I think the last post ended with Walt getting home from the hospital...
Well, I'm just going to start with today--Sunday--and go back to last Monday--skipping Thursday, Wednesday, and Tuesday because I posted those days while I was staying in the hospital with Walt.
He is feeling so much better and is thankful for the prayers, concern, and love of family and friends.
Sunday, February 16, 2 0 1 4
Walt left early this morning with his counselors for the Regional Correlation Council at Illopango with Elder Ricardo Valladares presiding. He is the Area Seventy from Honduras. This RCC covered the El Salvador San Salvador East Mission, their President David Glazier and the 5 or 6 stakes in that mission.
President Majano drove the temple van.
At our Campestre Ward, I took some photos of John & Kari Kerr because this is their last Sunday here. They came October 1 to live so they could be called as stake temple missionaries. We have so appreciated their doing an afternoon/evening shift each day the temple is open.
Here's Kari with Relief Society sisters...I don't know the gals name of the far left, but from there: Consuelo Alas, Silvia Reyes, Liz Behner, Kari, and Lisa Wegkamp with her granddaughter Kelsey.
John and Kari then stood by the front door. But I didn't center it well enough to get the full width of the temple reflected in the glass door.
We also got a picture of them by the sign for our Stake Center.
Elder y Hna. Caballero hosted dinner today...Ricardo and Irma.
Walt got there after we'd started, but they had served a lunch at the RCC just before they left, so we saved his delicious, tender lomito for evening.
I just took photos around the table because Walt had to leave to get the temple open for the afternoon training of the temple workers from the Los Heroes Stake (that's our stake).
Elder DeVar and Hna. Sharon Haroldsen brought mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables.
The Kerrs, John and Kari, brought San Martin rolls and butter.
Walt and I furnished the strawberry jello with fruit cocktail, topped with real whipped cream.
Irma Caballero's sister, Mirna and her husband Miguel Santos, are here visiting from Canada. Irma and Mirna both grew up in Santa Ana, El Salvador but when a Civil War started 30-some years ago, they moved to Canada for safety.
Mirna made a tipica dessert from their native country called "Leche Palados," which tasted somewhat like rice pudding. It's made with milk, rice flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Delicious!
Then we were at the temple from 2:30 to 5:30 with the 61 temple workers who came from our stake. I tried to hurry and change from my white dress to get out front to get some photos, but some had gotten away. Some came back to the front door for me to get a group photo.
Then I was able to get photos of some of the couples who serve together. Dale and Lisa Wegkamp serve on the Friday afternoon/evening shift. We are blessed to have the Wegkamps here and they have been so helpful in our transitioning to living here. They have lived all over the world and have given us good advice. We love being with them.
Steve & Cristina Beaton serve two temple shifts a week, Tuesday and Thursday afternoon/evenings. They also helped at the PEF office before it was closed, and they also help others in the Family History Center. She is from El Salvador and has been here for a while. They will be going home to Canada on March 1.
Hno. Alonso and Hna. Silvia Figueroa serve on the Thursday P.M. shift, and Hno. Figueroa serves another shift because our sealers serve two shifts a week. Their son, Eduardo Figueroa, who is our Bishop, serves a P.M. shift.
René Hernández is a sealer, so has two shifts. His wife, Lillian, is "sin turno" which means she doesn't have a set shift. For many years she was the secretary of the Vice President of the country but has recently retired.
Presidente y Hna. Santos have shifts on Friday and Saturday. Their son, is our Coordinator for the Saturday morning shift - 4:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
And here is our Stake President, Jaime Omar López, who is our full-time temple recorder. His wife, Gladis, does a Saturday A.M. shift.
The husband of Yolanda Hernández, Hno. Imendia Hernández, who is one of our sealers, got out before I was able to get a photo of him.
Celina Alberto is our Coordinator on the Wednesday A.M. shift. Her husband does a P.M. shift without a regular shift.
And Berta Amaya comes to two shifts a week at age 84. We have several temple workers in their 80's....which age our temple president is about to be.
