Feliz Navidad de Huatulco

This blog is to let all of you know how much we miss you and how much we feel your prayers and the love of the one whose birth we celebrate, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

We went back to our New Mexico roots with our Christmas lighting this year. Thanks to the missionaries who assisted us with this project. The service these young people give is beyond amazing and we are more amazed by them every day.

I shared with the missionaries this evening my love for nativities and how since I was a small child they have brought my mind to my Savior. We have several to keep our minds and hearts focused.

I also shared my testimony of the Atonement of our Savior and how, while his birth is supremely important, his sacrifice provides us the way to return to live with him and our Father and with our families for eternity. This quote by Elder Jeffrey R Holland reminds us daily why we are serving the people of Oaxaca.

As we feel the tug of our heart strings for the family we are not with this year we are reminded to keep sacred covenants and prepare so that we can live with them for eternity and just how sad it will be if we are not all together.

Feliz Navidad de Huatulco, Mexico !!!!!!

Service Is The Price You Pay For the Space You Occupy

Since I have recommitted to a weekly blog I am writing this one even though it ha not been a full week in order to keep my commitment of Monday/Tuesday blog posts.

We had an interesting 1/2 week. I helped free a tarantula from the church, attended a fantastic Temple Dedication Session, our first tomato showed up on our new tomato vines, sticks we stuck into the dirt started to grow and we did a service project with three families.

First the tarantula, as we walked into the church for the Tijuana Mexico Temple Dedication broadcast on Sunday a little boy went running by and said "Have you seen the tarantula yet?" WHAT? I assumed that there was one outside and that was why he was running out the door to go see it with his buddy.

So into the Temple Dedication we went. Incredible spirit in the first dedicatory session. I was fighting back tears the whole session and understood more than half of what was spoken in Spanish, WhooooHooooo!!!! I also understood everything Elder Oakes and President Uchtdorf said, of course they did speak in English ;) Although Pres Uchtdorf did begin and end his message in Spanish I still understood everything he said.

After the session was over we were talking with folks in the foyer area and I look up and there is the tarantula up in the corner of the wall and ceiling. I knew if he stayed there someone would end up killing him, so I saved him. I took a couple of envelopes and got him down and took him outside to be free. I actually wanted to put him in my bare hand but was afraid that the kids had been pestering him and he might react and bite me. That of course could lead to me reacting and speaking in a way that is not conducive to church attendance nor would it be a good example for a missionary to set. But all ended well and the tarantula was set free in the grass to go about his/her life in peace ; )

Now onto the tomato, yes I did say tomato. It is December 15th and we have three tomatoes on our vines that we planted a couple of months ago. We are hoping to eat a few on Christmas Day. Life is good for growing plants when you live everyday in a greenhouse. I am also sure that constantly sweating is good for me ; )

Speaking of living in a greenhouse, what an amazing place, you can actually stick a stick into the ground, water it and it will grow. We replaced all the palms that were in the front of our apartment with tropical flowers and plants. In the process we removed a beautiful plant that had gotten very leggy in an effort to find light among the palms. The man helping us said just cut it down and it will come back as a nice little bush with yellow flowers. He then asked if we wanted more than just one and we said of course. So he cut the leggy branches into sticks about 8 inches long and put about a third of it in the ground. Just water it he said and it will grow. I was skeptical, however here it is two weeks later and they are sprouting leaves. Amazing !!!!!!

Finally we did a service project for three families. We helped them gather the driftwood and construct driftwood Christmas Trees. We completed the trees last night and all were pleased with their trees. We ended up making four different trees as one of the people also wanted a small one for her office. There is just something magical about helping others at any time of the year, but helping three different families get their own Arbol de Navidad was especially rewarding. In fact I didn't even get grumpy despite the fact that I ate lunch at about 1:00 and then didn't get to dinner until after 10:00 pm due to the project. It is an eternal truth, when you serve others you completely forget about yourself and any issues/problems you may have.

.

With a week and a half left until Christmas I would challenge you to look for ways to serve someone between now and Christmas Day and see how much greater your joy is this Christmas season.

We Love You All and appreciate the prayers and thoughts in our behalf.

Elder and Hermana DeWolf

Has it Really Been Three and a Half Weeks ?????

Well so much for keeping up with the blog weekly ; )

Since the last blog we have gone to Oaxaca and back to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Temple Missionaries and purchase a few Nativities. Attended another parade, this one for Mexican Revolution Day, which culminated with young men flipping through hoops of fire, not something you would see in the USA everyday. Celebrated our 35th anniversary and Thanksgiving Day with a boat tour of the Bahias of Huatulco and skyped with family. Discovered that poinsettias actually grow to be trees in tropical environments. Took our first ride in a moto taxi. Visited the ruins in Mitla. Spent time with some member families celebrating birthdays. Had another missionary we have grown to love get transferred. Decorated our driftwood Christmas tree and many others things which seem to start early in the day and end late in the night.

