temple

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Sunday, September 16, 2012

Copan, Honduras

     We now have even greater admiration for our Honduras Saints who spend 10 to 12 hours on a bus to come to the temple. What a grueling trip!! We left on Tuesday morning at 7:00AM, expecting to be in Copan, Honduras by noon. 8 hours later we were at our hotel in Copan. We had a driver who had never been out of El Salvador before, 4 boarder crossings (out of El Salvador into Guatemala, then out of Guatemala into Honduras), road construction, and windy narrow roads with potholes big enough to bury the bus. Our driver got lost once and we had to back track, loosing an hour. By the time we made it to our motel, all the museums and parks were closed so we went to town to see what Copan, Honduras looked like. Picture #1 is the cobble stone, rough roads. #2 We are returning to the van after walking the streets of Copan and shopping. It is a mountain town without any flat ground. Everything is up and down. I think it is probably one of the smallest towns we have been in.

     We did run into the full time Elders at the city park. One was from Utah and the other from El Salvador. There is no church building here, they just rent a house. The TukTuk's are everywhere here. The members live in the mountains, on this ridge or that, and have a very difficult time coming to church. It is a real challenge for these two missionaries.

     After a good nights sleep, we were at the Copan Ruins at 8:00 AM Wednesday morning, hoping to beat some of the heat. The humidity is less here but it is very hot. Picture #3 is of one of the court yards of the pyramids. Looking at the picture, in the right hand corner of the courtyard, you can see a door. This is one of the doors of the tunnels that we were able to explore. When we were here last June with our tour, we were not allowed into the tunnels so this was a treat. You could see what the archaeologists have uncovered. They don't want to uncover them and let the air into them to deteriorate the pyramids. Picture #4 is of the Ceiba Tree. It is a sacred tree for the Mayan's. They are growing all over the pyramids and the roots are actually helping some of them stay standing but to get to the next level down, they need to be cut back but that is not a possibility. This one is right on top of a pyramid. They are huge and so majestic. Our guide was a Mayan Woman who did a great job.  Picture #5 is of Lon with the Sun God who is being swallowed by a monster which means that it is night and the sun is going down.

     We left Copan and headed home about 2:00. The ride home was not as long, only 5 hours, but the driver was like a horse heading to the barn. It really was a scary ride. We do not ever want to have that driver again.

      We enjoyed our travels, but are excited for the temple to open again. We miss it so much when it is closed. We will start on Monday, getting everything put back into place after the painters and cleaners. They are power washing the outside of the temple and are almost finished. Tonight our stake is having a devotional in honor of the one year anniversary of the temple opening and hopefully will inspire all to come to the temple more often.

     Fall football has begun and Lon is skyping Ginger this year to watch BSU. The games are fun when you can share them with family. We wish we could be to Chandler and Ashton's games (Tracy and Sarah's boys) but they tell us all about them on Sunday when we skype. We love skyping and getting emails so we can know what everyone is doing and be part of your lives that way. We thank you for your prayers in our behalf. We feel the power of them daily as we are able to keep up with our schedule. We love this work and these people. They teach us so much about faithfulness, sacrifice and enduring to the end happily and with peace. We hope you all have a great week. We love you Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma, Lon and Nancy

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