The two office secretaries went home together.

Elder Morris from Utah, and Elder Calton from Arizona, served in the office together for many months. Elder Morris, holds the record for the number of months in the office. He served several months, and then had to go back to the states for surgery, but after returning, he had to work in the office again because of his health. They were a great help to us.

Sad to say good-bye.

This group was a very good group and it was very hard to say good-bye. The four sisters were our very first group of missionaries that we received in the mission after our arrival. They were all excellent. They are from Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru. Our eight Elders were outstanding as well. We had one from Paraguay, and the others are all from the states. We were so grateful to have served with them.

We always have fresh fruit all year round.

There are many wonderful things about Colombia, but one of our favorites is the wonderful fresh fruit for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Here we have watermellon, mango and pineapple. Yummmm!

Breakfast Americano.

Eggs are always a popular breakfast here. When you order eggs with toat, it is called "Desayuno Americano."

Breakfast soup.

This bowl of beef broth with a bone and meat with a few potatoes is a common breakfast. I love it. This is very common when one is staying in a hotel. I don't think many missionaries eat it because of the time to prepare it. I always go for it when it is on a breakfast bar.

Breakfast time.

This is a Colombian tomal. This is different types of meat rolled in a corn batter and then wrapped in banana leaves and I think steamed. I don't eat them, but the president loves them. We only eat them when we are staying at a hotel.

The makings for a yummy drink.

Nidia is such a good help to us in our house. We don't know how we could survive without her help. Here she is preparing a delicious juice of ciruba.

Ciruba makes a delicious fruit drink.

One of our new favorite fruits is ciruba. It looks like a yellow cucumber and is full of seeds. It makes a DELICIOUS fruit juice.

Returning to Texas.

Elder Butler returned home in time to attend his sister's wedding. He was a very good missionary and we miss him

Blog on hold

Jueves el 10 de febrero tenia una acidente y facture mi brazo en tres lugares. Mi Blog esta en espera hasta que mejora.

On Thursday, February 10 I had an accident and broke my arm in three places. The blog will be on hold.

Dinner anyone?

We attended a fiesta for New Years Eve with the Bogota Stake. This is what they served for the dinner. The stuffing is a mixture of rice and other things. They said it was delicious.

An ancient village site of the Muisca Indians.

Today, this is the Museum of the Sun, but it stands on the same foundations of many structures of the Muisca Indians. The Spanish destroyed the villagae about 500 years ago. The temple of the sun has been rebuilt to give turists an idea of what would have been inside the temple. The original was many times higher. When the Spaniards burned it, the wood was so hard and there so much of it, that it took the Spaniards two years to burn it completely. The original was covered with gold.

An ancient cemetery.

This is the burial site of the Muisca Indians. The tourists are not allowed to enter the area, because it is sacred.

The well for the nobility.

This is the well where the nobility would go to bath.

A lazy afternoon in the sun.

Outside the museum, these cows are enjoying the day. Cows on the side of the road are a common site in Colombia outside of Bogota.

The family of Nidia.

Nidia in the middle helps us here in the mission home. She is a jewel. We are so fortunate to have her help us. On her right is her mother and behind is their first grandchild. We had invited them to have Sunday dinner with us. We did the dishes.

A beautiful bouquet of sunflowers.

Nidia's family brought me this beautiful bouquet when they came to dinner.

El Pueblito de Boyacense.

This little pueblo is so colorful land delightful. It is hard to not take hundreds of photos.

Our traveling sister.

Hermana Juarez is our traveling sister. She is from Argentina but has a Mexican name. Sister Juarez had been traveling around to work with the other sisters in our Mission because the Elders do not work with the sisters. Sister Juarez has been a great help to the sisters and to us.

Straight from the USA.

Elder Martinez is our newest missionary. He arrived in the mission with both English and Spanish. His parents are from El Salvador. We look forward to working with him.

Too many choices.

There are many different hats to chose from in Colombia. The people love their hats, and so do we.

Shapping the hat.

This man is shapping the hat for me. These hats are incredible the way they can be rolled up and packed in your suitcase. This hat is the standard hat for the hat of Boyaca.

A visit from President Nash and President Beck.

We had dinner at our house with our area president and his wife. President Nash (in the middle) was traveling with President Beck (on the left) and his wife. President Beck is the Young Men's General president of the church. It was a surprise. We found out accidentaly at 3:00 that they were having dinner at our house that night at 7:00. We scrambeled and had a delicious dinner, but they did not arrive here until 10:00 P.M.

Ready to return home.

Time to say good bye to Sister Huari. Sister Huari was one of our sisters that arrived knowing English. She was a help to the other sisters. We will miss her good work.

One of many beautiful churches in Bogota.

This is one of the many churches in the oldest part of Bogota. We find many of these here in the colonial part of the city.

The inside of this beautiful church.

This church was one of the most beautiful churches that I have seen here in Bogota. We found it one day just walking by.