THOUGHT: "GO FORWARD WITH NEW ZEAL AND DETERMINATION, AND THROUGH YOUR EXAMPLE SHINE THE LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL IN THIS TROUBLED WORLD."
L. Tom Perry
We got up early and caught a flight to Mazatlan. It was very warm and dry there! President & Sister Velez picked us up and we were on our way to a fun weekend! We drove straight to the church where we had a zone conference. Greg gave his schpeel to everyone. After that the Elders went into another room and the Sisters went into another room! They were able to ask me medical questions. This is just what happened in Merida because Sister Velez and Sister Garcia are real sisters and Sister Garcia told Sister Velez about what we did in Merida so she had to do it in this mission! It turned out great and I was able to answer a lot of questions. All the missionaries love to ask questions about where your from, how long have you been on the mission, where do you live, how many kids do you have, how long have you been married and so on!!! Anywho I had to send a few to see Dr. Stevens this afternoon. He gets to give them prescriptions and better health advice!! The Velez' took us to their favorite place in Mazatlan for lunch! My meal wasn't terrific, but that's the story all the time! We drove along the beach front for a while and took some pics, then headed off the Culiacan. It was about a 3 hours drive. They make that drive lots of times. Ugh! Not very pretty scenery. We made it to their beautiful house, unpacked out stuff then they took us out for frozen yogurt. We sat outside at the place and enjoyed the warm evening. Culiacan is the bread basket of Mexico - where all the corn is grown. They get 2 crops a season and there are fields of corn everywhere.
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| The walk along the ocean in Mazatlan |
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| Cool out in the ocean |
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| The Mazatlan beach! |
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| This is how flat and dry the drive was to Culiacan. |
Thursday, June 18th
We got up early, ate a yummy breakfast she fixed. Except a lot of the mission moms here make this green drink for the morning. It is a definite diarrhea builder! UGH! So, it was a long day!!
We had another zone conference with all the missionaries in Culiacan. It was the same routine with the meeting and we spent most of the afternoon talking to the missionaries. We had a big lunch at Applebees , got to take a little nap back at the mission home. Greg interviewed a doctor while Sister Velez and I worked on "stuff" and then ended up having quesadillas late tonight! They were good quesadillas too!!
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| We stayed at the mission home. This is the view out of our bedroom window! Cool huge house up there! |
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| This is looking out the window the other way - down the street! There is money in Mexico! |
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| A big river running through the middle of Culiacan |
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| The guy pushing his broom cart down the street - take you pic of which broom or mop you like!! |
Friday, June 19th
Oohh! We got up at 4:30am to catch a plane. I don't like getting up this early! I have been tired all day and my brain hasn't worked all day either! It was a 45 min flight across the water to La Paz. It was hot in Culiacan, but nice and cool in La Paz. It is a pretty little town, but it is not a tourist town. It was very nice on the ocean front! Another zone conference - groundhog day! After all the meetings we got back in the rental car and drove for another 2 1/2 hours to Cabo. We stopped at a little town called Todo Santas where the real Hotel California is from the song. It really is in the middle of nowhere. We went to a beach there that is beautiful and absolutely no one is around! There is a house for sale right on the beach. Greg was tempted, but I said NO!
We drove on to Cabo and checked in to our hotel way off the beach and away from all the fancy big hotels there! We did go walking around late this evening and watched all the hub bub. It was very sad to see all the drunk young people roaming around! They all seem so lost! We ate tacos al pastor in a little sidewalk place which made me nervous so we'll see if we get sick!!
Back to the hotel - we are all very tired!
