Meeting with the Missionaries in Tepic

We had such a good time with this zone. The zone leaders were very prepared and there was a great spirit in the zone.

And the food for lunch was good.:-)

The zone leaders teach during part of each conference, and included in their teaching, is of course, practices. 

I love how they always keep such a close eye on what is happening and offer support and encouragement. 

 And this zone leader even led the song "Scripture Power" which was part of our English study program. His major in college is music conducting so he was happy to help us out.

 And definitely ended with a flourish!

 For the last two zone conferences we have given a test over basic doctrine, scripture mastery and teaching skills all found in Preach My Gospel. This has helped give the missionaries some additional direction in their personal studies and gives us a good idea of where we need to improve our training.

 Apparently it requires some pretty intense thinking.

For a break--and to get everyone's blood flowing---we added an additional song to our English study program. (All Spanish speaking missionaries are required to learn English, just as all English speaking missionaries are required to learn Spanish)

Here we are once again singing "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes" although looking at this picture, it might be hard to know which body part we were supposed to be on. Was it shoulders? Head? Or maybe ears?

 I always like to get a group picture following the meeting. It was especially fun in this zone. The zone leaders had made the large Libro de Mormon as a prop for teaching. So of course we had to take the zone picture with it. Most of the missionaries were also holding a copy of the Book of Mormon! (Can you see why we had so much fun with this zone?:-)

 And then of course we had to take companionship pictures with the large book as well . . . And by the way, this companionship was awesome in the scripture chase. They both found every scripture in the time allotted--which is only about 6 seconds.

 This is an awesome district. They are doing such a great job. But what is also fun about them is they each come from a different country. We have Mexico, United States, El Salvador, and Guatemala.

 And a couple more district pictures with the book . . .

 And last of all this picture of two US elders from the same generation. I love their big smiles!!

So there you have a few pictures from day two. Next up--Vallarta!

On the Road Again!! Zone Conference #4

This past week we hit the road again, this time for zone conferences. We traveled the north side of the mission and held three zone conferences. We always love being with the missionaries. So many of them are serving at such a great sacrifice and most are working hard and being obedient.

Here are some pictures from the first zone we met with. First we arrived at the church to discover this going on right across the street!! A May Day celebration with very loud trumpets playing and dancing. We are getting used to teaching over loud distractions, however, but luckily (or perhaps an answer to our prayers:-) it didn't last too long!

 We only have elders in this zone. Hopefully some sisters will be able to work here eventually, but as of now it is all elders. And see the blonde missionary? He has been in the same area since he arrived here--9 months ago. And I don't think he will be receiving a transfer anytime soon, since see the elder sitting on the far right? Yeah, that is his companion. A brand new missionary. So they will be together for at least three months. The elder on the far left is also brand new and the four of them work in the same city together.

 More of our fine missionaries. I just noticed the pop bottle though. I always tell them they can drink it if they want to, but they have to drink two glasses of water afterward since soda dehydrates you. Hopefully he did that!

 And three more . . .

 And the zone leaders.

 Our theme this time was the Book of Mormon. Everyone was asked to study Preach My Gospel Chapter 5 and come prepared seeking ways to better use the Book of Mormon in their teaching. The zone leaders taught how to invite investigators  to read and pray. And here they are practicing what they learned.

 How about a little Scripture Power!

 We also sang Head Shoulders Knees and Toes to help the Spanish speaking missionaries learn English. But  . . .what is wrong with this picture? :-)

 And a little toe touching . . .

 Of course we also had lunch. This couple were so sweet to provide the meal for us. We love them!! They are some of the nicest people!

 

 

And a picture of the food . . . 

What a good zone leader!! Always giving a lift to those in need.:-)

The whole zone. . . .which will soon have a married couple working with them as well!

 And clean up! I love it when they get right to work cleaning up the mess!

 The building here is a two story building, which has great views of the area around it. I took this picture of the workers headed home after a long day work. There were two trucks and they waved hello when they saw me with a camera. (And I was a long ways off!)

 This is the view across the street.

 And this too. I love this. I think it looks like a secret garden.

And that was day one!!

Making History . . . First Mission Council

On Tuesday we held our very first mission council. It included 18 zone leaders, the assistants and four sister leader trainers.  We thought it would be a good idea to take a picture for history sake. So here is our official picture.

Or maybe this one.:-) Such a great group of missionaries!!

We had eight new members of the council.

Four new zone leaders. 

And our four sister leader trainers

Here are some other pictures from the training.  Practice, Practice, Practice

 Here they are standing to sing the mission song.

 And of course there is food. Since it was close to May 5, I decided to go with Mexican food again. We had green chili pork tacos, rice, beans and salsa.

It was a great day and we look forward to more mission council meetings in the future.

We Keep Growing!!

This week we added two more missionaries to our force--one from Costa Rica and the other from Guatemala. 

We are so excited to have them both with us. And it was fun visiting with them about their home countries since we are very familiar with both. 

Welcome to Mexico!!

We look forward to great things from you!!