Around Our House

A few months ago, I thought we had a cat and a squirrel visiting our yard. I had seen both of them, so I started leaving food out for them at night. It bothered me that I never got a look at them, so one night I tried to catch a look. I noticed the food was gone, so I immediately turned on the light and waited. Pretty soon I saw an opossum walking along the back wall... I don't leave food out anymore. But, we do have a wonderful assortment of birds that come to visit. I was able to take good pictures of these...

At first I thought this was a common Mourning Dove,
but later found out that it is an Inca Dove. This was a new one for me!

Great Tailed Grackle ... These are very common in Arizona,
but we love seeing them at the fountain. They really are quite beautiful

Yellow Rumped Warbler This one doesn't come around very often,

and is very shy and doesn't sit still, so I was excited to get a good picture of it

Western Scrub Jay, another one that doesn't show up
very often and is another new one for us

I thought this was a type of Warbler, but I found out that this is
a Lesser Goldfinch. I've never seen a Goldfinch this color before!

Last month we had this visitor every day for a week. For some reason, this Summer Tanager

would show up in the morning and chirp very loudly and peck at the window in my family room.
He would stay for a couple of hours and just kept fluttering and pecking at the window.

We also saw a Rufous-backed Robin and a Bronzed Cowbird
the other day, but I wasn't able to get any pictures.
They were beautiful and also new ones for us to see in the backyard.

Our other interesting news this month is that we have several leaks! The repair men came and have been trying to locate them and they have been found! Here in Mexico, it is quiet common to build a brick house, then plaster it. No two by fours and dry wall... so you can imagine it was quite the chore to find and fix the leaks...

We now have a shower with a view...

the downstairs bathroom from the garage side...

and a couple of other patches along the same wall...

and under the window. I'm not sure where the leak is coming from with this one!

But we should be leak free very soon! The repair men are doing a super job! Gracias!

Interviews

Every three months, President has the opportunity to interview all the missionaries in the mission. This means that for a week, we travel around the mission to all the different zones. President interviews the missionaries, while the Assistants and I get to train and visit with the missionaries. Sister Call, in the Mexico City North Mission, gave me the idea to do mending of the missionaries' clothing while we do interviews. This was very successful and I enjoyed helping out the missionaries a lot. There were even a couple of them who took the opportunity to sew on a button or fix their tie with my sewing supplies. Bien Hecho Elderes!

A herd of goats and cows walking down the street in front of the church

Our building in Nealtican, at the base of Mt. Popocatepetl

Mt. Popo at sunset

Well, this time I didn't get any pictures of the elders or sisters.
In three months, I will try to get some pictures of the missionaries!

SIXTEEN!

Our oldest granddaughter turns sixteen today! Chealsey has grown into a beautiful young lady. She has a very sweet nature and we are grateful to have her in our family. She is a blessing!

Happy Birthday!

March Missionary Madness

This month we had two departure dinners and one transfer meeting. Things are always different, never boring, here!

Elder Pratt had some health problems that could not be resolved in the field,
so he returned home early. We love Elder Pratt and will sorely miss him!
We wish him the best as he returns home and wish him a speedy recovery.

We drove to Mexico City with Elder Pratt so he could catch a flight back home.
This is some of the scenery between Puebla and Mexico City.

Ixtaccihuatl from the Mexico City side


Mt. Popo and Ixtaccihuatl from the Puebla side

March 17th Elder Graham and Elder Avendano had a baptism,
one of thirty or more for the mission this month

On Sunday the 18th, our departing missionaries arrived at the Mission Home
for interviews, dinner and a devotional. This was a group of wonderful missionaries.
We wish them success as they return home to family, school and jobs.

On Monday the 19th, we received seven new missionaries, but they didn't receive
their assignments or companions until Tuesday when we held our Transfer meeting.

(back row) Elder Chan, Elder Reyes, Hermana Reeves, Elder Rodriguez
(front row) Elder Villegas, Hermana Solana, Presidente, Elder Gonzalez and Elder Fernandez

In an effort to make our Sundays less busy and rushed, we will be having our departure dinners on Monday and our Transfer meetings on Tuesday mornings. It went very well and the missionaries seemed to be pleased with their new areas and companions. We are excited for these new missionaries and look forward to receiving our North American elders as soon as they get their Visas.

March Zone Leaders Council

Because our Zone Leaders change every few months, I like to put their pictures up each month. This is the last ZLC for many of our elders, so the pictures for next month will change a lot. I'm not sure how we'll replace these good elders! As usual, we received good training and instruction from Elder Izaguirre and Elder Bencomo, as well as from a few of the Zone Leaders, and President Reeves.

Elder Zimmerman at the piano along with Elders Christensen, Riggin,
Wennerholm and Turner sing a hymn for us during the recess

The Zone Leaders, Assistants and Office Secretaries

Elder Chacon, Elder Graham (in the back), Elder Christensen,
Elder Zimmerman, Elder Blanchard, Elder Gutowski and Elder Lambson.
This was the last Zone Leader Council for these elders. We will miss them!

Yesterday, we had the privilege of attending the Stake Conference for the Chiautempan Stake. Many times, we will attend two sessions of Conference, but because of the distance that the members of the stake have to travel, the second session was held in Apizaco. The building in Apizaco is not big enough to accommodate all the members in that area, so they put up a tent and we held our meeting outdoors...

President Ahuacatitan thanking the choir for their beautiful numbers

It was quite spacious and I thought it was very ingenious of the leaders of the Stake.
There was plenty of room for everyone and it was a great session of Conference.


Pictures with some of the members