Nolte's South of the Border

Saying Goodbye

2010-11-04T21:45:00.000-07:00

We are saying “good-bye” this week. We are so glad that we will have good memories to take home.

Good bye to a dedicated, hard working PEF Staff. We have learned the ins and outs of The Perpetual Education Fund—an inspired program. We have learned knew skills and have done things that are very hard—at least until we do them. Then they don’t seem as bad. The staff at the PEF Call center is the greatest.

Goodbye to our ward family—Benemerito 8^th Ward. They made us feel at home. We will have memories of teaching Sunday School, friendly chats, and Mary Ann being made to feel included even though she didn’t understand a lot of what was going on, visiting and home teaching, and get-togethers.

Goodbye to a wonderful English Class at Instituto Arbolillo! One of the high points of our mission. We love these kids! Always a highlight of the week. We will miss the singing, the games, and the talking and the growing close as a class. We had a lot of fun.

Goodbye to good friends. We are glad to have fun memories of adventures in discovering the ins and outs of Mexico City— of long but interesting bus rides, of crammed Metro rides, of getting stuck in traffic on top of a double decker tour bus, of tranjeros and the mariachi singers in Xochimilco, learning a bit of history at Chapultapec Castle. It’s been fun to do these things with friends. They’ve been adventures.

Goodbye to perfect weather. We have no need for furnaces or air conditioning her in Mexico City. The weather is a gift every day.

Goodbye to Benemerito and our little apartment. Here we will always have good memories of Jeff doing the dishes and me, reading aloud a book borrowed from the English Department. We will have good memories of the daily “Buenos dias” from the security guards, the gardener, the students, and our neighbors.

Goodbye to Mexican Food. We love it!

Goodbye to a great mission assignment. We’ve been very blessed. We love the people here. We know that we’ve grown here. It’s been great to do it with a great companion!

Goodbye Mexico!

We are so blessed.

Note: We are leaving Monday, Nov 8 early in the morning and driving to Tampico. On Wednesday, Nov 10, we will drive to Texas. Nov. 11, Thursday, we will arrive at Anna Min’s in Amarillo. We will go to Gallup on Nov. 13 and will be there for a few days. We look forward to being with family for Thanksgiving at Anna Min’s.

Bicentennial In Mexico!

2010-09-16T11:04:00.000-07:00

HOLA! From Mexico ! When last we wrote, we were celebrating Independence Day for the USA. Now we’ve been celebrating Mexico’s Independence. Last Friday, we celebrated with Benemerito and the Zarahemla Stake. Last night we celebrated with the Arbolillo Stake. In both cases, there was a lot of traditional dancing and music. And lots of traditional food! Love the food! love all the friendly people!

The Tacos Pastoral were the most popular!Dancing at Benemerito

My favorite was the elote: Corn on the cob brushed generously with mayonaise, rolled in cheese, and dusted with Chilli powder. MMMMM.......

We loved seeing everyone in their traditional dress. And we loved the traditional dancing and singing. Such a great beat!

The work at the Call Center is busy and booming. We’re so glad to have more and more volunteers and more missionaries—some already here and some more on the way! There’s much work to do. We are also involved with a new Pilot Program in PEF and we are involved in visiting and training Stake Presidencies and Stake Education Specialists. We handle the 3 missions from Mexico City involved in the program, and the Norton’s handle the missions from out of the city. Sundays and weekends are very busy for us.

Sister Castillo at the Call Center with the vounteers.

More volunteers! We need more space!

Here are the Norton's from Provo. They stayed with us for 5 weeks.

In spite of all the extra workload, we feel blessed to be able to be teaching another Institute English Class. It’s been fun working with these youth again and is always a lift to our day.

Jeff is teaching Sunday School again. He studies and stews over it, but he has been blessed with the spirit there and we’ve had some great lessons.

What a fun English class we have! Here they are after a relay race of drawing the different body parts on the board!

It seems that we are constantly facing new challenges and hard things to do. To me, that would be the theme of our mission. I feel like such a baby. Well, we have a brand new and a very big challenge—We have lost our big bed! We had put two twin beds together to make a King-size bed and were very comfortable for the last 5 months. Well the twin beds were needed for Benemerito students, so now Jeff and I have to make due with a very small queen size bed that feels like a double bed. Maybe it is a double bed. All we know is that it is very small, that Jeff’s feet hang over the edge, and that we’re knocking each other all night. This too shall pass

. No picture of the bed, so I thought we'd show some other challenges--Mexico City Traffic. On this trip to the Immigration Offices to get our visas, we watched a car get slammed while on their busy highway. -- something I felt we could see everytime we're out in traffic. They drive very close and aggressively.

Here is Jeff at the Tiangues -- everything is just too low for him!

