Colima Leadership Training

We had a great day of leadership training with the Colima area district leaders, zone leaders, and sister training leaders.  What strong role models and good good teachers we have in this area.  The assistants had made many assignments ahead of time, and we had wonderful participation.  Elder Peterson and Elder Olivarez hosted lunch for us all, and I'm not going to lie.... it was scrumptious, just delicious!  They invited a member and an investigator to come and cook and serve both pork and white chicken pozole.  It was wonderful!  Thank you thank you!
Here is a glimpse of our day.  I took lots of pictures as memories for the missionaries and for me of course, and hopefully for their families to see them in action participating and enjoying a day of training in the mission.

President opened by talking about the vision of the Mexico Area Presidency.
How can we grow our faith?
*tithing
*fast offerings
*honoring the Sabbath day
*temple attendance

Our testimony grows as we manifest our faith.
 Joseph Smith taught 3 key elements of true faith
  1  we must know that God exists
  2  we must have a correct understanding of God's true character and attributes
  3  we must know that our lives are in accordance and acceptable to God's will

These truths help us understand not only that God lives, but that he is our Father; that he desires to bless us, These truths assure us that our Father in Heaven is a God of miracles. That he is constant and true. That he is just, and full of mercy. That his words can be counted on and verified.  If we align ourselves to Him and to his words through his living prophets, we can find safety and peace.  These truths can also help us to be prepared as we inevitably will be buffeted by Satan.  We can expect opposition as we seek to increase our faith.  Plan on it, prepare for it.

Our strengthened faith will aid us as individuals and as families as we seek to open our mouths and share the gospel of Jesus Christ with our families and our friends as we participate in and follow the Mexico Area's plan.  We will see our Father in Heaven's work move forward in miraculous ways. There will be opposition, but we will prevail because Christ overcame the world.  We must make sacrifices to see miracles.  The Work of Salvation is a work of faith.
As we seek to deepen our faith and become obedient to the Lord's commandments, we will see success in our missionary efforts.

The assistants taught correct methods of leadership. Bossing and barking instructions, vs. leading by example, and doing tasks along side those we are teaching, training and leading

smaller groups study and prepare to role play and practice various scenario with confidence and faith

  

practice, practice, practice

President looked over each area book

   

       

my turn

I talked about 3 very temporal things, that have definite effects on our spiritual well being

taking care of ourselves, our health, our apartments, and reducing stress and worry.

la comida !

these are the sweet ladies who cooked our lunch today

a quick demonstration of how easily the lines of
communication can become misunderstood

President closed by highlighting the patterns found in Moses chapter 1
The Lord has a work for us to do
It is a marvelous work, a work of miracles
Satan will come to oppose us, plan on it
But God is a God of miracles and he is beside us
We must call upon Him and rely on Him to aid us
This work will roll forward
We have a glorious hand in participating in God great work of Salvation

Estipac Branch Conference

Early Sunday morning, Sept 6th we picked up the assistants and traveled to Estipac for their Branch Conference.  It is about an hour and a half away. It was a such a pretty day and we enjoyed a beautiful Sabbath drive.
There were about 30 members there with such a sweet Branch President and his counselor. They also have a beautiful building set in a gorgeous location.  We talked after the meeting about the history of this place and how they were blessed to have this beautiful building built right there.
It is a story for another post.
There are quite a few members who have connections in the United States.  There were 2 sisters whose husbands and several of their children are in Utah working and trying to complete the paperwork and requirements for their wives to come to America and join them.  There was one sister in the same situation, with her husband in Arizona working.

Some time ago, we visited Estipac and stopped in to meet the Sanchez family.  Some of you may remember the picture I posted of the elderly couple and us on their front porch.



 Today, brother Sanchez was one of the 2 brothers who passed the sacrament.  He is 82 years old.  The other brother is 81 (President Clayton flat out asked them both what their age was).  We had seen this second man walking to church along the dirt road with his little black puppy.  The puppy waited outside during the 3 hour church block.

What a tender memory to see these 2 faithful brothers sitting before the sacrament table, reverent and ready to exercise their priesthood as the meeting began. What an experience, and what sweet men they were.

After the meeting, our assistants Elder Wilson and Elder Mickelson left to go on divisions with the companionship serving there in Estipac for the afternoon.  We drove in the car with Elder Monzo to Guzman, where President met with and set apart several brethren, the first counselor in the Branch Presidency there in Guzman, and his new Elder's Quorum President and his two counselors.  He also met with President Torres, the District President in Guzman.

 cute little goat scurrying around

bull ring

this is our group of missionaries and members coming back together after divisions

our google maps said to turn here.. yikes, we didn't turn here

 endless phone calls :)

Dinner at Santo Coyote

We took Elder and Sister Kingsford out to dinner with the office staff to say goodbye and wish them well .  They have served long and faithfully in our office and we are most grateful for all they have done.  The Santo Coyote is a fabulous restaurant and quite the cultural experience.  The food was outstanding and it is always always fun and exciting to be with our missionaries. 

waiting for our turn to be seated

Here is our dinner group. Elder and Sister Kingsford are at the opposite end of the table, Elder McGregor our financial secretary, Elder Mickelson our new assistant, Elder Munoz, our office secretary in charge of visas, Elder Wilson, our assistant. President and I, Elder Manzo our assistant, Elder Fuentes, our office elder in charge of supplies, and Elder Urias over housing.

check out these bowls their food was brought out in

This Mariachi band was outstanding

the dessert bar

As we walked out after our meal, we saw this expert making the tortillas... she had quite the set up

I love this picture best of all

We will miss the talents and love of these great missionaries..

much love, Elder and Sister Kingsford !

Follow up training

We had a wonderful day yesterday with our Follow Up Training.
What outstanding trainers we have, and we are so impressed with these new missionaries who have been here with us for 5 weeks already.  The time has flown by.  They know so much already and are integrating so well into the rigors of missionary life.  We are so proud of them.  It was a great day of training.

Here they are, our outstanding mission trainers and our fabulous new Elders

likewise, our wonderful Sister trainers and our almost fully trained Sisters   I love them all!