HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

This morning when our family awoke we realized that we did not have running water throughout the entire house! I still, at this moment, do not have running water in my house... let me tell you what we all do with running water that we take for granted every day - showering, washing your face, brushing your teeth, doing your hair, washing dishes, watering plants, washing your hands, washing your food, cooking your food, flushing the toilet (yes, today I have learned to pour pitchers of our bought and purchased drinking water down the toilet), washing clothes as well as any and all cleaning, mopping, etc.

So, tonight, while you are all sitting around wonderful meals (that you cooked with the assistance of running water) and thinking of all that you are grateful for - please know two things - we love you all tremendously and running water NEEDS to be on the list of things you are grateful for!

Happy Thanksgiving to each of you!

Uninvited Guests

The cool weather of autumn brings with it some uninvited house guests! This fall our family has found five, yes - five! of these creatures! We have found tiny ones smaller than a pinky fingernail and the largest was the size of my thumb! UGH! Not only do they trigger an internal instinct to kill but my maternal instinct has me cleaning under all beds, moving all things off of the floor and constantly, constantly, constantly reminding my children to wear their slippers and shoes when they are in the house! Bare feet are not an option!

Most of these creatures were found on the floor while we were walking... yet, one was found on L's mosquito netting just over her bed! They crawl and climb!

I couldn't get the fumigators here fast enough! Yet, since the fumigators have come we have encountered two more... so, I think I'll be calling them back to fulfill their warranty!

I am so grateful that no one has been stung by them here in Mexico!

Our Prophet

The Mexican saints clapped and cheered when President Monson sang a song from his days in Spanish class!

This video has the excerpt of his song and a picture of both he and President Eyring in their gabánes.

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

The Mexican Cultural Event - Mexico City, Mexico

Awesome, awe-inspiring and an entire stadium filled with the spirit would possibly begin to describe the Church's cultural event Saturday night in Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, Mexico. Our prophet both sang and danced - while he was speaking to the saints President Monson shared a song that he knew from his Spanish classes back in high school - he sang it and then stated that this was the first and only time that he would sing a solo in a conference of the church! The people roared their excitement as he spoke a bit of Spanish! (If you listen you can hear our reply in the video!)

As the festivities of the night continued with song and dance there was a segment of dance from the state of Michoacahn - the dance is depicting little old men in traditional masks, decorated sombreros and gabánes (a type of woven over covering). The cameras cut to Presidents Monson and Eyring - they were wearing the traditional gabánes and they did a little jig for the saints! Once again, the entire stadium of nearly 100,000 saints roared their approval!

I cannot express how wonderful it was to sit with thousands upon thousands of saints. To hear them praise both the church and prophet in their own language - and then, through the spirit, realize that language will never be a barrier to the faithful - for the melodies were all familiar. The prayers were heartfelt and filled with the spirit. The talks by Presidents Monson and Eyring were both beautiful and specifically written for the Mexican saints.

Our family will never forget the spirit of these amazing saints. We will never forget sitting in a stadium with a prophet presiding at such an awe - inspiring event! We will never forget the opportunity to, with tens of thousands of Mexican saints, wave our white handkerchiefs to show our love to the Prophet of God! Our little man, throughout the event would say, "Mommy can I wave my handkerchief? I want to tell the Prophet that I love him!"

The sheer amount of the youth of this church was beautiful. The costumes, the dance, the song were all gorgeous. The missionary force from the Mexico City Missions came forth singing "LLamados A Servir" (Called to Serve) and again, another wave of the spirit poured forth upon the saints.

Truly, words cannot express the experience! We are so grateful to be here at this time, with these saints and to feel of their spirits as well as the Spirit of the Lord! The event was held at 6:30pm and our family began traveling with our 'barrio' (ward) at 9 am - only to return to our ward building at 2am Sunday morning. But, the hours of waiting, the hours of traveling were insignificant compared to the outpouring of the Spirit of God!

We are grateful!

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Open House - Mexico City Mexico Temple

The Open House of the Mexico City Temple was a wonderful event. Thousands of people went through the Temple grounds in Mexico City - including our family!

The temple lot in Mexico City also consists of the "CCM" or "Centro de Capacitacion del Misioneros"(we call it the MTC or "Missionary Training Center"), a cafeteria, a Church Distribution Center and a large, beautiful Visitor's Center. The grounds are beautiful and are a stark contrast to the neighborhoods and businesses immediately surrounding the temple.

Our little group traveled down to Mexico and ended up spending five hours touring the temple, the grounds and the visitor's center! The children enjoyed the time tremendously and loved learning from and speaking with all the missionaries! We ate lunch at the CCM cafeteria - within view of the statue of the angel Moroni!

The tranquility of the temple was refreshing and the children were able to go through another temple open house - to once again see and learn of the tremendous blessings they can receive in the temples of the Lord.

We met a senior missionary couple who are the parents of some friends of my parents... did you follow that? The couple was so warm and welcoming - our children enjoyed talking with them and they were gracious enough to pose in a picture for our little family!

We had a wonderful time and although we were not allowed to take many pictures we hope you enjoy these few of the newly renovated Mexico City Temple!

Dia de Muertos

Each year the children's school has a dual celebration for both Halloween and Dia de Muertos. In Mexico, Dia de Muertos is similar to our Memorial day. These two days are set aside to remember ancestors who have passed on.

A family or group will traditionally build an 'altar'. On this altar they will place pictures of loved ones who have passed on - along with flowers, favorite items of that loved one, favorite food and drinks for their loved one. The children's school made altars for some famous people to demonstrate the tradition and help the children come to know more about this portion of the Mexican culture. The school also had the children prepare candied skulls and cookies...

The altars you will see here are for Marilyn Monroe and Walt Disney.

Halloween

Our Halloween celebration this year was MUCH better than last year because we knew what to expect and where to have fun! This year the children dressed up for their classes at school and had a wonderful time - there they celebrated both Halloween and Dia de Muertos!

After school we loaded up and drove to a private neighborhood where they annually host foreigners to trick-or-treat! We had great fun! We were trick-or-treating with children from France, India, Korea, Mexico and the United States of America! It was a great experience for the children!

Our little man dressed up as a Jedi (yes, again) but this year it was the thing to do! He not only met a Stormtrooper and Yoda - he actually pulled out his lightsaber to fight Darth Vader! It was definitely the year of 'Star Wars'!

Our girls looked beautiful and had a wonderful time! The only complaint: "All the candy has chile powder on it!" The Mexican people like chili flavor in and on everything... including their candy! The flavors of candy here are extremely different! Our dentist doesn't have too much to worry about - the kids enjoy collecting it and giving it away more than they like to eat it!