Busses, Borders, and Temples

El viernes y sábado, fue un privilegio para nosotros una vez más viajar al hermoso Templo de Mérida México.

Ooops,  I forgot, we aren't in Mexico anymore.  I'm glad to be back in Belize where English is the official language. AND I'm glad I'm married to my own personal interpreter who speaks excellent Spanish.    

Like I was saying, on Friday and Saturday we were able to once again travel to the beautiful Mérida, Mexico Temple. We boarded one bus at 5:00 pm in Belize City to take us to the border, stopping along the way to pick up members in Orange Walk and Corozal and to exchange our money to pesos. After going through Customs and Immigration of both countries and walking several blocks over the bridge to Mexico...

...we boaded the Mexican bus at 10:30 pm for the six-hour drive through the Yucatan, arriving in Mérida at 5:30 am. There was even an hour stop at a roadside diner at 2:00 am! 

You can read more details about about our first experience of traveling to the Mérida Temple in November by clicking here.  

Here is an excerpt from the post:  

We traveled 650 miles round trip which took us 24 hours of traveling time. We left our house on Friday afternoon at 4:00 pm.  We returned home Saturday night at 10:00 pm.  That is 30 hours that we were gone.  During that 30 hours we were either on a bus (trying to sleep), going through immigration, transferring buses between Belize and Mexico, eating at a roadside diner at 2:00 a.m., buying ice cream from a street vendor in Mérida and, of course, we were 6 hours in the temple.

I will say that there was one thing we did different this time.   We were able walk to a Burger King that is located close to the temple and have a Whopper and fries for lunch!  

As we walked to the Burger King, my thoughts went to my oldest brother, Craig.  He served in the México Veracruz Mission as a young missionary from 1973-1975.  He was assigned to work in the city of Mérida for a time.  I pondered that maybe I was walking on some of the same streets that he had walked those many years ago.   

Elder Craig Harris  (far right) as a missionary in Mexico 

As we passed this etching on the sidewalk, I snapped a picture so I could send it to Craig to let him know I was thinking of him.  

Members of the Orange Walk Branch pause in the plaza in Mérida

The temple grounds are beautiful in the tropical Yucatan Peninsula.  

So why do we go to the tempe? Mormon.org explains what the purpose of temples is:

Holy temples are as necessary today as they were anciently when they served as sacred locations to make covenants, perform holy ordinances, and to be taught by God. Today in over 140 temples worldwide, Mormons do those same things. In these temples, faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints find opportunities for peaceful reflection and for learning more about God’s plan of happiness for His children. Through the power of the priesthood, members are married for time and eternity and perform proxy baptisms for their ancestors who died without enjoying the blessings of this saving ordinance.  

You can also see the above video and read more about Mormon temples by clicking here  

It was transfer week for the mission and once again we were able to help with the process of welcoming the missionaries arriving from El Salvador, and helping transport the missionaries to the airport who were departing to El Salvador after their service here. It is quite the juggling act, but things always work out.  

After a home-cooked meal at our house, Sisters Kendall and Ashby, who were waiting for their new companions, helped me cut out nativity sets that I like to give to children who I come in contact with.  

We're excited that Elders Wright and Tupou are re-opening the area of San Pedro for missionary work. They're at the wharf waiting for the water taxi for their trip over to the island.

The Belize City District gathers for district meeting...

(from left to right: Elders Eves, Jenks, Tupou, Wright, Barlow, Reyes, Magnusson)

... with Sisters Kendall and Arteaga joining the meeting via Skype, since they live two hours north.

It's not unusual to have vacationing visitors attending Sunday services at church. Today, a large extended family from Logan, UT, joined us.

Have you ever wondered how members of our church--or non-member visitors--can find the closest church building on a Sunday and know what time services begin?  You go to:  mormon.org/worship in your browser.  Then, type in your address in the address box to the right.  Then click onto LOCATE.  It will work for any address in the world.  Try it with your address!