We can't believe 8 months have gone by! I wish I could say my Spanish was really good by now, but it's not. It is limping along! I was able to successfully have two short telephone conversations this month, though. Both wrong numbers....but still. I am getting really good at asking people to SLOW down their speech! If I understand one word I think I'm doing great!
Our project continues and is on schedule. They are forming walls on the 1st floor of the Temple and beams for 2nd. It's remarkable to see the changes every week. The 1st floor walls can easily be seen from the street. This is so exciting for the members in the country to see their Temple when they drive by. Jim spends a lot of time on the phone, walking around and checking things out, and translating emails back and forth. He certainly speeds up the process of waiting for answers from the states!! He is very busy every day and spends 9-11 hours on the site. They work 6 days a week here. So we spend part of Saturday on the job too and sometimes walk around the site on Sundays when no one is working. When we run errands it's generally around the lunch hour. They have a comedor on the site, a "mess hall", with 3 different ladies they contract with to make food. But we haven't tried it yet!
The best this month-Going up in the grua (crane) to take photos. That is fun! The worst? It's getting hotter, or it's getting more humid or something. The temperature stays the same but when it doesn't rain, it HOT. I love it when it rains. It pours in sheets with thunder and lightening. Gushers pop up in the middle of roads from drains, manhole covers pop off, rivers run down streets. It's great! Everything is washed clean and it's cooler. It generally does this every day or night at least once!
This is a journal of our experiences as missionaries in El Salvador assisting with the construction of their Temple.
The view of San Salvador and our project.
Taken from our local architect's home. The Temple is 1 inch to the right of the tall apartment building in the center of the photo. Look for the orange tower structure.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
One more in the crane.
Lunch at Comasauga with our contractor.
Needless to say, beautiful views of surrounding volcanos, the valley and Lago Coatepeque
Needless to say, beautiful views of surrounding volcanos, the valley and Lago Coatepeque
This is me freezing in the office because the air conditioners are so cold!! 
Jim, showing them that a "sleeve" is incorrect the morning of the 1st floor pour! What a guy!
Taking photos!
Jim with his harness on ready to go in the bucket of the crane to take photos of the Temple before the 1st floor pour.
We're up, up, up high!
We had two cameras up there to make sure we got some really got shots.
It's like Disneyland in El Salvador!
It's like Disneyland in El Salvador!
Saturday, July 4, 2009
7 Months in El Salvador!
On June 3rd we flew to Utah for a week to attend James and Whitney's wedding in the Manti Temple. What a great week visiting with the kids, the babies (yeah), my sisters and friends! We arrived with empty bags so we could fill them with "stuff" to bring back. It was a good week but we found ourselves calling San Salvador "home". We realized how excited we were to get "home" and back to work. It was a little unsettling to be back in the states. We now attribute this to be a blessing of our calling and setting apart. We feel a great love for this country and it's people and a great sense of responsibility to our calling. We are very comfortable here.
This month all three of our buildings seemed to progress rapidly. Every week there were visable changes. It's so easy to see progress when it's above the ground! The Temple floor is being formed and almost ready for concrete; this week in fact! The Ancillary building first floor is almost finished with a wall for the second story already poured. The Chapel's floor is finally finished and they are placing steel structural beams.
It rains almost daily for 20-40 minutes or so and we love it! It is considerably cooler so we understand why this is called "winter" down here! But every day it is still in the 80's. It's so green and lush! We broke down and hired a gardener for $15 a day twice a month. We do not know how to take care of a yard in a tropical climate! You'd think it would be easy! Not. There's so many bugs and fungus and things growing-everywhere. They just chop everything down!
The best this month-seeing the grandbabies, holding them and having them see us in person instead of on a computer screen! The worst this month-the no-rules-anything-is allowed drivers! That's why I am still not driving!!
This month all three of our buildings seemed to progress rapidly. Every week there were visable changes. It's so easy to see progress when it's above the ground! The Temple floor is being formed and almost ready for concrete; this week in fact! The Ancillary building first floor is almost finished with a wall for the second story already poured. The Chapel's floor is finally finished and they are placing steel structural beams.
It rains almost daily for 20-40 minutes or so and we love it! It is considerably cooler so we understand why this is called "winter" down here! But every day it is still in the 80's. It's so green and lush! We broke down and hired a gardener for $15 a day twice a month. We do not know how to take care of a yard in a tropical climate! You'd think it would be easy! Not. There's so many bugs and fungus and things growing-everywhere. They just chop everything down!
The best this month-seeing the grandbabies, holding them and having them see us in person instead of on a computer screen! The worst this month-the no-rules-anything-is allowed drivers! That's why I am still not driving!!
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Elder and Hermana Fenn
10 Nov 2008 MTC
Self portrait
On site with our "cascos" on. Mine is pink.
Our Backyard
We chose the casita for the garden