Tis the season to be busy! Weeks of Dec.14th to 27th. 2015

You would think that the weeks leading up to Christmas would be more calm and relaxed in the mission field, after all, we really have no shopping to do, I am not doing a lot of baking, my house is much smaller and a whole lot easier to keep clean, but life is life where ever you are and it seems that the busyness of life creeps in no matter what. I guess the key, as in all things is to set priorities and stick with them, remember what is most important and what is best and let the rest go! It is so easy to get distracted by the things of the world, I am so grateful for the gentle whispering of the Spirit to remind me when I am getting to far off track and the reminders that this Season of Christmas is and should be all about Christ.

Friday the 18th we had the opportunity to attend a beautiful program put on by some of the missionaries in the area, it was amazing. We kind of drug our feet a little about going as it had been a busy day at the temple and we were tired, I had come home early with a migraine, but was feeling better, so we (the Roesberrys and us) caught a taxi and went. We were all so glad we did, the purpose was twofold, to celebrate Christmas and to introduce investigators to the Gospel. As we listened to them sing and play piano it is so evident to see that the Lord really has saved the best of the best for the last days, these kids are all so talented and beautiful and the light of Christ shines brilliantly in their eyes and faces making them even more beautiful. One of the missionaries that we know is a big Samoan, Elder Anono from Salt Lake, you would think he would have a big booming bass voice, nope, he has the softest, sweetest, most beautiful tenor voice. He sang several duets with different sisters and as well as a solo. This program was just what I needed to remind me of what is really important and connect me with Christ

 With flowers blooming and weather that is warm enough to cause sunburn it has been hard to believe it is Christmas. These are the Noche Buenas (Poinsettas) outside our front door. 

Sunday the 20th we spoke in the Independencia Ward of the Atoyac Stake, we always leave with plenty of time so we are not late, it was a good thing. We have been to that building twice, but we still got lost! We ended up taking a cab and a moto taxi to get there.

 This is a moto taxi, quite often they will put 3 people in the back seat and one next to the driver.

One of the cute families from Barrio Independencia.

When we went home we could not find a yellow cab anywhere, we needed to get home early as we needed to be there to help prepare for the Temple Workers Devotional. We finally ended up taking 2 buses and 2 moto Taxis, travel is quite often an adventure when you don't have a car. Ross has teased since we first got here about buying a car and driving home, I have been pretty adamant about the fact that when it is time to go home I want to get there in a few hours by plane! But, oh there are times a car would be nice! Except then we would probably really get lost!

The temple workers devotional went well, we thought at first it wasn't going to be well attended but as with most things here by the time it was about half over there was a pretty good crowd. Ross and Jan and the rest of the Choir did a great job. We planned a family night for the next evening (Monday) to get together with the choir and sing in the neighborhood ( just for fun) and have hot chocolate, we ended up making dinner for the group instead. Unfortunately only one couple was able to come, we still went caroling to the neighbors and took cookies, we got hugs at several houses, then we came back and ate, they were pleasantly surprised when we served Mexican food. We all had a great time and feel like we are good friends now.

 The couple that came to eat are the Alcazars, the man next to Ross and the Sister with the long hair next to Jan. He has an amazing voice and has sung in choirs a lot and is the go to guy for funerals etc.

I keep starting and stopping on this blog, I work on it a little here and there, eventually I ill get it done and posted!  Merry Christmas everyone! We hope and pray you are all enjoying this special time together and that you feel the love of  the Savior as you celebrate. We had a very enjoyable Christmas Eve, we met with the Cardenas' at their home, The Pena's, Sister Zarco and her daughter from Provo, and some surprise guests. The Cardenas' brother, who is the temple recorder in Mexico city, along with his family and two of the Cardenas' boys came and surprised them. We had a wonderful dinner a very nice program of songs and thoughts and great visiting. Christmas day we all got together again, this time with the Roesberrys and 4 sets of young Elders and had another amazing meal and wonderful conversation. In the evening of Christmas day we got together with the Roesberrys and President and Sister Madsen and played Tensies and cards and ate more treats! We are going to really have to up the diet and exercise program after this week.

Dinner at the Cardenas' house, they are very gracious hosts, both thier son and Sister Zarcos daughter are great musicians. They both play piano and sing so beautifully as does Brother Marco Cardenas' daughter. 

