The Funeral Singer

We hope you are all keeping warm and happy. We can't believe January is almost gone. This week was great at the temple. We were on the AM shift so by Friday we start to run out of gas. And Saturday is the killer. We have to get up at 4:00 am and you know how much I love early mornings. I just say Buenas Noches (good night) to all in the temple for prayer meeting. It took a couple of days for them to realize that I really did know what I was saying. Anyway, the week went real good and Saturday hit like a whirlwind. From 8:00 til 12:30 there was no time to eat, sit, get a drink, or even visit the bathroom. We had women stacked everywhere and not very many workers. Our temple is just a little bit smaller than Twin Falls and there I usually had 23 to 27 women workers for our shift. We had 7 to start our day. Luckily a couple more showed up around 10:00.

     We got home at 12:30, ate and went to bed. A two hour nap really felt good. My visiting teacher was to be here at 3:00, but her husband called (our bishop) and said that her uncle had died and he was the only father she knew. She asked if I would sing at the funeral the next day (Sunday). I have been singing at funerals all my life so the first response was no problem. Then reality set in and I realized it would be in Spanish. I was hoping she would pick a song that I was familiar with. Here, when someone dies the funeral is the next day cause they don't imbalm them. The funeral was held at a funeral home with a Catholic service, 1 1/2 hours long. We had to bring our own piano. The room was long and skinny and the casket was at the far end. The casket was already sealed but had a door on top that was open with a window so you could see the person if you wanted to. The flowers were beautiful. In front of the casket was a table for the priest and just to the left of him was a little room with a short couch and a bathroom. That is where we put the piano and the viola player, Eduardo the Stake Choir director. After the service, I stepped out of the bathroom and sang " I Know that My Redeemer Lives". We told our bishop that he was the first person to take us to a Catholic service. We went to the cemetery for the graveside service. The cemetery was so beautiful. It is the oldest in the city and the family plots were little houses. I have attached pictures. Lon and I sang a duet, "I Need Thee Every Hour" and I sang "How Great Thou Art" with Sister Broadbent on the keyboard and Eduardo on the viola. We had never practiced but I think it all went well. Lon thought it a bit strange as I was singing at a Catholic service with my Missionary badge on.

The funeral home where we had the service.

    Row of the grave markers.

Lon carrying our piano.

The empty hole in front of the Family Crypt. They don't ever have to dig a new hole, just move the concrete door and the hole is there in front of the crypt. 

 Men putting the casket into the hole, the casket doesn't have handles like ours in the states so they carry it and then the ropes help them lower it into the hole. 

 Men putting the casket into the crypt itself. You can see the door in picture #4. After a few years they take out the casket, remove the bones and any of the jewelry and dispose of them so they can put another family member into the same crypt.

  
     This cemetery has tours once a month to show the oldest graves, dating clear back to the Spaniards. We are hoping to get to that sometime. It was a very interesting Sunday Afternoon. We are now funeral singers in two countries and in two languages.

     This week the Kitley's son and wife and two children will be in town for a week. We are all going to cover them at the temple so they can enjoy their family. I think we will not have to work the AM shift on Friday or Saturday but those two days on the PM. I tried to keep a straight face and told everyone that we would sacrifice those two AM mornings this week. YEA!!! Life is so full of surprises. We are learning and growing each day, teaching and seeing the fruits of our labor is so exciting. We are staying warm and are very, very happy to be here with our new friends and family. We know that you are all in the hands of our Heavenly Father and you are always in our prayers that you will be healthy, happy and safe. We love you each Lon and Nancy     

January 16th

     It is hard to believe that another week has come and gone. Our week on the PM shift seems to go so fast. We don't get a lot done on that shift cause we sleep in, take our walk, read the scriptures, fix lunches, shower and eat and it is ready to head to the temple. But we do get a much needed rest from the early AM's and are refreshed and ready for two weeks of the early mornings. Luckily we were on the PM shift this week cause we were able to go to the Presidential Theater on the 16th to attend a concert. Rene Hernandez, the violin player in our ward, plays with the National Symphony and invited us to go. He picked Lon and I up, Sister Kitley was ill and the rest of the missionaries had to get up early for the AM shift so we were the only ones able to go. The Theater is not far from here. The concert was to commemorate the signing of the peace treaty that ended the war 20 years ago. The concert was wonderful. The orchestra performed Beetoven's 9th symphony with a guest Mezzosoprano from Mexico and the National Choir. The ending number was amazing with all participating. If you have watched Sister Act 2 you have heard it, The Ode to Joy, I think it was called in the movie. Two hours of music and it was wonderful. And yes, even Lon enjoyed it. It was cute though, after the concert we were waiting out front for Rene to get off stage and take us home. We met many people we knew from the ward, the stake choir and the temple. They were all so worried about us getting home safe. They didn't want us walking or taking a taxi. We are really looked after here.

