Mexican Moments with Greg and Peg: Not such a great week for Missionaries!

Monday, Sept 7th Labor Day THE STAR OF THE SHOW!

Not sure if he likes his mohawk!

He does love his mom!!
Go Beckham!!

Today has been an OK day. We have enjoyed our kids being out together. Spencer, Beka and Mitch climbed Mt Olympus on Saturday. Also most of the kids went together to visit new baby Beckham. I was so happy to see that! Baby Beckham is doing great. I am still sad that I am missing holding that new little guy! We didn't do anything special or different today. We did walk up the Pueblito to drop off two of Gregs suits - especially the one he ran through the water up to his knees in on Wednesday. That water was not exactly clean! At 3:30 we left our place to go to the airport to fly to Saltillo. It took us an hour to get to the Temple, then the Smiths took us to the airport. We had a long wait there as well, but finally made it to Saltillo. The Rodriguez' (mission president & wife) met us. They are such a great couple. They have 6 kids. Two of them - a 15 year old girl and 9 year old boy are here on the mission with them. The other kids are older and away at school somewhere. We were taken to Toks for dinner😩 and then dropped off at our hotel. The hotel - The Fiesta Inn is a very nice hotel. I, of course, didn't bring my suit because the past many times that I have brought my suit there hasn't been a pool or hot tub, but tonight there is a nice pool and hot tub. The weather is warmer than Mexico City but not as hot as it's going to be up in Piedras Negras. We were getting ready for bed when Greg got a call from President Madsen. He is President of the Oaxaca Mission. He did not have good news! He was with his wife, 2 AP's and another Elder at a Subway in Juchitlan ( 5 hours away from Oaxaca) eating some dinner. Two teenagers came in with the intent of robbing everyone in the restaurant. One of the boys had a gun that he was waving around. Some guy in the restaurant did not want to be robbed so he jumped the teenager. In the scuffle the gun went off and shot a bullet right through BOTH of President Madsens calfs. Now if you are going to get shot, I guess that is a pretty lucky place to get shot, through the back of both legs. The missionaires took off their ties and used them as tourniquets on his legs. He told us he is in a little clinic in this little dumpy town out in nowhere Mexico! We are at the complete opposite end of this country right now. We are up by the border and he is at the southern end of this country. He sounds like he is in good spirits. I guess the bleeding is under control, but no one knows what the wounds look like. This is very sad news. We are also worried about Sister Madsen and the missionaries. I guess we will learn more tomorrow about this ordeal!

Tuesday, Sept. 8th

We didn't sleep very well worrying about President Madsen last night. Greg called him this morning and he seems to be doing OK. He is still in good spirits and not much pain so we will keep praying. We are worried about how he is going to get back to Oaxaca. The Area Presidency wants him back there for better medical care. He can't travel right now because he can't have his legs down. It is a 5 hours drive back to Oaxaca or a one hour drive to an airport but he is so tall, he won't fit in a plane with his legs wrapped up so he is stuck in Juchitlan. A doctor that has been helping take care of the missionaries has driven down there from Oaxaca to take care of him. He is suppose to be a good doctor so we are all trusting him now. A doctor took President to surgery to clean up the second exit wound so it would heal properly. He is on IV antibiotics so now it's time to pray for him!
We went about our plan here in Saltillo. Greg did his schpeel at a conference with about 89 missionaries. I did the Sister question time afterwards. I got a few wacky questions like always, but it turned out good in the end. Greg saw a few missionaries and we were off. We drove right back to Toks for lunch. Can't these people go anywhere else to eat besides Toks? The answer is NO! Toks are everywhere. They are like a Dennys restaurant in the US except with lots of yummy Mexican food choices! We then headed off to Piedras Negras for the next mission conference. It took us 5 1/2 hours to drive through the Mexican desert to get here! It is at least 105* here. It feels like Mesa Arizona. (I hope the Voorhees are staying cool) This heat brings back tons of memories of living in Mesa. Some of the memories are not very pleasant! It gets to 120* here like it did in Mesa. Humans should not be living in this heat! That is my opinion and I am sticking with it! The Rodriguez took us to a seafood/pirate restaurant. It was good food and didn't taste that Mexican! We are staying in an Holiday Inn Express - another nice hotel so life is good!