The best part of the day was skyping and talking to each and everyone of our kids and grandkids and knowing they are all well and happy. We even got to see and talk to AndiJo through the miracle of technology. What a blessing it is to live in our day and age!

You can see Andi on one screen and us on the other, it was almost like being together! We also had several sets of the Elders skype home from here. It was fun to say hi to their families, but more fun to hear the joy in their voices as they talked to family. Joy sounds the same in any language. 

Christmas Eve or Buena Noche is the big Celebration here, families get together for the evening and spend time together playing games and singing etc. At Midnight if you are Catholic, you go to mass, or you go set off fireworks, if you have been good, while you are gone, Santa comes, usually with one gift. Then when you return home you have a big middle of the night meal and it's off to bed. Then on the 5th of Jan. you set out your shoes, with hay for the camels, and the wise men bring gifts again. 

We went back to work Saturday and the group we expected turned out to be 6 people in a car not 60 on a bus. We had a bit of a slow day but still a great day, we were home by 2:00. The cutest little 2 year old was sealed to her adopted parents. What a happy day for them. 

Today we went to the ward that Greg and Jan usually attend, La Noria. It started at 12:00, all 4 of us gave talks. (The talks went well, Jan and Greg did  fantastic.) It was Greg and Jan's last week in that ward as they are now officially in the same ward as us, since they have moved. 
We will have a week off of speaking and then we start our assignment strictly in the Amapolis Stake until we come home in April.

During this last two weeks we managed to sneak away and watch the new Star Wars Movie, we enjoyed it, although it wasn't a lot different than any of the others, just upgraded special affects. Still they are fun movies and a good break. Jan said it is kind of like seeing old friends. It is amazing how many parallels you can draw to the gospel and Star Wars if you look, and you don't have to look very hard either! I like movies and stories with clear cut good and evil and not all the grey areas. 

We are busy in the office trying to organize for the  New Year and the change in horarios, we are going to be open different hours, and the workers will be changing to different shifts, it is up to me to get it all organized. We have decided that we need to start training the secretaries to take over as many of our responsibilities as we can so that we can spend the last month as back up for them. It looks more and more unlikely that there will be a replacement for us. There will be some of the things that Ross does that he will have to train the Presidency to do but there is a lot that the secretaries can take over. We do love the work and the temple but we plan on coming home in April!

It has been a busy two weeks filled with reminder's of Christ's birth, His mission, His great love for each and every one of us, the joy of family and friends, the privilege of  serving in His holy house, visiting new wards, listening to and singing sacred music, all this celebration has been centered in and pointing to Christ. It brings to mind a Scripture from 2 Nephi 25:26 " And we talk of Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." And I would add that they would know where to look for true joy and happiness in this life and in the life to come for it is only through our Savior and Redeemer, he who is the Light and the Life of the world that we can and will find peace, he said 
" Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
We pray that your hearts may be at peace now and throughout this coming year we love you! 



  

  

Happy,Happy Birthday on Wednesday to our sweet, silly, happy, fun, beautiful, 7 year old Eliza. We wish we could be there to eat birthday cake with you and play games and have a party. We have missed a lot of parties so maybe we will have to have one big party when we get home! We could eat all our favorite foods and cakes and play all our favorite games.

This week seemed to go by pretty quickly, I suppose that is because we stayed busy, Ross has been practicing to sing in the temple workers devotional. Who knew it could be so hard to get a small group together to practice or that finding a piano player would be like pulling hen's teeth! If Jan doesn't have a panic attack between being in charge of her ward program and this performance, before it is all over it will be a Christmas Miracle! hahah, Really though it is coming together and sounding good. We have also been getting things in the temple ready for the new year, new hours, new schedules, etc. It makes life interesting and keeps us all on our toes.

Monday we went downtown with the Roesberrys and found a few things to make gifts for our secretaries and neighbors then we ate lunch in the Zocolo. We were joined by a pigeon who thought he wanted to share our lunch as we dined in the open air and watched the people. The Zocolo was very busy with people bustling about trying to get shopping done and others trying to sell their hand made items. We also had entertainment in the form of a marimba. The Zocolo is always so colorful and fun. One little boy came to our table selling necklaces, Greg asked him why he wasn't in school, he pointed to a group of teachers across the square who were protesting and said because the teachers are here. Pretty quick response, although not entirely true as they were college teachers.
One day this week Ross and Pres. Cardenas had a Conference call training with Salt Lake on Recorder training and finances that lasted about 11/2 hours. he really needs a replacement soon as he has a lot to teach the new recorder.

