Week of Dec. 22 to 28, 2014 Christmas Week

Inside the municipal center at Ocotlan, A puepla S. of Oaxaca. Friday after the Temple closed we went to the big market here. There are beautiful old murals on the walls. Ross and Doug.

 This week with the temple closed for the Christmas break we had a lot of free time. The Normans had a friend of  here also so we had the opportunity to tag along and see a lot of fun places. Doug (The Norman's friend) is a delightful person and we very much enjoyed having him here to share in our Christmas, he definitely added to the wonderful spirit we felt and the fun and laughter we shared together. Tuesday the temple was full and we even had a late session with people trying to get that last session in before Christmas, it was such a great day to be there. Wednesday, Christmas Eve, really is the big day here in Mexico, it is celebrated even more that Christmas day. We decided to go caroling (sorry I have no pictures, I think John took some and I am sure he will post them his blog is http://johnandchristinesadventures,blogspot.com) we had the 7 of us The Normans, The Roesberrys, Us, and Doug, along with 2 darling young Sister Missionaries. We wanted to sing in a couple of hospitals, but they said no. So we went to a park and sang to people there and then we started toward a walking street by a huge Catholic Church and saw another hospital, they were glad to have us and we sang there, one patient wept ( I don't think we were that bad, I think she liked it!), and they gave us all water so now we are paid professionals.  We then sang across from the big church where we drew quite a crowd, including a reporter who interviewed the young Sisters and followed us to the next spot and recorded us again. It was a great morning. The afternoon was spent preparing for dinner at President Atkinsons house. It was a very nice evening, great food and conversation, topped off by a beautiful scripture message.
Christmas Morning we all got together again at the President's house for breakfast, he gave us all a beautiful hand made plate by a local artist, each one unique and different. Again it was great and ended with a beautiful scripture message, President is an amazing teacher! The day was spent with the Roesberrys and Normans and Doug visiting and playing games and relaxing, but the best part was being able to communicate with our family. It was so nice to be able to talk to each of you and see you faces via Skype, we are so very grateful for modern technology! It helps so much to be able to see and hear from you.
      

More of the murals

Still more, they are beautiful and so large and colorful, they are quite old but are in the process of being restored and repainted.
 

After the market we stopped in San Bartolo at the Barro Negra (Black pottery) factory again.
This is a display of the clay ect. they use to make it. I am in love with this stuff. They had a different nativity set this time that was so beautiful, bigger and more realistic. Before we come home I might have to have it. 

We try not to miss any meals! We ate Tlayudas, they are like super sized quesadias, sort of.
They are made from a large, fresh, corn tortilla stuffed with cheese, avocado, black beans, tomato, lettuce, onion, and your choice of meat, or no meat. Then you can add salsa. I couldn't finish mine. 

Yesterday after the temple we went to Tule to see the 2000 year old tree, it is a Cyprus tree and it is impressionate!
I have never seen a living thing so big! I wonder if it is tired of seeing the same patterns of life over the many years of it's life? Touching it's branch it seemed that you could feel a tiredness abut it and maybe a hope of better things to come, but you know me I like fantasy so who knows. This tree is on one side of the church, it's son is on the other and is 1000 ears old and then a baby (not sure how) old is across from it. It did seem to beckon to me to come and shelter in it's branches and I think all 25 of the grandkids could climb in it for hours of fun, however it is fenced and you can't really get close except for the branches that have grown over the fence.   

The baby

The hijo (the son)

More in the market, the lady is probably Mixtex or Zapotec,(check out the length of her braids) We considered buying a goat but didn't think the President would appreciate it if we transported it in his van.

 While we were there to see the tree a wedding party showed up, the bride is beautiful, but doesn't look very happy.
There was also a band playing roll out the barrel that escorted a family in for a baby blessing! 

These little girls were at the market in Ocotlan, I am not sure if they had just bought the Turkey or if they were selling the turkey.

At the market, see the little lady in the backround with all the live turkeys for sale, they are strapped across her shoulders
and tied at the legs and carried in her hands.

This shows a little better how really massive this tree is! 

More murals, Chris Norman, Doug, Ross and I, Jan and Greg Roesberry
It has been another wonderful week, Brother Norman said that his son told him you aren't on a mission, you are on a spiritual vacation! That is what we feel like at least part of the time. We love serving here in Oaxaca in our beautiful little temple with some of the best people on the earth. we miss you all like crazy and we love you and pray for you always. Be good to each other and have a fantastic New Year.  

