Baptisms!

We welcome these newest members of the church!
1.

Dana and Ricardo are from a family of a reference that we received.

From the beginning they were able to recognize the truth of the

gospel and they have constantly strived to comply with the new

norms they are learning and through it all they do not stop trusting

their Heavenly Father. They are VERY excited to be members of the

Church of Christ.

Hermana Cook, Hermana Clawson

Dana y Ricardo son de una familia de una referencia que recibimos.

Desde el inicio ellos pudieron reconocer la veracidad del evangelio

y se han esforzado constantemente por cumplir con las nuevas

normas que están aprendiendo y a través de todo no dejan de

confiar en su Padre Celestial.  Están MUY emocionados por ser

miembros de la Iglesia de Cristo.

2.

Kamila is a girl from a part member family. She was very prepared

and eager to learn and apply the teachings of Christ in her life.

Although she had a little fear before his baptism, she prayed for

courage and strength and could feel that her Heavenly Father

helped her prepare to enter into covenants with Him.

Hermana Cook, Hermana Clawson

Kamila es niña de una familia PF; ella estaba muy preparada y

tenía muchas ganas de aprender y aplicar las enseñanzas de Cristo

en su vida. Aunque tenía un poco de miedo antes de su bautismo,

oraba pidiendo valor y fortaleza y pudo sentir que su Padre Celestial

le ayudó a prepararse para entrar en convenios con Él.

3.

Sister Genesis is a person who knew for herself that baptism was

the right decision. Her conversion began with her husband and a

visit to an open house of a temple here in Mexico. She heard that

families can be eternal and immediately knew that this was

something she wanted. She made the decision to know the

church and be baptized. She has already completed the first step

and is very encouraged to continue on this path in order to enter

the temple. We are very happy for her.

Elder Jones, Elder Villegas

La Hermana Genesis es una persona que supo por sí misma que el

bautismo era la decisión correcta. Su conversión empezó con su

esposo y una visita a una casa abierta de un templo acá en México.

Escuchó que las familias pueden ser eternas e inmediatamente

supo que eso era algo que quería. Tomó la decisión de conocer la

iglesia y bautizarse. Ya cumplió el primer paso y está muy animada

a continuar en este camino con el fin de entrar el templo. Estamos

muy felices por ella.

A few pictures of this and that

Once again, I have taken pictures of a few this and that's that
I see as we are traveling.
We really do see so many interesting things along our way as
we visit our missionaries, the zones and areas of our mission.
Here are just some of our newest sights.
We actually see this a lot.
Motorcycles that add poles to the back so they can carry
and deliver tires.

or ladders :)

We asked these two gas station attendants if

we could take their picture.

They sure gave us quite the pose!

The meat market

We see trucks in all shapes and sizes, carrying 

things of all shapes and sizes!

I loved this guy

This tree had such a thorny trunk, but the pods

turn into blossoms that really do look like

popcorn popping!

Our very famous cobblestone streets!

Small houses in many different colors

bougainvillaea bushes that grow no

matter the ground.

We see gorgeous views

Hills, and mountains

and volcanoes too

Autlan Branch Conference 3-25-18

What a beautiful drive we had into Manzanillo.  Sunday morning, we met our three assistants in Barra de Navidad and drove together to Autlan where Elder Rose and Elder Davis are serving.  We had a lovely conference. Elder Rose and Elder Davis are doing an outstanding job in Autlan, which is a city high in the mountains, three hours from Manzanillo, and two hours from Barra de Navidad. The drive to Autlan is gorgeous, but full of windy and curvy roads up to the little mountainous city. These Elders are the furthest area in Manzanillo. They attend district class every other week, and call in on those off weeks.  The branch is doing well.  Elder Rose and Elder Davis taught a wonderful gospel principle class. After the conference, we drove them and the assistants over to take a peek at their apartment, and again, impressively clean and organized.  We left the assistants with them to do divisions.
Wonderful visit.

These three hopped into the back seat to make room

for Elder Rose and Elder Davis 

heading over to see their apartment

Elder Rose and Elder Davis

outside of their apartment in Autlan 

Great day!

#we love our missionaries!

Transfer weekend preparations

We had our office staff meeting today (3-27-18) and I snapped a quick picture of us in the Elder's office instead of in President Clayton's office.  The office is under construction, and so this was the safest place to be today!  We surely appreciate these office Elders. They are really the unsung heroes in the mission, and do so much of the behind the scenes work that make our conferences, councils, training's, and especially our transfers run so smoothly. They serve in the office, and also carry their own areas.  They are organized and disciplined, and we are grateful for them!

From left to right
Elder Sevilla - visas, flight tickets for Latinos, cell phones, English tests.
Elder Anderson - Financial Secretary - all financial affairs, flight tickets for Americans, name tags
Elder Ramirez - (has just finished training Elder Sevilla and will be reassigned back into the field this transfer) he’s been awesome!
Elder Martindale  - materials and referrals, president's car, certificates, letters to parents
Elder Moreno - housing, mailing supplies and furnishings

The other half of the equation are the Assistants!  Elder Long, Elder Cluff and newly called Elder Velasquez.  We are grateful for them as well!!  They are outstanding examples here in the mission. They really do provide by example, a missionary standard of excellence.  We have great confidence in them as they travel throughout the mission, representing President Clayton and I, working with and strengthening our missionaries. They too carry their own areas, and then some.
We had a goodbye breakfast for Elder Long this morning as part of our transfer meeting.
We love our missionaries!!!

By the way... these are Elder Long's shoes.

Like so many other missionaries here in the mission....

their shoes tell the tale.  They really do walk, and walk,

and walk........ and walk.

We appreciate every step they take... and we know

the Savior, Jesus Christ, does too!

#we love our missionaries!

Follow Up Training 3-22-18

What a wonderful day we have had with our new missionaries.  These 10 new missionaries have been here for just 5 weeks!  They are doing very, very well. We are double checking their focus and progress.  There is much to learn and much to practice.  They are coming along!
Here are some highlights of our day together!

Our Assistants teaching

(Including our new Assistant,

Elder Velasquez) 

Our wonderful office Elders helping the

assistants with their game.

Assistants Game

The 8 Fundamentals of Preach My Gospel

1. The Doctrine of Christ - Our Missionary Purpose

2. The Role of the Holy Ghost in Conversion

3. Revelation through Prayer

4. Revelation through the Book of Mormon

5. Revelation Through Church Attendance

6. Teach People, Not Lessons

7. We Invite, They Commit, We Follow Up

8. How to Begin Teaching

The assistants teach of the importance of each of these

fundamentals that are found in Preach My Gospel and in

the 12 weeks training manual for new missionaries.

These fundamentals are what help us as missionaries

have success in bringing people unto Christ. We consistently

focus on and teach these things to our investigators with

the end or goal in mind.

That end or goal is entering into the Temple.

Second Game...

Preach My Gospel teaches us missionaries that we must ask for references
from each person we know and meet. In the mission we have an automatic
reference card with 10 examples of questions we can use to ask for references.
In this game the missionaries must know the 10 questions. They ask a question
and then pass the ball onto the next person. If you can’t respond with one of
the 10 questions that hasn’t been said when the ball is tossed to you, or if you
repeat an answer that has been said... you’re out! There are three groups at the
beginning and then the winners of those three groups go into a finals round.

Elder Cano is our winner!!

Great day together!

Let’s just take one more look at this

outstanding group! 

#we love our missionaries!