Is it Christmas?

I know the calendar says Christmas is on Sunday but it sure doesn't seem like Christmas here.  In fact, the weather and temperatures here are becoming a little monotonous.  The snowman piñatas are the closest thing to Utah weather that we're going to get this year.  And the traditions are different as well but they are special nonetheless.  One that I like begins on December 16th--the Posada.  Posada means "inn."  Each night from the 16th until Christmas, the people walk in groups throughout the neighborhoods symbolically looking for a room for the Christ child.  They stop at several homes and have food.  I wish we had time for a tradition like this back home.  One of the biggest differences in the people here and at home is the amount of time they spend with their family, friends, neighbors, and at church activities.

Last Saturday, however, we were able to spend the night with our family via FaceTime for the annual Johnson Christmas gathering.  What a blessing FaceTime and Skype are for us.  We watched them eat pizza, sing songs while waiting for Santa's annual visit, sit on Santa's lap, share "Light the World" experiences, and play a really fun game Jill invented called "Do you like your present?"  What a joyful night for us.

We, along with all the members here and in surrounding branches, had an unforgettable experience on Friday, December 9th.  Elder Neil L. Andersen from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles visited the Huatulco District and spoke at a meeting that evening.  The members were told about his upcoming visit just two weeks before and preparations began immediately.  The choir reconvened with nightly practices, flowers were made, the church building was scrubbed from top to bottom, and the news was spread.

The background story is this:  It had been six years since an apostle had visited the state of Oaxaca and, usually, the visits take place in Oaxaca City where there is a large church membership and a temple.  The Church decided this time, however, to have him visit another part of the state where there were many members.  The city they chose is Juchitan which has three stakes  It is about a three hour drive from Huatulco.  One problem was that there is not an airport in Juchitan.  Huatulco happens to have an international airport to support the tourism industry so Elder Andersen was scheduled to fly here and travel by car the next day to Juchitan..  Even though there is a relatively small amount of members here and we don't even have a stake, Church officials arranged for him to visit here before heading for Juchitan.

Over 300 members and a few investigators crowded into our tiny chapel and surrounding classrooms.  The meeting was a spiritual feast for us all.  Elder Andersen spent the last hour speaking to us and bore such a strong witness of our Savior.  At the end of his talk, he invited all to come up and greet him and shake his hand after the closing prayer.  I'm sure he was exhausted from traveling from SLC to Huatulco in one day and yet he still took the time to be one-on-one with these special people here.  We felt like we were in the presence of Christ himself.  Such a feeling of love many here will never forget.

Our missionary work still continues to be a choice blessing to us with many special experiences.
Two weeks ago, Brent had the privilege of baptizing Paula, a 24 year old YSA who, in addition to the elders who were teaching her, we had been meeting with weekly.  She is so committed and happy to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  We love Paula.

About three weeks ago, the elders planned a missionary activity for Sunday.  It was called "Missionary for a Day."  After church, the members had lunch then gathered in the chapel for instructions from the missionaries.  They then divided into small groups and went out "tracting" for four hours.  The elders had even made them missionary badges.  They returned to the chapel at 7:00 pm to share their experiences.  It was very rewarding and quite a spiritual experience for some.  They returned with 46 new contacts for the full-time missionaries to visit.

Missionary transfers took place last week and we were sad that Elder Allman and Elder Pelicó had to leave.  They are both exceptional missionaries and a blessing to everyone they teach.  We are, of course, excited to get to know three new elders who were assigned here.  President Madsen has the mind-set to send very strong missionaries here because we are so far away from him and from any large church membership.  The goal of the members here is to become a stake within two years.  We are happy to help in the process.

Missionary Zone Conference was held here in Huatulco the afternoon of December 9th.  Being together as a group of 20 missionaries to receive instruction from Pres. and Hermana Madsen gives all of us a boost.  They are great leaders.

Then, Zone Activity was held here on Wednesday.  We were in charge of the food.  The two supermarkets here sell whole turkeys during December and we had some friends with a restaurant cook them for us in their giant wood-burning oven.  Delicious!  What a stark difference from our Thanksgiving turkey cooked in the supermarket oven.  They also made the mashed potatoes and gravy; Brent and I made green salad, corn, and dessert.  In addition to eating a huge amount of food, the elders played games, had a talent show, and shared a lot of love and laughter with each other.  Pres. and Hermana Madsen left us with beautiful Christmas messages.

Another activity here was the District Primary Activity last Saturday.  It went from 11:00 - 4:00 and included food, dancing, games, and piñatas (which we offered to provide).  Members traveled as much as an hour to attend.  And just like every other event we've participated in here, it was well organized, festive, and delightful.

Oh, Brent wanted me to mention the fact that the value of the peso here has dropped by @20% since Trump was elected president of the United States.  Just FYI!  I'm not sure how it relates to missionary work, and I really don't care all that much.  Right now, we are happy to be living in Mexico!

As an end note--in Sunday School last Sunday, we had a lesson about the 12 Tribes of Israel.  We are so blessed to be serving among direct descendants of Joseph and prophets from Book of Mormon times.  3 Nephi 5:13:  "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  I have been called of Him to declare His word among His people, that they might have eternal life."

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family.  We love you all and are grateful for your prayers for the missionaries.  Prayers are being answered.

