March 2, 2104

  This picture is of a Stake President and his family. They stopped by the Area Office for an appointment. The little baby is 3 months old. The 2 Sisters at the left are secretaries in the Area Office, Pati and Telma. They both speak good English. Telma has been in the office for more than 20 years. They are so kind and helpful. We are very grateful for  them both.
  The weather has been spectacular the past few weeks. It is supposed to be warm, sunny and just about perfect until early May. Then the rainy season will start up. Then it cools of a little and rains almost everyday. It was 57 at sunrise and will reach the mid to upper 70's. The warmest temperatures could hit the low 80's before the rain begins. Sounds pretty tough doesn't it. The trees and flowers are starting to get blossoms and flowers again. They have not gone brown or died, just green.
  One day last week we decided to take a tour of an apartment in Victoria Suites that will become vacant at the end of  this month. It is a 2 bedroom on the 4th floor. There is a 1 bedroom available as well, right next door to the 2 bedroom unit. There are some 14 other Sr. missionary couples in the building. Doctors, Dentists, Psychologists, Auditors, Secretaries etc. all with their respective assignments. They are all very nice people. We know almost all of them. The living room and bedrooms are quite large. The kitchen is more of a 1 bum kitchen. The bathroom is smaller than what we have now. It is nice and comfortable. We are deciding between the 2 units available. It appears that we will need to move from our little Casita here by the Temple.
 

                                      These 4 depictions are of the methods that probably were used by the natives to carve out a large stone, transport it to a location, raise it up and finally do the engravings on the Estella. It is mind boggling to see how large these things are and think that it was done with manual labor.
     Yesterday we went to the Temple for about 3 hours. They were short-handed so we were able to help out some. Hermana Pitcher was able to help a sister in a wheelchair. The sister probably has muscular dystrophy and so it was difficult for her to even raise her hand. What a humbling experience to witness her dedication in attending the Temple.
   Today we saw some pictures of the Ogden Temple and how it is coming along. It is so beautiful! Let us know when the date is set for the open house and dedication.