After breakfast, we will check out of our hotel and transfer to San Lucas Sacatepequez to attend sacrament meeting and enjoy the music and spoken word of the meeting in the beautiful Spanish language. We will also discuss faith, true conversion and its crucial role in our lives especially as it relates to trials and difficulties. This afternoon we will transfer over the continental divide further into the western highlands with its vistas of terraced hillsides and colorfully dressed indigenous women to Godinez which is a small community in Solola. Time permitting we will visit the Safe Homes for Children Orphanage and interact with the children. Next we will drive to Panajachel and check into our hotel for the night.

  Today we drive into the highlands past precarious mountainside farms that seem to defy gravity as they cling to steep slopes. We also drive past the waterfall that Freiberg used in his painting of Alma baptizing at the Waters of Mormon. Our travels will take us to breathtaking Lake Atitlan, considered by some to be the most beautiful lake in the world and believed by many to be the Waters of Mormon. This lake is fed by springs of pure water (Mosiah 23:4), is very beautiful (Mosiah 18:30), and has a submerged ruin today called Samabaj in the area of Santiago Atitlan – that dates to the same time period as the City of Jerusalem that was covered by water during the destruction that accompanied Christ’s visit to the Americas (3 Ne 9:7). Today we will review the touching account of Jesus personal ministry to the Nephites in the Americas! We will also take a boat ride on the lake, stop for a few moments in a beautiful and peaceful setting, and contemplate “how beautiful are they [the waters and forests of Mormon] to the eyes of them who there came to a knowledge of their Redeemer” (Mosiah 18:30). Afterward we will visit the San Buenaventura nature reserve to feed the spider monkeys and hike its trails and suspension bridges. For the adventurous members of the group we will join a zip line tour (optional) that zigzags across the ravine for some of the most exhilarating and breathtaking vistas you can imagine of the lake below. Afterward we will return to our hotel for dinner and overnight stay.

After breakfast and check-out we will transfer back across the country to Jalapa, in eastern Guatemala. On our way we will stop briefly aprox. 20 km northeast of the capital at El Chayal (“obsidian” in the Kakchikel Maya language), the most important obsidian mine in the Mayan world. Over many years, vast quantities of black obsidian were mined at El Chayal and later chiseled and formed into arrow and spear points, axe and knife blades, and related cutting devices and tools. We will discuss what it looks like to be an “instrument in the hands of God” (Alma 17:9). A Book of Mormon scholar has proposed that El Chayal is Onidah, the place of arms mentioned as a gathering place for the Lamanite armies (Alma 47:5). Afterward we will continue our journey to Copan crossing the Honduran border before checking into our hotel for dinner and an overnight stay.

  This morning we visit the breathtaking Ruins of Copan, a major Mayan ceremonial complex. It has been said that Tikal is like New York City and Copan is like Paris. The explored ruins of Copan have been featured in many archaeological studies and articles. We will see the great Hieroglyphic Stairway, the longest single written inscription in Pre-Columbian America. This artifact is said to be the Star of David or Solomon’s seal and is a Mayan sculpture of a bearded man. The “Rosalila” Pyramid is a near perfect Mayan ball court, the large and small museums, and a sculpture of a jaguar that looks like the twin brother of BYU’s own Cosmo – immortalized like a charging running back on Copan’s stony wall. Copan rose to prominence during the Classic Maya period, after the close of the Book of Mormon, in large part due to its tributary control of the trade routes on the Motagua River. Its early history shows Olmec influence, the earliest known civilization of Mesoamerica, thought by many Book of Mormon scholars to be the Jaredite civilization (Ether). Copan was the center of a dynasty that ruled the Maya kingdom for over 400 years and today is marked for its majestic art and hieroglyphs. The skill, time, and effort taken to carve these hieroglyphs in stone is remarkable and inspiring. These glyphs have endured the test of time and compel us to remember that these regal but desolate ruins are ruins, because they ‘forgot Him’. We will take some time to contemplate why it is important for us to “remember” and reflect on some eternal truths that we must never forget (Helaman 12). Time permitting we will take a tour of the mountain valley on horseback and then return to our hotel for dinner and overnight. 

