A Long and Winding Road

We left Oaxaca around 1:00 pm Tuesday afternoon and arrived in Huatulco after 8:00 pm. You are probably thinking that we traveled about 300 miles, nope about 150. It is indeed a Long and Windy road no matter which of the three roads you take from Oaxaca to Huatulco. While we did stop for lunch for about 15 minutes we drove the remainder of the time, with the exception of about a 20 minute delay due to a bloqueo by Mother Nature.
It was raining through the Sierra and the rain caused a large tree to fall across the road. I went up to see what was happening and ended up assisting about 20 amigos in cutting and removing half the tree so that we could clear one lane and let traffic continue. We accomplished this with 2 machetes and on axe. I opted to use the axe and chop the highest trunk in the picture below.

The next day we continued looking for a place to call home and with the help of Presidente Pineda we found a great apartment in the center of Huatulco. We are happy to have a place to call home for the next 17 months and are anxious to get to work serving the people in this region of Mexico.

We have met with the District Presidency and with Local Branch Presidents and we are going to assist with the plan to grow these Districts into a Stake. As you know, Mexican's are a happy and hard working people by nature. We are excited to be here among them.

Friday night we had a Branch activity/fireside that was focused on eternal marriage. Before the meeting started they handed all the men a card with an envelope and asked us to write a love note to our wives and told us we would deliver it later. When the fireside concluded they had all the men leave the chapel and we all were given a rose and a chocolate bar to give our wives along with the note and an horchata. Rosa is pictured below with hers.

After we had an Incredible dinner that was served to us by the branch jovens (Teenagers). At the end the men were again called away and we were given a Pina Colada to deliver to our wives. After dinner I was able to play soccer with some of the brethren against the jovens. I am not much of a soccer player but had a great time. All in all it was a great evening.

Saturday we drove north and explored a couple of new areas we hadn't been to yet. On the way back we stopped at an overlook that is above Bahia de Santa Cruz. Simply Beautiful !!!!!

On the way we saw a couple of the local buzzards just waiting for a meal.

We finished Saturday evening with a great meal at a local restaurant on the beach.

I had Coco Shrimp and Rosa had Lobster tacos. When ya'll come and visit we will take you here ; )

Sunday was Fast and Testimony meeting and the District President asked us to share our testimonies. Rosa went first, since she CAN speak Spanish, and introduced us and bore a beautiful testimony as to why we are here and of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I followed and began in Spanish and explained that I was very nervous and new to the language. I then bore testimony in English and concluded with my simple, 6 line, testimony in Spanish.

The love we feel for and from the people here is just amazing.

We finished the day with a District Leadership meeting and were introduced to a few of the Branch Presidents. Next Sunday will be the Mexico City Temple Dedication and then we will begin visiting a different Branch each Sunday to discover how we can help.