Gaviotas Zone

We bring in lunch to the missionaries after the interviews are finished.  We usually do pizza, which is a big hit. But with the Gaviotas Zone, we were in Villahermosa and we had more choices - so Kentucky Fried Chicken was the winner!!

Elder Engemann and Elder Beal
acquired the Kentucky Fried Chicken!

The Elders were understandably excited!

Elder Beal trying to keep a stray dog away
from the KFC trash.

Zone Interviews

We have spent the last two weeks traveling to each Zone in the Mission, we have 11 Zones.  Villahermosa is in the middle of the Mission, Acayucan and Coatzacolcos are at the East end about 3 hours away and Ciudad del Carmen is to the Northeast corner about 2 1/2 hours away and then Palenque (including Zapata and Tenosique) are to the east about 2 1/2 to 3 hours away. So needless to say, we have been doing a lot of driving in the last two weeks. President Haws has interviewed each missionary in each Zone for a total of about 165.  We started on the west side with Acayucan Zone one day, then Minatitlan- 2 Zones the next day.  Then back to the office for a work day, things keep moving even when we are not there.  Then we went out to a little town called Comalcalco and did the Cardenas Zone.  Then we drove up north to Ciudad del Carmen, it is a port city on the Gulf of Mexico and it is on an island, there we interviewed the Carmen Zone. President takes one missionary into interview him or her and I get to visit with their companion.  I have done my best with Spanish, most of our missionaries are from Spanish speaking countries, so I definitely get to practice my Spanish.  I greet them with my best Spanish greetings and then I ask, habla ingles?  Some say, un poco. But my challenge begins when they say, no.  I say no?  nada, I say nada?  OK, here we go. . .  we then do our best in speaking the language of love and spanish and english.  We have wonderful missionaries in this mission, we love them all and we are getting to know them and see and feel their love of the Lord.

Hermana's in the Acayucan and Minitilan Zones
with Hermana Haws

Missionaries in the Cardenas Zone with President and Hermana Haws

Office Elders

It is hard to be an Office Elder, there is a lot of extra work. Like carrying about 25 boxes of Church manuals and books to the Church building for Seminary and Institute.
  But there are perks too - like when Hermana Haws brings in a batch of homemade freshly baked Chocolate Chip cookies!!  They were a first for some of the Elders and a much needed reminder of home for others, but they were adored by all.

 President Haws, Elder Davis, Elder Herrera

  President Haws, Elder Davis, Elder Herrera,
Elder Hernandez and Elder Beal

Elder Moreno, Elder Herrera, Elder Davis, Elder Beal
Elder Sanchez and Elder Hernandez

Teachers Strike

There is a Teacher's Strike going on here in Tabasco.  They are closing down the highways and not letting trucks go through.  They are a little more lenient with small cars, sometimes.  One trip we could not get through, but our last attempt to get to Palenque was successful.  It is just making it difficult to get around our mission for us and for our missionaries!  I'm sure it will be resolved soon, in the mean time we are all learning patience.

We added another level of difficulty, we got a flat tire as we were going through the blockade.  President Haws, said thank you dad, as he change the tire.

Zapata

We discovered a lovely little town southeast of Villahermosa called Zapata.  We went to meet our last group of missionaries in the Palenque and Zapata Zones on Thursday.  We again were thrilled to meet the last of our missionaries and our hearts swelled as we walked into the room.  The Elders and Hermanas have such great countenances of goodness and love.  We feel complete now that we have seen every missionary.  Now this week we begin to go back to each Zone and President will be able to do individual interviews with each missionary.

Zapata

We had great chicken tacos here!

These little vehicles are everywhere and very useful!

Our First Group of New Missionaries

We received our first group of missionaries from the Mexico City CCM on Monday!  There were 11 of them, 6 Hermanas and 5 Elders.  We had a wonderful time receiving them at the Villahermosa Airport and we brought our Assistants to the President, Elder Herrera and Elder Davis and Secretary to the President, Elder Sanchez to help.  Our first stop was at the Villahermosa Temple and then we fed them and brought them to the Office for interviews and training.