     We had special guests this week here in San Salvador and at the temple. Elder Russell M Nelson, Carlos Amado, James Martino, L. Whitney Clayton and their wives are here for stake conferences. All the wives came to the temple on Saturday during our shift. What a treat. They are all so loving and kind and really carry a beautiful spirit with them. We were on shift and were able to help Sister Nelson with the English that she needed. The other women speak some Spanish. The men have been busy with meetings so today, before their meeting with the single adults, they are touring the temple. Pres and Sister Petersen have been so worried that everything would be perfect. They will be relieved when they leave and things get back to normal. Excitement has been in the air as the San Salvadorians welcomed an apostle of the Lord and members of the seventy to their country. These humble people love the Lord and his servents. It has been a good week.

     We have seen the winter weather that has hit most of you with a vengence. We hope you are all warm and safe. We continue to enjoy our sunshine. We do miss the flowers that bloomed so beautifully during the rainy season. The dry season brings only these changes, less flowers but still green leaves and grass, usually a breeze in the afternoons, and bugs. I saw the biggest bug I have ever seen today. Luckily Brother Kitley was there to take care of it. It had legs kind of like a daddy long leg but was at least 2 inches tall and the body was about 1 inch around with those big long legs. Yuk!!! Hopefully it doesn't have a family here.

     The temple has been steady this week. We are enjoying seeing the fruits of our labor as more and more of the temple workers learn to perform the temple ordinances with perfection. Many of them have difficulty reading so to memorize something is a big challenge. They are amazing. We love them so much. We are healthy, we are happy, we are busy. Life is good. Oh, Lon reminded me about our earthquake yesterday., I guess it hit in Mexico and it was felt in the temple yesterday. We had a few chairs moving but I didn't feel anything. I told the ladies that my world is usually spinning a little so it would have to be harder than that for me to feel anything. We send our love to all. Lon and Nancy  

Red Rider BB Gun Christmas Story

     Life in San Salvador is full of interesting stories. It is easy to tell the poorer of the people at the temple by their dress. Most of the poor do not have air conditioning and they just freeze in the temple. I will try to set the scene for you so you can visualize dear Sister Guzman. Remember the scarves that we make with the wooden looms that have the nails in a circle and you crochet a scarf? Sister Zysett in our home ward made dozens and dozens for the humanitarian project. They are not thin but thick and very warm for very cold weather. These looms are used here all the time and almost everyone has one of them. Now remember the scene in the Christmas Story when the mother is dressing the younger brother for school and she puts on a sweater, jacket, snowsuit, and then wraps the scarf around and around his neck and face? Well that scene came into view when Sister Guzman walked up to me inside the temple. She had a white blouse on, then her dress, a sweater, a shawl, and then this thick scarf wrapped around and around her neck clear up to her chin. Now mind you, Sister Guzman is only about 4 feet tall and a little plump and really has no neck. I had to fight back the giggles and I broke out in a sweat just thinking how hot she should be in that get up. She worked her 8 hour shift dressed like that, trying not to be cold. And happy, she gives you a big toothless smile, she has no front top teeth, a big hug and is off to help where ever she can. She is typical of about half the workers on each shift. Those big bulky scarves are all over the temple on both worker and patron. I told Lon it will be interesting to see if our blood thins and next year I am one of those women dressed to face the cold temple air conditioning.

