L-R: Erwin, the driver, Walt, Lisa Wegkamp, Joe Clark, Marilee Clark, Frank Wall, Diane Wall, Nancy Thompson, Lon Thompson, and sitting in front, Jaime López, our guide (who is our temple recorder and also our stake president).
One of our friends took this photo for us on our camera.
The wharf on the left side of the photo is where we walked along.
Our first stop was at the La Libertad Wharf...where they sell lots of fresh fish...
Fish every where we looked... with a fish smell that made it hard to breathe.
We paused along the way for another group photo...same ones, except I'm in this one standing by Walt.
Then we went back to shore and had a cold lemonade before driving on.
Here's one view of the Pacific Ocean...the grass is really dry and brown because we're in the fifth month of the dry season. The rainy season begins sometime in May, and soon everything will be green again.
We stopped at a little restaurante called "La Nuestra" to get some good photos of the ocean. However, I missed a big step down and fell flat on my face on the concrete floor. Walt doesn't know how I didn't break a hip or something.
I'm thanking my guardian angel for somehow cushioning the impact. And, of course, we had prayed for safety before we started the trip.
In the photo below, President López is testing my eyes to see if they can follow his finger up and down, over and across. He said if I was hurting too much, we could turn back. But I wasn't hurting that bad.
It had knocked my glasses off and broken the side stem, and my camera fell out of my hands.
They told me the first thing I asked was: "Is my camera okay?"
I think I was somewhat dazed at first.
I had a small cut on my upper right cheek bone, my left thumb and index finger were hurting, and my left knee was hurting. Today--6 days after the fall, the hurts and black 'n blue bruises are about gone and I'm not having to wear a band aid on my cut. I'd been wearing a sun hat, so my hair got flattened on top.
Driving on we went through several tunnels through the mountainous terrain.
As we neared the main port city we rendezvoused with Bishop Juan Javier who joined us for lunch.
We had a beautiful view of the blue Pacific from the Café Acajutla where we stopped for lunch.
We even had some mariachi singers come by, but it was $20 for 5 songs, so we passed. They did sing Besa Me Mucho for us, but they really couldn't carry a tune.
It was a relaxing, enjoyable lunch.
Then we were off to see more sites. We didn't realize that, Jaime López, our guide, had arranged ahead of time to also rendezvous with the Sonsanate Stake President, who works at the famous Port of Acajutla, to have him take us inside the port.
It took 20 minutes waiting at their security office to have our clearances okayed, but it was worth the wait. Pte. López said he had never been allowed to see the inner port and was so excited to have "VIP's" to take in. (We know we are not VIP's, but they all seem to think we are.)
We saw some big battle ships, one had just docked from Taiwan. Three young sailors told Walt, in English, that all young men have to serve one year in the military in their country. They had just docked and would be in this El Salvador port for 3 days.
I didn't get out this time. I had had a hard time getting up into the mini-bus after my fall, and I was icing my knee. So I was happy to just see everything from the window.
We headed back to San Salvador from there, stopping once for ice cream cones, then arrived back at our apartments at 7:25...(just in time for the NCAA final game). It was one of our longer outings -- 9 1/2 hours, but we always have a great time together with our full-time temple missionaries, and today with Lisa, and with President López.
We hope you have all had a good week.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true.
We are thankful for Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the Restoration.
We are thankful for our Prophet today, Thomas S. Monson.
The Book of Mormon testifies of the Diety of Jesus Christ, as does the Bible.
We are thankful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ, our Savior.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Walt and Eileen Petersen - San Salvador
The Restored Priesthood Temple Ordinances
Seal Families for Time and for All Eternity
1 comment:
Glad your fall wasn't as bad as it could have been. We pray for you both. Connie and Dale
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