Last week we traveled to Mexico City with the assistants and Elder Rodriguez and his companion, Elder Bliler. Elder Rodriguez received permission to go to the temple to do the work for his father, who passed away several months ago. It was wonderful to be with him as he did this sacred work. These are just some pictures of the temple grounds after we were finished.





A few days later, we said goodbye to Elder Rodriguez, as he traveled home to have surgery on his knee, which he injured a few weeks ago. He will get it fixed, then come back to the mission as soon as he is feeling better.

Exciting News...

Our son, Taylor, became engaged to Nicole Barrett last week on the 18th.

They have been dating for several months and we were so excited for them both.

Yesterday, they were married at the courthouse!

I think this has to be the shortest engagement on record.

We are so excited to have Nicole in the family!

Congratulations, Nicole and Taylor!

We had the opportunity to attend two weddings and a baptism this week! We thought the weddings were just receptions, but when we got there and the bride and groom walked in, we realized we were at the wedding! Here in Mexico, they perform the ceremony, then everyone signs the necessary papers, then they have a dinner for everyone in attendance. We felt very privileged to be invited. It was a lot of fun with a Mariachi group, lots of singing and really good food. The next day both couples were able to attend the Temple in Mexico City and be sealed.

(pictures coming...)

The baptism we attended was for a couple that we had over for dinner earlier this week. They are in our ward and he is the son of one of the members of the ward. President Reeves was invited to baptize both of them.

Brother Munoz and his wife and their little girl.

Elder Guzman, Brother Munoz, Brother and Sister Munoz, Sister and President Reeves, Elder Hernandez
We were very excited to be invited to participate in this baptism and are very happy for the Munoz family!

Zone Conferences

Has it really been three months since we had our last Zone Conference? All week, we held Zone Conferences in the different areas of the mission. It was a great way to start off the new year!

On Tuesday we traveled to Tehuecan and met with the Tehuecan and Atlixco zones. On the way to the conference, we saw an accident involving a truck that missed the entrance to the toll booth and another one further down the road involving a bus and the median...

don't ask me how it got up there on the median!

Atlixco Zone

Tehuecan Zone

We even got a glimpse of Pico de Orizaba on the way back.

This is a volcano that is just outside the boundaries of our mission, in Veracruz,
but it is the highest volcano in Mexico and the third highest peak in the world.

As we came into Puebla, we caught this beautiful picture of Popocateptl
or "Popo" as we call it, another active volcano right here in Puebla.

We love to see how it looks every day.

On Wednesday we drove to Chiautempan and met with the Tlaxcala and Chiautempan zones

it's very cold in Tlaxcala, especially inside the church!

Tlaxcala Zone

Chiautempan Zone

On Thursday we stayed here in Puebla and met at the chapel right next to the office with the Norte and Oriente zones.

Norte Zone

Oriente Zone presented a guitar number for us during the break

Oriente Zone

Today we also had another new elder arrive in the field from Peru, Elder Mimbela...

On Friday we were in Puebla with the Sur and Poniente zones.

Sur Zone

Elder Bertha doing some training

Poniente Zone

After the training with the elders and sisters we provided lunch for them.


Elder Tate and Bencomo helped out a lot with the lunch this time and it was so helpful!

They did all the organizing and helped each day with making sure we had everything we needed for lunch. Lunch is a very popular part of the day!

fixing a sandwich...

The training centered a lot around using Preach My Gospel in their studying and teaching...

Elder Kenczka, a District Leader, doing some training

...and they also had an opportunity to practice the principles they were taught.

Zone Conferences are always a great time to teach principles, learn what is
expected of them as missionaries, and to get to know each other. We love Zone Conferences!

January Zone Leaders Council

Pictures from our Zone Leader Council on Friday... We always enjoy having the elders over for the council. President Reeves, Elder Tate, Elder Bencomo and three of the Zone Leaders gave excellent presentations.



One of our missionaries, Elder Painter, had to return home this week, also. He was having some problems from a previous injury that made it necessary for him to return to the states and have surgery. We will miss you Elder Painter, but we hope you'll be feeling well soon!

Elder Nuncio also had to return home for a surgery on his back, but we expect that he will return to the mission as soon as he is feeling better.