Mexican Moments with Greg and Peg: Cortes' pass

THOUGHT: "THOUSANDS OF CANDLES CAN BE LIGHTED FROM A SINGLE CANDLE, AND THE LIFE OF THE CANDLE WILL NOT BE SHORTENED. HAPPINESS NEVER DECREASES BY BEING SHARED." Buddy

Saturday March 26
It was haircut day - I go to a barbershop near a large military installation and I think all they know how to do is military haircut. That's pretty close to a missionary haircut so it has worked out well for me. Plus it costs about $5. Afterwards we were joined by the Griffins and we set out for Cortes' pass. This is the pass between Popocatepatl and Iztaccihuatl where Cortes marched his soldiers to attack Monctezuma in Tenochtitlan, an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco which dominated the valley where Mexico City currently is. The pass is accessed by a windy canyon road that starts near Amecameca, one of the first towns in Mexico where members were baptized back before the Mexican Revolution in 1908. Sister Griffin's great grandfather had served in Ozumba which is at the foot of this pass back in 1908. The pass is about 13,000 feet high and sits between these two peaks that are over 18,000 feet. There was a road block on the road heading up to Popo due to volcanic activity. Just as we were arriving in Amecameca we noticed a very large black cloud of smoke coming out of Popo - the mountain was putting out its welcome mat for us. It was cold at that elevation - probably in the low 50's and I kind of wished I had brought a jacket. The ride back to Mexico City was uneventful, even nicer than usual since there was very little traffic. The week before Easter (Semana Santa) is a big holiday where people leave the city to go on vacation. We stopped at Costco on the way back to do a little shopping and get something to eat (pulled pork sandwiches.) Saturday evening Peg went to the Griffin's to watch the Women's conference and I watched a pirated version of Star Wars with Bro Griffin and Bro Anderson.

I was a good wife and got up this morning to make Greg
some pancakes. There were a few extra friends in the mix!
Worms! I cooked them up anyway cause we do live in Mexico
but Greg wasn't interested! We had cold cereal!!

Popo in all it's glory - spouting a little today!

In front of Popo

Turned around and now in front of Ista

Cool cloud formation - probably from all the spouting!!

Driving back home we went through - San Pedro Nexapa
This is where Beka's friend Marci served her mission!

Other photos of this cute little town up on the hill!

Sunday March 27 - Easter Sunday
What a beautiful day - Two of the 3 speakers at church were senior missionaries and they did a wonderful job reminding us of the miracle of the atonement. We had an Easter dinner with some of the senior couples afterwards - ham from Costco - and it tasted very good. 5 weeks to go.

I was really missing my family today so I emailed all of them and asked them to send me a photo of their family! I love these people!! 💖💝