Visit to the Old Rock House (October 9, 2008)

Below is a picture of what we call the "Old Rock House." My grandfather and grandmother (William Harvey Foster and Ruby Carmen Jones) spent their honeymoon in the "Old Rock House."

My father, Marvin Eugene Channer, Sr., spent a portion of his boyhhod at the Old Rock House.


The Old Rock House is located at Big Foot's Bar. It received its name from Big Foot, the legendary Nampa Indian who gave federal troops fits. He swam the river at Big Foot's Bar and thereby escaped from Federal troops, who had to ride to the nearest crossing, 20 miles away. From here, Grandpa Foster and his brother Bob, would catch sturgeon and take them to Nampa, where they would sell the fish steaks for 1 cent per pound.



We visited the house while were on our annual hunting trip.



We decided to stay at C.J. Strike Reservoir. I have only one or two pictures of our campsite. Mel and Louise, Ken and Debbie, Dad, Mom and me had lots of fun (but the wind blew like a banshee every night!!!!!) We didn't have any success hunting, but we had a wonderful time being together.

Passing of William Alexander Green (September 21, 2008)

The life of William Alexander Green, Cindy's father, is recorded in another place and I will not repeat it here. However, I will note that his death was a great shock and blow to all of us. He was a good man, loved by many. He served his wife, children, brothers and sisters, neighbors and fellowmen his entire life. He was a war hero, a patriot, a dedicated worker, a caring husband and father who did right by others and by his God. Certainly, I am a better person for his influence in my life. I include only one photograph here: the final tribute paid to him by his grandchildren, Michael, Emily and Aaron.

Mexico City Temple Cultural Event

What follow are a series of pictures of the cultural event held in connection with the rededication of the Mexico City Temple. Over 9,000 youth participated in the event. Approximately 100,000 members attended. The evening was slightly windy and cool. Hundreds of people worked for months to bring this about. There were songs and dances and costumes representing the history of Mexico, including the pre-Columbian, Columbian, Spanish conquest, quest for independence, and modern times. Here is a picture of Elder Tenorio right before the event. He was placing the final touches on everything. His wife was giving him instructions and he was laughing. He has been very kind to Cindy and me. One of my very first experiences in Mexico was attending a Council of Inter-religious Faiths with Elder Tenorio. He is actually a very funny man. Deeply spiritual, he is a man of many talents. I’ve enjoyed his friendship and confidence. I am certainly blessed to work with the Area Presidency on a weekly and often daily basis.

The stadium began to fill. The stadium holds about 115,000 people and to see it fill was amazing. Some of the first people to arrive were the members of the choir. The choir was comprised of 600 members and was very powerful. My secretary, Tere, was a member of the choir. She is wearing the pink scarf below. Also, my paralegal, Wendy, was in the choir. I took her picture as well. I don’t know what I’d do without their capable help!

As the stadium filled, I wanted to take a few pictures of the “color” of the costumes. The next couple of pictures show some of the color. The seats of the stadium were like threads in a beautiful tapestry of color.

Here are a couple of pictures of the stadium as it is almost full.

President Monson and his daughter, President Eyring and his wife, President Mickelsen and his wife and Elder Grow and his wife (Rhonda) were with the First Presidency and were stuck in traffic. Some day I’ll write a treatise on traffic in Mexico City but sufficie it to say that there between 300-500 buses in the parking lot and surrounding the stadium. It was almost impossible to move anywhere. When they arrived, the entire stadium was waiting for President Monson. He gave everyone a warm welcome and I took this picture.
The Mexican National Anthem was sung by a young lady. Unlike the US, in Mexico, the national anthem cannot be performed without one’s having permission from the Mexican government. Although I had a number of tasks in connection with the event, one of them was to obtain permission from the government for the presentation of the national anthem. We obtained it with two days to spare!!



President Eyring addressed the crowd and told of his grandfather and father, both of whom were Mexican citizens. He related his memories of his grandfather tenderly singing and humming the national anthem. Tears came to his eyes. It was a very tender moment.






What follow are a series of pictures, none of them very good, of the youth and costumes. We were staring into a large bank of lights, television equipment, sound equipment, etc. It was a photographer’s nightmare. Anyway, I did the best I could to record the evening with a few photos. The costumes were absolutely top notch. Note the symbol of the Mexico City Temple on one of the shields.

