Mission Council!

We held mission council one week early so we would have time to get in all the zone conferences before our next change. Here are a few pictures from the meeting. Mostly I took pictures of the new members of the council and then a few others. Next month I will get a group picture.


Here are four of the five new zone leaders! We always miss the ones who have returned home or receive other assignments, but we are also always happy to welcome new ones! And we know they will be just as awesome as the elders before them!

 And here are our two new sister leader trainers. We are also super happy to have them serving with us!

 This was the salad Hermana Hernandez made!! She is truly a food artist. And they taste delicious as well!

 The cleanup crew!!

 The exodus! Back to work everyone!

 More missionaries cleaning up. Sorry these pictures are so out of order, I just didn't want to take the time necessary to arrange them better.

 So we also have a little fun. . .

 One of these hermanas is not like the other, but we still feel like she belongs!! Our very own and very much loved Hermana Moreno came back to visit us today! We were so happy to see her.

 Ahhh there he is!! New zone leader number five. We finally were able to track him down to take his picture!!

So that was our day. Always a privilege to spend time with these wonderful leaders!

Welcome, Welcome!

Every farewell is followed the next day by a welcome. Last Monday we welcomed 14 new missionaries to the mission, 2 from the Dominican Republic, 1 From Guatemala, 1 from Ecuador, 1 from Uruguay, five from the United States and 4 from Mexico. Quite the mixed group!! All of the native Spanish speaking missionaries arrived from the MTC in Mexico, bright and early in the morning. The Americans came later in the afternoon.

Here are some pictures from the day. The first ones are in front of our Tree of Life at our house. This is to remind the missionaries that they are here to partake of the atonement in their own lives and share those blessings with others.

Right from the first moment they arrive we try to teach the importance of striving for excellence--including in the way they dress and wear their hair. Sometimes the hair is a little crazy (especially after an airplane ride) so the assistants get right to work helping the new elders get "missionary ready".

And here are the companionship pictures. Most were taken in our normal spot in front of the temple but unfortunately when we did our training for the Americans the church building was not available so we had to train at the office. Not quite so great for pictures, but an exciting time for them nonetheless.

 We think these two were definitely destined to be companions. Check out those ties!

 And a little bonus picture. Companionship language study!  Learning Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes! (And it wakes them up too!:-)

I was going over items that should be in their first aid kit and asked one elder if he had all those items. He said, "I don't know what it in the kit." Apparently his mother bought it for him. That reminded me that many were just 18 years old and straight out of high school. I was thinking about how much faith God puts in these young men and women to do some of the most important work taking place on the face of the earth at such a young age.

But I also thought of the mothers who lovingly helped their sons or daughters pack and then sent them off, many to a foreign land, and all far from home. Although we can't guarantee their safety, we can guarantee that God is watching over them and that we will care for and love them like our own.

La Despedida . . . once again

We bid farewell to a large group on Sunday night that included missionaries from five different countries. 

As always it is very sad to say goodbye to missionaries you have spent the past two years with. Also included in this group was our first large group of sisters who arrived after the age change. 

They all did a fantastic job and they along with the awesome elders will all be missed.

And most of the native Spanish speakers took the English Language test and did super great!!

We are so proud of them and the job they did!

FINAL TRANSFER

HERMANA CLAUDIA LEIJA---MONTERREY, MEXICO

HERMANA DULCE FAVILA---CIUDAD JUAREZ MEXICO

HERMANA NITZEL MORENO--PACHUCA, MEXICO

SHALOM PENA--CUAUTITLAN IZCALLI, MEXICO

BRITTANY HERNANDEZ--SAN MATEO TECALCO, MEXICO

BRENDA ZEPEDA--QUERETARO, MEXICO

ELDER ARMANDO CERVANTES--CUAUTITLAN IZCALLI, MEXICO

ELDER JOSEPH AGUSTIN--PUEBLA, MEXICO

ELDER JOSE MONTIEL--MEXICO, MEXICO

ELDER WILMER VIDAL--LIMA, PERU

ELDER WILLIAM OSCAL--GUATEMALA, GUATEMALA

ELDER STEVEN FLORES--ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, USA

ELDER BRIGHAM ACEVEDO, ZACATECAS, MEXICO

ELDER DAVID RUIZ--GUERRERO, MEXICO

ELDER KADE ALEXANDER--PARADISE, UTAH

ELDER GUILLERMO HERNANDEZ--SOYAPANGO, MEXICO

ELDER CASEY RICH--OHIO, USA

ELDER JONATHAN UMANA--SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA

Other pictures from our last night together. . .

Taking the English test

I love the tanned feet!

 Finding their names on the mission quilt. Everyone signs it when they arrive and it is beginning to be very filled up!

The final dinner--which tonight consisted of pork loin with chipoltle gravy, baked potatoes, carrots and a green salad with tres leches cake for dessert.

We will miss you all!

The Assistants!

Since I forgot to take their picture, to make it up to them (after all we couldn't do this job without all of their tireless help!) I am giving them their very own posting! So grateful for all they do!

Interviews, Week 3

This week we were in Guadalajara interviews 84 missionaries in 3 days! Yes they were long days! But it was also a lot of fun being able to spend the time with the missionaries. Here are pictures from the week. If we still have internet tomorrow (it comes and goes these days) I will post more about what we did during them. And I forgot to get a picture of the Assistants but I will make it up to them. :-)