The House the Elders' Quorum Built

I mentioned in a previous post that the Elders' Quorum in our branch built a new house for Yesénia and her family.  Yesénia is a young 22 year old mom with three little boys--four year old twins David and Julian, and two year old Daniel.  Her cousin, Vicki, and her uncle, Oscar (who is handicapped because he has only one useful leg yet still cuts firewood and helps with the boys), live there as well.  They literally live on a hillside in a humble home they built themselves which has no electricity or plumbing.  It's one room with two beds, some drawers, and a fridge they use for storage.  The kitchen is outdoors with a tarp roof.

Several months ago the missionaries met Yesénia and began teaching her.   We also visited them on occasion and when Yesénia decided to be baptized, she asked Brent to baptize her in the ocean.  We have become very close to this dear family and wanted to share a little of their story.

Yesénia's husband died about three years ago of cancer.  Yesénia and Vicki earn money by making 200 tortillas early in the morning, six days a week, then Vicki walks around the neighborhood selling them.  If they sell them all, their net earnings for the day are 130 pesos, about $7.00, used for food, water, and other necessities for their family of five.

A few months ago the neighbor told Yesénia her house was on the their property so they had to move it to the other side of the kitchen area.  They began saving money to buy the supplies with plans to rebuild their house little by litlte.  Who knows how long it would have taken to save the money.  About six weeks later the Elders' Quorum President heard about their situation and formed a work project for the men in the branch.

With the little money Yesénia and Vicki had saved plus some donations, they were able to buy enough new wood for the walls to add to the usable wood from the old house, and cinder blocks to build a foundation wall to keep water out.  They even put in a cement floor (which was mixed by hand and hauled with a wheelbarrow).  It was so amazing to watch the weekly progress of the house and the dedication of the men.  All this was done with no power tools, not only because there is no electricity at the house, but also because that's how things are done here--everything by hand and manual labor.

When it was time to buy the materials for the roof, amazingly more donations came in from branch members.  One branch member donated two doors so they could lock up the house. The men are planning on putting a proper roof over the kitchen area when they can.

So below are several pictures of the process and the family.  What amazing church members here. The gospel truly blesses lives in many ways.

The old house

Kitchen/cooking area

The house sits on the top of a hill so dirt had to be hauled over
to make the land level.  Elder Rullan and Elder Truesch are strong workers.
 

 And the boys were good helpers too.

The four missionaries serving here during the project.

This was fascinating to me.  They used plastic tubing with water inside to level the posts.  These men are geniuses.

Making the post hole a little deeper.

A short break while waiting for supplies.

And a new house!

A few pictures of the family

Yesénia doing the laundry

If you look across the little valley you can see a flat, brown building halfway up the hill.  This is the new house, kitchen, and part of the old house.  I also included this picture because it shows how very dry and brown the trees and hills are.  It was so green and beautiful when we arrived last year.  Hoping for the rain to begin soon.  

Loving Mexico

Wow, it's been another six weeks since we've done a regular blog post.  Life here continues with busy days of visiting, supporting the young missionaries and branch members.  We continue to love our mission service and love the people more and more each day.  There were three baptisms last month with five more scheduled for Saturday, May 13th.  Well, really four on the 13th and one on a different day because Dalila's mother doesn't want her to be baptized on an unlucky day!

We enjoyed General Conference again here in the mission field.  We are blessed to be able to watch it in English at the church with the North American elders which helps us pay closer attention than when we watch it from our comfortable chairs in Utah.  The members here appreciate the messages and some who don't attend church regularly make it a point to attend General Conference. Conference in the mission field is definitely good for us.

During April we had Branch Conference, the Relief Society birthday celebration, and a baby shower. Birthdays are typically big celebrations and now I've learned that baby showers are as well.  There haven't been any new babies born since we arrived but there are now five coming within the next couple of months.  The branch put on a baby shower for the baby due this month and I'm sure we played no less than 12 games.  These ladies are so good to each other.

The Relief Society birthday celebration was another big celebration.  It began at 10:00 with a devotional, followed by judging of the displayed handicrafts, lunch, and dancing.  The ladies of our branch invited me to participate with them in the dancing and even asked me to teach them a country dance.  Again, lots and lots of practicing but it was so fun.  An interesting thing here is that whenever there is an activity at the church for adults, plans include simple food for the children. The members bring their children to everything, even council meetings.  They just play together in a classroom or outside while waiting for their parents.

We said goodbye to four elders two weeks ago.  The new ones are all Latino so now all the elders in our area are Latino, which leaves me with no elders to talk English with.  I don't understand everything, but I can at least carry on a conversation without too much trouble.  They are very patient with me, as are the members.  The members are so kind and friendly, and help me out when I'm trying to communicate with them.  We love the church here in Huatulco.