     We had a week where the temple was almost emply, with both patron and workers missing. We were very discouraged until we found out why. Satan is busy trying to stop this work. The buses were on strike demanding more money from the government because the mobs or gangs were charging the buses more money not to rob them. These people rely heavily on the bus system. Having never lived in a big city, we are not familiar with this problem. We are learning to be more tolerant with people arriving 10 minutes to an hour late because their buses were not running on time. The bus strike is over and people are once again filling the temple, except for the 7PM session. Even our temple workers seemed to disappear about 7:00pm. Satan is trying another tactic. The bus stop is right in front of the Multi Plaza where we walk to and shop, just around the corner from us. There are armed guards all over the place during the day, but they are employees of the Multi Plaza and when the store closes, there is no longer any protection there. We know of at least 18 robberies that have taken place as our friends leave the temple to go home between 9 and 10pm. It just breaks our hearts that these good people, who have nothing, have been robbed. The temple presidency were considering not having a 7pm session, but have turned it over to the Bishops and Stake Presidents to find a solution. This week, the temple has been full and people are arriving in buses, mini buses, and in groups for safety. It has been wonderful. I think we have won this battle with Satan. It will be interesting to see what he hits us with next.

      The attached picture is of Brother Fiqueroa and his wife. He is a native of Puerta Rico and she is a native of San Salvador. They are typical of the people here. We have every color in the book, from real black to real white. We have the Mayan influence, real short; the Almec influence, slanted eyes oriental looking; the Spanish invaders from Spain influence, white skinned and blue eyes. They are truely a mixture. The architecture definately has the Spanish influence with the big cathedrals. It is a very interesting country. At times it is easy to forget that we are in a third world country because we live in this protected, beautiful area. Back to Brother Fiqueroa, he is blind. He works in the temple two to three days a week and is amazing. The only problem is in the break room after he has eaten his lunch, we have to clean cause he can't see if he spills or not and he usually does. He used to be a chef so he and his wife brought lunch for all the missionaries. He made his own recipe of teryacy chicken(I have no idea how to spell that) and shrimp chow mein. It was wonderful. He is in the states now trying to find help to be able to see again. Hopefully he will be successful but we do miss him.

     Well, I've rambled on enough. We are enjoying our mission and look forward each day to serve our new friends in this beautiful temple. We wish each of you a safe and happy week. Watch out for Satan, he is real and working hard with his best weapons, discouragement and selfishness. Be happy and content. All our love, Lon and Nancy

Happy New Year!

     2012, it is so hard to believe that another year has come and gone. 2011 for us was a whirlwind of activity and new adventures. 2012 should be full of service in the Temple and new adventures as we get to know this country and people better each day. New Year's eve was spent with the missionaries at the Petersen's apartment. We ate finger foods and played games. We decided that 9:00pm would be our midnight but were in the middle of a heated game so 10:00 ended up being our New Years and we celebrated and headed for bed. At midnight the fireworks and firecrackers woke everyone up, except for Lon. He slept through it all. It sounded like WWIII. The whole mountain was lit up with the fireworks. It lasted for about a half hour.

     Our stake girl's camp was on the 27th-29th of December. The San Salvadorian schools have their "summer break" from the middle of Nov to the middle of Jan. The American, British, and all other Europian schools have their break in June and July so the only time all the girls in the stake were out of school is between Christmas and New Years so that is when Girls Camp is held. They went to the mountains and camped with tents. They all complained about how cold it was, we still haven't put on long sleeves. But the wind is blowing now so it looks like Idaho when you look out the window, but the temperature still hasn't varied more than 2 or 3 degrees.

 

     Cooking continues to be an adventure as we cannot always find the ingredients that the recipe calls for. I love to make "Sea Breeze Salad" so for Sunday dinner I attempted it. The only lemon jello here is green (lime) but the package says lemon. I didn't think lemon pie filling would look too good with green jello so I found pineapple jello and it turned out real good. I do miss cool whip. We can't always find whipping cream and have tried a product they call creme fresa. It whips but you have to add vanilla and sugar. They do have a McCormik spice factory here so we can usually find all the spices we need, we just have to figure out the name. This country is filled with coconut trees but you cannot buy flaked coconut here. One time we found some in a bulk bin at Walmart but never any packaged. So I made 5 cup salad that time cause we had coconut, but had to use fruit cocktail instead of manderine oranges cause that is not found here. You can buy fresh coconuts and the people love fresh coconut milk, YUK. Not impressed.

 

     We have enjoyed having three days off in a row but are looking forward to getting back to work. It just seems so natural to be in the Temple each day. We celebrated Lon's birthday with cake and balloons and ate pancakes and bacon. It was his first birthday that was celebrated outside on Christmas Day.

We send our love to all and hope you have set New Year's Resolutions that are attainable and will help you be all that your Father In Heaven has planned for you. Be safe, be happy and keep smiling. Life is wonderful. We are all so blessed. Lon and Nancy