Week of Dec. 14th - 21st, 2014

I totally forgot to tell you about the ballet last week. This shows us waiting for it to
start (Brother Norman was taking the pictures) . Sister Norman, The Atkinsons, Us,
The Peñas.

Ceiling of the Theatre, it was a beautiful old building, it made you feel like you
should be dressed in a long dress with a fancy hat and cape.
 

See the side box seats, pretty fancy.

Sister Rojas that was a missionary with us in Mexico City came to
wedding reception for Sister Araiza, It was fun to see her, the sister on the right is
Sister Tovar, she just finisher her Mission and went home to Pachuca, she is 80 years
old and has some fantastic stories.
 

The 'Hermosa' couple Max and Ruth

Us with the Normans, The Flores, and Sister Tovar, Sister Tovar and the Flores
have finished their mission.

This is Brother and Sister Para, they are temple coordinators,
they are the sweetest couple and we love them to pieces. 

grandma got to hold and play with a baby, she is the daughter of
one of the temple maintenance workers, he is also a temple worker.

Just before we snapped this picture this little boy was sitting on
Joseph's lap caressing Jesus. The kids also like to ride on the sheep and the donkey.
Happy Birthday this past week to Miss Eliza, who is now 6 years old!

It has been another great week, the temple broke all kinds of records again this week, it is unreal to think that a little teeny temple can handle so many people, we have as many as any big temple. Friday we set a temple record for weddings. I think it was 15 but one person said it was 24 so I am not sure. I know it was busy! How wonderful to see so many people in the temple smiling and happy in the service of others and our Father. It is so true that when we loose ourselves in the service of others we find true joy. We see that every day as we watch people serve in the temple. Each week we meet people and make new friends or renew friendships with people we knew from Mexico City that we thought we would never get the chance to see again, it is so good to see them and work beside them once more.
This week will be pretty calm with the temple closed 2 days for the Christmas Holiday and again the next week for the New Year Break. We will enjoy spending time with our good friends here but will miss being with gamily at this special time of year. For us it has been hard to think of it as being Christmas without the hustle and bustle of shopping, Christmas parties, school programs to watch, and the weather itself makes it really hard to imagine it could be Christmas. When the roses and flowers have blooms and all the trees have leaves and flowers, and the temperatures are in the 70's and up it really seems more like summer. We rarely wear a sweater (except in the temple when the air conditioning is too cold) and Greg was too hot in church yesterday and had to take his suit jacket off. Did I mention the Roesberrys are here (insert little me doing happy dance), they arrived Thursday Night, to no one at the airport to pick them up! The president had the time wrong and was an hour late. They are getting settled in, their apartment is not in our little complex, but is about a 10 minute walk. It is so great to have them back with us.
We love each and everyone of you and want to wish you a very Merry and Blessed Christmas, full of family, friends and the joy that comes with the knowledge of the Saviors love for each of us. Take time out to let each other know how much you care for and love each other and give each other a giant hug for us. Count your blessings and feel the joy of this special time of year, then treasure it up in your heart to pull out and get you through the coming year. May you truly be blessed.  

  

Week of Dec. 8th to Dec. 14th, 2014

As our good friend John Norman says "The days go by slow but the weeks go by fast!" it is a true story. Another week has come and gone and I am certain the grandkids are anxiously awaiting Christmas break (as are the school teachers-I know of one in particular who is counting the days). The temple continues to be busy, it seems that we are constantly setting temple records fro the amount of people in the temple and the amount of ordinances done, one Sister made that comment to me on Saturday that she thought there were lots of fiestas in Heaven this weekend because of all the families that were being united.
There was one stake that came that brought so many of their own family history files as well as their own ordinance workers, what a joy is was to see them, they were so happy to be there, they stayed for three days and accomplished a tremendous amount of work. They came from a little over 8 hours away. We had One session with 9 Primera Veces, some were missionaries and some were couples with families.
On Saturday I was in the lobby when a young couple walked in alone, they were dressed in wedding clothes, they had come from Mexico City to be sealed. In Mexico you have to have a civil service before you can be sealed, they had no one with them. I helped the bride, the young man had his endowment already, after the session, we went to the sealing, dad was a witness for them, they were so cute and so happy. But I couldn't help but feel bad that they had no family or friends to support them. As it turns out they had been married since 2008 and were now getting sealed but still no one at all with them for support.
On Monday we went with the Perez's, the Norman's, and the Peña's to see a couple more old church/ nunnerys. The fist was in a town called Coixtlahuaca and the second in San Pablo y San Pedro Teposcolula. Most of the churches are made of a stone called Canteras, it comes in shades of pink, green, white, and lite tan it is beautiful. It is a type of limestone. (I think)  The federal government is having a lot of the old historical buildings restored and a lot of the old churches are works in progress but they are doing amazing work.

one of he many doorways made of solid wood with old iron latches

an enclosed garden

This keyhold doorway has been restored, the craftsmanship is amazing!

