Costa Rica - Sacrament Meeting and the LDS Temple
We woke up at 8:00 after a short night sleep and got ready quickly. Our cute hotel had a fun outdoor buffet breakfast. I ate quickly so that I could sit by the pool. It was warm so I sat in the shade with my legs in the sun. It’s wonderful to feel warm and sitting by the pool is one of my very favorite things. Matt, dressed in his nice shorts and shirt for church couldn’t resist the water and got in up to his knees getting his shorts just a little wet.
Chris met with the rental car company while we sat in the sun. The whole process went really smoothly, which was a blessing. Chris had done extensive research on car rentals there and we ended up going with . When he finished, he ate breakfast and then we loaded up the car and headed to the LDS church building a few blocks away, right by the Costa Rica Temple. When we saw it Chris remembered that his Dad worked on the roof of this temple years ago. Church was at 10:30am so we had a minute to walk around the temple and take a few pictures.
Interestingly, every person walking in to church wore a mask - the entire congregation - which was about 50 members. The chapel was a cute indoor outdoor room with windows open wide allowing the happy chirping of birds to come floating in. It immediately reminded me of church in Hawaii. A diligent older man stood as each member entered. He took their temperature and offered them some hand sanitizer. The ward members were friendly and quite a few said hello and welcomed us. We couldn’t understand the talks but enjoyed singing hymns and taking the Sacrament. Actual bread and cups of water were handed to each person. I love to see the differences and similarities - especially in international wards.
From church we started our 3 hour drive from San Jose to our Volcano town of El Castillo. On our way out of San Jose we moved slowly forward waiting to pay the toll while Costa Ricans tried to sell us dried plantains and something else I couldn’t quite make out… even darting back to our car a bit after they realized we were American. Once the toll was paid we zipped through the country roads, up and over hills, and down into narrow valleys. We commented on the green in every direction… On orange and yellow blossomed trees, palm trees, and windy roads. We stopped once for a quick break so that Luke would feel better - he gets car sick easily, it seems -and then we kept going. Google maps said it would take us 3 hours but it ended up being closer to 3 and a half. We learned that was the norm for road travel here.
We stopped in La Fortuna for a late lunch and then walked across the street to a small grocery store. We wandered the isles looking for breakfast foods and a few snacks. The kids were curious and wanted to see what we could find. Turns out not much. We grabbed Fresca, Coke, milk and what we would later learn was stale cereal. We were glad we had packed so many snacks and things from home… banana bread, breakfast bars, licorice, Pringles, Z bars, trail mix and a few other treats.
Our rental was just 30 minutes away. We met the manager in town and followed him up to the house so he could show us around. Excited for a fun week!