Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas Temple

Temple #89

Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, México

4/7/2018

     We arrived in Tuxtla Gutierrez after a beautiful bus ride through rolling green hills and tall mountains. As we drove into the large city we looked down into the midst of hundreds of buildings and homes and saw the temple standing out. It was beautiful and we couldn't wait to go. 

     The next day the temple sessions were few and at odd times, and so we explored the city that day. Very close to Tuxtla Gutiérrez is a large canyon, Cañón del Sumidero, that we wanted to visit. One of the best ways to visit it is on a boat tour through the river that runs through it. 

     We took a colectivo to a small town next to Tuxtla Gutiérrez where we went and got on a small boat with some other tourists. The boat took us down the river and to the massive canyon. It was amazing to see the canyon walls slowly rise above us hundreds of feet above the river. 

     The guide stopped a few times along the shore and showed us a large crocodile and a few spider monkeys. It was a beautiful canyon tour and we really enjoyed it. 

     The next day after we ate a delicious traditional breakfast at our hotel and then we finally were headed to the temple and we were so excited! The Tuxtla Gutiérrez temple is a cookie cutter temple and sits near the middle of the city on a busy street. It has a church building right next to it and even a small distribution center. 

     We got there and went and did a session. It was amazing but the temple was completely full! The session we did had every seat filled up and they even brought in a few extra chairs to accommodate some people. It was fun to see such a full session compared to others we had been to that only had three or four people. 

     During the session we noticed the beautiful mural as most all the small temples have. It was a painting of a jungle and even had a jaguar, parrots and monkeys in the mural. 

     After the session we had plenty of time and so we went and did sealings. It was our first time doing sealings in Spanish and so it was a fun experience. There was even alive sealing for a daughter to her parents from what we could tell. It was neat to see that and the spirit filled the room. We then did some of our own names and it was all in Spanish yet still the same. 

     We then left the temple and took some pictures of ourselves and the temple. We walked above the temple up a hill to where we overlooked the temple amidst the large city. It was a pretty view, and although it was hot it was a pretty day. 

     We then took a taxi up above the city of Tuxtla Gutiérrez to some overlooks of Cañón del Sumidero. It was quite an amazing view of the canyon from above. We went to a few different overlooks where the views of the canyon were stunning and unique, quite different than from within the canyon. 

     After the canyon overlooks we headed to the airport. We had wonderful weather the entire time on our vacation although it was forecast to rain often in many of the places. As we were leaving though it began to pour so much there were rivers running down the street. 

     We were so grateful that we had ideal weather the entire time. We knew it wasn't a coincidence and so we gave thanks to God for the weather we had. We had done three new temples and enjoyed the entire trip. We already had plans to do more temples and we couldn't wait to travel, see more places and visit more temples!