Third week of January 2014 in El Salvador...

Sunday, January 19, 2014...
We went to Church.  We don't have to make the decision each Sunday morning when we wake up whether we are going to Church or not.  We decided long ago, that we wanted to go to Church each Sunday.

Then we had dinner at the apartment of Elder DeVar and Hermana Sharon Haroldsen.  Hna. Haroldsen made a delicious "Mexican Combo" soup.

As much as we enjoy the food, we love our conversations together...before and after eating.  Below are Elder y Hna. Caballero, and John Kerr.

We're also gathering many good recipes from each other.

Which reminds me, I promised to send the recipe to Kari Kerr for the "Peppermint Refrigerator Dessert" I made for today.
Peppermint Refrigerator Dessert (Photo is the half left from today.)

Ingredients  -  Serves 8-10
1 cup graham cracker crumbs (or vanilla wafer crumbs)
1 pint heavy cream, whipped (2 cups)
      1/4 cup sugar to add to cream to whip
1 cup finely crushed peppermint candy
   (10-12 reg candy canes; it took about 30 of the small candy canes 2 1/2 inches long.)
   (They crush in a blender very well I discovered after trying for 20 min to crush
      several of them with the rolling pin.)
2 cups mini-marshmallows
1/2 cup chopped nuts - optional
Few drops of red food coloring

Directions
Put most of the graham cracker crumbs on 
bottom of an 8x12 (or 9x13) pan
    Save a few of the crumbs to sprinkle on top
While whipping cream add sugar, then
    whip cream until stiff
Fold in the food coloring
Fold in the crushed candy canes, marshmallows,
   and nuts.
Spoon this mixture into pan, sprinkle with
   remaining crumbs.
Refrigerate 8-12 hours.
  A light, airy, yummy dessert.
Here is a photo of each couple gathered today for Sunday dinner.
Our host and hostess - Elder DeVar and Hermana Sharon Haroldsen from Idaho Falls.  They are serving here as temple missionaries from June 13, 2013 to December 13, 2014.  This is their third mission--2 in Chile and now here in El Salvador.

5:19 p.m....
Walt just said: "Let's go take a little walk outside.  It's 86 degrees, so I may have to take off the sweater I wear in our apartment because of the "cold" air conditioning.  We can only control it a few degrees here in the apartment.
 ..............time out, I think my husband has cabin fever.
We had a nice 35-min walk....I'll put photos at end of this blog.

Continuing with the couples at dinner today:
Elder Roberto y Hna. Irma Caballero.  They are originally from El Salvador but have lived in Canada for 30 years. This is their first mission and they are serving Aug. 15, 2013 to July 15, 2015.

John and Kari Kerr.  They are from Pleasant Grove...but have also lived in California.  Kari is originally from Sweden, came to the United States when she was in her early 20's when the call was still "Gather to Zion."  They moved here Oct. 1, 2013 and were called as stake temple missionaries.  They go back to Utah on February 19.  They were also temple workers in the Sweden Temple for six months.

Elder Joseph Clark and Hna. Marilee Clark were with President David and Hna. Beverly Glazier today at the Ilobasco Ward...which is about an hour and a half to two hours out of the city.  Marilee and Beverly are sisters.  The Clarks are from Utah, but raised their family in Arizona.  Hna. Clark's father was a temple president in Uruguay when she was a student at BYU.  This is their second temple mission.  They are serving for one year Feb 2013 to Feb 2014.  We are going to miss them a lot when they finish their mission here!

Yesterday President Petersen opened the temple at 4:10 a.m. and we finished our shift at 11:30 a.m.  We always take a nap on these Saturdays when we get up at 3:00 a.m.
   Then Walt worked on medical receipts for November and December and I worked on the computer.  I also made the Peppermint Refrigerator Dessert to have our temple missionaries see if they thought it would be okay for the Apostle and his wife, and our Area President and his wife for whom we are cooking dinner one night next week.  
    They all said it was delicious and passed the test.
 When we come out of the temple from a shift, everyone loves to greet the temple president.

Hna. Silvia Hernández, (on the right) our Saturday morning shift coordinator and Hna. Vargas, a great temple worker from the same shift, took a photo of us, then I took this photo of them.  We are blessed to have so many dedicated and faithful temple workers.

Hna. Hernández walks an hour from her home to be at the temple by 4:15 a.m. to be ready for the 4:45 a.m. preparation meeting.

Many patrons come to the temple on Saturdays.  There were three buses parked when we were walking back to our apartment.  This gal was taking photos of her group, and just as I was taking a photo of her doing this, she turned and took a photo of us.

I think some of the buses show in this photo.  We love it when so many patrons are in and round about the temple.  One stake - Cuscatlán - brought 120 youth for baptisms.

When the Clarks finished their morning shift on Friday, we all went to lunch at the "Bistro San Lorenzo" by the National Museum. They have the best Lasagne I've ever had!

