s and the produce is much fresher.  Tuesday We sort of have Autumn here in Guatemala... I wore my sweater for the first time in Guatemala (5:30 AM).... https://youtu.be/B_RVOWtwXMw Wednesday   If you don’t maintain your home down here this is what happens to your roof... Thursday   “Alto” on a sign means “Stop.” But there is not a single Guatemalan driver who obeys the sign, unless he sees a car he must yield to (only because it’s going faster that he is, or is honking its horn to warn him not to merge until he passes.).... To see the very short video of this gross traffic incident, click on the link below ... https://youtu.be/P2fMU15DLVU Friday  Saturday  Semi-annual General Conference weekend Great words were spoken. Life changing. Before the Priesthood session we had a nice dinner at a nearby restaurant. I watched that session in th...

Week 5 ...   Sept 18 - 24, 2017    Monday    We're getting "cabin fever." We've been blessed to have had many interesting excursions and gatherings of friends. Today, however, we faced a full Monday with nothing fun planned, outside our "cabin." Time to analyze the situation... Tuesday I took photos of the boulevard that runs past the temple, at 6:15 am on a Tuesday  when people are going to work by bus, motorcycle or car.  To see the video, click the following... https://youtu.be/Zp83qMQbpJ4 Sidewalks When we go for walks, we have to be very observant. All sidewalks are not the same: uneven surfaces, some disappear, potholes, etc.  The best sidewalks are by the temple... Saturday Sunday Instead of walking a few steps from our apartment to church, we again went with the Framptons to a branch of the church an hour and a half drive away, in Siquinalá. Beautiful lush vegetation along the highways. 

Week 4 ... Sep 10 -17, 2017    Sunday.   Fellow newbie temple missionary Tim Fisher bore his testimony in church, relating a very interesting missionary experience. He was over at the CCM (Spanish speaking mission training center by the temple) to exercise in the gym. He saw a guy finishing up cutting the hair of about 50 young missionaries. Tim felt a strong urge to talk to him. He found out that, despite being around missionaries frequently, no one had invited him to hear the church missionary discussions, which were being taught there at the CCM. Tim got his name and address. He dialed the mission phone number, six times, in vain. The next day he saw the mission president in the temple and gave him the barber's info. It remains to be seen if the haircutter follows through with learning about the church.  Monday This was a family home evening I hoped would materialize. The Winkfields (their photo is at the top of the collage) went to Tokyo to be with a reactivated...

Week 3 ... Sept 3-9, 2017   On the way to Church, a volcano burped    On Sunday, we skipped our stake conference and went with the Framptons -- medical missionaries and next door neighbors -- to their assigned ward in a small town in the country, an hour and a half drive from the city. The way was very lush with vegetation. We saw three volcanos, one of which had emitted a black cloud of smoke!  The people at the Siquinalá Ward were intelligent and had strong testimonies of the church. I was ready to take my turn on the podium, but they kept it busy. They had a very nice brick chapel with two interesting trees -- one with huge bunches of bananas ripening and another full of coconuts.  Photo from the Internet that was very close to the way we saw two volcanoes today.  Trip to Antigua, Guatemalan tourist Mecca On Monday, our day off, the temple president drove us new couple missionaries to see the old city of Antigua, a favorite tourist destination. We saw a...

Week 2  ...  Aug 27 - Sep 2  2017    Food shopping, Mexican eats    We -- 3 of the 4  temple missionary couples from North America -- were driven to three popular shopping centers, in the temple president's van. The president and his wife were with us too. In Canada, Dollar City is known as Dollarama. We were on our weekly grocery trip.  Z For supper, a ll 8 of us who are the temple missionaries from North America walked five minutes to a reasonably-priced upscale Mexican restaurant named Tacontento, a chain. Babette and I had burritos.  Gym, Desk, & ... Hardings I went to the gym at the missionary  training center (MTC “CCM” in Spanish) and did the 10 machine exercises there, noting what settings I used, for reference when I come again.  At 1 pm I started my first of five 8-hour shifts this week at the recommend desk at the main door. I didn't get much training. I write down the name of temple workers as they come in and n...