Thanks Hansens!

The following are pictures "borrowed" from Presidente y Hermana Hansen's mission blog...I am sure they will not mind me using the extra shots of Jordan-Thanks Hansen's for being such wonderful mission Mom and Dad to all of our kids...God bless you!

Jordan is about in the middle...

I miss singing with him during sacrament meeting...

At a multi-zone conference in Minatitlan we are doing the traditional pesquize, inquiry, which is a scripture chase. The clue giver provides some obscure few words from the Book of Mormon and then when he say "Vamonos!" the missionaries hurry to find the scripture. The winner wins a food prize. Chocolate always goes first. In that conference, the Los Tuxtlas Zone provided a special number. Elder Lopez is playing the piano, Elder Perez the violin, and Elder Taylor is directing. I don't remember what they did, but it was great!

Missionaries staged for a photo on the front steps of the temple.

Can you find Jordan?

I think I have, but Ross thinks it's a Mexican...

While at the Campos home with Elders Gil and Weaver, they offered us a taste of baina which translates, "baina." You peel off and eat the soft, spongy, styrofoamy covering of the large bean which is about to sprout a little, baby tree. Pretty tasty if you like sweet, soft, spongy, styrofoamy tree seeds. Click on the foto and you can see the sproutling.

Elder Weaver arrived from North Ogden, via the MTC, on Monday, 12 May 2009, as planned. On Tuesday he was in his area. Wednesday, Elder Gil called. He had a family scheduled for baptism but the man still smoked one a day. He asked what to do. I told him to give the man a blessing. He did that. Ten minutes later he called back said that after the blessing the man exclaimed, "I am done! I have no desire to smoke. It is gone!" On Friday, we went to Lerdo where this happened and I interviewed the man the wife for baptism. They passed with flying colors. They are pictured in front of their home. On Saturday Elder Weaver and Elder Gil baptized this family along with three other people. Nice start for Elder Weaver, no?
Our Mexican missionaries come in at 11:00 on Monday mornings. The Americans come in at 5:50 Monday afternoon, if there are not delays with the airlines. In the morning we begin training with the Mexicans. In the afternoon we take them back to the airport, along with the office Elders, to greet the gringos. It is really a joyful and exciting time--lots of new missionary energy. Then we return to the offices and walk together to a parilla, a grill, where the Americans eat food they have never heard of: tacos al pastor, arrachera, etc. It is all meat, not particularly healthy, and they love it. We try to arrange seating so that the Americans are flanked by Mexicans. The next day we continue training. The trainers come in and sit in the final session of training with their new charges. The fotos are of the restaurant and the chapel across of the offices where we host the training if the group is large.


Four missionaries were replaced later the same day by 18 new missionaries. They are Elders DeGroff, Deal, Kraft, Hna. Frausto, Gardner, Decker, Hna. Lopez, Elders Weaver, Brown, Hna. Pech, Tyron, Zarate, Goodworth, Gates, LeDosquet, Sereno, Santamaria, and Lopez. Click on it for bigger view.


Thanks for the extra fotos!