A day in Cholula

On Saturday we traveled to Cholula with the Assistants and the Office Elders... Elder Nepomuceno, Elder Gonzalez, Elder Hurtado and Elder Alvarez. There is a huge pyramid which was buried by the Spanish and then a large church was built on top of the pyramid. My understanding is that it was an effort to squelch the beliefs of the existing people and introduce them to Christianity.

The pyramid is the largest in the world, one third larger than the Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.







These guys climbed this really tall pole and wound their ropes around the center pole, then they dropped off the frame and slowly their ropes unwound from the center pole as they twirled around the pole down to the ground. Really interesting to watch...











this shows just how high up they were. When they swung around the pole, they descended very slowly. It was very beautiful to watch. Sorry, I couldn't get a video to load...









This is a replica in the museum outside of the pyramid. You can see how the vegetation part has been cut away to see what is underground. This part to the right is a part that was rebuilt to resemble what was covered.




This is inside the museum and shows what the walls probably looked like at the time that it was being used as a pyramid. Elder Hurtado, Elder Alvarez, Brian, Sister Reeves, President Reeves, Elder Gonzalez and Elder Nepomuceno.






this is taken from another angle of the pyramid where some of the original pyramid has been unearthed. In the middle of the picture you can see some people on a path. That gives you an idea of how large all this is. In the replica, this area is in the top right hand corner.




This is a picture of a man who was painting pictures of Popo (the large volcano) on plates with his fingers! Kind of like finger painting, but a whole lot better! We actually bought a plate, we loved it so much. It turned out that he is a member of the church, but not real active, so President Reeves was able to visit with him and encourage him to come back. He was a very sweet and humble man.





This is looking from on top of the pyramid with Puebla and Cholula in the background.

This was a much easier climb than Malinche!










The Church on top of the pyramid. It was so beautiful inside, all the details of the architecture were amazing...