Mann's In Mexico

Today I am writing about the importance of food - la comida - in Mexico.  Let me tell you - it is very, very important! First, food, prepared food, ready to eat food,  is available everywhere:  a person can set up an umbrella and a table or cart, with a propane fueled hot plate anywhere and sell hot food - virtually anywhere - without any license or permit.   Thus, hot tasty food is available everywhere there are people that might pass by.  Prepared food from street vendors is much less expensive to buy. At various corners in our neighborhood there is a little food vendor at all times of the day.  In the morning there is one on the corner selling hot breakfast tamales.  She always has a line when we drive by.  By my grocery store there is a very popular vendor with freshly prepared, hot tacos with salsa everyday.  I am not exaggerating when I tell you in the 7 minute walk from my house to the grocery store, I will pass 5 people sel...

  One time every six weeks President Mann interviews each of the missionaries.  While he is in the interview, I get to chat with his companion - and it is one of my favorite parts about the mission.  Getting to know each of these remarkable young missionaries is a very enjoyable. Today, let me tell you about Elder Mercado, from Durango, Mexico.  He is a great elder and his family's conversion story is unique so I thought I might share it with you. Elder Mercado's father converted to the church at age 15.  He later met and married his wife, who was Catholic.  They had a very loving marriage.   Elder Mercado's Dad was always a faithful member of the church.  His Mom, didn't have interest in the church, but was always watched and noted how faithfully his Dad studied his Book of Mormon every day.  Occasionally she had dreams about the church. Elder Mercado was the second in his family to be baptized, at age 8.  He has one sister...

There is a pueblito here on the outskirts of Mexico City, called San Francisco.  It is a humble area, with happy people.  There aren't many cars, because people can't afford them.  The streets are very bumpy, and you might see a man with a burro pulling a cart collecting trash.  About 15 months ago, the missionaries had tremendous success there teaching repentance and baptizing many converts. It would have been a hardship for these new converts to travel to the nearest chapel, so one sweet elderly convert, Hermana Jasso, offered the use of a small three bedroom brick house on her property for the church members to gather in.  And so was born, the "House of Prayer". This group of saints has been faithful!  They have shared the gospel with others and the missionaries have continued to work side by side with them to help this little congregation grow.  A few Sundays ago, President and I were privileged to attend their first branch conference.  An...

We are privileged to have our first "mission tour" by Elder Arnulfo Valenzuela and his wife, Sister Pilar Valenzula.  Elder Valenzuela is the first counselor in our Area Presidency, and a General Authority, member of the Seventy.  They are both natives of Mexico and are both bi-lingual - which was such a blessing for me.  They stayed with us in their home and enjoyed getting to know them personally.  They are lovely, lovely people. We held two zone conferences and one mission leadership council under the direction of Elder Valenzuela.  These events were spiritual meetings and very motivating to us all. May I share with you a few things we were taught, and invite you to consider these practices in your life as well? 1.  He asked the missionaries to share with them their favorite Book of Mormon scripture.  After they read it, he asked them this question:  What are the promises made to you in this scripture passage and what do you need to do t...

It has kind of been a hard week. Everything about the mission is great - truly.  It is a blessing to work with the missionaries as they are so earnest and sincere.  The only hard thing about this week was that I found myself thinking about my children and grandchildren a lot.   I kept seeing pictures posted of all the things they were doing and I found myself thinking about them all the time.  Then on September 2nd, I knew it was my oldest grand-daughter, Sage's, 3rd birthday.  Oooh, I was sad to be missing her birthday. On this day, the President and I went out on "team-ups" with the missionaries:  he went with a set of elders and I went with a set of sisters for the afternoon and evening to do missionary work.  The set of sisters I worked with spoke very little English.  One of our first appointments was with an older gentlemen, who is investigating the church.   At one point, he and his wife showed us a picture of their daughter and tw...

When new elders arrive in the mission, they are assigned a "trainer" - an experienced elder who becomes their companion for the first 12 weeks of their mission.  It is a sacred trust from the Lord and the Mission President to be chosen to be a trainer of a new missionary. The trainer has a profound lasting influence on the development of and care of that missionary. Well, two weeks ago, we received a new "generation" of missionaries. The trainers were carefully and prayerfully chosen for these new missionaries, and they went to work. About a week into his in his mission, one new elder (19 year old Elder X from the USA) fell and hurt his ankle, necessitating a trip to the ER.   While nothing was broken, the doctor's orders were to stay off his foot for a week.  Elder Y. (his 19 year old trainer from Veracruz, MX) cared for Elder X.  The elders can study, work on learning Spanish and rest when they are in their apartments recuperating.  (FYI:  Missionari...

OH, HERMANOS, ADIOS, PUES, ADIOS! This week we said "adios" to 12 elders that we have only known for 7 weeks.  I had no idea how much we would grow to love them in such a short period of time!  I wept at the airport as each one left us. We had a departing dinner and testimony meeting in our home before they left.  It was interesting looking at the painting in our living room of Jesus Christ and his apostles...as we sat with our 12 departing missionaries and heard their sincere and heartfelt testimonies.  I thought of these 12 young men, only in their early 20's,  each of which has given two year of their lives, and now would continue to be disciples of Jesus Christ for the rest of their lives.  I was proud of them...and humbled by the charge that each of us have - to continue to grow in our own discipleship throughout our lives. The Spanish hymnbook has a hymn that is not in the English version - which we sang together in closing.  The words ar...