Happy New Year - 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR  2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012

Christmas Eve Progressive Dinner...

Course 1: Hor's Doeurvs(sp?)/Appetizers at the Kitleys Apartment 6pm
Course 2 at The Thompsons - Salad

Course 3 - Soup at The Walls - Frank & Diane...

Course 4 - Turkey 'n Fixins at Los Petersens -
Walt & Eileen

Course 5 - Dessert - Apple Nut Cake with Carmel Sauce at Los Gibbons - David & Marilyn

And then the traditional opening of one gift on Christmas Eve...

Merry Christms 10:07p.m. December 25...

Merry, Merry Christmas

A friend took a photo of us as we came out of Church today.
We hope you have had a wondertful Christmas Day.
We miss our family but had a great day with friends.
We have skyped each of our kids, and been able
to talk with many of our grandchildren.

One of my favorite scriptures for Christmas is:
"...to this end was I born..."
--John 18:37

We are thankful for Jesus Christ, who is our
Savior and Redeemer because of
His perfect life and
His Atonement.

Good Night.

  

Yes, I had a birthday on December 15...

Even at 4:45 a.m., Walt had balloons, our traditional birthday breakfast of donuts and chocolate milk, and birthday presents.
What a guy!
And we opened the temple just a touch after 5:00 a.m.
More later....
Thanks for the calls, fb  messages, and e-mails.

Christmas Devotional for Temple Workers...

This afternoon was the first annual Christmas Devotional for the workers of the San Salvador El Salvador Temple.

Several asked us to come outside the chapel after the Devotional to get a photo with us.  We also had them take one on our camera.

Our full-time temple missionary couples ushered and then helped serve refreshments to the 350 at the conclusion of the Devotional.

We are always relieved to have another talk over with.

Walt did a great job, as always.

Now he's concerned that he talked too much about himself--which he didn't at all.

Just before he started his hands weren't ice cold as they usually are when he gives a talk, so I was nervous about it.  But I didn't need to have been.

He had me come stand beside him at the beginning--and, for our kids, can you believe he showed how I say his name "Walt" in a normal tone for normal things, in a lower tone for more serious things, and then in a really low tone for very serious things.

The congregation really laughed.

He also shared his nickname for me of "Scrumptious" or "Scrumch."

He shared that President Uchtdorf, when he set us apart for this calling, said that we would be an example of a happy marriage. "This is easy to do with my wife," he told the group.

Then he kissed me on the forehead before he had me sit down.

I had had him come up and help me say a few things in Spanish at the beginning that I hadn't planned ahead for my written out talk.

I still stayed within my time frame of 5 minutes (which was a minute more than I had in the temple dedication talk on Aug. 21.)

The counselors and assistants to the temple matron also only took about 5-8 minutes each.

So that left 20 minutes for the temple president.

Everyone loves President Petersen

Missionaries love to greet the temple president and have a photo taken with him by the temple.


Bus loads brought many to the First Presidency Devotional on Dec. 4.

Young and old, President Petersen loves to be with the people.

They love to have him tell them their babies are beautiful -- which they are.

Sunday night, Dec. 4, they greeted him after the First Presidency Devotional.

We took time out to listen to our Los Heroes Stake Choir perform outside by the temple on Dec. 3. Hermanas Petersen, Lopez, Gibbons, Kitley, and Wall.

They love to have their photo taken with him.
This is a family from Juyjua.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

My favorite Christmas scripture is John 18:37 "...To this end was I born..."
Here's a scripture about Christ's Atonement from Alma 42:24
"...mercy cometh because of the atonement..."
Elder Gibbons taught about the Atonement in his FHE lesson on Monday. 

As we left our morning/afternoon shift at the temple, we walked out onto the front lawn to see the Nativity set that was put up the day before.  They were putting the palm leaf roof over it.

Walt surprised me by having the tree mostly decorated when I came out from catching up on e-mails, blogs, and fb.

During refreshment time, we ended the FHE with Elder Gibbons' tradition of watching the 30-min original "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" that he always starts his Christmas season with by watching with his grandchildren.

