Another Month, Another Council . . .

Little editorial comment: Sister H. was coming to work this morning and had to pass the guard booth at the entrance of our development. The guard said to her, "It looks like you are having another one of your big parties." (some missionaries had already arrived for zone leader council) She told them it wasn't a party, it was a work meeting. The guard then asked, "Then why do they always look so happy?" I loved that!!

We had our fourth zone leader council today. Three of our previous zone leaders are now training new missionaries and so we had three new zone leaders with us. We were very excited to have them, and look forward to great things with their leadership.

This month the assistants taught fundamental lesson #4--Receiving Revelation through the Book of Mormon. Next Tuesday the zone leaders will teach this same lesson to their zones, and the following week the district leaders will teach it to their districts.

I taught on how to better use the training model (explain, demonstrate, practice, evaluate and re-practice) in their training meetings and in companionship study, how to improve baptismal services and how to use them as a tool for finding new investigators. President Wagner taught the atonement from lesson 2, The Plan of Salvation. I always love the way he teaches because he makes everything sound so simple, yet so profound.

And of course we fed them--breakfast, a snack and lunch.

Sister H and I take turns cooking. One month I cook American food and the next month she cooks Mexican. This was her month and she did everything from scratch! No cans or jars for her!!

We had rice with carrots, onions and garlic, refried beans and chicken enchiladas with a sauce made from green tomatoes, onions, cilantro, chilies and chicken broth.

See the white stuff on top of the enchilada? That is cream. They just pore cream on the top. I tried it and thought it was pretty good. I took off those jalapeños before eating though. The sauce was spicy enough for me!

And then for dessert Sister H. made a carrot cake and an orange cake both in pans and cooked on top of the stove!! (The people here rarely use ovens.)

I know I have a lot of eating pictures on the blog, but we feed the missionaries a lot. And I always have to use the green tablecloth because it is the only one I have that fits that table.

After lunch we had the cleanup. Sister H. and I both looked at the mess and at the same time said, "Where do we start?" I am pretty sure we used every pan, blender, spoon, spatula, bowl and knife in the kitchen. These pictures were taken after most of the mess had been cleaned.

What I love most about zone leader council is seeing how excited the missionaries are to see each other. Several were changed last week and so were reunited with their old companions for a few hours. Everyone was so happy to see everyone else. I love that.

 Love this picture of Elder G. He used to be President Wagner's assistant but now works on the coast. We miss having him here in Guadalajara and will miss him even more in a month when he goes home.

 Here Elder J and Elder L are reunited after 9 days apart.

 I took this picture for both the missionaries and the mail. Sometimes my husband and I joke that we are really only glorified cooks and mailmen. All the mail was brought to our house and then we sent it out to the zones with the missionaries.

And of course they also had to take pictures of each other. 

It was fun to have them all. Now tomorrow we start our second round of interviews--and continue with apartment checks!