Today we travel across the Rio Dulce and visit the ruins of Quirigua. When John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood explored Quirigua in 1840, the Times and Seasons (edited by the Prophet Joseph Smith) published the following statement: “We are not going to declare positively that the ruins of Quirigua are those of Zarahemla” but then added that it would be difficult to “prove that the ruins of the city in question are not one of those referred to in the Book of Mormon.” This Times and Seasons Vol. III published at Nauvoo in Oct. 1842 suggested that Quirigua was the City of Zarahemla because of its proximity to a prominent river (Alma 6:7) and detailed stone inscriptions (Omni 1:20-21). Of course, we know from archaeological excavations today that the site was occupied principally from the 5th Century AD to the 9th Century AD after the close of the Book of Mormon but the extravagant, larger than life stela at the site remind us that power and pride precede destruction (2 Nephi 26:10-11). Quirigua is the site of the tallest, most intricate, and most distinctive monuments of the Mayan Empire – including Stela E, which is over 35 feet tall and weighs 65 tons. The stone depiction of dignitaries dressed in tall decorated headdresses (almost matching the height of the man himself) reminds us of Mormon’s question, “…why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life” (Mormon 8:39) and Moroni’s declaration “pride hath proven their destruction” (Moroni 8:27). We will take a moment to ponder the principle of pride – as pronounced by prophets both ancient and modern. We will transfer to Rio Dulce and take a boat ride on the Gulfette and on the Rio Dulce. Afterward, we will return to our dock and check into our hotel for dinner and an overnight there.

Today we visit the incomparable ruins of Tikal. These ruins reveal the Mayan civilization in its greatest splendor – being among the most famous, extensive, and breathtaking of all ancient architecture. We will visit the Great Plaza where you can visualize King Benjamin’s sermon being spoken from the top of a pyramid yet heard across the entire plaza. We will also see Temple I, Temple II, the Lost World Pyramid, and the largely unexcavated 230-foot Temple IV, the reference point from which the Mayan day keepers marked the sacred dates on their agricultural calendar. We will also describe and discuss the significance of the celestial serpent on Lintel 3 found inside the chambers of the temple shrine atop Temple IV associated with the feathered serpent worshipped by the Maya. The source of this important Creator God whose motif is found at many ceremonial sites across Mesoamerica is considered by Book of Mormon scholars to be Jehovah or Jesus Christ the Creator, Healer and Savior of all those who receive Him (Num. 21:8-9, John 3:14-15). We will consider the importance of our relationship with Jesus Christ and the constant need to keep our eyes focused on Him as our fixed point of reference eternally (Alma 33:19-22). This is also where George Lucas shot a scene of the rebel moon base on Yavin 4 for his famous Star Wars film. Back in the Central Acropolis, we will sit on an ancient judgment throne, marvel at palace floor plans, and sit on the edge of an ancient stone bed. We will envision the lifeless body of Alma the Younger laying upon a bed that must have been very similar to this one for three days before coming to his physical and spiritual senses. We will take some time to ponder our own position to the question “Have ye . . . been born of God” (Alma 5:14)? Afterward we will join the Tikal Canopy tour, time permitting, for those interested in a zip line tour. We will check-in at our hotel for dinner and an overnight.

Today we will transfer to the Belizean border at Melchor de Mencos and cross this beautiful country to Orange Walk on the New River. We take a boat upriver to the archaeological site of Lamanai which is proposed by etymologists to mean “submerged crocodile” in the Yucatec Mayan language. Interestingly, the name of this site is recognized by Book of Mormon scholars as a cognate of Laman or Lamoni, important names of Lamanite kings in the Book of Mormon. According to an early 16th Century AD Catholic church records at the site, Lamanai is thought to be one of the few Maya sites for which the ancient name has been preserved. At Lamanai, we will discuss the meaning of the Mayan world tree or tree of life as it relates to their understanding of the physical and spiritual worlds. We will relate the world tree to Lehi and Nephi’s dreams (1 Nephi 8:10 and 11:7) to gain a better understanding of what the tree of life represents to us and how those who saw our day described it and what we can learn and apply from their visions and warnings. We return by boat down river to our waiting bus and transfer to Corozal for dinner and an overnight stay at our hotel. 

After breakfast we will visit the local LDS church for sacrament meeting and then return to our hotel for check-out. Today we will discuss the role of this “Promised Land” and the role it will play in God fulfilling the Abrahamic Covenant and the role it will play in the Last Days and the winding up scenes. Next, we continue up the coast of Quintana Roo to the ceremonial city of Tulum, a late Post Classic Maya city (1200 AD to 1600 AD) built on the edge of a 12 meter cliff overlooking the Caribbean Sea. Although Tulum does not date to the times of the Book of Mormon, it is interesting to note that it was conserved as a religious center for Mayan priests. We will visit the El Castillo temple, the Temple of the Frescoes, and the Temple of the Descending and Diving God, associated with Kukulkan, the feathered serpent, and the Venus deity worshipped throughout Mesoamerica and considered by Book of Mormon scholars today to be Jesus Christ. Interestingly, Venus is one of the morning and evening stars, another title of Jesus Christ. Afterward we will transfer to our all-inclusive resort hotel in Playa del Carmen for check-in and a farewell party and dinner before saying “adios” to those who have helped to create many unforgettable memories. 

After breakfast and check-out some will transfer to the Cancun international airport for their return flight to the U.S. Buen Viaje!