This last week was busy too, but not too busy for us to celebrate the birthday of one of our temple missionaries - Elder Franklin Perez (standing, with the yellow tie below) - who turned 68 on July 4th! So after the evening workers finished their shift, we all gathered at the Perez apartment to sing "Happy Birthday" to him and have some birthday cake and ice cream. (The cakes here are NOT like cakes in the U.S., by the way - they look the same on the outside but are vastly different inside. That's a story for another time, however.)
We North American missionaries had our Independence Day celebration on Saturday, July 6th because Saturday is the only day the temple closes early (at 6:00 pm). We met at the Cochabamba Mission Home which is just across the street from the temple on the north. All mission homes are huge because they have to accommodate from 20-30 missionaries at a time when a bunch are coming in or going home. Here are a couple of pictures of the dining area. Sister Dyer had decorated each table in red, white and blue - and as I hope you can see from the second picture below - she has room enough to have one long table, two shorter tables (5 feet, maybe?) and a round one, without being at all crowded.
We had a semi-traditional 4th of July potluck dinner: barbecued chicken, potato salad, baked beans, deviled eggs, and (Sister Monroy’s tradition) a tomato-and-avocado salad. She also brought corn on the cob, but it was Bolivian corn (also known as choco) – which looks like the same thing but definitely isn’t. The kernels are about 4 times bigger than our corn and, as someone said sotto voce to me, “The only flavor this corn has is the butter and salt I put on it.” But it was a nice idea, even if it didn’t work. We had this table full of desserts to choose from, both traditional and not. The one thing we didn’t have was watermelon, but it’s so cold down here we didn’t even miss it.
After dinner we put on our coats and went outside in the street and had Bolivian fireworks. Apparently they sell fireworks here for New Year’s, so last December Bob and Tammy Cardon bought a bunch and saved them for now. They had about 10 of the kind that go way up in the sky and then explode in a big pattern (like you see at a fireworks show only of course not so big). I can’t remember what they are called – not Roman candles, but ??? Anyway, he also had some long tubes which, when you lit the fuse end, shot 6 or 7 rockets-type-fireworks about 30 to 40 feet, maybe even 50. One of the men said, “I feel just like Harry Potter!” (Maybe that gives you some idea of how they worked.) And of course they had firecrackers, really LOUD ones. It was fun – especially dodging the cars that came down the street while the men were in the middle of the street trying to light the rockets. All the South American temple missionaries were invited to this shindig and they surely enjoyed watching us gringos celebrate our Independence Day.
Below, President Norman with one of the "firesticks".
Below, one of the "Roman candles" about to go off.
A picture of all of us enjoying the fireworks.
Lastly, this is a "flag" that Sister Dyer made from men's ties and (worn-out) white shirts. Isn't it clever? I think even I could do something like this.
We had quite a few people at the temple Thursday, Friday and half of Saturday from La Paz (8 hours away by bus) and from Aruquipa (even further away - down on the Argentine border). The latter group only get to come to the temple once a year because it's so far away. In these groups, we had several couples who had come to the temple to be married for "time and all eternity", (not just "until death do you part") - AND some of them were couples who had been married civilly for a while and had children to be sealed to them. Not all the brides are young, by any means. Below is a picture of a sweet older couple, probably in their 60s, who were sealed on Saturday. Notice her beautiful veil. It came down to her knees (sides and back) and was very sheer with embroidered roses on it. Her dress was the traditional Indian/native dress. Usually they are very bright-colored but for a wedding they use either gold or silver or this white satin-y material.
These two little girls belong to one of the friends who came along. Aren't they adorable?
And this is a picture of a younger family who were married/sealed also on Saturday. What a beautiful family they are. It was a JOY to see their happiness!
Lastly, I thought I would share the changing colors of our temple flowers with you. Below is the fountain as it looked when we got here in March (autumn in Bolivia).
Then about a month ago, they replanted - not just around the fountain but everywhere and we have pansies galore. I always thought pansies were a summer flower because Farron's mother had them in her garden. In fact, I think of her whenever I see pansies anywhere. Apparently they are a winter flower here.
Here's what the flowers in front of the temple looked like in March and April (again, autumn).
And here's what they look like now.
There is a full-time staff of gardeners here and they are kept very busy. The temple grounds cover six acres and they are responsible for every inch of grass, plants, trees, shrubs and flowers. They do a fantastic job. This may be the most beautiful place in all of Cochabamba; certainly it ranks in the top two or three.
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