Sunday, May 5, 2013

Another great week in San Salvador...
Walt left at 5:30 a.m. for the quarterly Regional Coorelation Council...this time in the Santa Ana/Belize Mission area. It was in Sonzanate, which just took a 45-minute drive in not much traffic.
President Majano drove his car.  Walt said they chatted the whole way over and back.  Not often are just the two of them able to have time like that together.
President Majano took this photo of us as we all returned from a
2 1/2 hour training of our temple coordinators from 3:00-5:30.

Today was our turn to host the Sunday pot-luck dinner.  We chose to serve Saucy Pork Chops.  I quadrupled the recipe--cooking 20 thick, boneless pork chops, so I had 4 onions to peel and cut.  My eyes were still stinging throughout Sacrament Meeting.
      Walt is normally the onion cutter, and I was lamenting the whole time that I had not remembered to have him cut those reeking onions last night.
    I got the chops browned, the onions sliced, and the sauce made to combine it all in the crock pot for the 3-4 hours on high, just in time to get to Church at 9:00. I got seated just as the second counselor stood up to welcome us.  Our Bishop Figureroa was home sick today. 

The Saucy Pork Chops took the full 4 hours to be tender enough. (Everything seems to take a little longer to cook here--especially roasts and such.
 I was so excited when I was standing by the kitchen window to see Walt walking across the parking lot to the apartment complex.  These Reg. Coorelation Councils are scheduled from 7:00-2:00, but they left early because we had to open the temple at 2:30 for the coordinators to come in and change into their white clothes for the 3:00 start of the training.
   Walt took this photo of me while I was getting the salt and pepper  shakers to put on the table.

The Clarks brought mashed potatoes, the Walls brought corn and a jello salad, and the Thompsons brought a dessert of cherry cobbler with ice cream.

Walt was enjoying the food and conversation so much he almost forgot that he had to leave to open the temple.  We barely had time to take the group photo.
Front left to right: Hna. Thompson--Nancy; Hna. Wall--Diane; Hna. Petersen--Eileen; Hna. Clark--Marilee.
Back: Elder Thompson--Lon; Elder Wall--Frank; Dale Wegkamp, here with the USAID helping the youth of El Salvador (His wife, Lisa, is in the USA to return in a couple of weeks with their daughter Laura and her two little girls.); President Petersen--Walt; Elder Clark--Joseph.

I didn't get a photo of all of us at the table, but I got a snapshot of the little purple flowers, plus the tiny yellow blossoms that bloom in the lawn cover that is used here instead of grass.
Plus, Hna. Clark returned her little May-Day basket filled with pistachio nuts.

And, I'm getting a neck cramp from sitting at the computer.....so I will continue this post in a while.
   ....Now it's Wednesday evening.  So I guess this will be the end of the post for last week.