THOUGHT: "SUCCESS IS NOT ABOUT HOW MUCH MONEY YOU MAKE....
IT'S ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE YOU MAKE IN PEOPLE'S LIVES."
I love nice quiet days like today. Greg had a sore tooth and went to the dentist to get a root canal. I guess he didn't have quite the nice day I did. He had all kinds of errands before the dentist and was very busy. That is a win, win situation!! Since we are going to Cancun on Wednesday for the Mission President training seminar we have some things to pick up and take with us. I should ask more of the wives what they want or need. I only have one order for now - canned pumpkin for Sister Clayton. Greg is hunting down Promethran for the missionaries. Supposedly this stuff keep mosquitoes away. We can't find it anywhere but will keep looking. We went to Walmart and Home Depot after a long walk to find the stuff with no luck. I did get a new little plant for my flower garden. It is a pink and white stripped daisy looking flower. We were on treats for FHE tonight. I made a pumpkin and oats cake with cream cheese icing. I added a little extra flour due to high altitude, but it made it a little dry. Plus the oats weren't the right ones, but oh well they ate it!! Can you believe we got 4 new washing machines. There is only room for 3 so one will go in a closet for another day. The problem is that only 2 of the 3 dryers are working. These Mexicans can't get it quite right! Why 4 washing machines and no dryers. Go figure????? We will hang dry stuff, but are very happy we can actually wash our clothes.
Tuesday, Oct 20th HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BROTHER JIM!
Greg's tooth is feeling better today so that's good news. We went on a field trip today to find Permethrin for the missionaries. This insecticide is good to spray on your clothes to keep the
mosquitos away. It is suppose to stay on your clothes for 2 years. Greg has hunted all over
town for some of this stuff. Mexico won't let the church bring any into the country and it
is very hard to find here. I hope this stuff works because so many of the missionaries are getting
dengue and Chikengua from the mosquitos. We drove in and out of little pueblitos. I took a few pics
of the surroundings since I haven't done that for awhile. Some of the pics didn't turn out but I
love to take pics of normal life here in Mexico for these people! We watched a movie with the Griffins and Hackings.
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| Peg got bored waiting for me to pick up the Permethrin |
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| Car wash Tuesday |
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| Lots of repairs are just done on the street |
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| Quaint little neighborhood |
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| Eye doctor's office |
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| Driving home from getting insecticide |
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| The kids all wear school uniforms -they look nice |
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| Out shopping |
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| Nice corner restaurant |
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| This is what we warn the missionaries about - eating on the street |
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| Buying sodas on the street is allowed |
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| Paper shop - you see them all over - they make copies and sell any and all types of paper |
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| Typical middle class neighborhood |
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| Smoggy day - middle class neighborhood |
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| Today is Oct 20th and they have put up the Christmas tree in the middle of the mall! |
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| On the left is our new little daisy shaped plant that is pink and white stripped! |
Wednesday, Oct 21st
Exciting day! We got to fly to Cancun today for the Mission Presidents seminar. It is so fun to see so many of my favorite people in one place. I love the spirit these people have. We left home just after noon to run an errand and got to the Temple to park our car quite early. We talked the Smiths into driving us to the airport and having lunch there with us. They got a table and ordered while we got checked in. The lines were long and it took a long time to check in. Also we had the insecticide in my suitcase to take to the mission presidents. Just as they were going to take my suitcase, Greg told them about the permethrin. They freaked out and told us we absolutely could not take it on the airplane. Bummer! We had to take it out of the suitcase and have the Smiths take it to their place. We will pick it up later and figure out what to do with it! The plane was delayed, but we finally made it to Cancun. It was very warm and humid. We got to the Marriott just as they were finishing dinner. We got a bite, said hi to a bunch of them and got in our swim suits. A lot of the couples were headed to the hot tub so we met them all there. I bet we sat in the hot tub for about 2 hours! It was so fun to visit with all the couples that were in there. The weather was wonderful and a little breezy. Good times! PS We heard tonight that there is a monster hurricane coming to the Claytons mission - Manzanillo and Puerto Villarta. It is suppose to be the biggest hurricane to ever hit the pacific side of the country! The poor Claytons have been on the phone with the missionaries trying to figure out what to do. This should be an exciting couple of days!