We can’t complain too much. We have a two day holiday! We’re able to get caught up on some cleaning, some blogging, some letter writing, and later on, we’re going to a concert and program here at Benemerito. Tomorrow, we’re going to the Temple.

We send our Love to All.

Here are some other photos:

Here we are at the Arbolillo Celebration with Fermin, one of our most dedicated volunteers.

One of our traditions -- donuts every shopping day.

A nice little trip to the Anthropology Museum in Mexico City.

Any similarities?

Our Last Trip to the temple with the Norton's, Sister Castillo, Sister Martinez, and there we ran into the Camarillo's. Looking forward to going tomorrow.

Independence Day

2010-07-18T20:02:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Independence Day with other couple missionaries at the 16th Century Monastery "Desierto de los leones" Here are a few pictures!

Happy Fourth of July!

We made about 50 deviled eggs! All the food was wonderful and delicious!

A little hike to a couple of hermitages nearby.

Walking up to the roof!

We had a great day! Fun to get together with other couple missionaries!

Tidbits of June

2010-07-01T05:43:00.000-07:00

We've had a SUPER BUSY month. Here are just a few of the scenes of our June:

Here are some of the wonderful people we work with! We had just finished our PEF booth at a college fair.

Seniors are having fun the week of graduation. It ended in a big water fight! It was just outside our window.

Christien is one of the first students that we met here at Benemerito. She did her Young Women’s Personal Progress Service hours by cleaning our apartment and our car and helping me to practice my Spanish.

Here’s our Benemerito 6th Ward Sunday School Class which Elder Nolte did a great job in teaching.

This is our Sunday School President, Kolob, graduating.

Hi Francisco! We had a great seat at graduation! We were able to see everyone walk by and we sat near friends.

At the Benemerito Graduation, we were surprised to see Berenice from Tampico. It was so fun and a wonderful tender mercy. We willl always have a place in our heart for our Tampico Family.

We have to come many good friends here in Mexico City--now they are going. Leslie came to say "Good-bye" as she heads home to Chiapus. Leslie from the beginning has helped me understand the Relief Society lessons. Such a sweet girl!

Here’s those who were hanging around after Church our last Sunday before the students graduated and went home and before the ward was combined with the other 7 wards for the summer—Barrio Unico.

Such a typical sight here. I really wanted to get the picture of the man on the bicycle with a big box container on the back with dry-cleaning hanging on a bar overhead and a little boy sitting in the box amongst the hanging clothes.

This was a crazy hailstorm that came up one day. We’ve had some crazy downpours as well. We even had an earthquake during the night. Didn’t feel it though.

The Sun always comes out!

A birthday Surprise! Ariana, a volunteer at the center left these beautiful flowers as a surprise! I had a wonderful birthday--we gave a presentation to some homebound missionaries then we went to the Temple.

P.S. The email test failed. I discovered that you can email your blogs so I prepared that little email with a picture. The picture didn't show--just the words. Here's the picture of the people we work closely with:

Elder Nolte, Esteban, Sister Nolte, and "Chuy"--they're the best!

Email Test

2010-06-30T19:07:00.001-07:00

This is a test to see if emailing this works.

Here we are at a college fair!

TWO MONTHS -- TOP TEN

2010-05-22T20:07:00.000-07:00

We've been on our mission for a year now and it's been just over two months that we've been here in Mexico City. It's a time of reflection. I remember Sister Bentley asking me when we'd just been in Tampico for two months, “Have you had your two-month cry?” I had had several of them. There's something about being in a strange place, unable to understand the language, and trying to figure out what your doing, trying to belong, and getting to know people --that part of all this process involves crying. I can attest to it.

Here in Mexico City, I'm going through the same process—maybe not quite so bad—but I'm going through it nevertheless. Especially this week. The only other time that I cried more is when we were faced with leaving our beloved Tampico. Poor Jeff. It's hard for him when I cry—even though he understands and has experienced the same struggles. We both know that this time will pass.

And so we keep counting our blessings and the many little tender mercies that come our way. Here are the top ten:

1.We've been able to do some more site-seeing with some of the other missionaries (Doctor, Psychologist, Visitor Center missionaries, temple missionaries. Last Saturday, we traveled to a former Carmelite monastery, Desierto de las Leones, and Tula. The Monastery was built in the 16th and 17th Centuries and is big and impressive, with beautiful gardens, a series underground tunnels, and many smaller hermitage cottages surrounding it. It's now part of a national park where people come to picnic, and bike, and hike, etc.

A monk explained what life would have been like here. It turned out that he was an actor.

2.We also traveled to Tula and saw some more pyramids that came into prominence after Teotihuacan (the pyramids we visited last time) at about 600 – 800 A.D. We traveled back into Mexico City and ate the most wonderful Chinese Food at a place called Blossom.

