Progress Report

We have been quite busy lately, hence the delay in getting out a new posting. We know you readers are all soooo…  excited to receive each of our new episodes!  Anyway, in this posting we are giving you some information about the essence, the main ingredients, of the church’s Self-Reliance efforts.

 

Mexico (our office) finally received the printed materials for the new Self-Reliance courses, a change in approach for members as of this year (2015). There are five courses, each having a booklet that participants use to guide them. Each of the courses is ‘managed’ by a facilitator, as specialist who knows the subject matter. Sorry to bore you, but this is exciting and a wonderfully insightful approach. The first course is only one night but it is called “My Path to Self-Reliance” and it helps the participant realize what self-reliance is and then guides them in a self-analysis of just where they stand in terms of their personal (and family) self-reliance. It also helps them determine what their particular needs are in terms of how to pursue becoming more self-reliant. That first course really sets the tone for what follows and gets the member moving done his or her right ‘path’. OK. The course, then, guides them to one of three 12 week courses, following that first night. All of the courses meet one night a week for the 12 weeks. Those are:

 

1. My Search for Employment -- steps leading the person to improve in their current profession, etc. Some folks are already in a good career (that’s what they call them here) but need help in improving their skills or other measures that will aid them in ‘moving up’, etc.  

 

2. How to Begin or Grow My Business -- as implied, the best option for many folks here is to either become self-employed, and they get help in identifying those possibilities depending on where they live. Others have a business already and the course assists them in ways to make it grow and become even more stable.

 

3.  Education for Better Employment -- this course is only six weeks long, guiding the participant to what he or she can do to get the right education for a career in demand, which can differ from area to area. They can then determine the best institution to attend to prepare them for that career. After the first six weeks they then start to attend one of the other two courses for the last six weeks (their choice), giving them a jump on additional insight into careers, businesses, etc. in their preparation for the education.

 

Now, we said there are five booklets. The fifth is “My Foundation: Principles, Habits, and Abilities”. This one is used in every one of the other sessions, for 20 minutes at the beginning. It is helps them learn things like time and money management and also brings in gospel principles and links them to all that they are doing. Self-reliance means BOTH temporal AND spiritual. The church wants them all, and us as well, to be spiritual, be good people and develop good habits in our lives.

 

WE HOPE YOU ARE NOT ALL BORED!  We just feel that if you are to understand what we are doing on our mission, supporting this church-sponsored initiative, then you need to understand just a bit about how it is being carried out. And, truthfully, everything we do in our calling is directed at supporting, helping, and assisting this cause in one way or another.

 

In a coming posting, we will tell you more about the spiritual experiences we are having, as well, and there are many.  We also have many opportunities to experience Mexico in other ways, as well, and so those will also be covered in future episodes!      WE PROMISE!!!!

 

 

 

Typical Roadside Fruit Stand

 

 

Being Serenaded at Family Home Evening

 

 

 Valentine Dinner with Mission President, and Senior Couples

 

 

 The Area Presidency, Elder Pieper 1st Couselor, Elder DeHoyos President, Elder Valenzuela 2nd Counselor.  The Area Plan for 2015 is focused on being self-reliant spiritually and temporally.

 

 

 Us at the Valentine's Dinner.  Yum!

Seminar at Temple Square

Well, we are a month into the New Year and time seems to be going by quickly.  We spent New Year’s Eve with the other senior missionary couples watching a movie together.  We all brought snacks and such to share. By 10:00 p.m. we decided that it was New Year’s somewhere and so we called it a night!  Aren’t we older folks just the party animals?

As the year kicked off we were involved in organizing a Seminar for the 16 regional self-reliance managers.  It was held last week, January 20 through 23.  Bonnie made a few suggestions to the program, which were implemented, and they were a little diversion from just meeting after meeting all day long.  She suggested they bring in some of the local stake coordinating committees that the managers work with and have a participatory panel or a ‘role play’ exercise.  They liked that idea and it turned out to be very successful and meaningful for the managers. It will help them to better assist the committees they work with on a daily basis.  The days at the seminar were long, every day from 7 a.m. until 9 or 10 at night.  But all in all it was beneficial for everyone who attended. 

The seminar was held at the Manzana del Templo, or ‘Temple Square’. That is what they call the complex of buildings where the Mexico City temple is located, the same as we call it in Salt Lake City.  It is about 1-2 hours away from our location, depending on traffic. It is not a commute we wanted to make twice a day every day for a week.  So we were able to stay with another missionary couple, the Smith’s from Ammon, Idaho, whose apartment is there, at Temple Square.  They have a nice apartment and invited us to stay with them.  Luckily, they have an extra bedroom!  Otherwise we would have been in the dorms of the old MTC, which is also located at the temple grounds.  FYI, the Mexico MTC has moved over to the former Benimérito de las Américas School. That was a primary and secondary school that was owned and operated by the church until last year, when it was closed and converted to the new MTC. 

