The Adventure Mexicano begins - Dec 14, 2014

We have had a wonderful introduction to Mexico.  Actually our missionary work will begin tomorrow, on Monday.

We really like our apartment.  It is in a hotel just across the street from the area office.

We even have a semi-automatic dishwasher; it needs a nudge now and then.

We went shopping, large stores, many items.  They have CostCo, Walmart, etc. here.

We had a great time at church today.  I understood almost everything in Spanish.  It was a spiritual experience for me.  I will add some comments about that at the end.

Notice the flowers in bloom, that is for those of you living in winter.

This is inside the nice chapel.

This is Michelle outside of our hotel in which we have our apartment.

And right across the street are the area offices in which we will work.

At church today Elder and Sister Stevens invited us to go with them to the temple to see the MTC choir sing and to see the lights.  They are the area medical people so they have a car; we do not.  

We said sure.  The traffic was good so it only took us about 1/2 hour to get there.

Right inside the visitors center we saw Nadine Cluff Yates, Michelle's second cousin.  Sorry the picture wasn't so good.

We also met the president of the visitors center and his wife, President Rojas.  Michelle knows them because some of their older brothers or sisters attended the academy with her.  Also their daughter Marcia married Adam Hatch son of Michelle's brother John and his wife Sandra.

We also met the Rojas at the funeral of Adam Hatch.

It was fun to listen to the MTC choir.  They are learning Spanish so besides singing, they also shared some short testimonies.   They were brave to speak in Spanish.  We watched in another room on TV because the main auditorium was completely full.

Afterwards we saw the lights of the temple.  Elder and Sister Stevens the area doctor have a car and drove us to see the lights.

We remember visiting the temple once before on a Sunday night when we were visiting Mexico City.

The lights:

Miracle Moment - Spiritual Thought
On Sunday our lesson was about Daniel and the dream of the stone cut out of the mountain without hands that rolled down the hill until it filled the whole earth.

As I sat there in our Spanish speaking ward I was very impressed.  We had an area 70, a counselor in the stake presidency, a bishop and his counselors, and all AP holders at the sacrament table - all local leaders from here in Mexico City.

I thought about my father-in-law Dr. Hatch and him coming to Mexico after the revolution, the only missionary in Mexico.  I asked myself, how did the Church get so strong in Mexico?

Then I thought about Dr. Hatch and his family coming to Mexico City when there were only 3 missions and not any stakes except one in the Mormon Colonies.  It was a definite sacrifice for them and the children.

Then I thought about all the missionaries who have served from the Colonies and couples who have served.  And all the missionaries from Utah, AZ, ID, CA, etc.  They came and taught people and had local companions here in the South and taught them the doctrine and policies of the church.  Those local  missionaries are now these strong leaders.

Then I thought of my father and mother, converts as adults, who remained faithful all their lives.  And all of this has happened in MY LIFE TIME.

It is a miracle.  And I ask, what will happen in the next 70 years?  It will be a miracle.

Dad, Granddad, Gilbert