Week of June 22nd to June 28th, 2015 Barro Negra and Exciting news for the Normans

Happy, Happy 8th Birthday to Jackson Ray our almost 4th of July boy! We are so excited to come home for your baptism. It will be so great to be there for your special day.

We are also so excited for AndiJo this week, she will be embarking on a grand adventure as she enters the mission home Wednesday. We are so proud of her and this decision she has made to serve a mission for her Father in Heaven and we know it will bless her for the rest of her life, as well as bless the lives of her entire family. We also know that she will touch the hearts of so many people and  be the Lord's instrument in bringing about great changes in so many lives. Such an exciting, marvelous, scary, fun, testimony building, character stretching, life changing experience awaits her. AndiJo you will be in our prayers constantly, as of course you all are always.

Monday we took a little trip back out to San Bartolo to the Black Pottery Shop, the Normans are leaving when the temple closes and they wanted a few more pieces of pottery, most especially a nativity set. The Peñas drove and then we went to our favorite little restaurant and ate tlaudas. 

Us, Sister Norman, Roesberrys, and Peñas outside the Barro Negra shops. 

 

Walking path in the park at San Bartolo

This is a mini Taxi, they use them on the back streets, they aren't allowed on the main highways, this one is named mi Chaparito (my shorty) dad wants to get one, paint it green and name it mi chapolina (my grasshopper) to drive between Kanab and Fredonia! (hahaha)    

  
After we got home we finished our normal Monday stuff , we had received a phone call from President Atkinson that he wouldn't be home until late afternoon Tuesday so Pres. meeting and missionary meeting were canceled Tuesday. Brother Norman decided that meant we could cook, so we did a practice run of the barbeque we will do for their going away party. We had shiskabob beef that he marinated, a big green salad with avocado ranch dressing, that I made (it was great), Jan made delicious baked beans, Peñas brought a gelatino, I think the consensus was that it will be perfect.

I think if we counted that over half the pictures we send would be us eating, we do enjoy our food!

Wed. we had a short Pres. meeting and normal sessions, Thursday the excursion canceled so it was an easy day, Friday we had 5 buses, and Saturday we had 10 buses and 10 own endowments. Dad and I worked in the office part of the day and then since they were short obreros we helped with ordinances all afternoon. We ended up doing nearly 13 hours and came home tired but felt wonderful as the people who came all left so uplifted and blessed for spending the day in the Lord's house. We both feel like we are starting to get a handle on our new responsibilities and that, with the Lord's help, we will be able to fulfill our new callings. 

The biggest news we have this week is from our friends the Normans, we had told you they had already put in their papers for another mission and thought they were going to help open the new Tijuana Temple. Turns out you have to be careful when you volunteer for callings, instead of going to help in Tijuana they have been called as the New Temple President and Matron of the Guatemala City Temple. They start November 1st. they begin training Oct. 1st, they have known for almost 3 weeks and couldn't tell anyone until yesterday when it was announced in the church news. They are in shock. We aren't, they are absolutely amazing people and will be perfect temple presidents. But we are going to miss them so much!

They also announced our new temple President, his name is Brother Cardenas, he is originally from the state of Sonora but now lives in Mexico City, he was a medical software developer. No one here seems to know him so we will just have to wait and see what he is like and who his councilors are.

Our scripture and thought for you this week starts with D&C 131:7 "There is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by pure eyes." Jeffery Holland said  " In the gospel of Jesus Christ you have help from both sides of the veil, and you must never forget that. When disappointment and discouragement strike---and they will---you remember and never forget that if our eyes could be opened we would see horses and chariots of fire as far as the eye can see riding at reckless speed to come to our protection. They will always be there, these armies of heaven, in defense of Abraham's seed."  What a wonderful thought, I like to think that in the chariots coming to our rescue are our ancestors, they are the ones most interested in our success. I am certain that they are cheering us on and doing all they can to help us to make correct choices, to protect and guide us to help us as we face the many trials and difficulties of this world, there have been times I have personally felt there presence and comfort. We love you all and can't wait to see you in just 2 weeks. Be good to each other and to yourselves.