Tula

3.We've heard from many of our Tampico Students which always brings a lift to our day and our spritits. A very special email came from Mario—he was from our last English Class. He wrote to share with us his happiness and special feelings of his baptism on May 15. He sent pictures and everything. Lupita wrote us at her one year anniversary of baptism. We got the news of Nelly's and Marco's upcoming wedding via facebook. Edgar sent us photos of his and Celia's wedding. Omar, Cindy, Ale, and Karla have written just to see how we are doing and letting us know what's going on in their life.

New friends...

4.Jeff has been called to be a Sunday School teacher—now he spends most of his spare minutes studying the lesson and then studying how to present it all in Spanish. He's doing great. His Spanish is improving immensely. He is speaking all the time now on the telephone at the service center without a panic attack.

5.We are slowly getting to know others and it's making me speak my Spanish. Candy gave me a permanent and cut in our apartment and she is so nice and repeated so I could understand. She likes to talk. She came to Mexico City and Benemerito so she could be around her last child who is attending school here. Fabiola, another new friend and the Institute secretary, is helping me speak Spanish and I'm helping her speak English. The same is with Esteban and “Chuey”, the two bosses, we work with here in the PEF Service Center.

Walking outside Benemerito--to the institute.

6.The other day when Jeff went to have his hair cut with Candy at the little shop at Benemerito, I decided to go to the Library to check out some English novels. The ladies at the Library sent me to Maestro Bucio in another building who is the Coordinator of their English classes. He was very friendly and so happy to accomodate me. He took me to another building and I was able to pick from a room full of books. Jeff and I have been grateful for good books. We've been reading many of them together in the evenings as well as reading the scriptures in English and in Spanish..

7.A special “tender mercy” moment was as I was walking back with Bro. Bucio after picking out the books, and after telling him that Jeff and I were working in the Perpetual Education Fund Service Center, he shared with me with passion and testimony and excitement his experience with PEF. He said that he was on his mission (New York Manhatten Mission) when the announcement was made by Pres. Hinckley. He started to cry. He had been wondering what he was going to do when he returned back to Mexico. Now he knew. He came back, qualified for a PEF loan, attended a university, graduated, has a great job, and last year he paid off his loan. He spoke with excitement and gratitude. That moment made me feel the blessing and importance of this miracle program. I felt happy and joyful and lifted as did the rest of the office when we shared this experience.

Jeff & Arturo, one of the volunteers and a good friend at the Service Center.

8.Jeff and I are both learning things we never expected to be learning while on this mission-- Excel, Mail Merge, texting, even genealogy and the YW Personal Progress. Probably couldn't be a better class room. Because I have limited Spanish skills, I seem to have a little bit more free time . So I've been learning genealogy from Sister Jarvis. She works on it a lot in the office. I was feeling a little bit guilty about doing my own genealogy here on our mission, but we've watched how Sister Jarvis has been a blessing to many people around here. Everyone from the Area Seventy, to the Institute Director, to young Benemerito Students, to ward members, and to even Jeff and I are learning New.FamilySearch under her direction.

9.Elder Bednar has been in Mexico City this week. This morning we attended a broadcast to Church Employees of a devotional at which he, Elder Gonzalez, and Bishop McMullin spoke. It was so uplifting and just what I needed to hear. Elder Bednar, sharing his experiences at Ricks & BYU-I, told us that having the best people doing their jobs with diligence and consistency will not insure success. What it needed is for the people to go beyond what their job description dictates--”to be anxiously engages in a good cause”.

A little bird that always shows up outside our window in the mornings.

10.We've been blessed so much. We are grateful for the opportunity to serve where we are needed. Everywhere we go, and in the strangest places, people thank us for coming to serve in the PEF Service Center—it seems everyone has heard that we really we had a difficult time as we didn't want to leave Tampico. We know that we are supposed to be here and hopefully we can do some good.

TEOTIHUACAN

2010-04-18T16:37:00.000-07:00

We had the marvelous opportunity to travel with the Institute students to Teotihuacan this week. It's one of the major archeological sites of the world--said to have been built a couple of centuries B.C. It is very impressive--two very large pyramids-- the Pyramid of the Sun, and the Pyramid of the Moon, as well as many other massive structures and areas.

Resting on the steps with the Jarvis'

All the institute kids.

We actually climbed the Pyramid of the Sun. It was steep and the steps are narrow and high.

We made it to the top. The pyramid of the Moon is in the background.

We can check this off our bucket list !

Eating "comida tipica".

What a great 35th Wedding Anniversary !

