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.