 
     

Week of June 15th to June 21, 2015

Happy Birthday today to Samuel, we hope your day is special and that you enjoy each minute of it! Happy Father's day to all the amazing fathers we know who set such wonderful examples, work so hard to provide for, teach, play with and love the children in their lives. Fathers are so important and a true father isn't just about DNA and genes  it's about the one who steps up to the plate and cares and loves, sometimes it is an uncle or a friend or a brother. Our circle of family and friends has so many amazing fathers who love so many children unconditionally, their own and others,  and who demonstrate the true light and love of Christ. We  give our honor and love to each of you this Father's day and all year. 

We have had a busy week in the temple learning new things, we are so grateful for the Normans and their patience with us as we try to learn our new responsibilities. I am not sure about Ross but I seem to come home more mentally tired than physically yet unable to shut my brain off. Then when I sleep I dream of the things I am learning and I am trying to talk to people on the phone in Spanish and I just can't come up with the right words and no one can understand me! I guess that's because that is one of my biggest fears! Prayers for help in learning our new responsibilities are appreciated.

The temple has been busy with excursions, (and is pretty well booked until the Mexico City temple opens)Thursday we only had one bus, Friday 3, and Saturday I think we had 8 buses and a late session for one of the local Stakes. It was a great day and as always the people who came were so patient and so happy to be in the temple. They are also always so reverent and quiet you would never know the temple was so full.

I wanted to tell you about an experience I had a few weeks ago, I got to help with the kids who were waiting to be sealed to their parents, there were actually 2 families, the kids were cousins, a girl 11, her brothers 9 and a baby about 18 months, the other family a boy 9 and his brother 5. They were all so cute and so friendly, we sang primary songs in Spanish and in English and played head, shoulders, knees, and toes, they taught me in Spanish and I taught them in English, we learned colors in both languages and just visited, then they changed and got ready. Both 9 year old boys, when they came back inform the sealings were just sobbing, and came right to me and just hugged me and cried, we talked about the Spirit and how special the day was and how important it was that they write down what they were feeling. When they left they all surrounded me and hugged me and told me thank you. It was such a sweet experience to share part of their special day with them. Sometimes in the temple the spirit is so incredibly strong it catches me unaware and I feel like my body can not contain the joy I feel. 

The children here are so sweet, I finally made friends with a little girl in our ward today, she came over before the meeting started and sat by me and looked at the pictures on my ipad, she was fascinated by the picture of EssieKate on the horse, and of all the kids, she wanted to know where they lived and if they were foreigners. "No lo conozco," she said, I don't know them. I think she is about 4. She is a niece to one of the temple coordinators and she is a doll.

My quote for the week is from Elder M. Russel Ballard " The Lord isn't asking us to load up a handcart, He's asking us to fortify our faith. He isn't asking us to walk across a continent, He's asking us to walk across the street and visit our neighbor. He isn't asking us to give all our worldly possessions to build a temple, He's asking us to attend regularly the temples  already built. He isn't asking us to die a martyr's death, He's asking us to live a disciple's life."

Love and kisses to each and everyone of you, we are counting the days until we see you. Remember to be good to each other, you are as always in our thoughts and prayers.
        

Week of June 8th to June 14th, 2015 Learning Week

Happy, happy birthday today to Clark, it was great to talk to you and hear all about Scout Camp, it sounds like you had a great week. Let us know when you decide on that Eagle project, and keep working you are so close!

Monday we got together (us and Roesberrys and Normans) at Norman's house, after our normal Monday cleaning etc., we had Chinese food, John made chicken in peanut sauce and sweet and sour chicken and I fried the chicken wings. Every thing was yummy but we had enough that we all got together and ate it for the lunch the next day. We also watched a video together and then we went with the Roesberrys and the Peñas to a missionary family night farewell and setting apart. It seems to be a tradition here to invite family and close friends to meet at the church the night before the missionary leaves for a short farewell,  part of the family and the missionary bear their testimonies and then the missionary is set apart. We worked with the young man in the temple and with his grandparents, dad trained him as a worker, and got pretty close to him in the 3 months he worked with us. Anyway it was a pretty special evening and a fun tradition.

