No, we are not on vacation.

From our pictures, it may look like we are on vacation. But this really is where we live. It is so beautiful to us who have lived most of our lives in the mountainous dessert of Utah. And, if you know Brent, you know that he wants to see it all right now. Every time we drive to a new place for missionary work, he has done his research and knows what we should see there.

In addition to our missionary work, last week we visited 5 new beaches, went to an iguana reserve, took two boat rides to see the bays, released baby turtles into the ocean, and visited the beach where each year a million turtles lay their eggs in the sand. This happens when there is a full moon so we hope to see it in the next few months.

We are loving our missionary work as well. It is a delight to meet with the young missionaries and the people here are very friendly. We have been to district meetings, correlation meetings, presented a Family Home Evening, inspected 4 more missionary apartments, attended a regional youth conference where Brent was one of the speakers, and gone to a cultural celebration in our town. We attended church at two branches in Puerto Escondido (2 hours away) last Sunday. In the morning meeting, we were both asked to introduce ourselves and share a message. I was able to speak in Spanish for 5-6 minutes without notes and I'm feeling a little more confident.

Tuesday we headed back through the mountains to Oaxaca City (a 6-hour drive on a winding road) to complete our visa requirements (fingerprints, etc.)  This is not a pleasant drive, although it is beautiful. While here in Oaxaca, we plan on going to the temple, the archeological ruins at Monte Albán, make a stop at Sam's Club and Walmart, then return home on Friday.

Checking missionary houses

I love these two pictures. This is a Missionary Correlation Meeting with the full-time missionaries and the mission leader for the branch. We met outside the branch mission leader's home because his family kicked him out when he joined the church. He is allowed to eat and sleep there but we could not hold our meeting in the house. (The house area is above them. No walls, just a partial roof.)

And the following picture is of them walking down the road after the meeting on their way to appointments. No cars or bikes in the Oaxaca Mission--just walking, or buses for long distances. We love these young men. They are awesome missionaries. 

Regional Youth Conference

I learned how to make tlyudas, the most common native food in Oaxaca. SO good. They are definitely better than the one we tried at the Oaxacan restaurant in Salt Lake City.

At the cultural celebration in our town.

Brent took this picture of the power lines outside our apartment
to remind us that we live in Mexico.

These are pictures from when we went to the beach for the Liberación de las Tortugas (releasing the baby turtles into the ocean). The turtles come ashore to lay their eggs then bury them in the sand. They hatch after about 45 days. This is a reserve where turtles are protected. The work of the reserve is to gather the eggs after they are laid, protect them, then safely release them within two hours after they hatch.

This shows how tiny the turtles are. They are adorable.

After being released onto the sand, they scurry toward the ocean until a wave comes and
carries them away. It is one of the cutest things ever.

At the iguana reserve

Other touristy activities

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