Today is our 49th wedding anniversary - how about that?!  This is the third anniversary we have celebrated in a mission field (45th in Ecuador 2009, 47th in Ohio 2011, and 49th here).  If President Jensen needs us to extend our mission for 6 months, we will actually celebrate our 50th here in Bolivia next year - but we won't know for sure about that until next summer.

Anyway, 'nuf of that.  Here are some pictures . . .

We don't get to see many sunsets here; there are too many trees and buildings.  Hence I snapped this one as soon as we walked out of the hospedaje (the building on the left) and saw it.

The babies here are adorable (and ALL are beautiful).  Here are three we saw recently - the first one on the bus riding down to the supermarket, the other two at church.

On Friday we were walking up to the temple for the afternoon shift and this family from Chile (who were getting ready to catch the bus home) asked to take a picture with us.  I asked the girl who was taking the pictures to take one with my camera.  I was hoping for more of a closeup so you could really see the CUTE little girl in the orange outfit.  Maybe if you double-click on it you can get a better view.

One of our lovely November brides.

 This was taken at our "extra" choir practice on Thursday night (which is why everyone is in jeans.)  We were missing about five people who had to work.  The girl in the back on the left is our pianist.  Notice the choir folders they are holding; we had those made
at a local stationery store.  You can't buy such things here. One of the men in the back row had a sleeping baby on his lap, that's why we had to take the picture with everyone sitting down.  :-)
I am proud of this little choir.  They have worked hard to prepare two hymns for the Ward Conference on Sunday the 24th of November.

We have a very talented lady in the ward who makes these 

beautiful artificial flower arrangements

 (this is the third different one since we've been here) for our chapel.  

This one usually goes in the center, right in front of the podium.  

Here it's backed up against the piano; you can see why, below.

Then she makes one to go at each end of the center railing, so they are smaller and "left and right facing", if that makes sense (see below).

 However, for Ward Conference (which happens once a year) they go all out down here.  This is the fresh flower arrangement we found when we got to the chapel yesterday.  Just look at all those roses!  Luckily they are super-cheap here - and what a gorgeous arrangement.

This is the view from the front pew yesterday.

Another thing they did - besides having special printed programs for the Conference - 

was to have these key chains made, and every adult received one as he/she arrived for Conference.

The theme of the Conference was The Work of Salvation (La Obra de Salvacion).

In the States we don't do this sort of thing for Ward Conference, 

but it's a lovely idea, isn't it?

Okay, that's it for today.  We wish you a beautiful Thanksgiving this Thursday and a wonderful week in general.  Hasta luego, y vayan con Dios!

Nothing out of the ordinary today, just a few pictures of la vida en Bolivia (life in Bolivia)  . . .

One day last week we went to Paprika Express (which is etched on the glass door but you can't quite see it here).  This is a little like Pei Wei in the States, which someone told me is an off-shoot of P.F. Chang's . . . well, Paprika Express is the "fast-food" version of Paprika, a very nice upscale restaurant in downtown Cochabamba.  The menu here is much less extensive -- good salads, tiny mini-pizzas, and pita sandwiches -- but it's good quality, good tasting and good prices.

Of course one reason we go there is that it is right next door to this store:
Home Center .  This is sort of like Bed, Bath and Beyond - everything for the home -
and it is the only place in Cochabamba 

(I think) where you can buy those puffy net-scrubber-things
that women use in the shower 

(which is why we went there.)

Also next door (across the driveway from Paprika Express) is this new apartment building.  They really do have some beautiful buildings here!

I don't think I've shown you these flowers before.  These are just outside our apartment, and we see them every day from our bedroom windows and from the window above my desk.  I have a tiny story about these flowers but first I have to explain one of our laundry habits.  I wash Farron's white shirts, put them in the dryer for 10 minutes only, and then hang them up in our bathroom (on the shower curtain rod) to dry.  Doing this obviates the need for ironing!  (See, I'm smart, not just lazy.)  Well, having done this one week, I walked into the bathroom and was horrified to see that all the white shirts were pale pink!  It took me several minutes to realize that the sun shining through the bedroom window into the bathroom was reflecting off these flowers, and making everything in the bathroom look pink!

Here's an "only in Bolivia" - a public laundry.  There are springs here which provide cold water, and someone (the city?) put in cement troughs and drains, etc. and people wash their clothes here EVERY day. I don't know if anyone can use the facility - or whether certain people have the concession and charge others to use it or what - but it looks like this (both pictures) all the time.  Interesting, hm?

Lastly, I took a couple of pictures of the temple this week.  I wanted to show how really beautiful those marigolds are as we come up the steps to the temple every day.  They are HUGE and none of the pictures I've taken (including this one) do them justice.

Secondly, I took this one from my desk at dusk.  

I just thought it was fascinating how different the temple looked in the half-light.

And lastly, I wanted to show you the "beginnings" of our Temple Christmas decorations.  The gardening staff started building the stable this week.  One of the other missonaries says it looks like a tiki hut (!), but I told him: "Just wait until you see the animals and the shepherds and the manger. Then it will be a real nativity scene." Maybe the idea is to make it more culturally-applicable to this area, who knows?  Anyway, they are stringing lights in some of the trees and building this pesebre, and I AM EXCITED!