During the program there was a danc called “The Old Men’s Dance.” At this point in the program, both President Monson and President Eyring stood up and began to dance. It was very funny. I took a photo of their dancing. It didn’t turn out very well so it's not included here.

Toward the end of the program, all of the missionaries serving in the Mexico City Temple District (1,200) filled the stadium floor. They entered the stadium singing “Called to Serve” and it was a MOVING sight. But, I was even more moved when President Monson stood in honor of these full-time representatives of the Lord as soon as they begin to file into the stadium. After singing Called to Serve, and seemingly without cue, the choir (600 members strong), the orchestra, the missionaries and nearly 100,000 attendees, began to sing “We Ever Pray for Thee.” They all removed white hankerchiefs and began waiving them. President Monson took a white hankerchief from his pocket and began waving it in response to the crowd. All my life, the hymn We Ever Pray for Thee has been one of my favorites. Tears came easily as we virtually stood next to a prophet of God and prayed that he may be sustained in the heavy responsibilities that are his to bear.

After the event, when a few of the participants and missionaries were on the stadium floor I took a few photographs in an attempt to show the magnitude of the gathering. Truly, it was a magnificent site and one we won’t forget.

Mexico City Temple Open House (October 24, 2008)

Hello Family,
I thought I'd mention our trip the other day to the Mexico City Temple.

We had a wonderful time once we arrived. However, we got lost on the way (as I was determined to try a new way to get there). My helpers in the office thought I might be able to take the so-called "Periferico" which is a large beltway around Mexico City. However, when you think of beltway you are probably thinking of something like you have experienced in the U.S. The beltway in Mexico City is a series of different streets connected together. It's more a "route" than a distinct highway. Anyway, I tried to take the Periferico and it took us 2 hours to arrive at the temple. What follow are several pictures of the temple and the family enjoying the visit.

Here we are in the Visitors Center next to the temple.

On the entrance of each temple one will find "Holiness to the Lord, House of the Lord." The Mexico City temple is no exception. The inscription to the left is written in Spanish and has the meaning described above.

On the top of each temple is a statue of an angel. The angel is meant to symbolize the angel described by John in the Book of Revelations who carried the everlasting gospel to the inhabitants of the earth in the latter days. To those of the LDS faith the angel represents the ancient prophet Moroni who appeared to Joseph

Smith and explained where the golden plates could be found and from which the the Book of Mormon was translated. In the picture one can see in the arms of the angel a set of plates. Yes, the Angel Moroni is covered in gold leaf.

The Mexico City is open to the public for tours before the dedication on November 16, 2008. The following two pictures are of the family in the front of the temple after we finished our tour. The temple is beautiful and will be a blessing to the members of the Church in Mexico for many years to come. It is an interesting note that from the time the temple was built until today the temple has sunk approxiamtely 6 feet. As I described in another of the blog entries, soil stabilization is a severe problem in Mexico City. This temple has a self-adjusting, sel-leveling laser system underneath the main structure that lowers the entire temple via a system of large hydraulic jacks. Pretty interesting how it works--as though I know!!

Here is the final picture of the gang!!!

Trip to Toltec Capital (September 20, 2008)

For many years I’ve wanted to visit the ancient ruins of Mexico and especially the city founded by Quetzalcoatl (the Plumed Serpent). It was he who was the light skinned god who prohibited sacrifices of humans and was recognized as the priesthood leader of the ancient peoples of middle-Mexico. He was considered one of the gods of the creation (being given the name of the “God of the Morning Star” and he was the god of the resurrection). It was he who promised to return one day from the East. 500 years later, the Aztecs confused Cortes with Quetzalcoatl when Cortes arrived from the East on the shores between Vera Cruz and the Yucatan. So, our trip to Tula, on September 20, 2008, was an important trip for me.