Our funky hotel room.
The white square is the sink! Only a small wall mirror
all out in the middle of the room!

My breakfast of an omelet and frijoles!

All the churches in Mexico are so nice and clean.

All the hermanas in Saltillo!
Darling sisters!

I took a pic of us going to Toks for the second time
in 15 hours.

Saltillo is a flat spread out city!
There are bunches of open fields everywhere!

More scenic mountains!

Our hotel in Saltillo!

Scenery on our drive up to the border!

A steel factory outside of town!

A cool iron eagle in the town square

We parked next to this sign and thought we were
going to dinner at a bar!

We thought we were eating at a bar but ended up
in a Pirates Cove seafood place!
We like this pirate guy! The green lights add a lot of color!

Wednesday, Sept 9th

THOUGHT: "ALL THAT IS GOLD DOES NOT GLITTER,
NOT ALL THOSE WHO WANDER ARE LOST;
THE OLD THAT IS STRONG DOES NOT WITHER,
DEEP ROOTS ARE NOT REACHED BY THE FROST."
J.R.R. Tolkien

We were up and ready to go early this morning. I ended up staying in the hotel while Greg and the Rodriguez went to the zone conference. There aren't any sisters here in this zone because it is still considered a dangerous city with drug cartel. We are right next to the Texas border so we need to be careful here!
We found out that President Madsens story made it to the Deseret News today. Greg called him again this morning and he is doing good. He has been blessed (if you can call it that)!!! He hasn't been in much pain and is not bleeding. We just worry about infection now and getting him back to Oaxaca. Time will tell! Greg also got a call from another Mission President this morning. I guess an Elder's girlfriend broke up with him yesterday so he took 200 Tylenol. That dose can kill you or your liver! He needs to be taken to the ER to get meds to counteract the Tylenol. Poor Elder. He just earned a nice trip home!
We packed up and were off again after the zone conference. We drove to the border which was about 1 mile away from where we were staying. We took pics of being so close to the US. Eagle Pass is the name of the city in the US that we were looking at. We then drove for an hour to another little town to look at some hospitals for the missionaries. Acuña was the name of this town. There are 8 missionaries here - 2 sisters and 6 Elders. Some of the towns in this mission don't have sisters due to the un safe environment. The first hospital I wanted to take lots of pics but I didn't want to offend anyone. This little place was very old and nothing was going on in there. We saw 2 patient rooms with beds only. I also took a pic of the kitchen. They saw they are remodeling and won't be ready for 6 months. I hope we don't have to send any missionaries to this place - ever!! The next hospital was much newer and smelled lots better. It was decorated and nice inside - a much better place. Hopefully they will accept the missionaries and their insurance. I think Heavenly Father needs to pass out some extra good health blessings for the missionaries that work in this area - which is the case with a lot of Mexico!
Driving is the speciality of this mission. There is quite a distance between the cities and zones. After Acuña we drove for a couple of hours back to a city - Nueva Rosita. We stayed in a nice hotel there - the Rosa de Oro. It looked like the hotel California and the tower of terror at Disneyland. It was dark in the big lobby with 6 huge chandeliers and old furniture! It was cool. Our hotel room had a distinct smell (not good) and the air conditioner made horrible noises all night! Good times!!!!
Greg did a zone conference starting at 6 pm tonight. We got done after dark, but had a fun visit with all the missionaries. I like the smaller groups. I got to meet one sister that is going home next Tuesday to Washington State. She is a triplet. Her brother and sister are inactive in the church so she is going home to straighten them out and get them back on the right track.

Driving into Piedras Negras
Straight down that street is the US border!
So close yet so far away!!!

Here is part of the border fence

The bridge on the left is in the states.
Look at the line up to go into the states!
Across the water is the US!

Us with Sister Rodriguez

The town square with a big cathedral
just like every other city!

This house interests me due to the high
fence all the way around it with a fence up
on the balcony as well!
Wonder who lives here???

Another house with no fence
Sorry it's a little blurry. I just took
a pic as we were driving around.

Here is the dumpy little hospital
that is about 100 years old

The nursery!

The big hall down to the 2 patient room we saw!

The kitchen where all the hospital food is prepared!!!

Sister Rodriguez walking down the hall
to the front desk!
The smell isn't great here either!!

