Returning for another load of sugar cane.

When the mules are all finished with one load of sugar cane they return to the field to get another load. There are about twelve mules in this group. We saw many of these mule trains along the road. Each group is going to a different panela factory.

A Colombian Panela store.

We bought our panela to take home from this Colombian family. They had many different ways to buy the panela. I think we bought our year supply. They gave us a little give to take home. When we opened it is was panela candy with a anise or licorice flavor.

Yummy ants.

Elder Guerra is tempting us to eat one of his ants, but it didn't work. Some say it is like eating pop corn.

Oh those ants.

This is what the ants look like after their wings have been removed and they are cooked. I have not been brave enough to try them, but some of the Elders say they like them. I wonder if they are telling the truth.

The ladies of the street.

These lovely ladies were on their way to someplace, but we don't know where. They had lovely long dresses. These are not your everyday ladies of the street.

The Red Cross of Yopal.

We went to Yopal to make a presentation of 5 wheel chairs, 5 sets of crutches, 5 canes and 5 walkers to the Red Cross of Yopal. Sixteen Red Cross workers accepted our donation from the Church. Not all the workers are in the photo as the others arrived later.

The motos of Yopal.

The main mode of transportation in Yopal is the moto. I think they would be safer here in Yopal than in Bogota, because Bogota has so much traffic. We have seen many accidents with the motos.

Colors of the flag.

Bright colors are a part of the Colombian culture. This young lady is wearing the colors of the Colombian flag.

Peru here we come.

All five of our returning missionaries are returning home to Peru. They all went home on the same flight. We will miss all of them.

Our newest missionaries.

The day of new arrivals is always a wonderful day. We were very impressed with our missionaries. We have them from Argentina, Colombia and Bolivia. It was a good group.

Hostess for the day.

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant between San Gil and Bucaramanga, and this lady was our hostess. She played her part well, and the food was good too.

Christmas cactus.

This Christmas cactus is all confused. It thinks this is Christmas time. It has been really pretty and you can see there are many more buds on the way.

More beautiful flowers

This is our bouquet of flowers for this week. We get new fresh flowers nearly every week. The flowers here in Colombia are very beautiful and inexpensive.

Visitors from Salt Lake City.

We had two special visitors from Salt Lake City for a few hours. Nidia on the left came and worked even though it was Saturday, and prepared Ajiaco for Sister Silvia Allred, first counselor in the general presidency of the Relief Society, and Sister Mary Cook, first counselor in the general presidency of the Young Women. They came to Colombia to give a training to the women and leaders.

On the way to Barbosa.

We always pass this water fall when we go from Tunja to Barbosa. Sometimes there is more water than other times.

Workshops for hundreds of young men.

Hundreds of young men from the area of our mission from the ages of 14-18 attended a conference for young men. We taught three workshops on preparing to serve a mission. It was a hot day, but the boys seemed to enjoy the day. Here we are waiting for the group to arrive.

Heavy, heavy rain.

After our Sunday activities at the camp, the young men had to walk to the camp site. Just as they left, the clouds opened up and drenched everything with gallons of water. I was worried about the young men getting so wet, but we later heard that many thought the rain was their favorite part of the convention.

View from our balcony.

You can not get much more beautiful than this. We felt like we were in Costa Rica. Of course the rain helps keep everything very green. This is where we stayed while at the camp.

One big tree.

This is just one big tree with a lot of Spanish moss hanging from the branches. The grounds of our hotel were incredibly beautiful. Every morning we were serenaded with what sounded like hundreds of birds. No wonder they are so happy with such a beautiful garden.

Beautiful flowers.

Every place we look we see beautiful flowers. I wish I could take some of them home with me. These were hanging around our hotel at the camp.

Someone say lunch?

Everyone is always happy when we go out to eat. We have seven missionary couples right now, but we have two more on the way. The food was good and that is why everyone is smiling.

Mother's Day lunch.

We were invited to Mother's Day lunch with my Spanish tutor Patricia and her mom. We had a delightful lunch with these two wonderful Colombian women. Patricia's mother prepared Ajiaco.

Atentive listeners.

Some people preach to the choir, but as you can see I cast my pearls to the swine.

A special Colombian Mother's Day.

I don't think I will be able to top this Mother's Day. Nine sister missionaries surprised me with a Mother's Day cake, two bouquets of flowers and the cutest Colombian campesina doll. It was a special Mother's Day indeed.

Wonderful missionaries.

We have nine faithful missionaries here from two zones. We had a few minutes to talk and laugh together. They are great missionaries. I learn many things from them. They are from Argentina, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Peru, and Bolivia.

Our new Mission doctor.

We are so happy to get a new mission doctor. Elder and sister Weidmer have arrived here from California. We are going to really enjoy them here in Colombia. Dr. Weidmer has has a lot of mental health training. We need their help.

McDonalds is here in Colombia too.

This is a photo of our Cucuta Zone after eating an American hamburger in McDonalds. Everybody looks happy.

Typical gas station in Cucuta.

This is how gas is usually sold in Cucuta. People carry the gas cans over from Venezuela and sell it in the street.

They are here at last.

This is the last group of North American missionaries to finally get their visas. We were very glad to finally have them with us. Three of them waited almost three months, and the fourth one only had to wait one week. From Left to Right, we have Elder McClair from Virginia, Elder Rallison from Arizona, Elder Benson from Oregon, and Elder Hathaway from Utah. Welcome to Colombia Elders.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

We forgot to show you Flat Shayla trying to decide which of these beautiful fruits to eat first. We have all this type of fruit year round here in Bogota.