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| Flying over lots of farmland! You need lots to feed 25,000,000 people! |
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| The coastline of La Paz |
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| Nice sights of the ocean along the drive into La Paz |
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| We stopped at this outside cafe for breakfast! |
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| This is hard to see because it is so bright behind them but this is how I spend most of my time! All three of them on the phone! Lonely breakfast for me!!! |
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| Greg - happy as ever!! |
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| This is how the view changes driving from La Paz to Cabo |
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| Every street in this city is dug up! This little business is still going strong out in the piles of dirt in Todos Santos. |
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| Pic with Sister Velez inside the Hotel California! |
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| Add caption |
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| President and Sister Velez |
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| I love this light fixture hanging in the hotel California |
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| The famous hotel California |
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| The beach out in the middle of nowhere with no one on it! |
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| Greg picked this lot with the old sailboat on it for his retirement spot! I hope he has a great life here! |
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| The view as we drive over the hill into Cabo San Lucas |
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| On the boardwalk in Cabo |
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| The little zone conference in Cabo |
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| Nice church in Cabo |
Saturday, June 20
We got up early at our Fairfield Inn in Cabo San Lucas and drove for 30 minutes to the "other" cabo - San Jose del Cabo, to a chapel there to do our presentation. We were told that San Jose is more sedate than San Lucas and that young people go to San Lucas to party and older, retired people come to San Jose. It was a nicer city, there was a surfing beach just before we entered the town. There was a young couple - both doctors who came to the meeting. Afterwards I interviewed them to see if they would be willing to see missionaries. He is an internist and she is an anesthesiologist. He has only been a member for a month - she has been a member for awhile. They were great and we are fortunate to have them taking care of the missionaries in San Jose del Cabo. After seeing the sick missionaries we were taken to the airport and our "beach tour" ended. We got home and were fed by the Griffins - Sister Griffin is feeling a little better but still sick from her kidney stone. The missionary that was hit by a car in the Saltillo mission arrived at the hospital in Mexico City and is now cared for by a very good orthopedic doctor here in Mexico.
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| We stopped at a view point on our way to the airport (actually in the middle of the road - but who cares we are in Mexico!) This pic is taken back towards Cabo San Lucas |
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| There are a lot of surfers out there along with lots of rocks! |
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| More surfers and rocks! |
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| Looking towards San Jose de Cabo We hate to leave this mission conference! Fun Fun, Fun! Sometimes this mission is so tough!!! |
Sunday, June 21 HAPPY FATHERS DAY!
THOUGHT: "A FATHER'S CALLING IS ETERNAL, AND ITS IMPORTANCE TRANSCENDS TIME. IT IS A CALLING FOR BOTH TIME AND ETERNITY!" Ezra Taft Benson
We fasted today - the son-in-law of President Whitehead had a massive heart attack 2 days before and was being kept alive in a coma - she flew back with her daughter who had been visiting her for her 60th birthday. Very sad - he later died. Sacrament meeting was very inspirational. Elder Salinas, an area 70 who is in our ward spoke about his experience after general conference this year. Generally he said there are multiple themes presented and he takes volumes of notes. This time he states that everything was focused on keeping the Sabbath holy. He said that Elder Bednar and Elder Christofferson had a slight twist on t
he theme that really got him to thinking. They said that the reason members are going inactive is that families are not using the time they have on Sundays to instruct their children in the gospel and share testimonies. Too much time is spent watching TV and doing things that do not involve the family. There is plenty of time each Sunday to have family instruction like FHE, talk about and work on Genealogy, practical instruction on tithing and fast offerings, read and study the scriptures and talks by general authorities and bear testimony. I hope my kids read this and use their Sunday time to do some of these things. It was an interesting take on keeping the Sabbath day holy. Interesting that Sabbath is now translated into Day of Rest in Spanish since the word for Saturday is Sabado which means Sabbath - even newer versions of the Bible use Día de Reposo, Day of Rest for Sabbath in the scriptures to help avoid confusion. I received calls from all of my kids - thanks so much - you don't know what it means to be so far away and hear from
each of you.
Happy Fathers Day!!!
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| Here is the picture of one awesome dad! He is 100% in all of his callings- To his family, his church and his Heavenly Father! He loves spreading the light of the gospel to all of the people here in Mexico! He is a great example of the believers!!! I hope you know how much we all love you! Have a great day/year! |
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