Guadalajara Mission Blog

I have not had time to keep up this blog, but I did update our mission blog (finally!). You can go to it at www.guadalajaramexicomission.blogspot.com

I have some pictures of our house, the mission and what we have been doing the past three weeks.

Before coming I made it a goal to look for the miracle in our lives every day. I haven't seen a miracle every day, but I have seen several. For one thing I totally LOVE Mexico. This is a miracle because I lived in Mexico City for 6 months right after we were married and it was not a positive experience. It took me 25 years before I had the courage to go back to that city.  So, I was nervous about moving here.

BUT . . . I have loved it all. I don't even really mind the traffic.

Second . . . I have a bad back that has caused me a lot of grief over the years. I am still having problems with it, but nowhere near as much as I did before the mission. I think that is pretty miraculous.

And third . . . you would have to know the story behind this to truly see the miracle, but I have never wanted to speak Spanish in front of my husband due to a bad experience I had with him when I was in the MTC and he was my language tester. Consequently I forgot most of what I learned.

However, from the day I arrived I have been willing to try. I speak all the time, I just don't always make sense. I think the language has been the biggest challenge for me, but I am plugging along with it--and that is pretty miraculous too! I just feel bad for the sick missionaries who have to try and communicate their illnesses to me while I am learning their language.

I have also been very blessed to have my daughters here with us. After being gone all day long it has been nice to come home to dinner waiting for us on the table. They have been such troopers, going to different wards every Sunday, all of which only speak Spanish, helping cook food for the missionaries, memorizing their testimonies in Spanish for zone conferences  . . . It will be very lonely when they leave.

But in the meantime, all of this is bringing great . . . joy to my journey!

How We Are Spending Our 30th Anniversary!!

Five years ago we celebrated our 25th anniversary by taking our five children to Israel for 10 days.
We had such a wonderful time and enjoyed being together in the Holy Land.

But what a difference five years can make!!

Today is our 30th anniversary. Our family of seven has become 16 officially and this year we are celebrating in Mexico!!

Are all of our children with us this time?  . . .  No. Just these two.

Are we celebrating by hanging out at the beach? Well, not exactly.

Visiting the Mayan ruins? Ummmm no.

It is better than that!! We are having zone conferences!! Today we met with two zones, one in the early morning and the other right after that.

And it was pure joy!! After one week in Guadalajara, we have met three zones, and are learning to get around the city. This coming week we will be headed out of town for a mission tour. We are loving our time here and can't wait until we have met all our new "children"--all 147 of them!

Kind of makes you wonder what the next five years will bring . . . :-)