We had our first experience driving here in Mexico City when we went to the seminar.  We had good directions from Netza Salinas, who is in charge of the Self-Reliance initiative here in Mexico, and got there in good time, with Craig at the wheel.  We did miss a few turns that snuck up on us but were able to get back on course without any problem. 

We are still trying to get a lot of data on self-reliance from the stakes in Mexico.  Some records haven’t been kept well at all, and some are very outdated.  So we are trying to collect the information and create central files and lists, and then maintain them.  Craig will also be translating some documents into Spanish that we received from Salt Lake at the seminar, so that is keeping him busy.

We finally got the oven changed in our apartment!  Yea! The holidays are clearly not the time for things to go wrong, in Mexico.  It takes a long time to get things taken care of on good days, but holidays everyone just takes off and you just have to wait if you need something. Then, on the day we got the new oven, our microwave went out!  So as you can see, there is a never an end to things that happen on the temporal affairs front.

Our lives have been blessed while we have been serving here.  Craig has been in good health and been able to endure the days in the office, including the seminar days. It was difficult for him, but he did well.  We have learned so much about self-reliance and are seeing how it has blessed the lives of many of the members here.  Each stake has to send an informative bulletin about self-reliance progress to their Stake President each month, with a copy to our office here.  These bulletins should include success stories.  We have read many and are able to see how people’s lives have been changed by following the plan that has been set out by the church.  We can tell that it is truly an inspired initiative of the church.  This year the Church is rolling out a new program based on self-reliance groups to help participating members. It starts right off by getting them to begin working on personal self-reliance in the very first lesson.  We are excited to see how the members will grow and learn from this new appraoch.  These groups also teach members to rely on faith and obedience to the laws of the gospel.  The Doctrine & Covenants 29:34 says, ”Wherefore, verily I say unto you that all things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal.”

We hope that all of you are doing well and enjoying many blessings this New Year.  Our thoughts and prayers are with each of you. 

 

Here we are at the Mexico Temple Square, at the end of the Seminar.

 

 

 When you are in Book of Mormon land, you never know when Captain Moroni might show up.

 

 

 This is the group attending the seminar, in front of the Temple.

 

 

 That's us!

 

 

 Temple at Night.  It was the view from our bedroom window.

 

 

 Everyone shared a talent the first night.  Craig wrote a poem in Spanish about Self-Reliance and I accompanied it with music- - in Spanish!

 

Christmas 2014

We hope that everyone had a good Christmas and we wish you the very best in the New Year!

Our Christmas was a little unusual this year, in several ways.  Gifts were not so much a part of the day.  We spoke to all our children, and seeing how the grandchildren were excited for Christmas was fun for us.  We had a progressive Christmas dinner with the other missionary couples that serve in the Area Office, as well.  We all serve in different capacities but we live in the same building, so Christmas was a great chance for us to associate with our new friends.  We also thought of our many friends throughout the world and how grateful we are for their association and friendship.  Naturally, Christmas also gave us a chance to reflect often on the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and his great mission on the earth.  His birth, life, and atonement is the greatest of all the things that has ever happened on the earth and we are so grateful to have that knowledge firmly instilled in our souls. 

While I was preparing for the Christmas dinner, I was baking some cookies.  It was the first time I did any baking in the little oven we have in our apartment. As I was taking out the last batch of cookies, the oven door fell off!  Craig had gone out for a walk, so our neighbor came with some duck tape to keep things in place until something can be done about the oven after the holidays. In Mexico, pretty much everything is on “hold” during the Christmas season, until after January 6.  So we are without an oven, for the present!  I really haven't felt much like baking since our arrival, anyway, but not having an oven makes it seem worse. Since virtually everyone is on vacation, it will be well into the New Year before we can use the oven again.  In the meantime our two burners will have to do. (Eating out is also a very good option)!

We had the opportunity of attending a wedding reception on December 26th.  The Manager of the Self-Reliance Office in Mexico, who we work with closely, is an Area Seventy, Elder Netzaualcoyotol Salinas, and one of his sons got married. (Everyone just calls him Netza, for short!) The wedding was actually performed in the Salt Lake City Temple on Dec. 22, and the reception was planned to be held here.  The bride’s family is from Costa Rica but had lived here for a number of years because the dad works for the Bayer chemical company. So, the bride and groom met and knew each other here. Now, they both are attending BYU and started to date, and the rest is now history.  The reception here was a really fun event.  We arrived there a little early and that gave us the chance to help set up the table decorations. There was an MC, short speeches by both the fathers, and music and dancing! We were served freshly cooked tacos for dinner and they were yummy.  We had a great evening chatting with and getting to know others in attendance and are happy to see two exceptional young people start off life together.

