There is much to catch up on for the past 6 weeks or so. Our afternoons and evenings are filled with visiting and activities at the church. In the mornings we exercise, study, and plan our day. Tuesday mornings we attend District Meeting with the eight elders in our district. Mondays, Preparation Day for the young missionaries, are quite busy for us because we prepare lunch for four to six elders and then have our own visits after that. We love spending time with these awesome young men who are giving two years of their lives to share the gospel with the beautiful people of Oaxaca.
Our love for the people here grows daily. There are many strong, faithful members who spend countless hours involved in church service and activities. They are our friends forever. I wish we could share with you each story. We also have dear friends who are trying to once again have the gospel as part of their lives. We are always grateful when we feel guided to those who may be ready for our help.
In addition to our work here in Huatulco the past six weeks, we spent one weekend in Puerto Escondido at the District Conference there. One of the counselors in the mission presidency was unable to attend so President Madsen asked Brent to take his place at all three sessions. Of course, he did great and delivered timely messages of love and hope to the members. They are always attentive whenever he speaks.
While in Puerto Escondido, we inspected four missionary houses. I am amazed at how some elders are so tidy and neat, while others can't seem to remember even the simplest of cleaning techniques. But, that's part of the learning process for life.
They all need to be a little more thorough in cleaning under beds and in corners. One of the elders serving here in Huatulco was stung in the neck by a scorpion while he was sleeping. We went with him to the hospital where they gave him anti-venom injections and told him to rest until the numbness in his body went away. His tongue was numb for a couple of days. Later that day they found the scorpion nest in the corner under his bed. It's a joke around here now but it's still creepy to me.
In addition to that excitement, we experienced three earthquakes within a two week period in February. The first one was while Toby, April and their family were here visiting. Their 8-year-old son, Max, was so excited that he could go home and tell his friends that he had been in an earthquake! The rest of us--not so much.š± Two weeks later we had two earthquakes on the same day, five hours apart. They were all around 5.0 but still very unnerving and eerie.
Please don't let any of this information prevent you from coming to visit, just in case you were thinking about it. This really is a safe, clean place to live and to visit. They even spray our neighborhoods for mosquitos.
This past Sunday was our Branch Conference. In addition to its normal meaning, the word conference here indicates that it's time for choir to reconvene--which means lots of evenings spent playing the piano for rehearsal. The members here practice thoroughly for everything. Choir practice begins weeks before the event and we practice at least four nights a week. Many times the members are at the church every night of the week except Monday. They are so dedicated.
For our church member readers, are any of your wards or stakes having a celebration for the 175th anniversary of the Relief Society? Ours is on March 18th and lasts from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm with speakers, food, service, and dancing. Each branch in the district will be performing two native dances. I am even participating. I love that the ladies here are so fun and accepting of an old, senior missionary from America and invited me to join them. They even asked me to teach them a country dance which they plan to perform at the celebration.
So, all in all, our life is good here. We love where we have been called to serve and especially love the people. They are humble, kind, friendly, hard-working and love their families. They are truly an example to us in so many ways. And the gospel of Jesus Christ is blessing their lives.
Noche de Hogar
At the weekly Friday night church activity we were in charge of the games. We did a men against women competition with three events--Simon Says, key on a string, and knock the cup off Elder Johnson's head with a marshmallow. The marshmallow game of course turned into a marshmallow fight. The people here love our silly games.
People and Places
Teaching and Visits
This cute special needs boy turned five years old and, as is the tradition, had a huge birthday party. His family and extended family prepared food for about sixty people and the party lasted about three hours. The children get one piƱata for every year of their age so he had five piƱatas! There was cake and punch, and each of the children there received a gift bag as they left. The gifts for the birthday person aren't opened until all the guests have left. We sure do love this special family.
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| This is the family of Fabian. He is our Branch Mission Leader and they are an awesome family. (And Elder Matheson and Elder Truesch are awesome too.) |
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| We are grateful for Faustino who takes choir members home after practice so they don't have to walk far in the dark. |
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| I love this yard. Francisco lives in the little wooden house behind the trees. |
This is another home I like to visit. It's on the side of a hill with a view of the city! No electricity or running water, just walls and a couple of roofs. Yesenia, who Brent baptized in the ocean, lives here with her three little boys, her cousin and her uncle. Yesenia and her cousin make tortillas every morning to sell around the neighborhood. Then they wash clothes, chop fire wood, and cook. Her uncle has only one useful leg but can do any work needed from cutting fire wood and removing tree stumps to caring for the little boys. What a strong family in so many ways.
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| A sister in our branch passed away from a short illness. Her body remained at the church for a day and a half before her burial. Someone stayed with her body day and night. Friends and family come and sit with the deceased for a while to pay their respects. The sisters of the branch prepared food for the family from morning till night.  |
Missionaries
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| Monday lunch with the elders and our friend, Paula. |
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| I found Campbell's Tomato Soup at the store so I made a traditional down-home meal--tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. The Americans loved it. The Latinos mostly loved the sandwiches! |
