December 15th through December 21st

December 15^th through December 21^st: Monday we went to a wedding reception for Max and Ruth.  Ruth was a missionary here about 4 months ago.  Max has been a coordinator for some time now.  They met in the temple and after her mission Max pursued her.  Her husband had passed away.  They got married and seem to be very happy together.  They are now both coordinators on Saturday afternoons. 

This is the bride and groom.  They are both temple workers.

At the wedding.  The Flores and Sister Tovar finish their missions on Wednesday. L to R Elder Ray, Sister Ray, Sister Flores, Elder Flores, Sister Tovar, mom and me.

L to R Pres. Atkinson, Sister Atkinson, Ruth and Max.

 Mom cutting the rug.

Wednesday mom had a checkup on her surgery and everything was fine, but part of the back of one of her front teeth had fallen off.  It had been an old filling and there was a cavity under it and so she had to have that repaired.  I drove her out to the appointment and we had to wait over a half an hour for the dentist to show up.  

This is the front of the dental office.   

This is the back side of the dental office where Chris is getting all of her dental work done.  It is where we park the car.

That evening I officiated at a sealing session for the members of the Ixcotel ward council.  We had challenged them to come to the temple once a week for three months.    Thursday, Friday and Saturday were the busiest 3 days we have ever had in the temple.  We worked an average of 12 hours each day, the longest 13 ½ hours straight with only a 15 break for something to eat.  We set all kinds of records.  Friday we had 22 people to receive their endowment, 14 weddings and 15 children to be sealed.  We had 23 buses scheduled for the 3 days.  I’m not sure if all of them showed up, but it was a lot of people and by the end of each day we were exhausted.  One day, I started at 6:00am and finished at 7:30pm by sealing 2 families.  Sunday I got up early and started cooking Chinese food.  We went to church and came home and cooked until it was time for the dinner we had planned for the secretaries.  These secretaries are really the backbone of the temple.  They are all volunteers and we couldn’t function without them.  They prepare all the paper work and register and verify every ordinance.  Last week we did 9,000 ordinances, so they were very busy.  Some are married with children, but most are young single women.  We enjoy working with them and love them.   It was a lot of fun to be with them and laugh and exchange gifts. 

5 of the secretaries and mom at our dinner for them.

The other table at our dinner for the secretaries.

We did have leftovers. 

The gift exchange.

This last week was the hardest we have had to work and we were tired, but boy did we see a lot of tender mercies where God directed us how to attend to his children.  My testimony has grown so much here and I truly know that God is directing this work and even when we can’t possibly see how to accommodate everyone that has arrived, He guides us and things always work out.