As the Teotihuacan empire began to crumble (i.e., Pyramid of the Sun—see our trip to Teotihuacan in August), another empire was rising—the empire of the Toltecs. This was about 750 AD. The capital of this empire was the ancient capital of Tollan or Tula. During the height of Tula's power, somewhere between 900 and 1100 AD, it included an area of some five square miles, with an occupation perhaps as high as 60,000. Tollán or Tula, was the reputed place founded by Quetzalcoatl. Though relatively small, the main pyramid is highly decorated and contains large statues on top (called Atlanteans). The sides of the five terraces are covered with sculptured and painted friezes of felines, birds of prey devouring human hearts, and human faces extending from the jaws of serpents. A stairway on the southern side at one time led to a highly ornamented, two-room temple at the summit.

We came upon the main temple from a distance and could see the massive Atlanteans atop. At one time, they held up the roof of a large structure on the top of the pyramid. The picture above hides most of the pyramid which was about 60 feet in height (or the height of a 5 to 6 story building).

Above, the kids and I climb the stairs up the steep pyramid.

On top, one sees the large stone figures. The figures dwarf any human and are very impressive.

As mentioned, the ancient city consisted of 3 pyramids, 2 ball fields, a large palace, etc. Here, Mike and Emily are atop the main pyramid looking toward some of the other portions of the city.

Aaron is starting to descend from the top of the main pyramid. The stairs are very steep and there is nothing to hold onto when descending.

Columns are all that remain of the king's palace.

This frieze may be difficult to see but it shows a human being being eaten by a serpent. The only portion of the person that can be seen is the head. Immediately behind the head (to the right) is the mouth of the serpent gaping open with the eye of the serpent in the middle of the jaws. The serpent is coiled and one can see the rattle on its tail in the upper right corner. There are many such carvings around the base of the pyramid. They still have coloring on many portions of them: red, yellow, blue and pink.

Aaron and I are at the base of the king's palace and next to one of the columns. The plaster has decayed on almost all of the pyramids. However, originally, the plaster was white and covered the pyramids in their entirety. The Spanish conquistadores were astounded when they arrived in "New Spain" to see shining white pyramids shimmering in the sun.

This was the last sight we saw as we said good-bye to the main pyramid at Tula.

One more shot of one of the smaller pyramids in the ancient city.

A final picture looking toward one of the ball fields and a portion of the king's palace.

Well, that is it! We had a wonderful day looking at the city founded by Quetzacoatl. It would sure be nice to have a time machine to go back in time and see these palces at the height of their civilization.

El Zo'colo

Yesterday, we took a trip to the Zocolo to
celebrate Independence Day. Independence Day in Mexico is next Tuesday, September 16th. The Zocolo is the heart of Mexico City and has been the heart of Mexico since Tenochitlan, the ancient capital of the Aztecs. It is the third largest plaza in the world. The first is Tiennenmen Square in Beijing, the second is Red Square in Moscow and the third is the Zocolo in Mexico City. The picture to the right and below are of a portion of the square. The square and the flag are HUGE. The picture does not do it justice.

On one side of the Zocolo is the Metropolitan Cathedral. After the Spanish conquest of Tenochitlan, Hernan Cortes began the construction of a church on this site. I'm not certain what happened to the original structure, or the one that came after it, but the cathedral to the right (and the following pictures) was begun in 1626.

After touring the Zocolo and the Cathedral, we stopped for a bite to eat. Here is a picture of the street where we ate. It is typical of a street in this part of town.

Across the street from where we ate was a street muscian. They are fairly common and always very good with the violin. I was impressed with the guy to the right. While we were eating, a TV camera and reporter appeared. He played for the TV audience and for us!

I took the next picture through the bars on a fence to show the difference between street level and the entrance to a cathedral. The difference was about 5 feet. There is a sidewalk that goes from the street into the entance of the church. Inasmuch as Mexico City was built on a marshy lake bed, large buildings have a tendancy to sink (and they continue to sink). For this reason, many of the roads and the sidewalks are in difficult conditions. It takes a lot of effort to keep up the infrastructure.

Our last stop was the park next to the Metropolitan Palace for the Performing Arts. There were hundreds of street vendors and the kids wanted to do some shopping. After shopping we stopped outside the Performing Arts buildng for a couple of pictures.

Well, that's it for another beautiful day in Mexico. We miss the family and friends but we are doing our best to see all the wonderful things this Country has to offer. Love, David