Sep 10-17, 2017 - Fisher & barber, Winkfield Endowment, CEO Game, Catholic School, Independence Day
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 son as he became endowed, in the Tokyo Temple (pictured above). What great joy they felt! They related their journey. The son, in the U.S. military, deployed to Tokyo, also told his parents he was going to start dating, with the goal of finding a Japanese woman to marry in the temple.
Beforehand, all 14 of us played "President," a card game brought to the gathering by the Temple President, pictured at the top of the photo below. The game's name varies. Wikipedia calls it "President." The Jenson family, when we played it, called it "Scum." Pres. Norman calls it "C.E.O." The game was new or almost new to the rest of us. We enjoyed snacks that were contributed by attenders. Note: none of the photos accompanying this write-up were taken at the meeting. They came from files and the Internet. But they depict accurately what happened.
Thursday
The Catholic girls' school down our street had its September 15 celebration today, since school was out on Guatemala Independence Day. They had the usual events that you would find scheduled at all schools and downtown: torch relay, flag raising, and singing the "National Hymn of Guatemala." It beat going downtown, which would have taken hours of travel, even if I did have a car.
Torch relay video (click the link below)
I had a Guatemala flag on our apartment door this week, and sometimes I wore the flag.
Friday the 15th: a holiday
We served at the temple from 6:30 am to 1:30 pm (the final session started at 11 am). I led 2 sessions and help twice with a third. Busier than we thought it would be. At 3:30, all 11 missionary couples (which includes the three in the temple presidency), plus a couple of other pairs, celebrated Independence Day together. Half were Guatemalan. The other half were mostly Yankees, except for 2 Canadians. Baudilio Reyna sang a few Guatemalan folk songs in his booming voice. There was such a strong light from the sun behind him, he was a silhouette. When Sherry Holman heard Frank Sinatra singing "New York New York," the missionary from Idaho, grandma to 32, jumped onto the stage and began dancing a routine she must have known from years past. I was surprised, yet entertained. Clara Flohr wore her bright red traditional Guatemalan dress and hat that has been handed down in her family generation to generation. Other ladies had interesting outfits as well. Babette contributed a rice, chicken, and cheese casserole to the gathering.
Video of us singing the Guatemalan national anthem (click the link below).
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