Zone Conference Day 7

Day seven of zone conferences took us to a small zone of 14 missionaries. Four live in the main city, and the rest live in little surrounding towns. Together all the towns make up the district. This district has our most members, but lowest attendance. It is also one of the poorest areas in the mission.

However, there are great people who live here and we always enjoy visiting the branches. And the missionaries who work here are all awesome. (Yes I know I always say that but it really is true.)

I didn't take as many pictures of them, however, because for this zone conference I did the food and running up and down the stairs taking care of that took much of my time and attention. But here are the pictures I did take:

Here is one of the entire zone. (I am posting it large to make up for the lack of pictures:-)

Now an interesting thing about this zone . . . See these four?

They have worked in other areas before. 

See these ten? They have all only worked in this zone. 

That is really pretty unusual. 

But is also means they have been doing a good job to have been left in the same areas for so long.

(Changes are this Monday though and things could get switched up a bit.:-)

But even more evidence of what great missionaries they are, with the exception of the zone leaders, all the senior companions trained or are training their companions. 

The elder on the left is training the elder on the right

 The zone leaders. 

 The elder on the left is training the elder on the right

 The elder on the left trained the elder on the right and then they stayed together. 

 Here the elder on the right trained the elder on the left and they have been together for six months now.

 The elder on the right is training the elder on the left

The elder on the left trained the elder on the right

 And just in case you think they are the same height . . . 

The beauty of the podium :-)

Such a great zone and so much fun to be with.

Oh and about the food . . . (which I didn't get a picture of) I made pork loin with gravy and potatoes, green salad and rolls. But it was a good thing I brought along a jar of jalapeños, as they all had to "Mexicanize" it--by adding a little spice.

Zone Conference Day 6

President Wagner decided to shake things up a bit this day. By Friday everyone was feeling pretty tired so the President had everyone get down and give him 5, or 50 or 80 pushups. Or basically whatever they could. That certainly got everyone's blood flowing!!

This elder won with the most out of the missionaries

(Yes President Wagner had to compete as well, and had the most, although it was pretty close this time.)

And apparently those pushups worked!! Not only are we building spiritually strong missionaries, but they are physically strong as well!!:-)

And then there was that oh so painful test!!

Think, Elder, think!!

 concentrate . . . 

 Or just look completely disinterested . . . :-)

The food was a new treat for me. It was called "Huaraches" which is the name of a sandal here in Mexico. It was made from rolling out corn masa about 1/3 inch thick on a mold the shape of a large shoe sole, then grilling it, and then frying it in oil and topping with beans, onions, cheese and hot chili sauce.

And for dessert there was chocolate covered strawberries on a stick!

One of many things we love about this zone is the Calls are in it!!

It is always fun to have them with us. Here Brother Call is pitching in to lead the music.

And Sister Call is visiting with one of the office secretaries that she works with. We feel so blessed to have both them and the Crockets here with us. 

 And once again, here are some random pictures of the zone.  Here are our office secretaries. They are doing an awesome job!!

 Two of our great elders.

 A standing ovation for the cooks

 Just sharing the love . . .

 These two work in a little town about an hour outside Guadalajara. We visited their branch yesterday and seeing all the people there just made me cry. In the time the elder on the left has been there (this is his second companion) the attendance in the branch has doubled. And all the branch members were having such a good time being with each other. One made little bookmarks for everyone who came to their conference and another brought tacos from his store to share. Good times!!

Our wonderful assistants are also in this zone. 

 Along with a lot of other very good missionaries.

 And our zone leaders . . . Proving that missionaries come in all shapes and sizes. . .

 Getting the mail at zone conferences is always a bonus!

 The clean up. 

This week--Santiago, Tepic and Vallarta!!

Zone Conference Day 5 . . .

You would think we would be getting tired of zone conferences by now but we aren't!! We are loving them. Each conference is so different from the others. The material we teach is pretty much the same, but the makeup of the zone is always different and so we have a different experience every day.

On day 5 we were still in Guadalajara visiting another great zone even though there are four rather trunky missionaries in it. These four are going home in a week and were all pretty excited about that. We weren't excited of course, since they will be missed.

I am super tired today though so I am not going to write as much--and will just post the pictures with some short explanations. So here goes . . .

THE TEST (you can read the other posts for an explanation)

Oh the pain of it all!!

THE PRACTICES

 Here the zone leader listens carefully. I love the look on his face. Not quite sure what he was thinking.

THE MEAL
Once again the elders were in charge. They asked one of the bishops and his wife to help with the food and they went all out. I felt bad actually that they went to so much work--a three course meal on real plates!! The bishop even took the day off work and his kids stayed home from school to help.
It was such a huge gift of love on their part and very much appreciated by everyone. What sweet and wonderful people we have here in Mexico!!

The food was so good, it got a standing ovation!

THE CLEANUP
Mothers--you should all be proud!! The elders didn't want to leave all the dishes to this kind family so several of them pitched in to help.

Some random pictures that made me smile . . .

 This is a generational picture. The elder on the left trained the elder next to him, and he is training the elder next to him--(from left to right). And the President is training them all!

 Mail is always a treat!

 I don't know what they are reading, but it looks pretty serious.

 Our awesome zone leaders! The elder on the right makes me laugh. No matter who his companion is, they wear matching ties at all meetings. Companionship unity at its best!

I am not sure what these two pictures were about, but it looks like my lesson on love didn't exactly take. :-)

And finally--the pictures. When the zones get together for a conference they always want to take a lot of pictures. . . . And everyone has to have one on their own camera.

 And here they are!!