One of the wall Mural. These murals told the story of the settlement of the area by the Spaniards, apparently the alley was full of natives and the Spaniards came in and were welcomed, unfortunately they brought their diseases that the natives had no immunities to. A lot on the natives died, so they buried their dead and moved to a different location where the church was built and the climate seemed to be healthier and they thrived. Interesting stories. The names of places are hard to say, a lot of them are Zapotec, they use a lot of z's and x's and they are pronounced different.      

Luis is an architect and I think he really enjoys the old buildings.

Luis in the corner, this is the church and nunnery in the Pueblo of Coixlahuaca.
it is a huge building, they had taken the entire spire down and were rebuilding it.

The old stone work is fantastic, especially when you think about is being done around 1540! (NO power tools)

Cieling

This is the pipe organ

the front wall, they were starting to decorate for Christmas!
 

Side wall

See how massive this door is, John's hand barely fits across it. 

Same door with the tres amigos enfrente. 

More of the garden, these old churches are so beautiful, the workmanship is absolutely amazing, the ones we have seen in this part of the country are not as dark inside as the ones we saw in Mexico City. The colors inside are so much lighter and so far they don't seem to have quite as gruesome of statues as figurines.

We are both well and loving the work and the people, this time of year seems to bring out the best in people as their hearts are drawn to the Savior. We love you all and hope you know you are always in our thoughts and prayers .

Week of Dec. 1 to Dec. 7, 2014

I can't believe it is already the first week of the last month of 2014, in reality, I can't believe it is 2014! Time certainly does pass swiftly. Happy, happy birthday this past week to Heidi and to Jared, my two December babies, I know it is a cliché but it really does seem like just yesterday that I was planning for your births with great anticipation, it was always so much fun to have a Christmas baby. It made the wonder and joy of the season even more special. You have both always and continue to be such a joy in our lives.
It has been a great week again, even with minor inconveniences, we don't enjoy having the internet down, it makes us feel so unconnected and almost claustrophobic (if that makes sense). I am so grateful to be a missionary in a time when we can keep in touch through phone and internet and modern technology. I can't even imagine serving when you didn't hear from a loved one for months and sometimes years. I remember missing a weeks letter from the boys and about going crazy!
The other little inconvenience may be a blessing in disguise, my phone was stolen, I felt it being taken from my purse and I am pretty sure who took it, but she passed it off that quick. And we couldn't get it back, as it turns out, it was costing us a fortune so it is probably best to cancel and just use the one we got here and keep in touch with it and Skye and email.
We had a fun surprise Sat. The Avila's that were Missionaries with us in Mexico City came with a group to the temple. It was so good to see them, he is the one that loved to sing, she ran to your dad and almost knocked him over with her hug. We saw several others in the group we worked with. Again the temple was very busy. We set a record in November with 23thousand 800 ordinances, we understand that is right up there with the big temples. That is a lot. Sat in one session we had 9 Primera Vez sisters and 4 Primera Vez brothers, once we got them and their family members in the room we didn't have enough room for all the ward members who wanted to come. Sister Atkinson wondered if we could start praying for a miracle of stretching the temple a bit. (hahaha) We worked lots of hours again this week but the pay is awesome. I got to help with 2 sweet little families that were getting sealed on Friday. I dressed and tended the baby and  dressed 2 cute little boys and I ended and played with the 3 other girls, it made me more homesick for the grandkids. The baby finally slept until he got into the room to be sealed and then he screamed all through the sealing.

As you can see the Temple workers devotional was well attended, this is the
Stake Center, it was completely full, the Bishoprics and spouses, stake presidencies and spouses,
as well as spouses or an invitee of all the temple workers were invited. What a fantastic meeting.
The music as well as the speakers were amazing and the best part is I really did understand it!
  