Both last week and this current week are slow times in the office, due to the holidays and so many of the area office employees taking vacation. So, we have had the opportunity to see some new things in Mexico.  Saturday, Bonnie and two other missionary wives went to a nearby open air market that is popular, for the first time since our arrival. She found the fruits and vegetables there to be really fresh and much less expensive than in the stores.  She hopes to be able to go there often in the future.  The market, known as the Tianguis market, reminded Bonnie of other vegetable markets around the world that we have been to over our years abroad. 



Well, that about wraps it up for this installment!  We truly wish you all much happiness, health, and success in the New Year.  May the Lord bless you in all of your endeavors.  We enjoy being in this service here in Mexico, and pray for much success for the good people here.

December 18-20 we were able to travel to Veracruz and attend the temple there.  Mexico City Temple is closed for renovations.  We did a little sight-seeing as well.  There will be more information about the trip later.  But here are a few photos.

At the old Spanish fort near the port of Vera Cruz,   It used to be used as a prison, and for storage, as well as a fort.

 

Bonnie at the fort.

 

 

Craig at the fort. 

 

 

 Us at Vera Cruz Temple

 

 Vera Cruz temple.  It is a small temple built of White marble.

 

Getting our feet on the Ground

We hope all who read this had a great Thanskgiving.  We had a very enjoyable time with other Senior Missionaries and the Area Presidency and their families, with all the fixings of  a traditional meal. As usual, we went away well satisfied with both the food and the interaction with friends, all of us away from home.

By now, we have had some time to get settled into our apartment and our missionary work.  We will elaborate on each a bit today.

We live in an apartment-hotel that is across the street from the Mexico Area Offices.  That makes it convenient for us to get to the office and back each day.  It is a small one bedroom apartment, but adequate for a missionary couple.  We have internet and TV to keep us entertained, when there is time for it.  The hotel has a small gym, with two treadmills and 2 spinning bikes, so we can exercise if we can get there when someone else isn't using it.  The same goes for the washers and dryers in the basement. There are 3 washers and dryers that are home grade, not commercial. We are able to use them after 6 p.m. and before 7 a.m.  Everyone in the hotel can use the washers and dryers so it is hit or miss if they aren't being used during those hours.  I think we have found a time when we can use them, Thursday evening.  But we have to be there right at 6:00 p.m. or will lose out. Sometimes the dryers get over-heated and shut off automatically before the clothes are dry, so we wait until the dryers cool down and then hit it again!  The dials on the washers and dryers are so worn that they hardly turn washers on, and with the dryers they don't work at all! You just have to push the start button. and hope for the best! For transportation, we primarily take taxis everywhere nothing is really close except the office and the distances are too far to walk, especially if carrying groceries or such.  We are grateful taxis aren't too expensive.  There are a few Area Office cars that some of the missionaries use and they are kind to give us rides when we need them. Perhaps later we will feel up to driving to favorite shopping locations ourselves, and request a car from time to time.

What we are doing in our calling, however, is much more rewarding, and is really the reason we are here, of course. We are assisting with the administration, throughout the Mexico area, of the Church's Self-Reliance Initiative. This initiative is managed directly under the First Presidency and, so far, is only active overseas. It is a new initiative that has taken the place of the former Employment Centers and includes the Perpetual Education Fund (PEF) within it, as well. It is basically a whole new approach to assisting people to become more self-reliant in every aspect of their lives, with emphasis on temporal as well as spiritual self-reliance. It has been active in Mexico now for basically one year and a lot has been achieved. For example, in that time, 95% of the 265 stakes and districts in the Mexico Area have a self-reliance center located in the Stake Center. The program shares space and equipment on alternating days with the Family History Centers. Getting this effort to the point that has been achieved has been a daunting task, but the Mexico Area Presidency has been behind it 100% and see this initiative as the primary means through which the Church in Mexico can become self-reliant, in a literal sense. That is their goal.  We are establishing the data bases and other means for tracking a number of important items, for example: the stake specialists, service missionaries, and volunteers who serve in each of the 260 S-R  center, hours of operation; all the S-R equipment in the centers;  and so forth. We will also be updating and keeping current the Area Office webpage and Facebook page and helping the Area S-R Director and Operations Manager (the only two Church employees in the Area Office who manage the effort, in organizing the weekly web-based meetings and other duties as they come up. So far Craig has done a number of translations that were needed very quickly and Bonnie has used her computer skills to create charts and tables for collecting and reporting data. We will include more about the S-R initiative in following posts, but for now, we close by stating that Self-Reliance will help the members, as well as nonmembers who seek assistance, obtain employment, become self-employed, or provide education or skilled training that can lead to good employment. Once people can adequately provide for themselves and their families, they will be able to serve in the church to a higher capacity, and will not be worrying about where their next meal will come from. Again, this initative is almost world-wide, Outside the U.S. and Canada) but our focus is in Mexico.  The goal for Mexico is to be totally self-reliant in just a few years.  We are excited to be part of that.