There's 34 of our 61 temple workers who came today. I will put the rest of the photos of the temple workers I got in a post later.
Yesterday, Saturday, February 15, we were asked to speak to a group of 25 young men and young women who came in from a stake an hour or so away.
They got here at 8:30 and were scheduled to do baptisms in the temple at 9:00, so we didn't speak long with them, but they were so attentive and the spirit was very strong.
Then later that morning we were scheduled to speak to a primary group who came on a bus 2 hours to get here. I counted 17 primary kids and several leaders.
We got a photo of each primary child touching the temple.
"They touch the temple, and the temple touches them."
Then several of the parents and children wanted a photo taken with us. We follow President Hinckley's advice:
"Adoration can canker your soul."
We know they want to be by us because of the sacred callings we have, not anything to do with the actual Walter or Eileen Petersen.
Saturday the temple president from the Guatemala Quetzaltenango Temple, and three former mission presidents who all four had been mission presidents in El Salvador, and their wives, came to do a 5:30 session in our temple. They had held mission reunions here that afternoon.
They loved the San Salvador El Salvador Temple.
After the session we invited them to come and see the temple president's apartment.
Everyone enjoys the view of the temple from our terrace balcony.
L-R: President y Hna. Mortenson are now in the temple presidency with President Perez; Hna. Cardon; Presidente y Hna. Perez, and I didn't get the name of the former mission president on the far right.
And now we're back to Friday, February 14...Valentine's Day.
We were scheduled for the P.M. shift that day. However, the day before when Walt got home from the hospital, his counselors said they were going to continue to cover his shift the rest of the week so he could get more rest.
The physicians here tell their patients that "rest cures most everything." So Walt decided his counselors would be happier doing his shift than his jumping right back into his schedule and possibly having a relapse.
So he consented to not return until our Tuesday morning shift on February l8.
So for Valentine's Day breakfast I made him biscuits 'n gravy--his favorite.
I hadn't had a chance to get him a card...being in the hospital with him for those 2 1/2 days, then his not driving. (I don't drive here because the traffic is so nerve racking!) So I made him a Valentine booklet. And I'd gotten an airplane made out of chocolate quite a while ago when we were at Shaw's...so those were his gifts for this special day.
The week before he'd picked out a card for me, and he found another darling teddy bear holding a heart with "Te Amo" = I love you. He also wrote a sweet letter.
Then I baked the biscuits.
The night before I'd baked some cupcakes, and mixed the dough for sugar cookies. So I got those baked and everything frosted to take six plates around to our neighbors on the second floor, plus I took two plates downstairs to Santos and Cecilia who clean our apartment weekly, and had just finished as I was baking the cookies.
When the missionaries are at their temple shift, I just leave the "surprise goodies" by their door.
I made a plate for Walt, too.
(Sorry, can't figure out how to rotate the pix.)
We put in South Pacific to watch that evening, but were both so tired, we just watched a few minutes, then put it on hold to continue Saturday night.
And I'll just say we had a wonderful Gringa Brunch on Monday, with Walt speaking to us about the sealing power of the temple.
The gals always bring delicious food, and we just plan enjoy talking with each other in English.
Left to right: Eileen, Delena Markland, Lisa Wegkamp, Keri Karr, Shaulee Curtis, Sharon Haroldsen.
And here Walt posed with the "Gringa Sisters." Delena had just left to go pick up Dallin from pre-school.
The gals were so interested in this presentation on power point about the sealing power that they wanted their husbands to hear it. Shaulee said I could send the 52 power point slides via e-mail, which I did.
Then Walt presented it at family home evening to our Sr. Couple temple missionaries.
And this . . . along with our three previous posts from the hospital, has been our week in San Salvador - Feb. 10-16, 2 0 1 4.
I will do a post about the sealing power presentation.
Here's a quote from it:
"The temple sealing power
is the most powerful
thing in the universe."
--Temple Worship, Andrew Skinner,
BYU Professor of Religion, 2007.