The front of the Hospital Narvaez!

Driving around looking at the sites!

Anyone need a new outfit??

A guy selling his ice cream bars!

A fancy little store!

Another cathedral!

The hermanas in the Piedres Negres zone
with President and Sister Rodriguez!

In the tower of terror!!!

Thursday, Sept 10th

We were up and going again - this week is never ending. We have been dealing with President Madsen all week. We have been so worried about him and sister Madsen. He has not been able to travel yet so they are stuck in that dumpy little town for another day it sounds like. We found out that Greg needs to take the Elder home to Las Vegas (St. George) on Saturday that took all the Advil. We also found out another Elder has gotten a tape worm in his brain. He has been having neurological issues for awhile so an MRI showed that fun little thing. I guess you are given medication to kill the tapeworm. It will die, but the worm stays in your brain forever! It has been a bad week for missionaries!
We drove to Sebinas to check out the hospital there. We do need lots more & better health care for our missionaries. Hopefully this one will work out. They haven't been seeing the missionaries because they say we haven't been paying our bills. Who knows what is really happening!!!
We drove on down the road back towards Saltillo. We stopped at a city - Monclova for the night. We got to our hotel early and it wasn't ready yet so we ate a nice little lunch at the hotel. We got in our rooms and I found out there were no sisters in this zone so I got to stay in the hotel room and watch a documentary about bears while Greg and the Rodriguez went and did the zone conference. We went back down to the hotel restaurant for dinner and had soup! Greg got all excited because he saw a pool and hot tub so he quickly changed and we went out to the pool. Well, it was a kiddie pool, not a hot tub so we sat by the pool for a little while and enjoyed the very warm air! Greg was mad at me for not bringing my suit on this trip, but he never got to use his so no harm done!!!! We had a much better nights sleep in this room than the last night!!!

A pic from our hotel door!

Greg trying to appear to be the Mexican President or something!!

WE had to drag our suitcase up that staircase
to our room!

I was taking a pic of Greg on the staircase
and before I knew it Pres. Rodriguez
was standing there waiting for his pic!
He is a funny guy!!

Waiting for breakfast by the pool!

I don't know what's wrong with beans for breakfast!
Greg thinks I have turned Mexican!

Now chocolate cake for breakfast???
Maybe I am Mexican!

The inside of our stinky hotel room
with the air conditioner over there in the
corner to the right!
It has now leaked a whole puddle of water on the floor!

This is how I spend a lot of my days!
Watching and waiting for Greg to get
off his computer or phone!

The outside of our hotel.
The entire interior are beautiful grounds
but the outside........

Driving around Sebinas....
Churches chicken

The interior of a much newer hospital!
It even smells pretty good in here!

A guy setting up his taco stand for the day!

This used to be a nice little store!

This is a very nice neighborhood we are driving through!

The M & M toy store!

And another hospital

This is an unusual catholic church!

An old LDS church!
I like our churches better!!

Friday, Sept 11th

Same old, same old thing! We were up early and on the road back to Saltillo. It was a 2 1/2 hour drive. They took us to the mission home where we hung out for a couple of hours and had a yummy sandwich and fruit for lunch. Then President took us to the airport where we got to sit and wait for 2 hours to get on our flight. We didn't have any problems getting home. The Smiths picked us up and we got back to the Temple to our car and then drove home. We decided to do our laundry tonight. We were informed by our hotel friends that one washing machine doesn't work at all. The middle washing machine washes the clothes but doesn't spin them. The third washing machine doesn't wash the clothes, but does spin them. Everyone all week has flooded the whole basement floor with the third washing machine than the water doesn't turn off when it fills up! So we did the same thing - put one load in each of the two washers. Luckily we watched as the water filled up way to high in the one machine. So we washed the one load in the middle one, then transferred that load into the third to be spun down and moved the load from the third into the middle machine to wash the clothes that had already been spun down! I think we are ALL going to be quite a bit nuttier after our 18 month experience with these washers and we haven't even talked about the dryers yet!!! No comment!
Everyone keeps complaining to the manager, but no one cares! I need to take some pics of the washers and dryers for a keepsake! They have repaired them so many times they won't even hold together anymore!! We got the laundry done to some degree anyway! 8 more months of this! YAY!