Tuesday and Wednesday we mostly worked in the office learning our new responsibilities, Ross has a lot to do and a lot to learn. A temple recorder or assistant recorder is a big deal, his letter of recommendation has to be signed by one of the 1st Presidency, 2 of the Quorum of the of the 12 and the both the heads of the missionary department and temple department. He is learning lots of new things, like how to build spreadsheets and take notes and make agendas, plus he is reading handbooks and learning policy. I on the other hand am trying to learn more Spanish so I can be more efficient when I have to answer the phone and so I can understand people who need help in the office, and I am brushing up on my Family Search skills so I can help people who come with names that have problems. I went to the first secretaries meeting this afternoon and the secretaries are delightful. I think I will love getting to know them and working with them. We both pray we are capable of this new opportunity and know it will be a learning and growing experience for us.

We will be so sad to see the Normans go, they are such great friends, it is hard to imagine life here without them. We enjoy spending time with them and have learned so much from them. Besides we will miss Brother Normans cooking.

Thursday we had several buses and Friday we held a marathon of Baptisms, the kids were out of school and so we scheduled baptisms all day. We went in for about 3 hours but then came home, each Stake brought their own workers and they didn't need us and since we had worked nearly 13 hours the day before we took most of the day off. Sat. we  were supposed to have 9 busses but I don't think they all came, we worked from 6:30 to about 3:00.  Today we went to church then had a couple of meetings in the temple in the afternoon. All in all it's been a great week, lots of new things to think about and learn and one more week closer to coming home for our little vacation to see everyone.

This week the thought we want to leave you with is from President Monson: " Don't limit yourself and don't let others convince you that you are limited in what you can do. Believe in yourself and then live as to reach your possibilities..." 

We love and miss you all and pray for you always.

We are pretty sure these are beams that will be used in the floor of the second story, they are Styrofoam, probably for insulation and soundproofing. They will pour concrete over them.

It will have at least 2 stories, possibly 3. This pile of rubble is the pile they have deconstructed.

Week of June 1st, to June 7th, 2015 Elections in Oaxaca

Happy Birthday today to Jenny, tomorrow to Emily Ann, 12 years old, Mclean the next day, 15 years old, the 12th to Conni, and on Sunday the 14th Clark will turn 13. It is birthday week for the Ray family. I don't know whether to be sad or glad to miss out on all that cake and ice cream. My mouth is sad and my weight is glad! Notice I
didn't give ages for adults.

It has been an interesting week here in Oaxaca, we are glad we live in a bit of a protected missionary bubble. Yesterday was election day, the elections were for congress and governors, The PRI Party is in power, there have been lots of protests against this party, in fact a lot teachers union protests are against the policies of this party. This week the protests have really ramped up, the states that have been the most outspoken have been Guerrero, Chiapas, and Oaxaca. There have been protestors break into government buildings and steal the ballots and burn them, there have been candidates killed,  (some of this has been done by the drug cartels), they have blocked the gas refineries so that the stations have no gas and gasoline has been rationed, with long lines for gasoline and then people can only get a few litres at a time. The government has stepped in to assure the safety of the people and that voting could be done smoothly and with now problems. We have seen and heard planes come into the airport with federal troops, helicopters flying over the city and the presence of the troops has certainly been felt. As far as we know there have not been any serious problems.

It was our Stake conference this weekend, we went with the Peñas to the evening meeting on Sat. and when we got there at 15 minutes to, the building was locked up and no one was there, we eventually found out that it had been canceled, it had been decided that due to the unrest that a large meeting was not a good idea, the decision was made by the Mexico Authority in Mexico City. Then on Sunday we all had regular meetings, we were blessed to have the area authority in our meeting, it was a wonderful meeting and all the testimonies born were amazing.

Line up for gasoline, you can't see, but there were about 20 cars lined up.   

What if you went to conference and no one came?

Monday we had a special treat, President Atkinson had a special family home evening for us, we met in the front waiting room of the temple for dinner at 5:00, he had it catered, then we changed and wet into one of the sealing rooms and had a very spiritual family home evening. it isn't often you get to have a family home evening with a temple president, inside the temple where you can ask any question. We continue to learn so much from this great and humble servant of god and are so very grateful for this opportunity to serve with him and the other missionaries here.

