more pictures of tour

very nice sidewalk cafe

Luxury department store 

more murals on the buildings 

nice gate to plaza

 

city fountain

rotating restaurant on 45 floor

wedding dress with sleeves

more pictures from the turibus tour of southern Mexico city

detail of architecture

nice inner court as seen from the bus 

an example of colorful Mexico

Lot's of murals decorate the buildings

Cathedral at Coycoacan  Parish of San Juan Bautista built about 1552.  It is one of the oldest parish churches in Mexico City.  Below in the chapel inside the parish church

fountain at Coyoacan showing drinking coyotes

Ave Marie restaurant at Coyoacan

garden at the Frida Kahlo house

Bull fighting rink.  The same one Dennis went to on the way home from his mission

National Soccer stadium

These are three pictures of the Olympic stadium from 1960

detail on stadium entry

These is an aerial view.  It is supposed to resemble a crater to fit in with the volcanic environment.  

University of Mexico mural on building.  The university is the largest in Latin America.  It has 324,000 students, and covers a huge area of 3 square miles.  

pizza and pasta

We had a certain missionary that arrived on Wednesday and by Saturday he was certain that he was going home.  He said he was feeling a little depressed but mainly there was no give in his decision.  He was positive he was not going to stay. He said he had lost his desire to serve a mission.  He talked to Dennis, his branch president counselor and then to President Call but still no change of his decision.  He was allowed to call his parents and at last he said he would consider giving it another try for a week. I was surprised that at the devotion on Sunday he reached out to me and wanted to shake my hand.  At the end of the week we wanted to check to see how he was doing so we took a pack of M&M's for each missionary in the district with the following note.  We felt like we just needed to visit with them and see how they were doing and particularly how he was doing.  We went about 7:00 in the evening when we knew they would be studying in their classroom.  His turn around was absolutely amazing.  It is as though he never had thought of leaving.  They all just need to get through the first week away from home, and having just made this major shift in their lives and yes getting through the pressure and stress of the first week of studying and constantly needing to perform.  

Every Tuesday night is pizza and pasta night. (This isn't my tray, but the elder next to me at the table)   The cafeteria gets pizza from Costco.  The missionaries love it and they can eat all they want. ( I jokingly asked some the Elders the last time it was served how many pieces they ate.  The max was three).  The only problem came one night when some of the pizzas must have been bad because the missionaries ate between 5:30 and 6:30 and then right after the devotional that started at 7:30 precisely on cue about 7 or 8 missionaries got sick between 9 and 10 at night.  They were up all night.  Dennis and I made house calls to 4 elders the next day and some missionaries came into the clinic with complaints.  It was interesting to track that situation and see that the ones who got sick all ate roughly at the same time and possibly from the same pizza.  They serve pizza here regularly and their have been no problems in the past.  Dennis bought a bag for medical supplies for the next time he had to make house calls.  

P-day tour of the southern end of Mexico City

We drove to a spot where the Turibus stop was and then paid $10 for each person to ride in an open bus as we toured the city.  We could get off at various stops and see some site and then get back on again to continue the tour. We actually got off at one stop.

 

The open bus was great for viewing the city but there were branches and wires to avoid.                 
Duck or be struck with the branches. 

 Modern Mexico City with glass buildings and lots of low hanging wires.

somethings I like about this mission

I am so glad we ended up here at the CCM.  I have:

good fruit at Walmart and Costco as well as the cafeteria

Two gyms that I can go to each morning

a keyboard, even if it doesn't have a sustain petal

A osterizer, even if it is old.  It is just like the one we inherited when we bought the cabin.  It is powerful but not quite up to Blendtec standards.  I can make spinach smoothies in the morning if I can find good spinach.  Otherwise I try to eat lots of veggies when the cafeteria cooks them.  

new missionaries

We had 54 new North Americans arrive today. Actually there are just a handful who will need to come in at 9 or 9:30 the rest of us will be in bed.  Elder Blanchard will be in Seattle in 6 weeks.  I don't know if that is Rachel's area of town. I had to give my welcome presentation 3 times.  At least it did not pour down this week.

bus ride to downtown Mexico City to get our visa

The church and the CCM are so organized to have all of us get photos and visas.  Two bus loads of us went to the immigration office downtown to get our visas and be fingerprinted.  On the way back the bus driver took us through the scenic part of town.  This fountain was beautiful even from the bus.

I don't know the meaning of this statue.  But again nice from the bus.

On Friday, our P-day we went to a beautiful mall.  We watched the funeral services of Boyd K. Packer at noon and then ate a late lunch.  Following that we went with the other senior couples to a mall.  I bought a skirt and we ate dinner at Red Lobster.  Dennis drove.  The traffic is crazy and the pedestrians are sometimes the same.  One women walked right in front of us as we were driving down the street. Dennis missed hitting her by inches.  

I love the plants in the mall and especially the ones that grown on the walls both inside and outside the mall.  Notice the colored fountain in the back.  The mall had 5 levels.   

We considered seeing a movie but there just wasn't a good fit for missionaries who are trying to keep                        the spirit of the Lord with them at all times.  So we passed on that.

The mall is beautiful and very modern.  

Sunday July 12  Dennis and I both spoke in our Sacrament meeting.  The president asked me to speak on the restoration of the church.  One of our Elders who has just been here for 3 days is depressed and wants to go home.  He says he has no desire to serve a mission.  I hope he will stay................ Oh here the edit on Monday.  The elder has talked to his mission president here at the CCM, stake president, and mom and dad.  He is staying and going to give it a try.  We will celebrate big for his 19th birthday on Friday.