Greetings from Rivas - Week 2

So we had a good week. It ended well yesterday with the dedication of the El Salvador temple. That was so great! President Eyring and Elder Christofferson (who speaks Spanish) were there and so was a seventy and Sister Allred and the area presidency (2 of whom I met in Guatemala). On Saturday we had an activity with the 2 branches here with sports, talents, and then they were going to watch movies. It ended up being the same time as the cultural celebration in El Salvador so we got to see the beginning of that. Oh and for the talents - my companion and I sang "I am a Child of God" the first and last verse in Spanish and the second in English. I played the piano. I am not sure you could hear us very well, but whatever. There is someone that plays the piano in the branch, so here I am not the designated piano player. Anyway, we got to hear Pres. Eyring’s remarks at the cultural celebration and saw some of the dancing. Pres. Eyring doesn`t speak Spanish, so I enjoyed hearing his original words and then the translation. It was funny when the cultural thing came on, for a second I thought they were speaking English and then I realized it was Spanish. I guess that is good that I couldn`t tell the difference J. Anyway, I was excited that I could hear President Eyring speak in English. So the dedication on Sunday morning was great. They had President Eyring miked when he went outside to do the cornerstone (which by the way I learned what pierdra angular meant in Spanish - we read it in Ephesians 2:20, but I really hadn`t thought about what it meant-cornerstone). He was speaking in English, so not everyone could understand, but I really enjoyed his comments. He just seemed like a real person. When he was getting some mortar to put in the cornerstone, he said that President Hinckley always criticized his work with the cornerstones and that his wife was the more qualified one to do this since she is the daughter of a construction man. Sometimes, we look at these men as people so different than us, but really they are just like us but with a much bigger church calling. I also had to think how it must be hard for them to do all this traveling in these countries. I know they get good care, but I am sure they get sick just like everyone else. I thought of Tanner in El Salvador too. There were lots of blessings prayed for, for the missionaries. I know we are well taken care of. I also remembered how someone in the MTC said to remember that at every hour of the day there are prayers said for the missionaries in the temple. I love the temple and can`t wait to go again. That will definitely be one of the first things I do when I get back! I felt at home watching the broadcast and the pictures of the temples with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir playing in English before the broadcast. I LOVE the temple! And I LOVE that I am sealed to you and that we can be a forever family! The dedication was definitely the highlight of the week. I think I will be here when the Honduras temple is done and we should be able to see that because Nicaragua will be in that temple district then. Yesterday El Salvador, Belize, Honduras and Nicaragua got the broadcast. It is weird but maybe this is the reason I came in contact with the lady in the DR. We didn`t go to the weekly zone meeting on Friday so I was bummed I didn`t get to talk to the lady on Friday. I just figured that was the way it goes and hopefully another time I will get to talk to her. Apparently we don`t go every week since it is either a 1 or 2 hour bus ride. Anyway, on Saturday the lady called our phone. We were in a lesson so she called back a little later. She said Elena wanted me to tell you that she won`t be emailing today but another day this week since they were all going to the temple today. She read me a little note Elena had written. The lady had seen her at a zone conference that week. She has a Latin companion and is doing well. I don`t know where she is but it was great to hear from this lady. Definitely a tender mercy and a great surprise when she called on Saturday. But as I thought about it- Elena was probably concerned that you would worry if you didn`t get an email from her today, so I know the Lord takes care of all of us and if that was the only reason I spoke to the lady in the DR then that was great!  Anyway, mail wise - I got mail on Wednesday since one of the elders did exchanges in Jinotepe with the zone leaders. I got DearElders from you, the Gehrings, and Joyce and a card and letter from you and letter from the Greens. We have an activity this week with the zone on Thursday so I should get some then. Most likely we will either have a  p-day activity with the zone, the elders will go to Jinotepe, or we will go to the Friday meetings - one of the 3 things will happen each week usually so I should still get mail regularly. Anyway, so that is good. I do have some sweet farmers tan lines going. And lines on my feet where my shoe straps are. My toes will be white but the rest of my feet will be dark. J So I thought of you guys the other day when I bought some soap to refill the hand soap containers. The bag has just a little bit more than can fit in the bottle, but we had another bottle so I put the rest in that bottle. The soap I bought was orange but the soap in that bottle was green. I just mixed it like we do at home. Got to love mixing the soap. Oh, and I saw a mercedes 240D here the other day and I have seen some of the new Hyundai accents and those look quite nice. And I have decided that you should learn how to make gallopinto so you can cook it for me when I get home. We can have it every night for dinner like we do here. It is just beans and rice mixed together but I am not sure how they make it. Anyway - you can start practicing that. I will do the fried bologna as the meat to go with it. I will figure out how to make this drink too - avena (which just means oatmeal) I think it is oatmeal with water and maybe milk and sugar. It is actually good and they have an ice cream here with that flavor which I want to try sometime, but the guy didn`t have it when we bought ice cream this week. Anyway - you should be excited to try my Nicaraguan food when I get back! J Also I have decided that I will be enjoying a cranapple juice on the flight home. They don`t really have juice here -mostly just different types of tang which are good. My favorite is jamaica which is some kind of flower but the drink tastes good. There is also a pink fruit here - pitayha? which is good in drinks too and really pink. Anyway, we have had a good week. I enjoyed the broadcast. We also taught a family that went well. The man repairs bikes. He was real accepting so hopefully we will have some success with them next month. It was weird yesterday not having to go and get people for church since it was the dedication. And in the afternoon my comp wasn`t feeling too well and hadn`t slept well, so we ended up going back to the apartment for the afternoon. I had a nice nap. That was really weird to take a nap. Anyway, I think that is about all I have to tell you for this week. I am doing real fantastic here. I love you so much and can`t believe next month I will have 6 months out. Half of a year - that seems crazy! Well, I will mail you letters I wrote this morning. The mail is cheaper here - don`t know why, but whatever. Anyway, I love you tons and can`t wait to hear from Lenny. The gospel is true and I am happy being a missionary. I want others to have the same happiness and blessings we have in our family! I am doing real well and you are the best! Love, Alexis