That is right we have been transferred to a new mission. We
are now serving in the Oaxaca Temple. Rosa is an ordinance worker and manager
of the temple secretaries and I am an ordinance worker and assistant recorder.
How we ended up here is quite a story and I will tell that later in this blog.
But first, when we heard that we were going to be leaving
we wanted to fulfill a promise we had made to the missionaries in Puerto
Escondido and do apartment checks. I am pretty sure they just wanted the
cookies ; ) So last week we went to Puerto for two days. While we were there we
had a few hours extra, because the missionaries were having their District
meeting, so we went on a boat to see turtles and dolphins. What a great
adventure, many of you may have seen the video on Facebook of me and the sea
turtle. If not here are some pictures.
We also saw probably over a hundred manta rays. They are so beautiful when they jump and “fly” out of the water. We also saw more than 30 dolphins. These animals in their natural state are awesome as they jump and flip and tail walk in the ocean.
Saying goodbye to all the missionaries and our dear friends
in Huatulco was extremely hard. In fact I would say it is the second hardest
goodbye we have ever had, the first being when we left to come here. The only
thing that helped is that we will see most of our friends from Huatulco every
six weeks when they take the 10 hour bus trip, one way, to come to the temple. One
of the bright sides of this is that there were several people who hadn’t been
to the temple in quite some time who committed to come before we leave to go
home. We love Huatulco and left a piece of our heart there.
Now how did we end up being transferred? As most of you
know, Senior Missionaries are usually in the same place for their entire
mission. That is what we assumed and we set up home in Huatulco. However this
wasn’t to be in our case, imagine that, something unusual happening to the
DeWolf’s ; )
About a month and a half ago we had the thought, what if we
went and served in the temple during the really hot months in Huatulco. We
laughed about that because Senior Missionaries don’t ever get transferred. Then
one of the couples, who we have gotten to know well, from the temple had a
family situation where she had to return home immediately. He, because of what
he did, was not able to return until they found a replacement. As soon as we
heard she had to leave we discussed the possibility of serving in the temple,
but again, Senior Missionaries don’t get transferred. Then President Madsen’s
wife called Rosa about a medical issues with a missionary and during the
conversation mentioned that they had also had the same thoughts. She asked if
we would be open to the possibility. We said “whatever the Lord wants, we are
willing to do. Then the next day President Madsen called me and asked if we
would be willing to help so that the Elder could get home to his family. I said
let us give it some thought and pray and see what the Lord wants and that we
would call him in a couple of days. So we sat down and did the pro vs con list.
It turned out to be about 50/50. Then we discussed it and kept going back and
forth. Our heart was in Huatulco but we wanted to be of service were needed. We
went back and forth for about a day and a half. Then the next morning at about
5:00 am I had to let the cat out. As I laid back down I prayed and said Lord, I
need a clear answer. Usually the answers I get are something like “you know
what you should do” or “either one is fine with me” I did not want it to be
that vague. So I went back to sleep after my prayer and for the first time in
my life The Lord answered my prayer with a dream. I was walking down a path and
came upon an opening, I looked and wondered “should I go in or keep going down
the path?” As I was standing there caught up in thought another person came
from the other end of the path toward me. It was a member of the branch here
that we have grown to love. He just looked at me and pointed to the opening and
said “you are supposed to go in there, they need you” I immediately woke Rosa
up and told her I had the answer we were looking for and shared my dream with
her. Our prayers had been answered and decision made.
We spent the next week getting ready to leave, including
the trip to Puerto, and then headed out for Oaxaca to begin serving in the
Temple.
This first week has been incredible. I think my Spanish has
improved at least 50% from where it was in six days. Being around people who
only speak Spanish for 10 hours, on average, a day is really helping. Also
having to learn all the temple ordinances in Spanish is clearly helping.
We had our branch from Huatulco visit the temple Saturday.
Also some of the missionaries serving or previously served on the coast were at
the temple with recent converts. Seeing them was wonderful, it made me think of
how great it will be and what wonderful reunions we will have on the other side
of the veil with friends and family as they arrive. Saturday evening we went to
a baptism and were able to reunite with five of the missionaries we got to know
while we were serving on the coast. Another reminder of how sweet reunions are.
After the baptism the Sister that was baptized held a birthday party for her
son and they invited us to stay and join them. The love and welcoming spirit of
the people in Mexico is incredible. Saturday turned out to be one of the best
days we have had here.
The spirit that we feel daily is incredible and we are so
happy that we were directed to come here. Bonus, it is about 20 degrees cooler
and not very humid. That is an immediate blessing.
Seeing the dedication of the members that have to travel
long distances to visit the temple is so inspiring. They truly do have great
faith similar to Mama.
The Lord is willing to guide and direct our lives in the
path that will benefit us the most if we will but listen to the messages He is
sending our way. Often it is through someone else that our prayers are
answered.
From Oaxaca with Love,
Elder and Hermana DeWolf