Friday night we had a dinner for the Stake and District Presidents at President Cardenas' house, it had to be at 8:00 pm to accommodate everyone's schedules. It was a great evening although everyone couldn't make it, but it was a bit late and we didn't get to bed until late and had to be back to the temple by 4:45 for the group that came from Salina Cruz.

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Dinner at Pres. Cardenas' House

Pres. Andrade and family Stake Pres. of Monte Alban

Pres.Peña in front Pres. and Sis. Villanueva of Atoyac

Pres. and Sis. Junco of Amapolas

Pres. and Sis Leon couldn't make it, they had sick kids and the other stakes and districts are a long ways away. It really was a  nice evening, these people are the salt of the earth and are so enjoyable to associate with, at times we wonder how we got so blessed to be able to rub shoulders with such great servants of the Lord. We pinch ourselves to see if it is a dream and we are going to wake up and be back in our own reality in Fredonia.

Saturday the temple was very full, we had  well over 200 people in our little temple, 86 were young people in the baptistery.(It was great because we got a lot of family names done) Sometimes I think that the Lord  somehow manages to stretch the walls to fit everyone in, you would never know by the sound inside that there are that many people, the reverence is incredible! Even in the office people speak in whispers. I got to help a sister prepare her papers to be sealed to her deceased parents again, she was so happy. Chris Norman thank you so much for helping me learn how to do genealogy, you have helped me on the path to fulfill a part of my patriarchal blessing. We also had 2 families become eternal families. It is such a blessing to see the joy on their faces as they leave the temple arm in arm knowing that they are now under covenant to be eternally together. They are so joyful as they take pictures together on the steps. 

Today we were able to go the the dedication of the new Tijuana Temple, that makes 13 temples in Mexico! It was such a wonderful, inspiring and spiritual, President Uchtdorf did the dedicatory prayer and it was amazing. There are times I really wish I had a photographic memory and that I could remember and record the things I hear for later reference. I take notes but I can't write fast enough and I miss things, and sometimes when I am writing one thing I miss hearing the next thing, especially if it is in Spanish! Maybe in Heaven we will  have that kind of brain or ability.

With this being the Christmas season we want to leave you with a Christmas thought from John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son , that whosoever believeth in Him  should not perish but have everlasting life". And in John 12:46 "I am come a light unto the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness." This Christmas season as we string lights and enjoy the decorations and all that Christmas brings of light and joy we pray we remember the true Light of the world, the one who dispels the darkness and brings us the hope and joy of eternal life. He truly is our Savior our Redeemer, our best friend, our Light in a world of darkness Jesus the Christ.

We love you and pray for for each of you always.  

Week of November 30th to Dec. 6th 2015 December already!!!!!

It is so hard to believe that it is already  December, this will be our second Christmas in Oaxaca and our third in Mexico!  Last year we had been here such a short time we decided that we would not make much of a fuss, so we did not have a tree or do much to celebrate. This year I thought a tree would help us not feel quite as homesick, I am afraid it made ​​it a little worse in some ways or at least harder to ignore.  Although it is fun to come home and turn on the lights and have them brighten the room and bring a little Christmas cheer and festiveness to the house.

 I have been collecting fun little miniatures for my tree all through the year. I have little alabrijes, 
(The little hand carved and painted figurines), little pots, painted tin figures, little woven baskets and hats, and a few other fun miniatures. It is hard to see what they are in the picture but it is a cute little tree.

I think tomorrow we are going downtown and I want to look for a few more decorations for my little tree.

Can you see the little turtle? Also there is a cute owl, eagle, hummingbird, and lizard.

They also put the decorations out at the temple this week, they are simple, but so beautiful. 

It is fun to watch the the children that come to the temple grounds sit on the straw bales  and read or sometimes sing to baby Jesus. 

Grandpa has not felt great for a few weeks, I think it started as allergies, there is always something blooming here, now it has turned into a sinus infection, he finally got antibiotics last night,  so he should be on the mend soon. We only went to 2 hours of church today and  came home so he could  nap. He is supposed to be singing in a choir for the temple workers devotional and the head congestion makes it really hard to sing. Now for the big belly laugh, Jan thinks I am singing too, I do not think so !!!! Not if she wants to sound good. 

