Elder Christofferson, very interesting sister and Thomas Marz

 I was in charge of choosing a pianist and a chorister and some pre-devotional songs for the devotional  we had with the apostle Elder Christofferson today.  I had to do that 4 weeks ago.  I chose Elder Brandon Smedley who had just arrived at the CCM a few days before to play.  I chose songs and he practiced them for 4 weeks on his P-days.  I asked McKay Matheson to lead the congregation as as chorister.  He was also fairly new at the time but he learned the words to the all 7 of the songs so he would be able to look at the congregation and not the hymn book.  He is an accomplished chorister and I am so glad he was willing to do it.  Both of these young men took this assignment very seriously and magnified their callings.  Elder Smedley also played prelude and postlude music.  

This is Elder Smedley and his companion Elder Loveland standing by the piano in the auditorium.  In the background is the missionary objective we recite every Tuesday at the evening devotional.  Dennis led the CCM choir in an arrangement of, "I Stand All Amazed".  It sounded very nice and definitely contributed to the meeting.  

We were asked not to take pictures of Elder Christofferson in the auditorium so I took a picture of the chair he was going to sit in.  Security was extremely high all day here. When I went to the auditorium with Elder Smedley and his companion so he could practice the piano we were greeted by 3 security guards who were wondering what we were doing there.  At five in the evening when I went to the Thomas S. Monson building where we receive the new North Americans Elder Christofferson and his wife were greeting some early arriving missionaries that had just come so I took a picture of him then.  All those men in suits are security guards.  

As I was out taking pictures of Elder Christofferson I heard someone say, "Hey Nola".  It turned out to be Thomas Marz from my neighborhood and  Union 2nd Ward.  He was supposed to go the the Lima, Peru MTC but that was changed to the CCM.  His companion is a friend of his from Brighton High School.  So nice to see him here.  On the screen is the first day orientation I present to the new missionaries.   It takes about 15 or 20 minutes depending on how much time we have and how much I can add in.   Tonight I had to give it about 4 times because we had a bus and a couple of van loads of missionaries plus those who came late and had to get over to the cafeteria before it closed and then came back for the  orientation presentation.  

Elder Marz and his companion Elder Warr

Very interesting Hermana----Third time is the charm

We had one sister come in tonight who just broke down and cried as she came through the doors.  Evidently she was at the Provo MTC about 6 years ago preparing to go on a mission when she broke her shoulder playing volleyball.  She couldn't go on her mission because she had to have three surgeries.  She then became a para-medic and worked for awhile.  She went to Haiti to work as a medic for several weeks and then came back just in time to enter the MTC after being recalled a second time to serve a mission. Unfortunately, she contracted cholera when she was in Haiti and had to call her stake president and tell him that she couldn't go on her mission that time either.  So tonight when she walked off the bus and into the registration building she broke down and cried with joy for finally being on a mission.  Third time is the charm.  Bless her heart for the desire to serve. 

Saturday afternoon walk around the neighborhood

We went for a Saturday afternoon walk outside the walls of the CCM.  There are lots of stores of all kinds including a store for toilets.

you can buy cactus of all varieties at many of the shops

There was a man working on the inside of the car here fixing it and one holding the umbrella.  We all have a job in life even if it is just holding an umbrella for someone else so they can work.

A father and son out bike riding.

A corner eatery.  She is frying up a corn tortilla (pancake) sort of thing and then it is filled with meats and veggies and of course lots of sauce.  

This is a corner grocery store with laundry drying on  the roof.

We walked by a church here with a mother and her little daughter selling goods out front.  The items were spread out on a blanket.  Dennis bought 2 maracas; gourds that have dried with seeds inside.  They are brightly painted and and then used as shakers or percussion instruments for a band.

As we started to walk away from the church we saw this car drive up and a wedding party got out.  

The mother or just the brides helper is helping to unfold the brides dress after being somewhat squished in that car.  

The bride with her ribbon/flower bouquet

Is he the groom?

