Semana Santa - Holy Week

It's Holy Week, when all Christianity joins together to commemorate the greatest event in history, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and His Atonement for the sins of all mankind. In nearby Benque Viejo, the townspeople decorate the streets and lanes with exquisite artwork of colored sawdust and sand, an expression of faith and devotion to the Savior of the world.

We enjoyed walking through the streets of Benque and seeing the colorful sawdust artwork.

You can watch how they make the beautiful designs by using stencils. 

The nighttime Good Friday processional in Succotz passed by our house--a somber and moving scene presented by the local Catholic Church.

The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square honor the Resurrected Lord in their majestic 3 min music video He Is Risen.

Local church leaders visited Camp Oakley in Burrell Boom, 30 min north of Belize City, as the probable site for this year's youth camp. It includes cabanas, a mess hall, a small lake, and restrooms/showers. We remember the excitement of last year's camp experience--too bad we'll miss this one!

We love gathering with all the missionaries who are serving in the country of Belize every 6 weeks for zone conference. We learned this time how to better teach the principle of repentance.  

It was the final zone conference for Elder and Sister Jensen of Cardston, Alberta. Sister Jensen's lunch of Hawaiian Haystacks was enjoyed by all the missionaries.

The young missionaries practiced teaching Jesus Christ's message of repentance and redemption.

One Voice Choir, a 36-voice, high school-age choir from Richfield, Utah, came for a week to renovate a school library in Cayo and to perform free Easter concerts. Here they perform in the Succotz chapel. Afterwards, they meet Sister Thompson and Sister Donakey and were excited to ask them all about their experiences as missionaries in Belize.

In Corozal, (from right to left) Branch President Francisco Peña, District President Hilberto Casanova, Sergio Escalante, Abner Grey Jr., Lindbergh Foster, Paul Woods, 1st counselor in the district presidency.

Sergio, Abner, and Lindbergh were just ordained elders.

On Monday in Corozal, we couldn't pass up going to the market and getting fresh produce. 

The scriptures teach us that all things testify of Jesus Christ. Certainly nature in springtime, with the rebirth of these flowers we found in Corozal, is an example of Christ living again. And we will, too. 

Happy Easter!