Final Transfer

On Sunday we bid farewell to five missionaries who were all from five different countries.

We will miss them all but wish them the very best.

Final Transfer

Elder Diego Valdes--Chile

Abby Reynoso--Mexico 

William Martinez--El Salvador

Alejandro Sosa--Uruguay

Jeffrey Cluff--Utah, USA

Farewell to Elder and Sister Haertel

This past week we had the sad responsibility of bidding farewell to Elder and Sister Haertel. They served for six months in the Santiago District of the mission and did amazing things there in a very short time. Words really cannot express how much we will miss them. When they turned in their mission papers, some people suggested they would not go foreign due to only being able to serve for such a short time. We were so very blessed, however, that they were able to come and serve with us.

Elder Haertel served in the Guadalajara Mission in his younger days so he spoke Spanish and was familiar with the area. Sister Haertel did an awesome job studying the language before she arrived and learning more while here. We know the mission was not easy for them. They worked in a very hot climate and lived in very primative conditions. But they survived!:-) And their influence will be felt for many years to come.

At the end of our mission council meeting, the missionaries who worked with them in the Santiago Zone suggested we all sing "God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again."

It was touching to hear everyone join together in song.

Elder and Sister Haertel--We love you both!! We will forever be blessed because of your willingness to serve! Thank you so very much for being willing to sacrifice your family, your time and your resources to be with us!!

Mission Council

On Tuesday we held mission council at our home. We always enjoy this meeting and I think the missionaries enjoy it as well. Not only are they fed well both spiritually and physically, but they really enjoy seeing each other and catching up on news from their old areas and friends.

We have really become too big to take just one picture easily of everyone who attends so this time I took the pictures by area--the north of the mission, the south of the mission and Guadalajara.

Due to the high number of new sister missionaries our sister leader trainers are not able to be companions at this time--which is why this sister is alone in the picture. But rest assured she does have a companion and she is never alone.

Missionaries from the south of the mission . . .

Missionaries in Guadalajara . . .

 Missionaries from the north side of the mission.

For training this month the assistants, Elder Snyder and Elder Casas taught Fundamental Lesson #7, "We Invite, They Commit, We Follow Up. (Chapter 11 in Preach My Gospel)  This was followed by Sister Wagner (Hija) teaching from Chapter 9, on how to find, and President Wagner teaching the missionaries about the Abrahamic Covenant, the Covenant of the Book of Mormon and their foreordained callings to participate in this great work. (I had it easy this time and just covered assignments for the upcoming zone conferences.)

 And as always there are lots of practices.

There is also a lot of food. Probably too much. I love cooking for this meeting but most (not all) of the missionaries have started to become a lot less appreciative of everything, so it isn't as much fun. (Just a little hint there for those who might want to keep getting breakfast and snacks.:-)

But this time we had breakfast enfrijoladas (like an egg burrito smothered in a pinto bean sauce). The snack was a cream cheese and brown sugar dip topped with heath bars and an assortment of apples, marshmallows and pretzel sticks to dip. And lunch was lasagna, salad, rolls, and pumpkin cookies. Oh, and we also had little plastic pumpkins filled with Halloween candy.

The Last of the Interviews

I am sorry I have gotten so far behind, but we have a lot going on right now. Unfortunately when I get behind due to being busy, it also means I have a lot of pictures to post. So . . . I will start with the end of interviews and go from there. Hopefully I have everyone. If not I apologize and will be sure to get you during zone conferences which start next week--following transfers. I also need to post pictures from our follow up training, our mission president's seminar, the farewell for our senior couple the Haertel's and mission council. Yes!! It has been busy!

So here you are . . . the last week of interviews!!

More Interview Pictures . . .

Here are more pictures from interviews. They are not in any particular order, or from any particular zone. 

This coming week we will finish interviews for the northern part of the mission, so if you have been looking for your missionary, the pictures will be posted by next Monday at the latest. 

Waiting for someone to come with the keys. But we were so glad to have so many to help carry the boxes!

 Evidence of a missionary's resourcefulness. This elder was sent a cake mix for his birthday but he didn't have an oven to cook it in, so he made pancakes with the batter and frosted each layer. I won't go so far as to say it looked appetizing, but I was impressed.

 What this elder --and the rest of his district--were eating for breakfast. Yes, I lectured them and then told them to send me a picture Monday of a good breakfast. So this elder sent me a picture of a bowl of coco puffs. Hmmmm. Hopefully by posting this picture his mother will see it and have a little visit with him.:-)

Interviews!!

The last couple weeks we have been traveling around the mission for interviews. While President Wagner meets with each missionary individually Hermana Wagner (Hija) and I meet with the other members of his/her district to cover items like health, planning and language study. And if there is time we also taught how to lead music.

This round we are also delivering blenders to needy missionaries. But there is a catch. They have to answer a question regarding Preach My Gospel before they can get it!

And here are just some pictures . . . One of these poor missionaries was diagnosed with chicken pox the following day. I imagine we will have a few more cases sometime this week. :-(

Oops, Sorry Elder S! I should have checked for closed eyes!

So those are all my pictures for this week. Next week I will publish some more!

A Few Random Pictures

So, you want to know how the missionaries can get on my good side? A clean apartment. And nice little notes don't hurt either.:-)

When our friends were here visiting we went out to the ruins and discovered this tree. I think it looks like a perfect shape for a tree of life. So here they are "partaking" and "inviting" me to join them! What a good husband and what great friends!

We had the wettest September on record, and it included some pretty crazy weather. Here is an intersection near our house that we had to try and cross! Finally we just parked our car and walked home and then went back later to get the car. 

On a positive, the rain has also contributed to some pretty spectacular scenery to enjoy during our many trips around the mission.

Lastly, this picture comes from Honduras. It is of our daughter with her new companion.

I love this!! Her companion is from Esmeraldas, Ecuador, which was my first area in my mission. The Church had only been there for a couple years when I got there and there were just three tiny branches. I was so excited to see a sister missionary coming out of there!! 

The work truly marches on!