Are these the groomsmen?

amazing missionaries

We have amazing missionaries here.  An elder who came in last Wednesday from St George comes from a totally inactive family who is not supportive.  This Elder made the decision like Abraham of old who to choose to serve the Lord despite the fact that his father did not.  He is ready and willing to serve a mission.  On the first night I became acquainted with him it was the day after they arrived at a Thursday meeting to get to know their new branch presidency.  The three members of the presidency were pulling out a few elders at a time to interview them.  I usually stay in the branch gathering room and get to know all the new incoming elders and sister.  We had two new incoming districts so that was 19 total missionaries this week.  One of the companionships is a trio of sisters.  

The elder with a totally inactive family instead of just sitting and waiting with me talking and getting to know them one at a time sat down at the piano and started playing "Nearer My God to Thee".  He said to the other waiting missionaries, "Hey let's sing while we wait.  Get over her".  He asked one elder to hold his little pocket size hymn book open while he played and they all sang with full voices.  He is going to do OK and I´m sure his family is going to be blessed by such a missionary with that much enthusiasm and spirit.

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Another elder that come in just shortly after we did told us the day after he arrived that he did not want to be here. He was  feeling like that before he left and now he really felt like that.  He said their was no way he was going to change his mind he just wanted to get back on a plane and return home.  He did say that possibly he could serve in the United States but he did not want to be in Mexico and he wanted his call changed. He did visit with the mission presidency and admitted that he had never felt so alone in all of his life.  His companion was very homesick also.  The companion came from a family of 11 children and all them were crying as he left them at the airport.  This elder followed his family with tears on the plane and then got off of the bus and into my orientation meeting with tears in his eyes. At the meeting to get to know his branch presidency the next day he said he fell apart when he saw his family in tears.  I visited with him through out his time in training. He always said he was struggling with the language although I could hear him speaking and learning.  

After 6 weeks when it came time for the district with these two elder to leave we had our usual departing testimony meeting.  The elder with the large family shared his testimony and thanked his companion (the one who did not want to be in Mexico and wanted his call changed to be in the states) for helping him with the language.  Evidently they had stayed up late while the one companion who wanted to go home helped the one who was struggling with the language.  
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I do believe if these missionaries will hang in there for a week and if they get some support from their district (which they always do) and with the faith and prayers of 15 million members of the church praying for them they will make it and be great servants of the lord.  They also come to the CCM with hardly any sleep the night or even the week before because they are packing and partying.  With that lack of sleep and then stepping into a very different role of scheduled time and expectations of learning and teaching investigators they crash and we end up seeing them in at the clinic. 
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An elder is leaving on Monday for Chile who we considered sending home several times.  Three days after he arrived he had a very sever panic attack and several subsequent episodes of sever panic attacks that required medication.  His companion who had some medical training was an amazing help to him.  This panic attack elder has learned to "push through" the panic and stress he is feeling and with the help of some medication he is still taking and will need to continue to take he has finished his training and will be a good missionary.  He has family support and a lot of people praying for him including his whole district.  I congratulated him last week on getting the flight plans and tickets to Chile and he shook my hand firmly.  I really wasn't sure he would make it.  In talking with a member of the presidency one time they decided he would need to go home.  The mental health care workers recommended he go home and get treatment and work through the disorder he was suffering from.  I kept hoping he would be able to deal with the stress that causes him to suffer with physical and emotional symptoms. 

When it comes down to it we all have to be responsible for ourselves and decide what we are going to do with our lives.  He is very open about his problem and he knows he has to control it.  The mental health care professionals helped him learn how to deal with it and he is learning to conquer a very big problem in his life that may have to be dealt with over and over again.     

Trip with missionaries to the temple open house

Three busloads of missionaries went to the temple open house on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  More will go next week.

We hosted a bus load on Thursday.  It took about 4 hours because driving around this city it a long process.  It was also the first time these two districts of missionaries had been to the temple.  They had a shortened tour of the visitor center and an extended tour of the temple and the videos they play explaining the temple to those who are visiting.  

View from the back.  We sang hymns in Spanish (from our books) on the way there to help maintain reverence.  We asked two sister who were very capable to choose and lead the songs.  As soon as one song was finished the other sister would tell the group what we were singing next.  We sang Christmas songs also.  We sang "I love To See the Temple" in English just as we were approaching the gates.