Monday we went on a little trip to a town called Santa Ana del Valle, this town is know for its
weaving, however it is pretty much a ghost town as far as tourism etc. But  is so clean and picturesque.
As we pulled into town a little old man was herding his sheep and goats down the road.
There was a little museum with some cool stuff they had found in the area. The museum guide was
very kind  knowledgeable.

More stuff in the museum

And more

Not museum pieces! Sister Norman, Sister Peña and I in front of the church.

The nativity at the temple, they have planted red Poinsettia's all over
the Temple grounds, it is so beautiful. Here they are called Noche Buenas, the same as
the  Christmas Eve which is Noche Buena.

This loom was also in the museum, he told me
"Señora este es muy antiqua", this is vey old, like I couldn't
tell! What a cool old loom! Kind of made my hands itch to try it.
We came back thinking we would go to a movie but the theatres were all blockaded, I was wrong, they are still protesting. the teachers are still out on strike. They are still randomly blockading different businesses, so went to a fun little restaurant called Isabellas and ate chicken mole and then played cards and visited. It was a fun day.
We are having a great experience, there are times our hearts are so full of joy as we are working in the temple that we know that we are feeling a tiny portion of the love our Savior has for His children and we wish we could box it up an send it home to you. We love and miss you all. Love and prayers until next week. 

Thanksgiving Week November 24-30, 2014

It has been another beautiful week in Oaxaca, the weather has actually been a little bit cooler the past few days. If you ask the locals, they say it has been "mucho frio" very cold. To us it has been a little chilly. We still haven't broke out the sweaters and you know me, I am always cold. I am actually colder inside the temple with the air conditioner running than I am anywhere else!

 

This appetizer tray was made by Sister Peña, she is so creative and when we ate
at her house the table was set beautifully and the food presentation was gorgeous.
 

These are the beautiful tables Sister Madsen (the mission Pres. wife) had set up in
her dining room, when we got there we were fewer that originally thought so we rearrange everything
to fit together instead of on two tables.
 

We filled our plates in the kitchen at the bar, it felt like home, for two
reasons, # 1 filling plates at the bar, #2 there was so much food there was
no way we could eat it all!

More of the delicious food!

Good friends and good food, that is what Thanksgiving is for if you can't
be with family! These good people are very quickly becoming family.

The other side of the table.

This says it all!
After we ate and before pie (we had 7 pies for 13 people another reminder of home) we went around the table and told 1or 2 things that we were thankful for, everyone had great things to say and it was hard not to repeat, I said I was thankful for The Plan of Salvation, I am because it makes everything in my life make sense and The Plan of Salvation and My Savior  make it possible for all the good things in my life to be mine eternally. How absolutely awesome is that. I can't think of anything greater, family and friendships forever, this is what really matters.

Tuesday we had to go downtown again to finish our Resident Permits. We are finally legal for 1 year. It was so much easier than in Mexico City. We found out that we can become Mexican Citizens if we renew our resident permits for 4 years, then take a test to prove 80% fluency in the language, and I think there is on other thing, probably prove you can make a living. Don't really think we will be doing that!
Since we had to go anyway we left early and went to a guitar shop and found dad a guitar. It is so nice to have him playing again, I have missed his music. I so enjoy listening to him play and sing. We were getting ready to cross a street when we saw and heard a group of protesters coming, they were chanting "lies, lies, they all tell us lies" they were packing banners and signs and marching to the Zocolo , there were about 100 people. We just stayed back and watched, it was totally peaceful, we could hear the speeches in the Zocolo, calling for the people to wake up and to help bring about change. The protests seem to continue, but the blockades have stopped and the roads are no longer blocked.
The temple continues to be busy, we have had some of the workers out with colds and flu, I have subbed as coordinator for the sisters twice this week and been asked to again next Thurs. morning. Dad has been called as the Thurs, evening Coordinator. Thurs. is usually a pretty busy day and they have very few workers, in fact we worked this Thurs. from 6:00 until 8:00, we were pretty tired. Sat. we got to see our first temple Pres. from Mexico city, the Mejias had come to have a granddaughter get her endowment to go on her mission. It was great to see them.
Today we have a special Temple workers Devotional at 6:00, we will be leaving here at 5:00 and probably won't  get home until around 8:00 or later, hopefully we can still Skype sometime, if not maybe tomorrow evening. We will be hearing from the Area Authority of Mexico President De Hoyos. We are excited to hear him speak, we heard him speak once in Mexico City and it was wonderful and I know he has spoken in conference.
Much love to all until next week.