Here's the rundown of the past week, Monday we cleaned, did laundry, and shopped. Then at 3:00 pm I had a luncheon With the Matron and Assistants and all the Stake Relief Society presidencies. They do this quarterly, kind of a good will and touch base, how can we assist the wards, etc ,. Afterwards we went to the movie to with the Roseberrys and the Peñas. The rest of the week was pretty ordinary, we had Presidency meeting, worked in the office as well as were able to help with Ordinances. I was able to work on genealogy this week and found to bunch more names, we had a group from Huatulco Saturday and they helped get the work done for so many of the names. I feel like that  has been one of the great blessings of this mission. 

One of our cute little secretaries is expecting, her baby will born in January. They have been thinking all along it was a girl, in the first ultrasound  it seemed pretty certain it was a girl. All along  Ross has called it George, well, she just found out for sure it is a BOY! So now every time she comes in Ross says "How's George?" She told me they were going to name her Bobett, now they do not know what to name him! She will be done the end of this month so I have to find a new secretary again, we will sure miss her, she is so sweet and so capable. 

I love this time of year, and while we do miss being home with family we are happy and content to be here, able to share the gospel, Ross had a great experience Friday, he got to give a short discussion to a group of Investigators that came to the temple with some young missionaries, they were there to see what temples are all about, the Presidency member in charge was busy so Ross got to give the discussion. He said it was great, these kinds of opportunities to share the gospel and our feelings of Christ's love for each of us make us realize we are where we should be, for now. 

When we ponder on the many gifts the Savior has given us it is almost overwhelming to think of the amount of love he has for each of us. In Spanish there are many different words for gift, each word defines the type of gift that is being given, la dádiva is a gift that is without price, that is the gift that  Christ gave us, the ability to be made whole and perfect, regardless of our infirmities, afflictions, imperfections, what we have done or what we had done to us, the magnitude of this gift is so far beyond our mortal comprehension and yet it is there for the taking because of love, how beautiful and glorious is that! Oh it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

As we celebrate His birth I hope we remember His life of service, His example of love and sacrifice, and His ultimate gift of the atonement for each one of us.

We love you and pray for you always.

Week of November 23rd to Week of November 29th 2015 Thanksgiving Week

Thanksgiving dinner has been eaten and thanks have been given and now all that is left are the few extra pounds that we seem to accumulate from all the good food and of course there is the wonderful memories we have all made of another great get together with family and friends. More things to treasure up in our hearts and give thanks for in our daily prayers.

This coming week we will celebrate the birthdays of Heidi, on the 3rd, and Jared, on the 6th, how grateful we are for these two who have always and continue to bless our lives. Jared as the oldest has always set a great example for all of us and still does, he is always ready to lend a hand or give a word of encouragement.People are drawn to Jared because of his goodness and caring. Thank you Jared for all you do for all of us, you are amazing.We love you!
 Heidi has always been our Ray of sunshine, strong of will and able to do anything she sets her mind to, with so much talent and ability there is nothing she can not master, just give here the manual and the tools and she can fix it or make it. She is kind to and forgiving of  everyone.You are so loved and so amazing.

Monday we celebrated Thanksgiving with about 24 of our friends here, we had a great time and way too much delicious food. Some traditional some not so much, but all very good! We ate and visited and sang and ate and visited some more and oh! did I say we ate. As I was cooking I couldn't help but think of how incredibly spoiled I am, back home I have a Bosch and a Kitchen Aid, I have so many pans and dishes and gadgets to cook with that all make life easier and yet here with just the very basics we still managed to cook a pretty good meal. Dad did have to go buy me a cheap mixer as I burned up the little one that was here. (I did the same thing in Mexico City, one per mission isn't too bad)  I couldn't help but think of the people who don't have enough to eat and those who don't even have a home, we truly do have much to be grateful for, I hope I can remember to always have a grateful heart.  

The turkey was beautiful!

Jan and Sister Peña getting the food ready.

Taking photos while the food gets cold.

Let's Eat!

Los hijos de Jimenez

It seems strange to eat outside for Thanksgiving. but it was nice weather.

Desserts

This Peanut Butter Pie was my Favorite! The French silk was Dad's

Tuesday we invited the Serranos for leftovers as they couldn't make it on Monday, it was us the Roesberrys, the de Wolfs, and the Serranos.

Just about the time we were not too full it was time to start over!

