Hello, All --

This has been an ordinary week at the temple for July, which means very busy.  Here is a picture taken with a couple of young adults from Santa Cruz.  They had been in the temple earlier in the day and were taking some pictures before getting on the bus for the all-night ride home.

One slightly-unusual occurrence this week was that we got caught in a real DOWNPOUR, which isn't supposed to happen this time of year.  Theoretically, it's not supposed to rain again until November.  The thing about rain here in Cochabamba is that - during the winter - it means snow on all the passes between here and all the other cities.  Here are a couple of pictures of the snow on the mountains between here and La Paz.  These were taken Sunday, two days after the rains, so some of the visible snow had melted.

Last night (Sunday, July 20) we had a little musical program here at the hospedaje.  This is the second year that BYU has sent 5 music students down to Cochabamba to teach at the Fundacion Sinfonica de Cochabamba for one month.  This year's students were not anywhere near as accomplished as last year's (to my personal disappointment), but they are very nice girls and shared their talents with an evening of hymn arrangements instead of the more difficult classical music we heard last year.  Only one of the group spoke Spanish this year; hence they sang several hymns in English.  Here are some pictures.

They sang I Am a Child of God (in English) and Rachel Cottam (from Provo, Utah) played the churango, a native Bolivian instrument that to me sounds somewhat like a mandolin.

This is a closer picture of the churango.  It has 8 strings.

Rachel only bought it 2 weeks ago, so I was impressed that she could accompany the girls with it.

The violinist is Jenny Jones from Springville, Utah; the flautist is Kristen Blackham, 

from somewhere in New York.  They did a medley of For the Beauty of the Earth

and All Creatures of Our God and King.

They sang (in Spanish) Abide With Me, 'Tis Eventide.

They had 3-part harmony, very nice - a capella, too.

The girl in the very center, Kate Jessop (also from Utah),

plays the contra bass (the BIGGEST string instrument in the orchestra),

so she didn't have her instrument with her.

She has a lovely singing voice though and we benefited from that.

This is Rachel Cottam again; she plays the oboe beautifully.

A little later in the program, they sang A Child's First Prayer, 

which is Sister Jensen's favorite Primary song.

This was a flute, oboe and piano trio on Lead, Kindly Light.

The pianist is Rebecca Cottam; she and Rachel are twins.

Rebecca also plays the bassoon, but didn't bring it with her last night.

And finally, for their finale, they sang Be Still My Soul.

This is not in the Spanish hymnbook, so they had to sing it in English.

Rachel (on the right end) sang tenor, so they had 3-part harmony.  

It was a beautiful ending to the program. 

Okay, that's all for today.  Have a safe, happy, healthy week . . . y vayan con Dios.