On August 9th we left Cochabamba and flew to Sucre, with the Dyers and the assistants Elder Avila and Elder Tanner. Bi-polar was waiting for us at the airport, fresh out of the shop. We were told that the security system had been un-installed, and on the bench for repairs. Apparently the only thing that was unhooked was our partial ability to stop the sirens. But like those of us who are or who have worked with Bi-polars, you just learn to deal with it. Anyway we left immediately for Tupiza. The Assistants rode with us, which made it a tight fit with all the luggage. Also we felt sorry for them since the last time we went to Potosi, we didn't have room and they took a 3 hour taxi ride. Before leaving Sucre a drunk miner who was riding with them in the back, threw up all over them and they made the whole trip wet and smelly. We arrived in Potosi in time for lunch, then made the 3.5 hour trip to Tupiza. After leaving town, and returning to the restaurant to retrieve Christy's, purse and phone (SOME PEOPLE). Christy thought these crown looking pastries covered with syrup would be good, so we bought about 4 of them. The syrup was actually super glue and the pastries were adobe bricks, after breaking them from our grip and being turned down by several dogs on the road, we threw them at to a guy walking down the highway. BUEN PROVECHO
We checked into the hotel and went to the chapel for a fireside. Jack showed some slides of his first mission and spoke of the difference in the church. I spoke about the few missionaries from South America that served missions and those that did were not endowed since the closest temple was Washington DC and prohibitive for most members to attend. Afterwards a missionary who I served with came up and talked to me and said he was one of those missionaries.
As you can see from the pictures, Tupiza looks a lot like the St George- Bryce canyon area, It is south near the Argentine border. A lot of cactus and furniture made out of cactus wood. ( I never knew cactus was wood.) Tupiza looks like a small Arizona town of the 1800's quite a few tourists because its the gateway to the Uyuni area. Butch and Sundance stayed here for awhile and are allegedly buried between here and Uyuni. The next day we had a zone conference for Tupiza. Below is a picture of the third link of the trio in Queriza. The mutt has been following the Elders for weeks, and walked to Tupiza with them (a 3 hour walk)
The dog was upset that he didn't get to go to the zone conference. Late that afternoon we left for Villazone for another fireside. It about an hour to the south, right on the Argentine border. Best way to describe it is it is Hamer ID with the downside of everything Bolivia. We checked the apartments for the missionaries, found out they were heating the apartment with a makeshift propane torch for a heater. So after buying them a mattress and a new heater we went to a baptism and then to a members house for dinner. We had the BEST steaks from Argentina. These are their two boys who President Dyer calls Rayo y Relampago. (Bolt and Lightening) very properly named. After the fireside which Lorna also gave a talk we went back to Tupiza.
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| Relampago and Rayo (Lightening & Bolt) |
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| Sosa family Villazon with Dyers Tanner &Avilla |
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| GREAT STEAKS |
QUERIZA
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| road from Tupiza to Queriza |
On Sunday we drove an hour to Queriza. President Dyer opened up Queriza in about 1968. It has Bolivia's first real chapel which he helped build. He was there for over a year, and the chapel was dedicated by then Apostle Kimble. They owned horses which were necessary to go to Tupiza since the river had to be forged. When Jack was here the first time, the missionaries still were riding horses. We knew the area was primitive, but much more than we thought. Members were waiting on the road for a ride to church, no one has cars, there is no public transportation. The members are great,
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| Queriza Chapel, only LDS Chapel with a bell |
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| Queriza |
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Lorna and Christy held relief society outside. The church normally holds one meeting that lasts about an hour. OUR KIND OF BRANCH
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| Diogones Martinez taught by President Dyer first member outside of La Paz |
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| Elder Eyer riding on outside of Bi-Polar |
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| Member of the Branch |
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| Elder Eyer on running board ( His parents were related to the Shaw of Iran and left Iran at the time of the fall) |
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| Elder Vasquez holding on, (I'm sure this is church approved) |
On the way out we had about 13 people in Bipolar which can seat 5 or 6 comfortably as you can see two missionaries had to hang onto the luggage rack and their toes on the small Nerf bar. One member only went has far as the river to show us a safe place to cross. Others had medical appointments in Tupiza, Others were dropped off along the way. In a small village on the way back, President Dyer contacted Eduardo a man he taught 45 years ago. He said he was still a member of the church, but couldn't get to the branch in Queriza. Dan asked him when he quit attending. He said right after Dan left.
On the road to Queriza
EL MIRADOR
The next day we left Tupiza and arrived in Potosi for lunch, eating is what we do best. We decided to try something new. We went to the Mirador a totally out of place space needle with a revolving restaurant. Like most revolving restaurants, it was over priced and not very good food. For overpriced , I mean it was nearly $5.00 a plate. The restaurant wasn't revolving at the time, which was probably a good thing. The view would have been fantastic expect for the dirty windows. As you approached the outside edge the floor would bounce from probably too much weight, but not because of their dining furniture, all pvc plastic.. The indoor outdoor carpet on the floor, looked like they had been overhauling engines at night. Jack had the best choice typical Bolivian Milanesa and rice.
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| Typical Bolivian Dish |
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| At the Mirador with "Cerro Rico" in the back
It took over 24 hours. Elder Tanner was the first to get sick. He was sitting towards the front of the plane on our trip back to Cochabamba from Sucre. After landing, there was some discussion between the ground crew, flight attendance and pilot.
Most of the passengers were escorted to the rear of the plane to disembark. We may be exaggerating just a little. The humor we saw in it was short lived. Dan became sick, and Lorna spent 3 days extremely sick. OLD SUSPENSION BRIDGE BETWEEN POTOSI AND SUCRE
After leaving Potosi we drove back to Sucre. On the way we stopped at the suspension bridge, Jack Dan, Elder Tanner and Elder Avila, hiked down and walked across the bridge. In the tower on the other side they climbed the outside to the top of the towers.
The next day we had zone conferences in Sucre, Christy took us later in the afternoon to see the Glorieta mansion. Built on the outskirts of Sucre at the end of the 19th century during the Gilded age by a tin baron. He had traveled in Europe and he had made each tower to represent a different place. He had more than 100 orphan children living nearby whom he educated During the 33 years of the orphanage he educated over 6000 children
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Bolivia looks amazing. Lorna do you speak Spanish? What an opportunity for you!
ReplyDeleteRandie Krogel