Time for a Haircut

     Another week has come and gone. We hope you are well and happy. We had a real quiet week at the temple until Saturday when 5 buses showed up. We wish they could spread it out a little. But just like in the states, Saturday is a day off from work for most so that is the only day they can come. We had people everywhere. We ended up with 4 new people in the temple for the first time (not scheduled) and 3 sealings that were not scheduled either. But it was fun and the time sure went fast. We woke up on Friday morning and had no water. We were to be to the temple by 6:00AM so we used what water we had stored to wash hair, take a spit bath and headed to the temple. We have decided that we need to store a couple more gallons as we used all that we had that morning. If we had been home longer and still no water we would have needed more. Do each of you have enough water stored for emergencies?
 

     Monday morning was hair cutting day. We thought we would share with you a picture of our hair dresser, picture #1. Elder. Kitley cuts Lon's, mine, Elder Gibbons, Sister Kitley, and his own hair. Years ago I saw a commercial for a vacuum cleaner hair cutting device and I thought "O Yea, what a joke" Picture #2 is our vacuum hooked up to the device. It works so slick. You have no hair all over and the cut is even. The price is right too. Picture #3 shows Sister Kitley with the candy bars that you have to pay for a cut. The funny thing is, Elder Kitley does all the work and Sister Kitley gets the candy bars. We have decided she is a chocoholic. Don't know what we will do when they leave 6 months before we do. We might just have to bite the bullet and pay for a cut in a shop!
 

     We are trying an experiment this month. The morning shift at the temple has a lot of workers from 6-11. The after noon shift has only a few show up from 1-5 so one missionary couple is doing a swing shift each week to cover the slim times. This week we work the mid shift, from 9-5 and from 8-4 on Saturday. We are so excited that we don't have to get up so early, especially on Saturday. ( 4:00 AM is real ugly for me!!) We will evaluate after we get back from the temple closure in March to decide if we want to continue this or not. That means we have one week AM, the next Mid, and then one PM and start over again. This will be our first Mid so we will see if we like it or not. The Walls loved it, and the Gibbons did not. The Kitleys of course are still only on the PM because Elder Kitley is the recorder in the office in the evenings.
 

     Most of our pictures are taken on our P-days, like Elder Gibbons says, we have three days in our week, Sunday, Monday and Temple. The weeks just go by so fast. Last Monday we took a drive up the mountain and stopped at a view point to see the city. It still amazes me that this city is so big. We could see the waves on the ocean, the temple and our neighborhood, Lake Ilopongo, and the volcanos. Picture #4 is from that viewpoint. They also had a zip line but no one was brave enough to try it. Picture #5 The platform looked sturdy enough, we just weren't so sure about the dead tree it was attached to.

     Well, enough for today. It is 8:30 PM and we have lunches to make and need to read before bed. We have started the Book of Mormon again in Spanish. This will be our 4th time. Each time I understand more and more and Lon says my pronunciation is getting better too. We have been asked to speak in church this Sunday so we are busy getting ready for that. I brought the talks that I gave in the branch so I just have to practice reading it and Lon is busy getting a talk written. We send our love to all and know that you are in our thoughts and prayers. We are healthy, happy, and busy doing the work we have been called to do. Life is good. Love you all, Elder and Sister Thompson, Lon and Nancy, Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma, sister and brother, son and daughter. Fun to have so many titles and each one of them spell love.
 

We Met Matilda

      Our week went so fast. Probably because on the PM shift we take advantage and sleep in so we don't get much done. But last Monday we went to dinner with the Colina's to celeberate Bro. Colina's birthday. They are both temple workers and fun to be around. Bro Colina just turned 78 and she is my age.

He is from Venezuela and she from El Salvador and they met in Virginia and were married and joined the church there. When he retired, they moved to El Salvador because it was cheaper to live here. Now they are thinking of moving back to Virginia because it is so expensive to live here. We went to the "Las Brumas" restaurant which is up the mountain on the way to "Vocaron" the volcano that we visited. The view of the city was amazing. 

This is looking down on the city and the temple is right above the tree line in the center. Look for the big red apartment building and come towards the trees and you can find the temple. It would take two more pictures, one on each side to see the whole city. The ocean is in the right top of the picture. The restaurant is on 14 acres with all kinds of fruit trees and gardens. The flowers were amazing. So many new ones that we have never seen before.

We walked around and discovered chickens, two very sassy turkeys who thought they owned the place and Matilda. The guards told us about Matilda, the pet cow.

They said how friendly she was, even would nuzzle people for their food. They took us to find her. She was not in the best of moods, however, or she didn't like the idea that I didn't have any food. She let me pet her, licked my hand then lowered her head and started to come at me to give me a good push. The guard stepped in real quick. It reminded me of the mother cows who were protecting their young and we were afraid to go near them. We had the place all to ourselves. They say that on the weekends the place is packed. It was fun for these two farm kids to be out of the city around the animals.

     We got to babysit for the Kitleys on Friday. Bro and Sis Kitleys son and family were here for a week. They have a 2 year old and 7 year old little girls. On Friday morning, the adults went to the temple to seal Sister Kitley to her father and mother and we were the only ones not in the temple working so we kept the girls. What fun. They definately got a lot of attention from all of these grandma's and grandpa's here.

     We have had a lot of new workers at the temple so the teaching goes on. It is so fun to watch someone suddenly realize that they know the ordinance and can do it without help. We are trying so hard to learn everyone's name. They all know ours, of course we wear name tags all the time, and they don't. But it really thrills a patron when we can call them by name. Some of them are only in the temple once a month but we are really trying hard to remember. I had a young girl come up to me to see if I remembered her. She was a temple worker when the temple first opened but I had not seen her for about two months. I found out that she had just finished chemo for Breast Cancer. It was good to be able to reassure her that there is " life after cancer."

     We have felt a few "temblados" earthquakes this past week. The people here don't even notice them because they are so common. One woke me up in the night with the windows rattling and the bed moving. Lon just slept through it. We are still a couple without a country as we have no passports or visa yet. Hopefully before the end of the month but no one knows for sure how long it may be. I've rambled long enough. We are enjoying our work in the temple, love these special people who make us feel so loved and needed, and we feel your love and prayers in our lives. We send our love. Have a great week and we will write again soon. Love you all Elder and Sister Thompson (doesn't that look official) Lon and Nancy

Happy Birthday Dad

Today is a special day for us,

It's the birthday of our dad

remember the twinkle in his eye

for each story that he had.

When we were young Dad was busy

with the farm and the cows.

But he always found the time to be there

when his kids took their bows.

With seven very active kids

In band, choir, piano, voice and dance

Add all the daddy-daughter dates

and Dad didn't stand a chance.

He cheered us on in all we did

He was our biggest fan.

And now he is cheering from above

He is in Heaven and he can.

Happy Birthday Dad! We miss you so much

But today we will remember the example that we had

You taught us how to work, play and serve

Memories help us not to be so sad.

My biggest fan is watching over me

as I serve in this far away land

I can feel his love for me each day

and it makes me feel so grand.

Just wanted you to know that I was remembering Dad this day. I am so thankful that I have the family that I have. Thank you so much for your love and support. Have a great day Love nancy