June 5th through June 11th

June 5^th through June 11^th: Thursday morning we had to go to the mission office and finish filling out papers to get a temporary resident visa.  We then went downtown to immigration to submit the paperwork for the new visas.  While in the office we asked for some reference cards and some Book of Mormons.  I gave away my first BofM and got a reference in the taxi with the office Elders on the way downtown. This took us till about noon so we took the two office elders that had accompanied us to immigration to lunch.  Subway sandwiches on the Zocolo.  Pretty much the same as the states and we could tell it was a treat for the elders.  One said that he had only eaten there one time before and that it would be considered for the missionaries an expensive lunch.  We worked in the temple the afternoon and evening.  I am assigned to be the sealer on the afternoon shift on Thursdays.  I only had one sealing session, but still what a privilege.  Friday we got to the temple about 6:00am and stayed till 3:00pm.  We took a lunch and ate in the waiting room.  They have a small kitchen for the workers and a couple of tables to eat at.  I got to do my first live sealing.  There were two couples on the same session and President Allred asked which one I wanted to do.  I said the one with the two little boys.  One was 12 and the other about 9.  It was a sweet experience and is a real highlight to my day.  Chris needs to tell you about answering the phone.   One of my assignments in the office is to answer the phone.  I always say a little prayer before I answer, hoping that I will be able to understand what they are calling for.  Usually it is to confirm the time their ward or stake has been assigned to come to the temple or to make an appointment for their own endowment or sealing.  This is a typical conversation.  “Este es president  ????? Netualli ?????? de estaca  Hultalco ????????”  “Good morning, president, what were you calling about?”    “?????? missioneros????? En Julio”   “Oh, you have two new missionaries coming to the temple (this is totally a guess on my part, but I grab hold of whatever word I’ve understood.)  Then is gets really complicated as I try to enter names, phone numbers, and emails into the computer. “Ok, Alvaro ???? Nochixtlan has been assigned to the Mexico ???? mission.  Could you say that again?”  “Your email is pepe what?  Could you repeat that?  Could you spell that?”  One of the funniest moments was this very nice bishop trying to tell me his email and he kept saying “jeem”, just like in English. For the life of me, I could not understand what he was saying.  Finally I asked a member to talk to him.  He was trying to tell me “gym”, just like in English.  The Zapotec names are really a challenge:  Ixtlan, Cacahuatepec, Juxtlahuaca, Teposcolula.  Even when they spell them I don’t know if I’ve got them right.  But little by little I am learning to recognize them.  And people are very patient with me. We worked most of the day in the temple.  I just asked mom what we did when we got home and she said we probably came home and died.  We were really tired. Saturday it was about the same, 7:00am till 4:00pm. But in the evening we went to the Roesberry’s apartment for dinner.  They had bought ribs from Sam’s Club and had invited us to help them devour the delicious ribs.  We then played 5 crowns.  It was do fun to be with them.  They leave on the 17^th and we will miss them so much.  Sunday, President Atkinson invited us to attend sacrament meeting with him.  He had been invited to the Etla Ward, which is north of Oaxaca on the way to Mexico City.  It took us about 45 minutes to get there and even though we had a map we flagged down a taxi and paid him to show us where the chapel was.  It was a beautiful building and I am sorry we did not take any pictures.  It was a real ward about 250 people in attendance and most were there when the meeting started.  Pres. talked in sacrament meeting about the children of Israel who would not look at the brass serpent on the end of Moses’ staff to be cured from the bites of the flying serpents, because it was too simple a thing and they did not believe they would be cured. He likened that to us today who will not believe that we will find answers to the challenges and problems in our lives in the temple.  He then taught Sunday school and taught about how to pray and get answers and then how to use those same principles while we are in the temple.  He is master teacher and reminds me of President Crayk.  We came home and fixed dinner.  I had to be at the temple at 4:00pm.  President Atkinson arrived with Elder De Hoyos and thus started our temple review.  Every 3 years, once during each temple president’s time, the church assigns one of the general authorities to visit the temple for 3 days and then make a report to the temple department on how the temple is doing.  We don’t know exactly what they are looking for, nor do we get to see the report, but we have a pretty good idea how he felt at the end of his stay with us.  At 5:00pm we had a meeting with all of the sealers.  There were 4 local men who are sealers, all of which have been members of temple presidencies, me and the current temple presidency.  Elder De Hoyos gave us some great counsel about listening to the Spirit and making sure we are worthy to receive inspiration.  Next was a meeting with all the local church leaders and then the last meeting was for all the members who held a current temple recommend.  Monday we started the day at 8:00am with an inspection of the gardens and temple.  This lasted for 2 hours.  I took notes and made a list of things we should think about implementing.  As the executive secretary to the temple presidency I was invited to all the meetings.  We then had an administration meeting from 10:00 to noon.  Mom was in charge of lunch and we had Miguel cater lunch.  He runs a little restaurant that most Americans would consider a hole in the wall because it a store front with a roll up door and then the tables are on the side walk.  But the food was great and mom added snicker doodles for desert and they were a hit.  After lunch we worked in the office while Elder De Hoyos interviewed the entire presidency and their wives.  He then observed all the ordinances.  We had to make assignments for this because the temple is closed on Mondays.  We came home and washed the dishes from lunch and helped get ready for dinner.  We had dinner at Pres. Atkinson’s home.  It was again catered.  10 people for 100 dollars.  Tuesday we had our last meeting, finishing up at noon.  We took pictures and again Miguel catered lunch and mom made apple crisp for desert. 

L to R Pres. and Sister Serrano, Elder and Sister De Hoyos, Pres. and Sister Atkinson, Pres. and Sister Allred, and mom and me.

Elder and Sister De Hoyos with Mom and me

This was another home run for mom.  Elder De Hoyos left us with the impression that we should continue doing what we are doing and that this temple has raised the bar for what is “temple standard”.  This temple appears to be new, but it is 14 years old and the gardens are beautiful.  We had Presidency meeting after lunch and then we took the car and all the dirty dished home and washed everything.  We made a quick trip to the grocery store and mom found a couple of bathroom rugs she liked so we bought them.  We took the car back to Pres. Atkinson at the temple and we walked home.  Wednesday, we went to the temple in the morning and I was assigned as the sealer for the shift.  I got one sealing session in and then had to go to the FM Group meeting.  This is all the managers of the different groups, Cleaning, Maintenance and the Ground Keepers that keep the temple running.  We then finished the morning shift and came home for lunch.  I made Sweet and Sour Chicken and we invited Pres. and Sister Allred to join us.  We went back and worked the late shift.  President wanted me there to be a backup sealer.  We ended up having 2 sealing sessions going on in both of the sealing rooms, so I felt useful.  Mom worked in the office.  We got home about 9:00pm.  It was a long day but I felt like I had made a difference.  Sorry it was a very busy week and I did not take a lot of pictures.