Time again to let you know how we are doing. It seems we are
writing less and less, and we apologize for that. However, things are
progressing for us, and time seems to go by more quickly, as well. In fact,
some weeks just fly by -- like the first two weeks of this month! We keep busy tracking success stories and
other statistics as we are assigned. And, in the middle of last week, on Oct.
7, we did something totally new and very exciting. More about that later in
this report update!
A few weeks ago we had to change our office location. We are now located in a real office with
windows and a door! We are still on the 11th Floor, which in the
building is the designated Pent House, though it is just offices like
everything else. But, the Area Presidency and a lot of other office directors
are on that floor. We have a super view, too.
When the day is clear we are able to see the beautiful mountain volcanos
around Mexico City. It is sometimes hard to make such changes, but we have
learned to flow with it and we quite enjoy our new location.
The self-reliance group from our own ward that we had been
helping Elder Salinas facilitate finally had its graduation ceremony, on
September 29. There were 12 that started the group and 9 that finished, which
is pretty good. We had a nice little
program and the passing out of the certificates -- from LDS Business College,
no less! They really like having certificates here, so they were all proud of
their accomplishments as they well should be. It was a real effort for the
members to keep coming week after week, so to see their efforts rewarded and
their businesses improve because of the class was a great satisfaction to them,
and to us. Most important of all, they all expressed in their short testimonies
that their faith had grown as well. That
was the real benefit of the class. Now, the ward in on the verge of starting a
new round so we are likey to be well-involved again. But, this is what we came
here to do, we fell, not just sit in an office all day! We get the chance to
actually help members in a very direct and impactful way. It is very
satisfying.
The webpage that Bonnie has been working is almost ready to
go live! It respresents the culmination
of a lot of work by Bonnie! She did a absolutely wonderful job of getting it
all organized, get all the permissions requied for pictures and such, just
EVERYTHING CREATING AND PRUDUCING A WEBPAGE REQUIRES! It has a few little kinks
to work out. Why do all these things
take much longer than one thinks they should?
But when the final product hit the web, it will be super. We will send a
link in the update following when it finally goes live, for you all to see.
Craig has recently had success in contacting a member he
baptized in Tampico in January 1968! It was a young couple, at the time, the
Altamira family. The husband passed away 22 years ago. It was quite interesting
how locating Sister Altamira came about. She has an unusual first name and almost
by chance we located someone that works for the church in Tampico that knows
her, and one of her three daughters.
Craig spent some time talking with the daughter and getting more
information, then on Saturday, Oct. 10, he spoke with the Sister he taugh and
baptized all those years ago! They talked for more than ½ hour on the phone. We
have learned that she and her husband went to the Temple in Mesa, Arizona a few
years after being baptized, and were sealed. She is now 74 years old and
remains active in the church, along with 2 of their 3 daughters and their
families. The oldest grandson just
returned from a mission and another is preparing to go. It was a dream come true for Craig to see that
some of the ‘seeds’ that he planted many years ago, have developed strong roots
in the gospel. He continues to look for
members he baptized, but just this one has brought him great joy.
Now, a bit about what we did that was special on Oct. 7. Since
I previously wrote about the experience to someone else, I am just going to
paste that in at this point, so enjoy!
“On this past Wednesday, just 48 hours ago, Bonnie and I
were at the office of the Southeast Mexico City Mission. After a tasty
lunch of pizzas from Domino’s, (side bar here -- there were about 20 elders
around, plus the Mission President and his wife, and we polished off something
like 14 or 16 large pizzas!) we gave a presentation to 16 Elders who are going
home between now and the end of the year, about Self-Reliance. They were all
Elders because no Latin sisters are leaving in that time period. I had prepared the presentation, all in
Spanish of course, specifically for that occasion and audience. Bonnie chipped
in, and the Mission President and his wife did, as well, with their real-life
experiences. We wanted to help them learn about self-reliance, the doctrine
behind it, and the resources that are available to them when they return home
soon. They were all Latin Elders. About half were from here in Mexico and the
other half from Ecuador, Chile, Dominican Republic, and I think one other
country, as I recall. Oh, and one from Spain, too.
The afternoon with them went very well. They were
interested, they paid attention and participated with questions and discussion
and it was, altogether, a wonderful afternoon. We finished up around 4:00 p.m.
and they had arranged for a member in that part of the city, who owns a taxi,
to take us back home. Bonnie and I felt so very good. We felt like we had
really been missionaries! It was a missionary-like activity, and we taught and
shared the gospel and one of the greatest programs offered by the Church today,
in these countries. We had sort of thought, before we came here, that we would
be performing more service of this type, but it just has not been that way, so
far. I think they will invite us again, for a new group of returning
missionaries, in a few months’ time, which will be great, and perhaps other
missions in this area will also get the spirit and also ask us. Our leader
thinks it is great”!
So, with that little story to end on, we will once again
say, “Adios” for now. May the Lord bless you, each and every one, with his love
and peace in your hearts and minds. We miss you but are happy in the work in
which we are engaged.
Bonnie & Craig
3 pics - Teaching returning missionaries about self-reliance in the Mexico City Southeast mission.
Self-Reliance Group Graduation, Palmas Ward - We helped facilitate the course.
Elder Salinas(r) and Raul Campos (l) preparing to hand out certificates at graduation.
