#29 Tupiza's Everyday Sights

Everyone in Tupiza uses gas to cook with.  This truck delivers full
tanks of gas for their stoves and takes empty one away.  It has a
horn that honks loudly to let people know it is around.

The Martinez family from Charaja.  The Elders and Lloyd have been
teaching them and they will soon be ready for baptism.  They have
six children. The three older children are old enough to be baptized
also.  Their baptismal date in November 17.  

Elevterio (the father) makes adobe bricks for a living. This is the
form he shapes them in. (all by hand) You can see new ones on the ground that
are drying and some ready for sale stacked up behind.  

Wilian, Fernando and Amanda Martinez.  

Adobe bricks drying.  They are sold for one Bolivian each.  Which
is about 14 cents. Almost all the buildings and homes are built
with these bricks. 

The adobe bricks are made with dry grass, clay soil and water. 

This is a home of some members of the church that live in Monte.
The kitchen where they cook their food is on the left end of the house.

We were visiting in Monte on a Friday afternoon. We saw some
children at the school and the teacher came out and invited us in.
Elder Rengifo and Bilanzich were invited to teach the children.

This is the school room. The teacher is in the front on the right.
The missionaries gave a great lesson on prayer. 

This is the desks the children use.  Two children sit at each desk. 

These three brothers live in Monte.
Ronaldo in 8, Jonalan 6 and Adan is 3.
They had several dogs and cats for family pets. 

We visited the Condori Family in Titihoya and Ivan was cultivating
the garlic crop with his burrow.  Elder Rengifo was happy to help.

Elder Bradshaw and Nelva Condori  having fun and posing
for the camera.

The moon was up before the sun was down going back to Tupiza. 

This good man is  hauling a load of corn on is bicycle. 

Wilder Condori plowing his field with a team of oxen called
bueys in Spanish.  They are plowing getting ready to plant corn. 

#28 Uyuni Salt Flats Trip #2

After lunch we rode to Incahuasi Island.  It is right out in the
middle of the Salt Flats.

The island was covered with large cactus and had some neat
looking stone buildings.

Lloyd is pointing to the island on the map.  All the blue area is the salt  flats.

We found a little color on the island.  

Tupiza Zone on Incahuasi Island.  We all needed sunglasses or
you could sunburn your eyes quite easily from the reflection off the salt. 

Our guides showed us an area where the water came bubbling up
out of the ground.  The water level is high and at some times of
the year the salt flats look like a lake.  They told us you have
to be careful not to go off the traveled roads or you will get stuck. 

This is a Hotel built on the Salt Flats.  They have about three more
that are in the process of being built.  They are of course made
out of salt. This is the center of the Hotel and it had two wings
on each side where the rooms are located.

Inside they had some fun decorations made with salt. 

This is what the rooms look like. 

The had a nice stone fireplace. 

A salt staircase. 

A salt bear and couch..

You would almost think it is made of snow.

The ceiling upstairs in the dining room.

This is the bus we rode back to Tupiza in.  It does not look too bad
in this pictures, but it was old and rusted in areas.  Inside the seats
were pretty comfortable and we made it safely back.  Riding some
of these buses in Bolivia is always an adventure!!

#27 Uyuni Salt Flat Trip #1

This is a silver statue of a miner standing on a
large anvil on a street in Uyuni

An old time ore car. There is a lot of mining for gold, lead and silver
in Southern Bolivia. 

The first place we stopped on our day tour of the salt flats was a
train graveyard. Here is one old engine.

There was two long rows of old engines.

You could hardly move these wheels. They were very heavy.

Lloyd rode on a train like one of these on his way home from
his first mission.  He rode from Tupiza to LaPaz.  He tells the
story of how it derailed on the way and they spent the cold
night out on the high plain. 

Someone made a good swing.

Here is the Tupiza Zone.  Great group of missionaries!!?

They took us to a small town where the salt is packaged to sell
at stores around Bolivia. There are three ovens on the wall where
they build fires inside to heat the salt.  This process dries it and takes
out all the water. 

This is a pile of dried salt.  Stephen our young guide is sitting
by a grinder they put the salt through to make it finer.

Lloyd is standing by the area where they dry the salt. The ovens
are underneath the platform where they put the salt.

This Mother and her five children are putting the salt in small
plastic packages.  They have a flame between her and her daughter.
      After they fill the bags with salt, they run the top of the plastic bag thru  the flames and melt it enough to seal the bag.  They do about 5000
 bags a day. You can see the stacks of bags behind them.  It was a
 dark room with no windows. What a job!

This is what it looks like driving on the Salt Flats. It looks like
snow and the rode looks slick. 

We could see some mountains in the distance. 

We stopped at an area to have some lunch.  They had flags from
many different countries.  The United States flag was not there.
They said the President of Bolivia did not want it displayed, because
he does not like the United States and all their laws against drugs.

This building is made our of salt blocks.  Inside there is an area to
eat, buy souvenirs and a bathroom.

Salt everywhere and just about as far as you can see.

Inside there are tables and chair made of salt.

This is the building all made of salt blocks.

Tupiza Zone having some fun. Not everyone can jump at the same time.

#26 District Conference Weekend

Saturday started with Lloyd and Pres. Crayk getting their
shoes shined at the Plaza in Tupiza.

We had a nice lunch with the Tupiza Zone missionaries.  We celebrated
Elder Billanzich and Elder Hacks's birthdays.  

That afternoon we had a baptism for Honorata and Augustine Caceres
and Sheila Cruz Miranda.  

Dorio Martinez came to Conference on Sunday with his
mother and a bus load of members from Quiriza.

The Catacata sisters.  Lesley, Helen and Madeline.

The members that came to Conference on a bus from Titihoyo, Monte
and Quiriza. This is outside the Tupiza Chapel. 

Deeana, France, and  Analee Cano from Monte came with
their Uncle and Mom.

The Condori Family from Titihoyo.
Nelva, Mayra, Elvis, Hrm. Bradshaw, Rosaria (Mom), Florida,
Ivan with new baby boy( Ivan) and Gabriel. 

Lloyd was asked to ordain Carlos Leonel Sorveo Mamani , who
is preparing to go on a mission, to be an Elder.