There have been a few celebrations in the town during the past few weeks.  It started with Good Friday on March 10th and there was a celebration most weekends between then and Easter, ending with Holy Week.  School is out for two weeks during Holy Week and the week after.  There were so many tourists here those two weeks.  But after Cinco de Mayo on May 5th, the tourist season is over.  April 30th is Day of the Children so there were fiestas at the elementary schools the Friday before, and on the 30th people would wish us Happy Children's Day since we are all children inside. 😉 They do like their fiestas and celebrations here.  May 1st was Labor Day and Cinco de Mayo is a national holiday but not really celebrated much.  We think it's celebrated more in the United States than here.

In July there is a big dance festival in Oaxaca City called the Guelaguetza.  From what we've read and heard, it is one of the largest dance festivals in the world.  Dances from the eight regions of Oaxaca are presented.  We will for sure be going this year.  Last week we saw a stage set up in the plaza with a banner saying Guelaguetza Infantil.  Children from the nearby kindergarten and preschool presented a mini Guelaguetza complete with native costumes and dances.  Of course, Brent took at least 100 pictures but I'll only post a few.  The festivities are always so colorful.

Last week there was a huge rain storm with amazing thunder and lightning.  It was great.  We didn't really believe the local people a few months ago when they said that, because there would be no rain for 5-6 months, the trees, hills, and mountains would get very dry and brown.  It was so beautiful and green here for our first six months.  Well, it's true.  I shouldn't use the word ugly, but it kind of is.  We are told that in May, the rain will return and within a few days everything will be green again.  But nothing since the rain storm last week so we'll wait anxiously for the rainy season to begin and the green to return.

I wish we could share the stories of all the special people we have come to know and love here in Huatulco. They help us appreciate the blessings of the gospel in our own lives and the lives of our children and grandchildren.  One awesome experience during the past month was watching the men of the branch build a humble home for a young family.  The house is one bedroom-size room used mostly for sleeping, which is typical, and the kitchen/eating/visiting area is outside.  They have no electricity or plumbing, just a simple house on a hill.  No one is too busy to serve.  They just show up and get the job done, whatever it is.  Faithful, dedicated disciples of Jesus Christ.

We look forward to the experiences we will have during the next eight months until we return home. This is our home away from home for now and we are happy and blessed.

Branch Conference

The choir for Branch Conference.  The color the ladies chose to wear this time is lila in Spanish, pronounced like my name.💜

Aren't these sisters beautiful.  And the word "conferencia" in Spanish must translate not only as conference, but also flowers and choir.😁

President and Sister Madsen and the four elders in our town (two have since been changed).

After conference, President and Sister Madsen came for dinner along with the Elder Miron, the Area Seventy who visited the conference. 




Relief Society Birthday Celebration

Two of the display tables at the Relief Society Celebration. 

This sweet senior sister (in the black and white) gave me this stitching she made.  I wish you could see it up close.  The yellow flowers are all done with tiny little knots.  She had several pieces on display.  Many sisters do this type of handiwork but it's a dying art.

Sarai's Baptism
Sarai was baptized by her fiancé, Armando.  Brent baptized Armando 4 months ago at this same beach.  Armando and Sarai are getting married later this summer and they will be a strong, faithful family in the church.

Mission Call
We love the Pineda family.  Their daughter, Diana, received a mission call the last week of March and left on April 17th to serve in Chihuahua, Mexico.  She will be one fantastic missionary.  (The butterfly is at the Huatulco airport.)

A little side note:  We offered to buy the cake for Diana's going away party at the church.  Brent thought we needed a large one.  They are sold by weight, not size.  He ordered the biggest one he could--10 kilos (which is 22 pounds)!!!

Baby Shower

The guest of honor is the last to arrive.  She doesn't see who brings which gift.  Before opening a gift, she tries to guess who brought it.  If she is wrong, the giver draws something on her with lipstick.  If she guesses correctly, the giver gets the lipstick drawing.  Not a tradition I would be very fond of.

A few of the many games. If you need any baby shower game ideas, let me know!

Building a House
Yesenia and her family (cousin, uncle, and three little boys) needed to move the sleeping part of their home to the opposite side of the kitchen area because they were living on someone else's property.  They began saving for the materials and just planned to do the work themselves.  The Elder's Quorum President organized the men of the branch to help out.  These people bless each other's lives in so many ways.

Preschool Dancers

I decided I need to do a post with just pictures since there's so many we want to save and share.  But here's a few randoms to end with.

I don't know how I'm going to leave my little amigo behind when we return home. He doesn't speak but loves music and he likes to help me play the piano.

Four beautiful Young Women.

A family we visit found this baby squirrel at the bottom of a tree in a parking lot.  They took it home and cared for it until one day it left for good to live in the trees.  It was kind of creepy when we were visiting and it would crawl up the chair leg or Brent's pant leg.

The English speaking Elders' goodbye cake.  (Good Luck Elders) 😆

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