Thursday and Friday, Walt had his #2 and #3 Physical Therapy sessions on his shoulder. It's giving him less pain each time.

I like it when Walt has an early-morning physical therapy appointment because we get to stop for breakfast at McDonald's on the way back to the temple grounds.

We also drove over to the Multi-Plaza to pick up Walt's suit at the Martinizing Cleaners.  Diane, tell Elder Wall that they have a new girl there now who didn't know President Petersen. He had to sign his name in a book because he'd forgotten his receipt.

And this is the view along the two-blocks we drive from the Multi-Plaza back to the temple grounds.  Have I mentioned that I love palm trees.  Still trying to figure out how to grow one in our yard in Burley, I D A H O.

Wednesday, January 15...don't know if I took any photos.  We have the morning shift, but don't have to be up until 4:15 a.m. to open the temple at 5:15 a.m.   Oh, yes, we went with the Clarks to The Galleria where Elder Clark and President Petersen got hair cuts.  Here is Walt's "before" photo.

And here is his "after" photo.  This was recommended to us because it's where President Glazier gets his hair cut.  And it was just $6.00.  The haircuts are $7.50 at Vidals in the Walmart Mall.

Tuesday, January 14, we didn't take any photos.  That was the "94th Birthday Remembrance" for my Mom.  I did a whole blog post about her on that day and copied the first ten years of her Life Story.  (See previous blog to this one.)  

  Mom, I will love you forever!

This is a photo of her in 1940s in her 20's....I think.

This is a photo of her with her granddaughter Sarah Robertson at her wedding to Kenny Day, July 18, 1997. Mom would have been 77 years old.

And here is Mom with her great-granddaughter, Abbey, in May 2012 when Verna was age 92.

Monday, January 13, P-Day, we drove the missionaries to Price Smart to shop, then Walmart, and then we had lunch at "The Dynasty."  

We didn't think the Chinese food was as good as at "The Royal" Chinese Restaurant, so it's "The Royal" for us from now on.

Then our favorite part of Mondays is Family Home Evening. It was John and Kari Kerr's turn. Hno. Kerr showed us some slides and taught us about what's out there about Book of Mormon lands.  We appreciated all the testimonies given of the Book of Mormon.

As Elder Gary Coleman--from our Area Presidency when Walt was mission president of the México Mérida Mission--told us:

"The Lord has seen fit not to leave physical, geographical evidence for the Book of Mormon sites.  The Book of Mormon is not a geography book."

Walt had heard about "the mound builders," I had never heard of them.

We both learned for the first time that there have been three

types of mounds found:

1. Ceremonial

2. Defense

3. Burial

I want to look up more about what Joseph Smith said of one mound they saw on Zion's March....in Illinois: He is quoted as writing to Emma that it was the burial site of a Nephite warrior "Zelph."

     I got a group photo after the Haroldsen's and Caballero's left to walk the ten minutes back to the temple grounds.

Hna. Kerr served strawberry ice cream and Oreos. (Yes, they must have Oreos all over the world.)

L-R: Walt, John and Kari Kerr, Joseph and Marilee Clark, Dora and Jerry Winter.

So when the other two couples got back to the apartments, I got their photo. Roberto and Irma Caballero, DeVar and Sharon Haroldsen.

And that's our week in El Salvador.

We hope you have had a restful and peaceful Sabbath Day.

Oh...here are some photos from our early evening walk. Walt said even though they've cut all the trees across the back side of our apartment building: "It's still like a tropical paradise."

Here is some more of the greenery at the side of our apartment building.

The temple is beautiful at any time of day or from any angle.

Walt got a photo of the busy highway that's been built in the

canyon by the temple. Here he is reaching for the camera.

Here is the highway on the north side of the temple. There is never much traffic on Sundays.

Here is the temple at sunset just as we were finishing our evening walk.

And through these temple doors...

...which have engraved above them: "Holiness to the Lord. The House of the Lord."

If we make and keep temple covenants, we will be able to live "TOGETHER FOREVER AS FAMILIES."

   That's why we are here for three years.  That's why young missionaries answer the call to serve throughout the world. They leave their families for 1 1/2 or 2 years so that others who do not know about The Restoration and Priesthood Temple Ordinances can learn, be converted through the Holy Ghost, and be able to be with their families forever.

   Of these truths we testify, and also testify that we have had living Prophets upon the earth in this Last Dispensation from Joseph Smith to Thomas S. Monson, who is the 16th Prophet of this Last Dispensation.

     We love the Savior and daily give thanks for His Perfect Life and His Atonement for us.  

     We thank Heavenly Father for directing the Creation of this beautiful Earth through His Son Jesus Christ, and Adam.  

     The Lord God said: "For behold, this is my work and my glory--to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." --Moses 1:39

       We pray for the immortality and eternal life of each one of us.

           Read the Book of Mormon. It will change your life for the better, as does the Bible.

     And now we head into another week in El Salvador.

                   Walt and Eileen Petersen