7-7-13....how did it get to be 6 years after 7-7-07?

Note: As I was finishing this post at 8:50p.m. the longest and strongest earthquake we have had in our 2 years here started shaking the apartment, my computer, and me.
    When it ended, we went out into the common hallway, and everyone from the other four occupied apartments were already buzzing about it.
  I asked the Majanos if this was a big one for them.
  "No," Hna. Majano calmly replied.
  President Majano said he thought it was probably a 4 or 5  magnitude.
  Walt said: "It was getting to the 'scary' stage."
Our sweet Hna. Clark just e-mailed us the magnitude:

"I looked it up--it was a M 5.9  There were probably 50 or so today all over the world--New Guinia had 2 quakes that were in the 7s--but we were the next biggest of all the quakes today.  It was in the ocean.  Wow--that was amazingly powerful!!

May this wonderful earth find peace--how painful for her to suffer through all this evil and moving.  Plus--one quake is enough for me!!

 Love you all---los clarks"

And here's how I originally started this post before the Mother Nature shook up our peaceful Sunday evening:

Another Sunday. 
Some days are long but the weeks are zooming by...
 Here we are this evening after a 3:00-5:30 training of temple workers for LaLibertad Stake for when they will be serving as obreros y obreras when their Stake comes on the holiday of August 6.

Presidente y Hna. Majano - Rafael y Aida. He is the first counselor and she is a great assistant for me.  The Alas' had already left just before we got out the front door. He is the second counselor and she is also a great assistant for me.
   Walt feels it was truly inspiration to choose these two counselors. They are a very unified temple presidency. And I add, they are a very spiritual and strong temple presidency.

Walt and the Majanos greeting the workers in front of the temple...

Our Sunday schedule...
We have decided not to do our combined pot-luck Sunday dinners on Fast Sunday.  Everyone chooses different times to begin their fast on Saturday...so this way each can break their fast when they desire on Sunday.
     However, a couple came to the temple yesterday who are here in Guatemala from Rexburg.  Hno. Shiley is over International Business at BYU-Idaho and is on Sabbatical with a grant from Wal*Mart helping single women in 3rd world countries--opps, the politically correct term now is "developing countries"--start up small businesses.  
    Hna. Clark invited them to Sunday dinner, as we were standing by them after their session.  She also invited us.  
"Now, I'll have to go check what I have in the freezer," she said. There was no time to go to the store after we were all off our shift.
(Well, time but we went once to the store on a Saturday evening....the lines were so long we vowed to never do that again at the end of the week.)

I told her I had wanted to invite Presidente y Hna. Hintze and their daughter to dinner today but I didn't have their phone # nor e-mail to get in contact with them.
     Here are Kevin and Carrie Shiley from Idaho.  They go to Guatemala Tuesday for two weeks, then to Costa Rica for two weeks.  He is working hard and she said she is enjoying their adventures in Central America.

     Sweet Hna. Clark offered to invite the Hintze's when we saw them at our ward today. --Well, Presidente Hintze was in the Regional Correlation Council where Presidente Petersen was (in our building), so Hna. Clark invited Hna. Hintze and her daughter, and also Presidente Hintze for when the RCC finished.
   Presidente y Hna. Hintze have lived in Mexico, Chile, and Argentina many different years working for the Church.  Their daughter, Kimberly, just back from her mission in Hong Kong, is with them for the summer.  Hna. Diane Hintze grew up in Grace, Idaho, and I didn't hear where Presidente Kai Hintze grew up.  However, he did serve his first mission as a young man in Uruguay, so Presidente Petersen and he had that instantly in common.  As well as did Hna. Marilee Barton Clark, whose father served as a mission president in Uruguay.