Elder Gibbons taught us some insights about the Gospel from the Old Testament, Leviticus, Chapter 1 explaining how the sacrifice of the animals head, inwards, front leg, hind leg, and fat correlate with today's Doctrine & Covenants 4:2 in serving with our mind, heart, strength, might, and the blessings that come.
Head = Mind
Inwards = Heart
Front leg = Strength
Hind leg = Might
Fat = Blessings


We gathered at 6pm for our weekly FHE--this Monday at the Gibbons apartment. Hermana Gibbons gave a fun Thanksgiving poem that her Mom always told their family, plus a fun action story about Thanksgiving on the frontier.
THE LOST TURKEY
Turkey lay there on the table
Turkey big and round and fat
But when it came time to cook him....
We didn’t know where He was at.
We looked all through the kitchen
And searched the pantry well.
We asked Jim and John about him...
and even Annabelle.
And even little Mary
and she said "Tourse I do.
Poor turkey didn't feel well
Because he lost his head,
So I put my nightie on him
And tucked him in my bed!

Hermana Kitley took the photo below since Elder Kitley had chosen to stay at the apartment to get some things done.

A little later, after driving to the Ace Hardware, the rest of us gathered at "La Gran Via" mall to have lunch at Shaw's before grocery shopping at the Wal*Mart complex.

The Walls decided to walk over to the Malls to do some shopping. They didn't plan their "look alike" shirts for the day.

We thank the Thompsons and Hermana Kitley. It was Hermana Thompson who volunteered to put the lights on and Hermana Kitley jumped right in to help.  What great neighbors we have!


Our missionary friends came on P-day morning and put the lights on the tree. This really helped Walt get in the Christmas spirit by not having to do his most dreaded job of the season.

Still seems strange eating out on the terrace patio surrounded by beautiful green trees, some with bright red flowers, when it's the end of November. We gather each Sunday for our potluck dinner.

Our "Thanksgiving Dinner"

Our "Thanksgiving Dinner" on Nov. 21.

Hermana Kitley had 5 feathers in the Presidente's headband for the "big chief."

They voted to have the surgeon carve the turkey.

(I had one rotated, but neither worked.)

The turkey was so cooked it was falling apart.

Here we are in the commons room, where Walt had each one share something we are grateful for about El Salvador.

L-R: Los Gibbons, Kitleys, Alas, Us, Majanos, Walls, and Thompsons.

Juan José and Rebeca took the photos of the group.

If you look closely, the tree they are standing by is a "Thanksgiving tree." 

It became a Christmas tree the next day.

Two of the Majano's grandchildren had come to be with them on their P-day.  She said she would just have them stay in their apartment while we ate dinner.

"Oh no," said Walt, "Thanksgiving is a family day...they will come and eat with us. So we grabbed two more chairs and place settings.  Here is Juan José who is 10. His sister, Rebeca, 8, also ate with us.

President Eduardo y Hermana Counselo Alas. Hna. Kitley is on the right...who made the headgear. She put three feathers in the counselors.

The table's set. Hermana Kitley made "Indian head bands" for the guys, white pilgrim hats for the gals.

It was fun eating out on the balcony terrace...seeing the beautiful green trees surrounding us.

We did have a great "Thanksgiving Dinner" on everyone's P-Day on Monday, Nov. 21. Walt and I cooked the turkey and made the gravy...and the 4 other couples filled in with all the fixin's. Oh...we also brought fresh pineapple and cantalope, plus made "nut cups" of peanuts and Poppy-Cock carmel corn and pecans from PriceSmart.

We are thankful for each of you...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING...
We are thankful for being able to function each day on this beautiful earth Heavenly Father has created for us.  And I just had this thought as another proof of a Heavenly Mother: all the pretty touches on earth she surely helped to add.
Love to all, Los Petersen - Walt & Eileen - aka
Mom & Dad
Mom & Dad Petersen
Grama 'n Grampa Mission
Uncle Walt & Aunt Eileen
Brother, Sister
Cousins
Friend
Neighbor

Layco Stake Conference - Sunday, November 20, 2011

Layco Stake Conference.

Our 7th one to speak at since September 4.

Everyone wants to shake hands with the temple president.

Bishop Mendez took two buses from his home to get to the temple complex to direct us to the Layco Stake Center. 

He is an Assistant Recorder at the Temple.

Great group of Priesthood brethren.

Walt loves to greet these elderly Sisters.

This sister ran up when she saw me taking photos and wanted one with the temple president.

It takes a while to get to the temple van with so many people to greet along the way.

Babies are precious all over the world.

These young men like it when Walt says: "Future missionaries?"

Bishop Mendez took a photo of us as we were leaving the cultural hall.

Saturday, November 19, we had 9 bus loads come to the temple. What a great day!