 The week at the temple was pretty good, about average for attendance,until Saturday, we had a group from Puerto Escondido come, it is only about 150 miles but it is really mountainous road and takes about 5 hours. They leave in the late afternoon and get here in the middle of the night and sleep in the church  and then are ready for a 6:30 am session. They came with about 70 people about half youth and half adults and 7 Own Endowments, so we had a great Saturday. 

Today we went to the El Tulle Ward where we both spoke, Tule is a town about 20 minutes from here, their claim to fame is a 2000 year old tree, it is huge and very impressive, I am pretty sure I have told about it and put pictures in and earlier blog.

Obisbo Garcia de Bario Tule

Me with the 2 Missioneras de Tule

The Sister on the right has a sister serving in Richmond, Virginia and when I talked about my son 

that served in Virginia she was excited.

Photos of the chapel in Tule

For this weeks thought I want to leave with you a quote that Ross used in his talk today it is from

Elder Bednar, he teaches that; "word heart is used over 1,000 times in the standard works and symbolizes the inner feelings of an individual. Thus, our hearts—the sum total of our desires, affections, intentions, motives, and attitudes—define who we are and determine what we will become."

He talked about how important it is to become pure of heart and like a little child, how little children come from heaven so pure and sweet and how easy it is to feel that as we hold a new born baby. How going often to the temple helps us to become pure of heart. It is a beautiful talk and hopefully he will share it with you when he comes home. We love all of you and miss you, have a wonderful week. 

Week of November 16th to 22nd, 2015 Visit To home town of Benito Jaurez

Monday we had the opportunity to join with the 26 other brothers and sisters who came to help clean the temple. This was a great group, once in a while there is just a small group that comes, when this large of a group comes it only takes about an hour to clean from top to bottom! They clean light fixtures, baseboards and everything in between and when they are done the temple would pass the white glove test. Everyone works with smile on their face and seems to be enjoying the peace and serenity of being in the temple giving service.What amazing people.

We met with the the Roesberrys, and their son, the Peñas, and the Cardenas at 12:00, we all piled in the Peñas van (it was a tiny bit squishy) and headed into the mountains to the town of Guelatoa. This is the birth place of Benito Juarez, he was born around the same time period as Abraham Lincoln and Joseph Smith and he made it possible for Mexico to have freedom of religion and freedom from oppression of government. He came from very, very humble circumstances and is definitely proof that one person can make a difference and of the power of education. (or maybe I should say learning)

It was a beautiful drive, although the roads were very narrow and very twisty, we have learned something about the otherwise very patient, laid back Mexican people, when they get behind the wheel of a car, the patience is gone! They are crazy drivers! They pass on blind curves, drive fast on mountainous roads and if you have a weak stomach and get carsick you better stock up on Dramamine!Plus they are not shy about using their horns! Ross and I are usually okay but Jan always takes her Dramamine and Sister Cardenas got so carsick. Really though the roads are BAD! The mountains are so pretty, there are flowers all along the roadside and right now everything is still so green and lush. It made us a bit homesick.

A tile mosaic on the hiway going to Guelatoa, It tells the story of Benito Juarea and the reforms he made in the Government of Mexico.

Dad and I in front of  a statue of Benito Jaurez, unfortunately it was a holiday and the museum was closed. 

Ducks on the grounds by the little cabins where he was raised

Both pictures are the lake at Guelatoa

Jan, Greg, and Dan 

This week was pretty much normal in the temple, we helped with several sessions and with other ordinances as well as with office work. We thought we would have a slow and early Saturday as we thought we had no excursions and no own endowments, but we were surprised with several unscheduled groups. We ended up with over 50 youth and 3 own endowments and a fairly large group of adults. So we had a great day.

Saturday evening we were invited by the Roesberrys to dinner at their house with the family of one of the coordinators, Jared Pulido. He has 3 darling kids and his mother in law who is also a coordinator came along also. Jan made a deliscious lasagna, the Pulidos brought dessert and after we ate we played Tensies, (a fun dice game). then grandpa got beat in a game of chess by the 8 year old, he is a chess whiz kid, he starts chess competitions in a month! They are a great family, together with the mom in law they own and operate 4 appliance parts and repair sotre and employ over 20 people. Brother Pulido is also the head of the  "For The Strength of Youth" Programs for this part of Mexico and according to the Normans, who spoke in it last year he really puts on a class program. It was a fun evening and before they left they invited us to join them for Christmas Eve.

