This week we had a couple of farewell parties for the outgoing temple presidency.  (John Norman, former second counselor in the presidency, who went home in August, used to say "sometimes it must appear that all we do is socialize and eat" - and that's what this post will look like!)

This was the first party, on Monday night, October 21st.  It was held in the clubhouse at a gated community on the hill above the temple, where the Temple Recorder (Registrar) lives.  It was invitation-only (75 Bolivianos per person), and everything was beautifully planned and organized.  We were assigned to specific tables.  The table at the right where you can see a woman and man sitting was "the North American table", I guess.  We were one of two North American couples who weren't seated there.  I guess that's a compliment, since we were seated with exclusively Spanish-speaking couples.

Here's a picture of Farron and one of the couples at our table:  Carlos Salazar and his wife (can't remember her first name, sorry!)  His brother and sister-in-law were supposed to be at our table too, but they were unable to attend for some reason.  Later - after this shot was taken - Brother and Sister Leaños (former president of the Lima Peru Temple) and their daughter and her husband joined us. 

This was taken early on, before most people had arrived.  This couple (seated at the table next to ours) are Luis and Rosario Garcia.  He will be the First Counselor to the new temple president (who arrives this Thursday) and of course Sister Garcia will be an assistant to the Temple Matron.  

Doesn't she have a beautiful smile?

This was a surprise party.  Here are President Crayk and Connie arriving and being very surprised to see the big crowd waiting for them.  The gentleman on the left is Elder Rene Cabrera, an Area Seventy for the Church as well as the Recorder/Registrar of the Temple.

The professional photographer hired by the Cabreras took the Crayks around and snapped a photo with the guests at each table.  The North American couple on the right are President and Sister Dyer of the Cochabamba Bolivia Mission.  President and Sister Crayk are in the back row (she's wearing a red blouse).  After the party, all of us were given copies of the photo of our table - really a nice touch, I thought.

 

This is the band who played for dancing after dinner.  During dinner, we had lovely recorded music (from the Crayks' high school years) and it was soft enough we actually could talk to each other.  When the band started to play, it was so loud we had to shout even to the person sitting right beside us.  It was a good band and he was a great singer, but oh.my.goodness WAY-Y-Y-Y too loud!!

One shot of the dance floor.  Very few people didn't dance.

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This was the view from the clubhouse, looking down over the city at night.

Notice how beautifully the temple stands out!
Also, I always think how beautiful any city looks at night,
when you can't see the problems, so to speak.

On Thursday, October 24th, we had a much more casual despedida (farewell) at the Food Court of the Cine Center (the big movie complex a couple of miles south of the temple).  This was President and Sister Crayk's table.  We met for lunch after the morning shift at the temple.  Everyone patronized the fast-food establishment of his/her choice, all of which is very inexpensive, so everyone was happy.

This was President and Sister Diaz' table.  These three Anglos are (L/R):  Jack Hoops (full-time missionary here with his wife from Idaho); Suzy Eames (temple missionary here with her husband from Mesa, AZ); and Lynn Crayk, President Crayk's younger brother, here with his wife (temple missionaries) from Utah.

Here's a shot of the Perez table, where we were seated.  Just FYI,  in the background at the far left is "Tropical Chicken"; next, "Dumbo's" is a hamburger and ice cream place; Tuesday's, in the center, is also hamburgers and hot dogs; and Eli's (on the right) is a pizza place.  The pizza is not too bad, actually.

These are Elder and Sister Hurst - temple missionaries from Bonners Ferry, Idaho - with one of our Bolivian temple workers, Sister Daizy Equino.  She is standing on her tiptoes and barely reaches their shoulders.

 This is a shot of President Crayk with Hermano Tejada, who was the very first missionary ever to serve a full-time mission from Bolivia.  Subsequently, he was the first stake president in the country.  He also has held leadership positions in the region and in the South America Northwest Area.  He wasn't always this short.  Some years ago he had back surgery and the surgeon made a terrible mistake of some kind.  Now Hermano Tejada can't stand up straight (as you could see if you were looking at him sideways) and he has to walk with a walker.  A tragedy, yes, but you would never know it to talk to him.  

He is small physically but he is a giant, spiritually!

From left:  Lorna Hoopes, Connie Crayk (outgoing Temple Matron), and her sister-in-law Diana Crayk --
three extremely capable and wonderful women.

A shot of us with President and Sister Diaz.  He is the First Counselor in the Temple Presidency

and will be released this Thursday evening.  They have served for three years.

Now just so you know we DO have other activities than socializing and eating - here's a shot of the dentist's office where we went last week to get our teeth cleaned.  This is the dentist the Mission uses and many of the temple missionaries have had work done here.  Were it not for their recommendations, I certainly wouldn't have had nerve enough to go to a South American dentist.  However, what they told us was true:  the place was as modern inside as it appears from the outside, and the staff are both competent and nice.  We paid $40 USD for the cleaning and 100 Bolivianos for the "consultation".  Altogether about $54.37 for each of us.  I have no idea what it would cost in the States, because our insurance pays for it, but I'm sure it's a bargain.

Lastly, a picture of Farron with the Primary children from one of the wards here in Cochabamba.  The Primary president brings them here once a year just to feel the peaceful spirit here on the grounds, to talk about what the temple means to their families, and hopefully to inspire them to have temple attendance as their goal when they are old enough.  President Crayk wasn't available to meet with them, so he asked Farron to substitute for him.  At the end of our little "meeting", we took them out on the hospedaje steps and took a picture.  I should have had Farron in the center, but I didn't think fast enough.

Okay, that's all for today.  Have a good week . . . . y vayan con Dios!