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| I think this will be my new mode of transportation! He loved smelling me! |
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| At night in Cancun from our hotel window! Look at those waves come in! |
Thursday, Oct 22nd
Today was play day! Fun was had by all today! We had an early breakfast, got our suits on and headed to the beach. Before long most of the couples were out there playing in the wild waves of the ocean. There was a strong current under the waves so it exhausting to be out there for very long.
The red warning flags were out because the ocean was so wild! After everyone was exhausted we headed to the pool for a big volleyball game. That was so fun! I don't think I even took a pic! We had to finally quit because Greg was getting sunburned and any way we had to get ready to go on the adventure for the afternoon. Lunch was good. We all jumped on two buses and headed to Tulum for a tour. We had been there before but it was still interesting to hear all the stuff about the people (Lamanites) that lived there. It was very hot and humid and we were all soaking wet by the time we got back on the bus. We drove another hour to Xcaret where we got to see a dinner show. The show was about the customs of Mexico, with games, dances and Mariachi bands. They would bring food out to us every time the lights would go down, so we had no idea what we were eating. Someone said we ate monkey! No we didn't I am sure! No one knows what kind of meats we ate for sure!
Oh well, I am still alive to write this so all is well!! The show was about 3 hours long, then another 1 hours ride back to the hotel. We were pooped by the time we hit the bed! Sweet party day!!
PS The missionaries in the Guadalajara mission ended up all being evacuated to inland cities for safety! The hurricane will hit land sometime tomorrow afternoon!
PSS Poor Sister Hall has had a gallbladder attack and has missed the whole fun time here in Cancun.
because she has been in so much pain. We are giving her pain meds to hold her off to get back to
Mexico City for surgery.
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| Some of the Mission President and wives having fun on the beach in Cancun Notice the red flag! That means the waves are dangerous! Oh well, we all played in them anyway! |
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| The Sandbergs waving |
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| The Stutzneggers |
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| Me and Sister Velez |
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| The Claytons |
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| Riding on the little train to Tulum |
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| All the ruins at Tulum |
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| To the right of Greg is a face carved in the stone on the corner of the little building |
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| Tulum is on the bluff above the ocean. Wild waves today! |
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| So they say.... Two carved people in the first two slots and the third is empty - signifying The Father, Son and Holy Ghost |
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| We came to the dinner show |
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| All of the next pics are from our cultural show at Xcaret including dancing and singing, |
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| Voladores de Panpantla |
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| They hang upside down and unwind from the pole |
Friday, Oct 23rd
Well the party day is definitely over! We had an early breakfast followed by a medical meeting with Greg and the mission president wives. The main topic of the day was diarrhea! YAY! We had a
little closing meeting and a great lunch. Everyone had to get on the bus and go to the airport even though our flight wasn't until 6:10 tonight. Some of the people had flights at 3:40 so those of us that were left had a great visit. I spent a lot of time talking to Sister Mecham. The Mechams are from
Mt. Pleasant Utah. She is a spunky little thing! I love her! We finally got to get on the plane and
had an uneventful flight back to Mexico City. We had to get a taxi to take us to our car since the
Smiths are in Oaxaca for meetings. There were long lines waiting for taxis. Friday night is so
busy at the airport. Crazy! Poor Sister Hall and President Hall got a flight back at 11 am this morning so she was in the hospital waiting for Greg to tell her it was OK to have her gallbladder removed. So after we finally got to our car we had to drive to the hospital to visit with her. Greg convinced her that was the best thing to do so she went into surgery about 12:30 am.
That is one thing you really hope and pray never happens - having surgery in Mexico!!!
We rolled in around 11 pm to our place. Glad to be home - sweet - home!!!
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| Our view from our hotel room! |
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| Another view of the grounds from our room |