Me with one of the cute Families at Zimatlan

The rest of the Family,Mom and Dad with thier 3 kids, Dad's mom and grandmother! ( I think dad and mom look about 14 years old)

Brand new building at Zimatlan

This is a picture of one of our obreros who just left on his mission, Omner Sanchez, He sent this from the MTC in Mexico City, He is on the left. His grandpa is a Temple Sealer and his dad is a temple worker. He has a wonderful heritage in the gospel  and is an amazing young man!

Sunday we spoke in the Zimatlan branch the Serranos picked us up at 8:00, they were worried about being on time, they were speaking in Zapata a branch in a town a little farther away than Zimatlan.The meetings started at 10:00. We got there a little before 8:30 and of course the building and gate into the parking lot was all locked up! We had them drop us off at the Zocolo ( the park and center of town, right across from the Catholic Church and we watched the Catholic Church’s procession and listened as the band played, it was some Saint’s day. I also changed my talk just a little and read through it. We studied our scriptures and after an hour we went the four blocks back to the church, the branch President was there with his little family and everything was set up and music was playing. It is a brand new beautiful building. They invited us to sit on the stand, they don’t usually, they just call us up from the audience. He said he is trying to train his congregation to come on time, he started right on time, there was such a sweet spirit there.

I was going to just give one of the other 2 talks I had written but Thursday I was sitting in a session and the spirit whispered so clear that I needed to give a talk on gratitude, I thought, no you just think that because it is almost Thanksgiving and that is what you would do in the States, but the impression, along with the whole talk came so strong. And I know that is why I was able to write it in Spanish, this is the first time I haven't had to write a talk in English and then translate it. I am not sure why but I felt that some one needed that talk, several people made comments in the other classed about it. All these experience are such a testimony that our Father really is aware of us and uses us to fill the needs of others and of how important it is to pay attention to the Spirit, keep ourselves worthy, and be prepared to serve, we thought we weren’t supposed to talk until the next week! So I prepared the talk pretty quick, I KNOW I had a lot of help. 

This is how I closed my talk,

Joseph P Wirthlin Said “Joseph B. Wirthlin said “Gratitude is a mark of a noble soul and a refined character. We like to be around those who are grateful. They tend to brighten all around them. They make others feel better about themselves. They tend to be more humble, more joyful, more likeable."  President Monson encouraged us all to cultivate an Attitude of Gratitude, in his conference talk in Oct 2010 he said “ My sincere heartfelt prayer prayer is that we may in our individual lives reflect that marvelous virtue of gratitude. May it permeate our very souls, now and evermore.”

This week as we think of all the many, many things we have to be thankful for ( and there are far to many to list) the ones that we are most grateful for are the ones that are far beyond priceless they are the love of family and friends, our faith, and the knowledge of a loving Father in Heaven. Know we love you and you are always in our thoughts and prayers. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

    

Week of November 9th to November 15th, 2015 Week of final dentist Appointment and 14 hour work day and Visit to Donaji

We want to let all the Veterans know how much we appreciate their service and sacrifice, being away from our country has given us a totally different perspective and an appreciation for our land and the freedoms we have. They are worth holding onto and fighting for. Thank you to all those who have and are serving our country.

Monday we went to our final dentist appointments, Ross got one more tooth fixed and I got the last two done. Hooray!!! We always try to arrive a touch early, I am not sure why, we get there as they are opening, this time we got there and no one was there, after about 10 minutes the dentist I see showed up along with one more, but neither had a key, we ended up waiting for 20 more minutes! It is so typical! I guess that is why heart attacks are the #1 killer in the U.S. and diabetes is the #1 problem here. We are always in a hurry and rushing and they know how to relax and enjoy life and good food!

Later in the day we went to the movie with the Roesberrys, we went to see the show The Intern, it was pretty good. After the show we came home and played cards for a little while.

Tuesday we had regular meetings with the presidency and then the normal 2 sessions, Wednesday was the same except the Area Authority for Mexico has made the decision that the missionaries can no longer come as a zone to the temple once a month, they can come quarterly, individually or with new members to get endowments, with permission. So now our Wednesday missionary mornings will be no longer happening. Thursday was a normal day but Friday we were short secretaries so we were at the temple from 6:30 in the morning until 9:00 at night. We also got the sad news that our head secretary Graciela will be leaving us, her husband works out of town and is going to get a permanent placement by the first of the year. She is going to spend Dec. with her daughter in Pachuca and then will be moving where ever her husband is going. I am happy for her, but she will be missed, very much. She has been the heart and soul of the office for quite some time.