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

Short post today because I really haven't much in the way of news to share.  Here are a few pictures from our week . . .

On Saturday night we took Bart and Suzy Eames to dinner at Paprika - a very nice restaurant that offers a surprising variety (everything from a Mexican-style salad to a Thai curry/spaghetti entree) - and so far anything we've ordered has been very good.  L/R below:  Bart and Suzy, me, Lona Jensen (temple president's wife), Lynn Crayk and Diana Crayk.  Bart and Suzy will be leaving for home on December 3rd, so this was a small despedida for them.

Last night we had a combined (Latins and North Americans) Family Home Evening.  The carpet in the hospedje meeting room had just been shampooed so we had to meet in the comedor (the dining room). You can see we are quite a group when everyone gets there.

Our lesson was given by Elder Gironda.

All the different couples were asked to introduce themselves so President and Sister Jensen could get to know them a little better.  At the end, the Jensens had their moment "on stage".  Sister Jensen's Spanish is about like mine, though she may surpass me before long.  They lived in South America for 11 years when they were younger, so she should have a much greater "well" from which to draw than I have. 

These are the Benitez - they are our newest missionary couple, from Lindon, Utah.  She is actually Bolivian by birth and he is from Ecuador.

This is what happens when a couple are getting ready to go home.

The Eames brought all this stuff for people to look through and take.  

 Hermana Monroy (green dress) and Hermana Arrazola checking out the stuff on the table.  We were sorry the pairs of white shoes were too big for Farron; they would have been a handy addition to his wardrobe.

Lastly - a comparison of the flowers at the temple in the winter . . .

  

 . . . and in the summer.  The pansies have been replaced with marigolds and the snapdragons, with miniature white roses.

Notice too the difference in the color of the sky.  I can't remember what time of day I took the winter picture, but this one was taken at 1:30 in the afternoon.

We can tell it's summer when we're in the direct sunlight - very hot - but in the shade the temperature is just right.

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

This will be short today because - even though this was a landmark week in one important way - it wasn't a photo-op kind of way and I have no pictures to cover that. So here are a few random photos from the month of October . . .


Last week we decided we simply had to get a new wall clock for our dining area.  Our old one had died and because we are SO "set in the habit" of looking there to check the time, we found we couldn't do without it.

We went downtown and started walking through the areas where other missionaries had told us we should find cheap clocks.  In the process, we passed this beautiful old church -- the Templo de Compania de Jesus.  This is the first time we've seen any other church (besides ours) that has buildings called "temples" but that's the word they use here in place of iglesia (which means, literally, church).

I do love these beautiful old buildings!

A couple of blocks away we came to the Templo San Francisco. 

And then, around the corner we found this - and because we have two sons who live in Las Vegas - couldn't resist taking a picture.  In Las Vegas they have Caesar's Palace; in Cochabamba we have Cesar's Hotel.

I know I showed you this picture of our dentist's office before

but today I want to show you the view from the back (see below).

It is always amazing to me how you can have a beautiful modern building and immediately next to it (or in this case at the rear edge of the property) a mess like this.  You can also see the guardshack for the dental building.  They have someone there all the time - 24/7.

Also please note these little yellow "bumps" on the street.  They go all the way across and are called "Cat's Eyes".  They serve the same purpose as a speed bump, so you find them everywhere.  They are bigger and harder than they look, so cars slow down almost to a stop, to cross them.

 This is a picture taken inside "The Factory", which on the rare occasions when we go out for lunch is one of our favorite places.  They actually have really-good hamburgers, which Farron loves; and their fajitas are not only delicious but also enough food for two people.  We only go there for lunch because at night it's a little too raucous.  It's a sports bar as well as a restaurant.

This is the front of the building; the entrance is at the bottom left.

 We have figured out that "The Factory" is owned by a big car dealership here in Cochabamba (because there is a small ad for the dealership on the wall of every booth - AND - because there is a new car in front of the building.)  In fact, the first time we went there we almost walked past it because we saw the car and thought it was another sales lot.  The tables outside are NOT for restaurant patrons, they are for people who want to sit in the shade while they talk to a car salesman.  Interesting!

Another totally random photo.

This is the first time I have had an electric dryer and I did not realize how much static electricity they produce.  I brought the laundry in and dumped it on the bed and this loose thread stood straight up in the air ALL BY ITSELF.

 Lastly, a couple of our beautiful October brides - this one with her new husband and siblings . . .

 . . . and a second couple just by themselves.

The landmark event this week that I mentioned in the beginning of the blog is that Farron is now the Second Counselor in the Cochabamba Temple Presidency (and I am an Asistente a la Directora de las Obreras).  This means that in the future, Farron will have the opportunity of officiating at temple marriages for couples like this -- marriages that are not just "til death do you part" but rather "for time and for all eternity".  It is a wonderful privilege and we are grateful to be so blessed.

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