I can report that I am now able to better understand people and actually asked a question in Spanish without thinking of the English words first. Maybe, with the Lord's help, I will be able to speak the language when I return in 14 months.

So without further adieu and any long winded speech, here are some pictures of the last 3 1/2 weeks for you to enjoy.

 

 

 

See if you can see the Face in the Rock?

 



Beaches, Trees, Tomatoes and Missionary Work

So this week we took the Hermana's to a few beaches on P-Day. One of the Hermana's is going home next week and this is her last P-Day so we wanted to spend some time with her and her companion. While we were there we took the opportunity to take some pictures of our nametags in cool settings. This is something the missionaries here do and it is pretty cool. Here are some of the pictures we took.

Here is a great picture of the Hermana's showing their love for all of us ; )

I forgot to share a cool thing that happened a few weeks ago. Elder Nonu was transferred to the city to lead another zone there and so Elder Dominguez and I were Comps for a day until his new companion, Elder Orosco, arrived. We went to the bus station to pick him up and while we were waiting a young man looked at me and said "hi Elder" I went over and asked his name and he said "Helaman" He didn't speak much English  and after asking him if he was a member in Spanish  and he said no, I then called Elder Dominguez over to talk with him. Turns out someone gave his Mom a Book of Mormon years ago and she named him after the Prophet Helaman. He had no idea who he was other than he was a person in the Book of Mormon. He told us he was on his way to Salina Cruz, about 3 hours away, to get married. He said that he was an alcoholic and wanted to change for his new wife and asked us if we thought we could help him. We told him that if it was OK with him we would have the missionaries in Salina Cruz call him. He gave us his number and we passed it on. Forward a couple of weeks and your Mom gets a call from a sick missionary in Salina Cruz. After she helps him he says "Tell Elder DeWolf thanks for the referral, Helaman is a great contact and is on track to be baptized soon" It is crazy how the Lord works and what he can accomplish through us if we will just let him.

Another cool story. We had a young man who is preparing for a mission as soon as he finishes school this year come to our house Sunday after church for lunch. He is the only member in his family and so we asked him to share his conversion story with us. He said that when he was about 10 years old he started asking questions about the Lord and why we are here and where do we go after this life, etc. He had some other christen missionaries at his house and he asked them "what happens when we die?" They told him our spirit leaves our body and our body stays here and that you will be a spirit in heaven. He said that didn't feel right to him. They invited him to come to church with them and he told them he would keep looking. So he did, he talked with many other people from different churches and it just never felt or sounded right to him. He then started praying for the Lord to send him two people to teach him. He was in the park one day dancing, he is a break dancer,  

and he saw a pair of sister missionaries. He then heard a voice say "don't talk to them" so he didn't. He kept seeing them and kept thinking the same thing. Then one night after praying for help he had a dream and in the dream he was told "These are the two you asked for, talk with them" The next day the Sisters came by the park again and this time they walked up to him and introduced themselves and asked him his name. He asked them his question, What happens to our body when we die? He knew the answer they gave him was the answer he had been praying for and so he agreed to meet with them. The Sisters couldn't teach him at his home because his parents were not to happy about him meeting with them. They finally let them come over and when he asked his parents for permission to be baptized they said no. He continued to pray and then went to his parents again and they said if that was what he felt he needed then they would approve. When the Sisters went to get the form signed by his parents, you need the parents permission if the child is younger than 18, they were talking with his Mom and told her he was very special. She quickly said "No, he is not special" Later they asked him why his Mom would say that and he told them that before he was born his Mom was visiting Mexico City and a stranger asked here to follow him somewhere. He took her to a beautiful white building surrounded by flowers and asked her to wait there by the flowers a little while. He then returned and told her that she would have a son and that he would be "very special". She went home and soon after was pregnant with this young man, who by the way is named Samuel. I can tell you from spending a couple of hours with him that he is indeed a very special young man and is very wise for his years.

 
Last story, we had our friend Mario and his family over for dinner last night and the Elders taught them and set up a follow up appointment for this Saturday. This our first "real" experience with the missionaries teaching someone from the start. It is exciting and we have no idea where it will lead but we would appreciate if you would keep Mario and his family in your prayers.
 
Three weeks and three days ago we planted some tomato plants from seed and they are now over 10" tall. It is amazing living in a "greenhouse"

 

 

Lastly. I promised to provide pictures of our driftwood Christmas trees. Here is one of the two we have. It is about 5 1/2 feet tall and has a starfish as the star. The first picture is the tree with no lights and then the tree with lights. The other tree is not quite finished yet so it will show up in a blog after Thanksgiving.

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family in the US and Happy Mexican Revolution Day to all our neighbors here in Mexico. We are looking forward to the parade, and of course the public service announcement by loudspeaker around 6:30 am again ; )

We love all of you and thank you once again for all your prayers and support.

Elder and Hermana DeWolf