The rest of our week was a little bit slow, because of the gasoline situation and the blockeos most of the busses canceled. It was still a good week, because any time spent in the temple is good.

The construction across the street is slow, they built one of the columns in the wrong place and had to tear it out.

 

   

This morning we heard a little commotion across the street at President Madsen's house.
A group of new missionaries had just arrived, aren't they a beautiful group, all excited and ready to serve the Lord.


This week we want to leave you with this thought from Elder Jeffry R. Holland "However late you think you are, however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made or talents you think you don't have, or however far from home and family and God you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of Divine love. It is not possible to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ's Atonement Shines."
We too testify that this is true, we feel His light and love daily in our lives, he lives and loves each us. We love each of you so very much and think of you always.

Week of May 25th to May 31, 2015 Afternoon at the Para's House

Happy Birthday to Robyn this week, thank you for all you do for us, we appreciate it so much!

Monday morning Ross and I got a call to come to the temple, Mondays are cleaning days at the temple and the ward that came to clean had such a big group that they did a session before cleaning and they called  us to come help with the veil, it was a fun way to start our week. We stopped by the grocery store on our way home an got that chore out of the way, then came home and finished the cleaning and laundry just in time to go with everyone to the Para's house for the afternoon.

The Para's are a couple that are temple coordinators on Tuesday  ad Friday evenings, they are the nicest couple and they wanted the  Temple Presidency and the missionaries to come to their house for dinner. Here that means an afternoon or evening get together. We arrived at two and left at about 6:00. They have a beautiful place, they have lived there for 48 years! They have avocado, mango, peach, lime,  date, and orange trees. as well as ornamental trees. They have a home for them, their son and daughter on the property. It is so pretty. They treated us like royalty and the food was so good. We sat on the patio and ate and talked and ate and talked.

This is the entire group, brother and sister Para are on the left, their grandson is next to Brother Para, he is also a Temple worker and is leaving for his mission in a week.

Part of the Yard

More of the Yard

Side Yard and back of the House

Avacado tree, avacados produce all year long!

Chris Norman and Sister Atkinson

Normans and Peñas

I don't think Sister Para even sat down to eat, she was up waiting on everyone constantly.
 

Para's grandson Lamoni Diaz picking dates

This is an artifact they found on the property




Pretty much a normal week in the temple, we had 2 busses that came on Thursday and stayed until Saturday afternoon, Friday was busy with 5 more added to the 2 already there. Saturday we were expecting 2 more and they canceled so it was pretty slow. Ross has been doing some training for his new responsibilities in the office and I have also started to train as a secretary in the office. We are happy and healthy and love serving in our beautiful little temple, each day brings blessings and challenges and each day brings the Lord's tender mercies to show us how much love he has for each of His children. We really do feel that we are blessed to serve with  some of the very best people on the earth.

Week of May 18th to May 24th, 2015 Area Authority Visit

Happy, happy birthday this week to Landon, you are getting way to grown up while we are gone. We hope you have the best birthday ever.

Monday was pretty much a normal Monday, cleaning, laundry, shopping, all the weekly maintenance things. We did get together for a Salmon dinner at our house and visited for a while. Tuesday morning Ross and I got up and went downtown to finish getting a few things to bring home with us when we come in July and to buy him a new belt.

We went to the temple at 2:00 Tuesday for our missionary coordination and training meeting, and then we had a good night and pretty good sessions Wednesday morning and evening. Thursday we had one  bus in the morning and the evening sessions were really small, probably due to the torrential rain. We had a few people that came in so wet that we had to put their clothes in the dryers for them. Friday and Saturday were both very buy days with 5 busses on Friday and 7 on Saturday and then a special session at 5:00 Saturday for the Area Authority Seventy and the Stake Presidents from Oaxaca and their spouses. President Miron has been here doing interviews and training.