Saturday we had 3 buses from Tehuacan, they are a pretty self sufficient stake and bring a lot of their own workers, dad did some extra training for them but after about 12:00 we weren't even busy so we left at about noon and came home. 

The Roesberry's have their son from Salt Lake visiting and they invited us to meet them downtown and have dinner with them, so after I did laundry and we went to Sam's Club we hopped on a bus and joined them for dinner. Their son will be here for a couple more days and then will be going to Mexico city to meet some friends and do some more sightseeing. He seems like a great young man and we enjoyed meeting him and getting to know him a bit.

Dinner with the Roesberrys and Dan

La Iglesia Santo Domingo at 

 Night

Ballet Dancers inside one of the buildings as we were walking back to the Zocolo after dinner.

Saturday Evening Oaxaca nightlife is booming, we were amazed at how many people were out and about on the streets. We have never been out before on a Saturday night!

Today we went to the Donaji Ward to speak, it is fun to visit the different wards and see the areas of town where the different workers and patrons live. All the wards are alike, when they start there aren't very many there but by the time we get up to speak the chapel is nearly full. One sister, a temple worker we know, even asked dad for a copy of his talk because she liked it so much! 

At 5:30 today we have our Secretaries meeting I have been working on the thought that I will give for the meeting, I will start with the Scripture in 2 Nephi 6:7 "And thou shalt know that I am the Lord; for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me."  In Spanish the word used for wait  is Esperan which also means Hope, this is interesting to me because hope to me has so much more and deeper meaning than to merely wait although wait can also mean to serve. This scripture is cross referenced to D&C 133:45 which says "For since the beginning of the world have not men heard nor perceived by the ear, neither hath an eye seen, O God, besides thee, how great things thou hast prepared for him that waiteth for thee." What wonderful and glorious blessings must be held in reserve for those who wait, hope, serve, for the Lord. Absolutely beautiful promises!
And so I thought, in the church or in the temple, or in this life we often find ourselves waiting, waiting until things get better, or the kids get bigger, or this job gets done, or whatever but we are waiting until......  then we will be happy or go to church or get on with life or what ever.
In English the word wait has 2 meanings to wait for someone or something or to wait on or serve someone or something, in Spanish it also has two meanings, again to wait for someone or something or to hope for someone or something. I like to think that I am waiting on the the Lord in the sense that I have hope in Him and that I am serving Him that my hands are His hands that he can also have hope in me that He can use my hands to bring about His work. May we all Know that He is God and not be ashamed to wait on Him. May we enjoy the fullness of His blessings now, not 'wait' until, He will bring us the peace and joy that we desire and need if we wait(hope, serve) on Him.

As always you are in our thoughts and prayers always.  

Week of November 1st to November 8th 2015 Day of the Dead

Monday was the actual Dia de Muertos here in Mexico, although most holidays seem to be celebrated for at least a week. We celebrated with an early temple session for the leadership of the temple.We had a full session, which was great. Everyone was encouraged to bring a family name in remembrance of their ancestors. 

Dia de Muertos is much more like our memorial day,than like Halloween, although I must say it is on a grander scale. you would not believe the amount of live flowers that are sold and the way the graves are decorated and cleaned during the the week. The graveyards are absolutely beautiful. The most popular flowers are Marigolds and the smell is enough to trigger anyone's allergies, grandpa was sneezing like crazy when we visited the cemetery and walked down the street past the flower vendors. The people turn out in droves to honor their ancestors, you can hardly get around in the cemetery's they are so crowded. And very few graves are left undecorated, most have food and flowers.

After the session at the temple we went with Sister Pena (Brother Peña was tied up with the inspection all day) and the Perez family to Ocotlan to the cemetery and to the market, where we ate lunch. I have to say I am not a huge fan of eating dinner in the markets and I don't think Sister Peña is either. I think the cleanliness factor is a bit iffy, and  whether it is the power of suggestion or the food both Ross and I had bad stomachs for a few days after. Anyway we wandered around the market and town and looked at the cemetery, Ross and I thought we were heading home so we bought a little bit of fruit, we then went to the old church and convent which was pretty cool, there was a lot of cool art and some old furniture and stuff. They wouldn't let us take picture of the art.