Holiness to the Lord, The house of the Lord

Photo time while we were waiting to go in.  We arrived at the temple 15 minutes before it was scheduled to open for tours.  I felt very privileged to walk with our missionaries.  They allowed all three bus loads full of missionaries to file right in through the other crowds of people who also came early be there when it opened.

I kept telling the elders that all those mothers were pointing them out and telling their young sons they wanted them to grow up and become missionaries.

The Christus statue is just inside the glass rotunda

This was an previous picture when Dennis and I had gone to the temple clinic. I may have already posted it.  Beautiful tree!

I am so impressed with the temple built in 1984 but closed twice for renovation and remodeling.  It is very beautiful inside and out.  Inside there is an Aztec motif of geometric design throughout.  I am glad they let us go first.  We needed to get those missionaries back to their classes.  As it was, the excursion took 4 hours.  

more about the CCM

We have beautiful landscaping

We drink bottled water here in Mexico except we can brush our teeth with the well water that comes from our facets.  That water is separate from the Mexico City water supply.  There are no water fountains on campus, and no cups or glasses in the houses or dorm rooms. (Except for the senior missionaries)  Every one fills their own drinking bottle from big five gallon water dispensers which are located all over the campus.  This was a pile of empty bottles I saw near our room when the last group of elders moved out of their apartments  

Dennis conducting choir practice in the auditorium.  

Happy missionaries going to dinner just after a rain storm

A solid rock wall with a tall wire fence and razor wire on top of that in many places surrounds the 93 acre campus.  We are safe!

A guard stands at the entrance and also keeps us safe.  The missionaries can concentrate without any other concerns for their safety.

The staff at the clinic.  Mosiah and Catty are the nurses Grisalda is the secretary.  Dr. Montoya is having knee surgery in a couple of weeks.

missionaries frequently go outside to study.  What other MTC offers that option?

teachers make cute decorations to mark their door and the missionaries who they teach.

It sure helps me when I have the names on the doors because I am forever trying to find a missionary and many time I just have to leave a note if I know for sure that they are in that classroom. Otherwise I have to go around looking outside or in the computer lab or in the gym or where ever.

these are origami folded shirts and dresses

white shirts with green and red (Mexican flag colors) ties

longer dresses with sleeves for the sisters on this door

more of p-day

After we left the castle we went to the near by city of Paloma

It is an upper class city with clean streets and lots of sidewalk cafes.  

We ate at Porters Steak House a Chicago style restaurant.  As always we stopped at Walmart to shop on the way home and as we drove back into the CCM I saw Griselda and her family of three boys and husband.  Her son has just returned from a mission so they took a few days off.  They were at the CCM to take family pictures.  This one is in front of the clinic.  Griselda is a secretary and at the clinic who seems to know everything.  

Chapultepec Castle

On our last P-Day Dennis drove us downtown to Mexico City and we went to the Chapultepec Castle. This was the first picture  took of it as we looked up the hill upon which the castle was built. 

The castle is now a museum.  It was finished being built in 1863 but was started in 1785.  

This stained glass window reads the name of Chapultepec.  The hill upon which it was built was a sacred site for the Aztecs.  The castle was used by the Mexican Emperor Maximilian I.

The front of the castle with the fountain.

The gardens are immaculate.  A picture below shows how the gardeners have stretched string on a pole to make an exact edge where they are trimming the hedges.  

From the roof top you can see the paseo de la reforma which is one of the main streets in Mexico City.  It is a striking view to see the old castle and the modern city with a forest in between.

The blue bedroom of the 16 year old (as least she was 16 when she married the Emperor and came to Mexico to be the wife of Maximilian.) 

The scarlet staircase

The fountain in front of the castle.  The hill is called the grasshopper hill so the fountain is a grasshopper and there was a grasshopper statue down by our parking lot.   

The dining room of the castle and a green stone vase.  The stone was imported from Russia.  

Such opulence when so many poor Mexican people live in the country.  Maximilian was later killed when there was an uprising of the common people who did not want European rule of their country.

"This the American continent" includes Mexico.  

The black and white marble tile veranda of the second floor of the castle. 

Older part of the castle

The people loved their president Benito Juarez a local native who rose up and was an advocate for the native people.  

A view of the lake and the forest from the Castle

Opulence and refinement in contrast to the poor indigenous people of the country.

A roaring twenty's dress...Mexican style