     It was a delicious dinner--even though Hna. Clark insisted that nothing really went together because of the haste with which it was put together. We gave her some apples and celery for her pasta salad, and that can of pineapple they had given out at FHE as prizes.
I had offered to furnish the frozen strawberries and strawberry ice cream for the dessert of strawberry shortcake.  I was going to bake a yellow cake for it too, but that little pill, Hna. Clark, came rushing down to our apartment when we got off our shift yesterday and said she already had a cake in the oven.  They had just gotten home a touch before we did.
     So I mixed Parker House rolls and baked them last night to go along with her Chicken Alfredo, rice, and pasta-grape-apple-celery-chicken salad.  And she also made Hna. Thompson's delicious green jello-with-pear-and-pineapple salad.  It had become a favorite of mine the first time Nancy served it.

I wish I'd gotten a close up of the beautiful centerpiece of fresh gardenias.
   We took the group photo before dinner this time.

And even earlier this day...Walt was up at 5:45 a.m. to get ready for a 7:00 a.m. to noon RCC. (And for once it didn't go an extra hour or two as it usually does.)
Walt had the assignment to give a 10-minute talk on the Atonement at the beginning of the Reg. Correlation Council this morning.
   He just told me the gist of what he talked about after his several hours of reading and researching again about
                         T H E    A T O N E M E N T
In the pre-existence we had advanced as far as we could go there, so we were sent to earth to get a body and gain the experiences we needed with that body.  Jesus Christ, the first-born Son of Elohim, knew that sin would be part of those experiences and that we would need a Savior.  He offered to come to save those who would be saved.  [Walt knew we understand that all men will be resurrected because of the Atonement no matter what they do, but not all will be exalted unless they do their part.]  
Christ lived a perfect life and was able to fulfill his fore-ordination of paying the price to satisfy justice." [a few photos, then Walt's talk continued] 
The Savior was born into humble circumstances...

He learned from His earthly mother...

And from Joseph, his father figure on earth...
"And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man." --St. Luke 2:52

The Savior is our Shepherd...

Walt's talk continued:
He suffered the pains of every person's sicknesses, sadnesses, and sins in Gethsemane. The scriptures tell us the agony was so great that he bled from every pore.  As a physician I cannot understand this.  God sent an angel to buoy Him up through this agony. [Eileen's note: Somewhere I've been taught that this was Adam, but I don't have scripture to back that up.]

The spikes went through his palms, wrists, and feet.  I cannot fathom the excruciating pain of that.
  If we don't repent, we will have to suffer as He did.

He is our Advocate with the Father.  He paid that price so we wouldn't have to.  It is not just the pain of not repenting of what we've done wrong, all pain: disappointment, defeat, death.
   After all we can do, His Grace through THE ATONEMENT heals all death, defeat, disappointment, all sins, sadnesses, and sicknesses. And we will have none of these anymore.
    This is the end of what Walt told me, and he has fallen asleep in the recliner chair from his exhausting day.
    I see in his notes that he also had written "worlds without end and children without end..."
   [His notes are mostly in Spanish...so I just catch bits and pieces.]
I'll add a few more photos covering the Resurrection and the Second Coming of The Savior.
"He is not here, for He is risen as He said..."

"Behold, my hands and my feet..."

His last words to His Apostles..."Feed my sheep..."

Christ will return - King of Kings, Lord of Lords...
   The Second Coming of the Savior...

We add our testimony to the testimony of many others, that He lives, He loves us, and He is our Savior and Redeemer.  He has Restored His Church to the earth.  

WE ARE THANKFUL FOR 

THE ATONEMENT OF JESUS CHRIST.

    And we are thankful for the restored Priesthood Temple Ordinances that bind families together forever on earth and in heaven.

We hope you have had a joyful and peaceful Sabbath Day.
This painting is called "Christ in the Americas"...It appeared in the October 2012 Ensign and Liahona.  It was painted by Jeff Hein, Salt Lake City.

More of our Fourth of July...

Fourth of July patriotic picnic...

...that almost didn't happen.
It was fun that everyone wore blue or red for the occassion.
Hna. Clark, third from right, took the first photo above so I could be in it.