This monument was built to commemorate the church which was built in 1535,

Dinning room in the convent attached to the church, behind us you can see an original painting from the 1500's!

This trunk held all the regalia of a Preist, robes etc.

The church

 

Entrance to the cemetery

All along the street leading to the cemetery were little altars an statues.

This altar was to honor someones relative

This little booth warned about the dangers of smoking!

After we left Ocotlan we stopped in Santo Tomas Jalieta, this little puebla is famous for thier weaving, they make woven belts and bags.

I tried to weave but I think it takes more than a three minute lesson, I'm pretty sure she had to pick out everything I did!

We then stopped at San Martin Ticajete, this is another place where they make alabrijes, the hand carved and intricately painted wood sculptures.They were some or the most beautiful I have seen also the most expensive, some as much as 1200.00 pesos, but they were truly works of art. There was a Ram and a Deer that I would have loved to get, may be another time! By this time everyone was hungry again so we stopped at a little cafeteria type place off the side of the road and had dinner, the place was pretty busy, but seemed to be really clean and the food was good. We got home about 6:30 tired but happy, our fruit we had purchased early in the day a little worse for wear, but we had a great day with good friends and saw some interesting places we had never been before.

Because of the inspection we did not have Presidency Meeting or Missionary Meeting on Tuesday, we found out that one of the things that will be changed after the inspection is that  the apartments will be getting dishwashers, I thought my dishwasher worker just fine, Ross does a great job on the dishes.There are a few other changes that need to be made in the temple but nothing big and as usual the people who came from Salt Lake were such great people.

Most of the week was pretty normal until Saturday although we had one fun experience riding the bus, Wednesday we had to go downtown to a follow up Dr. appointment, we took a cab to the appointment but decided to take the bus back home, buses here are funny, each driver seems to have his own personal bus and decorates and personalizes it, this one was kind of old and was decorated with a blue string of lights along the inside front that lit up in time to the very loud music, part way home a guy with his face painted like a clown got on, he had a baby strapped on his front, facing forward, the baby never stopped smiling and gigling, the guy started talking, his voice sounded like he had sucked helium. He was performing some kind of monologue about marriage and asking the riders questions, after about 5 or 10 minutes he went around collecting tips and then got off at the next stop. It is always entertaining!

Saturday we had  2 buses full of people come to the temple and a small group, we had seven people come for their first time, and we had one Ward bring a group of 14 adults to do baptisms who are all fairly new converts and this is their first time in the temple. It was a great day! Grandpa said each day we come out of the temple feeling uplifted and blessed and it really is the truth. It seems like we have at least one sweet tender mercy, where we really feel the spirit each day. We are so blessed to be able to serve here with such wonderful people.


Last night we went to Mitla Stake Center to their Family History Marathon. We were there by assignment from the Temple President to take his place as he couldn't be in 2 places at the same time.
Our assignment was to be in charge of any investigators that came. We ended up with one couple and their little girl. Grandpa basically did all the teaching, although I found the material, his Spanish is so great, he told them all about why we do genealogy and why we have temples, we tried to show them a little video by President Eyring but the video wouldn't play, they had about 20 computers running on the Internet and I think it was overloaded and just wouldn't play.

They had one room set up with all kinds of history stuff and momentos and were taking family pictures, the gym was set up with computers like a family history center and they had a bunch of experts helping people and we were there for the investigators.It was really well organized. Then they had a short wrap up meeting at the end and 3 speakers each told a little about how Family History blessed life's, one speaker was grandpa, he did fantastic. One was a little girl who is about 9, she had made a  family tree and told all about her grandparents it was so cute. But she was nervous and kept trying to get her mom to help her.

Photos at the Family History Marathon

This is the little family we visited with.

The couple we talked to came with her mom, they have a cute 18 month old and the grandma is a member so hopefully they are interested and will join the church, they sure seem to be.

Today we spoke in El Bosque Ward ( The Forest Ward), each week from now on we speak in a different ward. We were surprised at how many people we know. I think they have to listen close just to be able to understand me. I get nervous and stumble, at one point several of the members helped me with a word! They are so sweet and kind. It is fun to go and feel so welcomed and loved and appreciated.

The thought I want to leave with you this week is from Elder Neal L. Anderson "Pray to your Heavenly Father, He will open doors, remove roadblocks, and help you overcome obstacles." I know this is true He has done so for me time and time again. He loves each one of us and wants our happiness and success. We love you all and pray for you always.