This afternoon we had a nice dinner at the Madsen's (Mission president) house with the temple presidency, the temple missionaries, the Madsen's and President Miron. It was a nice get together and it was enjoyable to get to know Elder Miron a little bit better. We actually remembered seeing him in the temple in Mexico City, at the time he was the Director of the church owned Ben Amerito School that is now the Mexico MTC.  

All in all it was a good week, we continue to meet great people and have wonderful experiences in the temple every day. Our Savior's love continues to inspire and amaze me, I recently read an interesting thought about the atonement. Someone likened it to a prepaid credit card or gift card with an unlimited balance and no expiration date. If we put it away in a drawer and we don't use it then the payment was wasted! But we can use it as often and as much as we want, as long as we want, for sin, for sorrow, sadness, or pain and heartache. What a great blessing the atonement is in our lives and in my life in particular, so often I fall short and make the same dumb mistakes, He has already paid for them, I can be forgiven and keep trying to be better and in so doing show Him how much I truly love and appreciate Him and this wonderful gift.

Dad with all the other temple Coordinators and the temple Presidency last Sunday.

 

At the Madsen's waiting for everyone to arrive.
Hermano Norman, Sister Zarco, Los Peñas. Los Seranos
 

Just getting ready to set down to dinner. Doesn't the table look beautiful?

Sister Madsen, Pesident Madsen (behind the camera) President Miron and Sister Atkinson


Sending our love to everyone, you are always in our thoughts and prayers. Have a wonderful week!

Week of May 11th to May 17th, 2015 Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Happy Birthday this week to Zeb, 15 years old! Wow you are getting to be an old man.
This was a slow week all the way around, when I was complaining because I have no pictures to post, Ross said "tell everyone that is just the way missions are, some weeks are busy and exciting with lots to do and some just aren't!" That doesn't mean this wasn't a good week, just not as busy as some.

Monday we did our usual Monday things, laundry, cleaning, shopping, etc. We even went to Walmart with the Normans in the presidents car instead of just walking to Sorianas for a change. It is always nice to get to Walmart once in a while, they have a few things that Sorianas doesn't have. John (Norman) was in the mood to cook, so he made pulled pork and baked beans, everyone else brought stuff to go with it, we got together at 4:00 to eat (us, Normans, Peñas, Atkinsons, Roesberrys, and Perez') and then we had a wonderful family home evening lesson at President Atkinson's house on goal setting and how to set and achieve goals. Pres. Atkinson was the vice President of  Franklin Covey for 20 years, was a motivational speaker and is an amazing teacher. I am sure this same seminar would have been kind of expensive to attend in the states, lucky us we got it for free! (We are putting together a folder of notes from all the lessons we have had from him, they will make great talk and lesson references for the future.) After the lesson we walked around the subdivision and Louis Perez (he is a civil engineer) explained the construction methods they use here. It had rained during the lesson so it was fresh and cool out.

We are now getting rains about every other day, if not every day. Some of the storms are pretty wild, last night we had some wild thunder and lightning again and the power went out for a few minutes. Each time we are afraid it will be out for a long time and it comes right back on, much to our surprise.

The temple was actually pretty busy Tuesday night with 2 nice sessions, Wednesday not so much and Thursday we had no buses scheduled, we did a special session at 10:00 for the sisters and it was well attended then closed until evening, I didn't go as I wasn't feeling well and there were a lot of workers. Friday we had 2 buses and a great day and Saturday started at 6:00 am and we had 5 buses and stayed busy until about 2:30 when they all left. We had some young women come for the first time that were going on missions and they were so amazing. It seems to us that the youth are so much more prepared than they used to be. We also had a young sister talk in church today, she has been home from her mission for about 3 weeks and she is just so full of light. She gave an amazing talk and didn't even hardly refer to her notes.

Even on slow weeks we have such wonderful testimony building experiences and while we miss all of you more than you can imagine we know that we are where we need to be, doing what we need to do, and we also know that we and you are being blessed.

I haven't posted a construction picture for a week or two, they are making progress.
The walls are going up, they are  pouring the round support beams by mixing the concrete by hand
and filling the form with a bucket! They mix the mortar for the bricks on the concrete pad, eventually they will stucco over all the bricks.