We look forward to seeing for ourselves how the results of this program bless the lives of the people of Mexico.

We would like to share this link with you this Christmas season.  Let us not forget the real reason for celebrating Christmas. Our love to each of you!!!

http://www.mormon.org/christmas?cid=HPFR112814529



 

 

At Palacio de Bellas Artes to see Ballet Folklorico

 

 

 Chapel in Northern Mexico City

 

 

 Our Apartment, we are on the third floor

 

 

 At a Stake Self-Reliance Center

 

Here We Go!

 

We have been in Mexico a week now.  It has been quite the whirlwind of activities. We have been getting oriented on the Self-Reliance initiative.  Mexico is really working hard to help the members here become self-reliant.  We have spent 3 days with area managers visiting centers and seeing how the program works.  Our main responsibilities will be administrative, making sure information is kept current.  That will take a lot of time, since each of the 227 stakes and 27 districts have a Self-Reliance center. 

 

Our time, 10 days, in the MTC was so great.  It gave us a good send off.  Being in the MTC gives one a real missionary spirit.  It was a busy time with full days of classes the first week of training.  We learned how Preach My Gospel works and did a lot of role plays.  We were with a group of many seniors doing a variety of missionary service.  Several couples were MLS missionaries returning to their home stake to work on Member and Leadership service.  That is a good alternative for many seniors wishing to serve but who are unable to leave their homes for whatever reason.  The 3 devotionals we attended were so inspirational, uplifting, and testimony building.

 

The first 3 days of our second week at the MTC were spent in Salt Lake at Church headquarters being oriented on the Self-Reliance program.  We met the three members of the Seventy who are in charge of the initiative and others who are helping administer the program world-wide.  The success stories of those who have completed the workshops and applied the principles have been life changing both temporally and spiritually.

 

Thanks to Brenda’s family for letting us stay with them the night before we flew to Mexico City.  We were able to get a good night’s rest and then get to the airport at a decent hour.  If we would have stayed at the MTC that night we would probably had to have left at 3:30 a.m.  The flight to Mexico went well and after a little delay from Salt Lake we were on our way. We made our connection in Houston and then off to Mexico City.  The next day we were in the office and began to work. Though we have only been here for one full week, we can say with certainty we will enjoy being missionaries  in the service of the Lord here in Mexico!

 

Our housing is good for missionaries.  We are close to the office where we work and are comfortable in the apartment where we are living.  Actually, in the same building where we live, there are 7 other senior missionary couples! All are working in either the Mexico City West Mission office or the Area office in various capacities. It is certainly a nice group of folks with which to be associated. They have helped us considerably since our arrival. There are still a few small household things we need to acquire before we will feel settled in, but it will all come with time.

We are official now, Brenda cried when she saw our badges.



At the MTC world map pointing to our assignment.

 

 At Mexico City Temple, it is closed for renovation but should open in summer 2015. 

The visitor center is amazing.

Farewell Talks

On October 19 we gave our farewell talks in Church.  It was a lot of stress before the Sunday that we gave our talks.  We wanted to say something that would reflect our upcoming mission, which we still don't know exactly what we will be doing.  Craig told me that people wanted to hear about us and our decision to serve and not have a sermon.  Then he was preparing his talk and I had to tell him the same thing.  So it ended up the way we felt good about our talks.  We had Brenda and her men come for the weekend.  It was really nice.  At the meeting we had several relatives come.  Colleen was here from Alaska.  Doris and Jim attended, bringing my Mother. Colette, Jerry and two of their children were here.  My aunt and some of her children came as well as Craig's aunt and some of her children. Some good friends that don't belong to the ward also attended.  We appreciate their support as we embark on this mission.
Now we have to get the final touches done at home and pack the suitcases,  I hope we get all our things in the suitcases.  That will be our next challenge.

Getting Visa in Las Vegas

Monday, September 22, 2014 we headed to Las Vegas to get our Mexican visa.  Our appointment was for 12:30, so we had plenty of time to drive even with the damage to the road near Overton, Nevada.  We found the consulate and then went for lunch.  After arriving at the consulate we had a few minutes and Craig made friends with a guard.  He took us upstairs to view the art exhibit they were showing.  We decided we liked the Mexican artist Roberto Rivas.  He had some nice paintings.  The other artists were more modern and not so much to our liking. 
When we were finished we went back downstairs and the other young missionaries were there, eight Elders and two Sisters.  They had flown down from the MTC. It took a little over an hour of waiting.  we all had to get fingerprinted and our picture taken.  The visas were put in our passports and we reviewed the information and then we drove home.  Fairly painless trip.  We are now ready to enter Mexico as far as the Mexican government is concerned.  Six weeks to go before entering the MTC, it is getting closer.