A Christmas tree at the beach  (That is not spray-on snow.  Each branch is wrapped by hand with cotton.)

Giant piñatas from the school plaza next door during their Navidad celebration

Elder Andersen's visit

The people gathering to meet Elder Andersen

Children from our brach

Brent and me

Elder Andersen with the missionaries

Elder Johnson and Paula, who he baptized.



Missionary for a Day

Our last Monday lunch before transfers.  Missionaries are awesome!



Zone Conference and Zone Activity

If there are missionaries, there must be food!

You're never too old for musical chairs--our contribution to the activities at Zone Activity.




Hermana Madsen is so fun.  She had all the elders singing and dancing to "Princess Pat."

Flu shots!








District Primary Activity
Food preparation



The piñatas we provided


Dancing is part of almost every activity.




Teaching and Visiting










Our dear friend, Hermana Chagin, lives in a home behind this beautiful bush.





We went to visit a family who lives upstairs and the elders were teaching the lady downstairs.




People and Culture
This is another random parade down our street. Although, we did hear that this day was the birthday of Guadalupe.

This is a lady we visit often.  During Christmas time, she makes and sells tlyudas at the beach.  She prepares the food at home then transports all of it plus the table, the wood-burning grill, and stools to the beach in a taxi.

No need to worry about injuries while we're here.  Margarito knows how to fix almost anything with Apache medicine he learned from his father.  We know of at least three members he has "fixed."  This sweet sister fell off a curb and sprained her ankle.  She was not smiling, however, when he yanked and twisted her foot and leg.

Market Day

A picture is worth a thousand words.

This little guy is my buddy.  He loves glasses.

This young man is opening his mission call in Sacrament Meeting.  He will be a great missionary.

The neighbors of a family we visit each week make and sell churros.  Needless to say, we have warm churros almost every week.

This is our happy/sad tree.  All of a sudden it is wilted, we water it, and within a half-hour, it's happy again.  I'm sure there's somehow a gospel message there.




And again, Feliz Navidad from Huatulco, Mexico.

Just Photos

The past three weeks have included Revolution Day parades, Thanksgiving, and a fun visit from our daughter, Tina, and her family.  Most of what there is to write about can be told in pictures.  I'll catch up on the write-up next time.

Revolution Day Parades

Revolution Day is the celebration of the internal revolution over 100 years ago that brought about the current form of government in Mexico.  It is one of the most celebrated holidays.

An official parade here is every school child in the town walking along the parade route with their class.  (There are many random, unofficial parades, however!)

Thanksgiving

Even though we had all the traditional food, it just didn't quite seem like Thanksgiving. We were happy to have the elders and the Webb family here for dinner. The North American elders especially appreciated it.

I didn't want to take a chance of cooking the turkey in my not-so-reliable oven so I had the supermarket cook it in their big bakery oven. It actually wasn't as bad as it looks once it was sliced. It's a good thing we had gravy.

We found 8 cans of pumpkin in the imported foods aisle of the supermarket. We bought them all.

You can't have a fiesta in Mexico without a piñata. Grandpa Bish took Ty and Molly to choose just the right one. At least they both agreed on Paw Patrol. (Elder Saldaña is a native Mexican and knew just what to do and even sang the song which goes along with a piñata.)

Molly didn't want the blindfold but said she would close her eyes!



The Webb's Visit
Tina and Kurt and their family spent Thanksgiving week with us. What a treat. Of course, we had a wonderful time and, even though it was hard to day goodbye, we were so happy that they could see us in our world as missionaries.
(Warning: There are a lot of family pictures in this section!)

We have awesome cheese here in Oaxaca. Paisley is eating a quesadilla with Oaxacan cheese. It's great for queso fundido, too.

Tina loved the food here, especially breakfast. It reminded her of Guatemala.

This is the beach closest to our house.

This secluded beach is accessible only by a short hike or by boat.

We took a day and a half trip to Puerto Escondido where baby turtles are released into the ocean.

On our way to Puerto, we stopped at Ventanilla Lagoon for a boat ride to see crocodiles, iguanas and beautiful birds.

As we were walking to the boat, this coconut (below) fell from a tree just a few feet from Molly. It surely would have knocked her out at the very least.

We also stopped to check out the iguana sanctuary and arrived right at feeding time.

Swimming at the hotel in Puerto Escondido.

Swimming in our mini pool (hot tub) at our apartment. No, we did not heat the water.

We visited our District President's family, the Pinedas.

Pres. Pineda showed the kids how to cut wood the old-fashioned way. 

Our dear friend, Diana, tended the kids one evening while the adults went to dinner.

Time out for a quick soccer game with some of the kids of the branch. This court at the church is full of kids, mostly teenagers, whenever the gate is unlocked.

This beautiful lady is Hermana Sofia and she used to do hair on the beach. She was so sweet to braid all the girls hair.

The last night's dinner was on the beach.

Paisley and I bought a Christmas tree and decorated it before they left.

Misc.

After District Conference, we had President and Sister Madsen and the Pineda family for dinner.

We call this "Restaurant Row." These little food carts line up here every weekday afternoon.

And Brent calls this "The Mandarin." If you live in Northern Utah, you know about the Mandarin. This food cart parks at this random location every day and is almost always full of people eating.  And they have quite an extensive menu. 

Finally, the end!
Thanks for looking.