Even though Walt and I wore our matching red, white, and blue shirts on the July 1, Monday P-Day, and the Clarks gave an outstanding lesson on the history of The Declaration of Independence at FHE that night, it still didn't seem like the Fourth of July until we got up on July 4.

Hna. Clark made a red, white, and blue star for each couple.

And she served blueberry muffins with cute red and white flags.  She had started the morning in her patriotic outfit.

Thursday morning, July 4, since it was our day with no shift, and a USA holiday, Walt--out of the blue--took me to McDonald's for breakfast.  
    As we were getting up I mentioned that it would be fun to have a picnic for our Sr. Couple Temple Missionaries before they had to leave for their afternoon shift at 1:00.  
So while we were getting ready to leave for breakfast (at 8:00a.m.) I hurried and put eggs and potatoes on to cook.  The eggs were done before we left, but we just let the potatoes sit in the hot water till we returned to finish cooking them.

After the fluffy pancakes and delicious sausage (only sausage in El Salvador is at M-D's) we dashed to buy hot dog buns, chips and Fresa Soda (strawberry).
We had hot dogs in the freezer, pork 'n beans in the pantry, and a Betty Crocker Devil's Food cake mix, which we covered in white powdered-sugar frosting and made a red "4" out of M&M's.

I was just dumping the frosting on the cake when they arrived at 11:30....so in about 2 1/2 hours we'd made potato salad (inspired from Jen's post on fb the day before) and thrown everything else together to have an instant picnic ready.
  As Hna. Haroldsen heard us say we'd decided that morning to have this picnic, she queried: "You mean you made all this, this morning?!"
Walt told me I have some of Grama Jane's and Grama Rie's genes in me. I guess I got them by marrying into the family.
 Grama Rie (Maria Smith Prescott 1882-1970) could have unexpected company come--extended family or friends--kill, pluck, and cook a chicken or 2 or 3, and have a full meal on the table within an hour or so. And Grama Jane could do the same. Walt's mother and grandmother were extraordinary women - and, no doubt, still are in heaven!

As the Clarks were about to leave to get ready for their shift--they mentioned some symptoms Elder Clark had been having for several days.  Walt listened to his heart and calmly said: "I need to take you to a cardiologist now."
    President Petersen made a call and they had an appointment for 1:30--which was in one hour.  Elder Clark's problem was taken care of, and they kept him overnight in the hospital for further tests and observation. Hna. Clark stayed overnight with him there.  They got back to their apartment about 1:00 this afternoon, thankful that their temple president is a physician and knew what needed to be done.
We have had many tender mercies of the Lord while serving in this calling in El Salvador.

Today on our way back to the apartment after our 5:30a.m. to 2:30 p.m. shift at the temple, we greeted these four young women who were in front of the temple taking pictures.  We were about 45 seconds into our 3-minute walk from the temple to our apartment, when one of the young women came running up behind us and said they wanted a photo with us.
     Everyone loves this temple president!  

And I do, too!

And that covers our 4th and 5th of July for this week of adventures in Central America.
     Perhaps tomorrow before our 10:30a.m. to 6:30pm shift at the temple I can post why we love America - the Promised Land - the Land of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
      Hope we all have a restful night's sleep.

Fourth of July - 2013 San Salvador

Happy Fourth of July - 2013

As part of our Fourth of July we like to watch a patriotic movie. Tonight we chose "Sergeant York." We are thankful for all the men and women who have and do make our country free. God Bless America. Los Petersen - Walt & Eileen - Burley, Idaho via San Salvador

Sergeant York is a 1941 biographical film about the life of Alvin York, the most-decorated American soldier of World War I. It was directed by Howard Hawks and was the highest-grossing film of the year.^[2]

The film was based on the diary of Sergeant Alvin York, as edited by Tom Skeyhill,^[3] and adapted by Harry Chandlee, Abem Finkel, John Huston, Howard Koch, and Sam Cowan (uncredited). York refused, several times, to authorize a film version of his life story, but finally yielded to persistent efforts in order to finance the creation of an interdenominational Bible school. The story, that York insisted on Gary Cooper for the title role, derives from the fact that producer Jesse L. Lasky recruited Cooper by writing a plea that he accept the role and then signed York's name to the telegram.^[4]

