November in Costa Rica

Dear Family & Friends

 It has been fun It's almost been two months and if this is an indication as to how fast the mission will pass, we will be home before we know it.  The temple grounds have just been planted with hundreds of poinsettias and all of the flowers are so beautiful.  Ted is the engineer and so far he's done a great job. There is quite a bit to learn in a small temple as he is responsible for all the maintenance and running of the machinery, including the grounds, utilities and upkeep.  I, on the other hand, already had the knowledge to clean bathrooms, vacuum, wash, dry and fold mountains of laundry.  We have workers who help but when their shift if over they have to leave to catch their buses.  I do have responsibilities of training the sisters, making sure everything is running smoothly, etc.  

The temple missionaries went on a day trip to one of the bays along the pacific ocean side of the country.  We stopped at one of the many fruit stands along the way..  The red, funny looking fruit above is a favorite of the people here but I wasn't too enamored with it.  I've never seen it in the states.  They have a huge variety of fruit in Costa Rica.  Each Friday morning we go to a feria, or fruit market.  They are only open once a week and grow most of the fruit locally.    

At least that is what we thought.  I was buying some purple plumbs and Ted asked the girl if she grew them.  She said no but, very proudly said they were from California. Duh!

 

There is a bridge on the way to the beach.  It's quite a tourist attraction.  Below is a large sand bar where, as you can see, the crocodiles float around and rest on the sand bar from time to time.  It seems they are waiting for lunch, just hoping that someone will loose their balance while looking over the rail.  There had to be at least 25-30 of them.  These are in the wild and are not restricted to a certain area.  They were fascinating

This was the grand daddy of them all.  He has to be 20 ft long and weighed at least 800 lbs.  One one side of the bridge is a gift shop and a boat that will take you on a sightseeing tour down the river.  We didn't have time to do that but hopefully it will be on our list of 'to do' things.

Here's some of our group.  I was really grateful to see trees and shade as it was very warm and muggy.  We enjoyed hot dogs and various dishes furnished by each couple.  We have a great group of missionaries here. Officially, there can only be three North American couples and two in the presidency. We have a Latin couple in the office and the other counselor is Latin as well.  We have a great love for the Latin people.   We will be in need of another NA couple in February.  If any of you would enjoy serving in the temple in a beautiful country this would be a wonderful choice.  Of course, there is one restriction.  The husband must speak some Spanish  
                                     
                                      

 This is the bay.  The water isn't as clear as I would have liked but Ted and others enjoyed cooling off.  One of the sisters can back with a rash on her arm.  She believes it was a jelly fish.  Others said that little fish bit at their legs.  I wasn't sorry to have stayed on the beach and chatted with the others.

 The foliage here is amazing.  Since it rains most of the year, daily, everything is very lush and beautiful.  They grow everything from cactus, pine trees, palms, and many, many other varieties.

  

 On one areas we found these shells embedded into coral.  It looked to be hundreds of years old.

Our ward is located right behind the temple.  The children's program was last Sunday and was decorated with banners, pictures and bows on each chair.  All of the girls had on red, yellow or blue skirts and had matching bows in their hair.  Only in Latin America!  They all had memorized their parts and sang with gusto. New benches with blue upholstery have replaced the chairs and adds such a reverent feel to the chapel.  The members will be very surprised and thrilled.

The poinsettias were planted a couple of weeks ago.  This little girl reminds me of our granddaughters.
She is so active and loves to have her picture taken.

We had dinner with a missionary couple (the one in pink).  The sister missionaries were there and a couple of sisters from the ward.  The young sister on the left side is married to a Costa Rican.  He is not a member and travels a lot for work.  We have befriended her as she is very homesick and doesn't speak a lot of Spanish yet.

Well, that about does it for November.  We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are preparing for the greatest event in history, the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  We feel so blessed to have so many loved ones and dear friends.  We wish you all the best and pray for your happiness always.

Love to all,

The Jackmans