Cooper went on to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal. The film also won forBest Film Editing and was nominated in nine other categories, including Best Picture, Director (Hawks), Supporting Actor (Walter Brennan), and Supporting Actress (Margaret Wycherly). TheAmerican Film Institute ranked the film 57th in the its 100 most inspirational American movies. It also rated Alvin York 35th in its list of the top 50 heroes in American cinema.

In 2008, Sergeant York was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registryby the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Today we were invited to speak at a small ward up one of the many mountains the city is built around...Los Planes in the San Salvador Stake.  
When we arrived at 8:30, this little group was waiting outside for the building to be opened. The Elder's Quorum President picked us up and drove us the 25 minutes to get there.
The couple on the left had walked 15 kilometers to get there...it took them 1 1/2 hours in the rain.  They are investigators.

Here are the beautiful lilies that a member brought.

Yes, that's the pulpit they are in front of.

So we got to speak through the flowers.  But they were very pretty flowers. And they gave us some of them to take home.

Here are some of the members. Normally we only speak at stake conferences because we could never get around to all the individual wards, but this was a special request because many of the members are very poor and discouraged.

They rent this building, but have purchased land to build their own chapel.

They had a lunch for us after the 3-hour block.  This is the primary president who had prepared the food.

Here is a a photo of the Bishop, his two counselors, his wife, and us.

And here we are with the primary president and the bishop's wife. The primary president also led their ward choir of 6 Hermanas.

The bishop reminded me of what Father Lehi might have looked like.

On our drive back I tried to capture some photos of the city down in the valley, but never had an open space long enough.

I did get a photo of pictures painted on this wall.

Our driver got us back in great time, and then he had to rush off to work as a policeman.

We didn't eat very much at the ward lunch so that they would have food to take to their homes.  So we joined our temple missionaries for dinner.  I didn't get a group photo, but I did get a photo of the hosts, Elder Jerry y Hna. Dora Winter.   They have the Wall's apartment - 205. They for the past 30 years are from Nampa, Idaho.  He is originally from Independence Missouri, and she is from Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

She served the main dish of her version of Spanish Rice...with chicken, scrambled eggs, cabbage, and I think she said it had some other meats.
The Clarks brought cooked squash, the Utts - watermelon, grapes, bananas, and strawberries, and delicious fresh bread from a Dispensa Don Juan's. We brought watermelon, but didn't have the pineapple we had also planned to bring because the traffic was so busy yesterday to drive over to Price Smart and we had to speak at 2:00 to 3 busloads from San Vincente.  We had also bought some rolls but when we saw the Utts had the bread, we didn't take the rolls. The Haroldsens made banana bread for dessert.  

Then from dinner, Walt dashed over to the temple at 2:10, and I followed shortly after to be ready for the 3:00-5:00 semi-annual training of temple workers from 1/3 of the stakes.  We had 68 Hermanas and 33 Hermanos. But I think there were more who didn't get to sign the roll.

President Petersen locked the temple at 5:50 and a temple worker took a photo of us as we near the end of a busy but fruitful Sabbath Day in San Salvador, El Salvador.

Then, of course, I got a photo of a few lingering members by the temple, which include Presidente y Hna. Alas.

We hope you have had a peaceful, fruitful, and relaxing Sabbath Day also.

I gave the two investigators each a Snickers candy bar I had in my purse (it was there to give to our security guards at the temple -- but I can always get more for them) and said to this couple that were about to walk an hour and a half to their small village: "These candy bars are sweet, but the true Gospel of Jesus Christ is even sweeter."

Onward to a new week of adventures...

Spring 1820

   A boy of 14 asked a question...

The Standard of Truth
 “The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”― Joseph Smith Jr.

June 27, 1844 - The Martyrdom