A Whirl-Wind of Feelings, Changes, and Events…

2010-03-31T20:22:00.000-07:00

On March 3, 2010, we accepted a call to serve in the Church’s Perpetual Education Fund (PEF) Service and Call Center in Mexico City. Since that time, our lives have been a-whirl wind of feelings, changes, and events.

Our friends at the Institute

Feelings

Accepting the call to serve in Mexico City meant that we would be leaving Tampico prematurely, and along with it, all the people and the things that we had come to love so dearly. Our heartstrings have been pulled and stretched so much this last month they hurt terribly! We know they will stop hurting as we come to know and work with the Saints in Mexico City.

Our Book of Mormon Class!

Our English Class!

Changes

Responsibilities: The PEF assists young adults in the church in planning for successful lives, and in some cases, provides financial assistance for education to those in need. We will be working in the Mexico PEF Call Center, assisting staff and volunteers in the daily administration and support of students in the PEF program. There are about 5,000 young adults in Mexico that are enrolled in PEF.

PEF Staff and Trainers

Where we live: We are now living on campus of Benemerito, a high school sponsored by the Church. It has the look and feel of the BYU campuses. The kids and grounds are beautiful! There are about 2000 kids that attend Benemerito. Half of them live on campus in dorms or in group homes, and the other half live at home. The dorms are just like Heritage Halls at BYU-Provo, except that there are no kitchens in them because everyone living in the dorms eats at the school cafeteria. The group homes have about 18 kids per home, and each home has a couple/family that provides for, or otherwise cooks for them! We live in a converted dorm room at the girls dorms. One of the 3 bedrooms has been converted to a kitchen. It reminds me a lot of Anna Min and Jereme’s place at BYU Idaho. The campus is safe and includes a security gate manned 24 hours per day by security personnel.

The front door to our new home.

The view outside our front door.

The Institute in Mexico City with Elder & Sister Jarvis

Where we work: The PEF Call Center is located in a nearby Institute building and is only a 15 minute walk away for us. We work 8:30 AM – 5PM, Mon through Friday, and 9 AM -1 PM on Saturdays. Being so close to and working all day at the call center/institute is a good thing because the traffic and drivers here are crazy! Right now the only place we plan to go in our car is to Walmart, which is 5 minutes away! Otherwise, we’re walking or if we have to, going by taxi!

Events

Transito Police: While working with the missionaries, I got stopped in the car (again) by a Transito (Traffic) policeman. This time, I ended up paying the policeman what he asked for.

Flight to Mexico City: Four days after we received our new call, we flew to Mexico City and stayed for a week of training about the PEF program. We stayed at Benemerito in the apartment we now live in, and ate almost all of our meals at the school cafeteria. Eating at the cafeteria was wonderful not only because it was convenient but also because the food was delicious! While in Mexico City, we attended a PEF board meeting with the Mexico Area Presidency in their downtown offices! The meeting was great but the taxi ride was crazy!

At the Beach

Anna Min’s Visit to Tampico: Anna Min came to visit us in Tampico! As is the Nolte custom, we packed everything we could in those 3 ½ days she was with us! Eating out for fish and Mexican cuisine, buying at the street market, walking the dike at the Madero-Tampico Playa (beach), attending our English and Book of Mormon classes at the Institute, going to our branch for Sunday Services, and of course, traveling to Tajin (Totonacan ruins) and Costa Esmeralda (Best Western Noray-Hotel on beachfront of Gulf Coast). We sure loved having her with us—it was a real boost!

At Costa Esmeralda

Costa Esmeralda with Anna Min

Our Move to Mexico City: Last Thursday, and three days after Anna Min flew home, we packed up our belongings and moved here to Mexico City! It took us 9 hours to make the trip. Although some of the roads were pretty precarious, the scenery was beautiful, especially climbing up and traveling through the mountains. There were a few times along the way that we took turns or routes that at the time we thought were incorrect but later turned out to be exactly where we needed to go. We recognize the source from which we were assisted along the way and the power of your prayers being offered in our behalf.

A Warm Welcome: The Jarvis’s and Olsens, two other missionary couples serving in Mexico City have treated us wonderfully! Thanks to them, we have already been to the temple and visitors center grounds, had our refrigerator stocked with fresh fruit and vegetables, and been invited over for dinner on several occasions, and even seen a video or two since arriving.

We are grateful to all who enrich their lives with their love and friendship.

Love,

Jeff and Mary Ann

A beautiful morning

The Nelson's Come to Tampico! HOORAY!

2010-02-28T15:29:00.000-08:00

Our mission is over the half-way mark now. It seems to be going faster and faster. We're still busy with English and Book of Mormon classes, Young Adult activities, and the usual odds and ends. Jeff has been asked to sit in on the various institute classes, take notes, meet with the teachers, and make comments and report back. He really likes this responsibility. It's fun to attend the classes and meet with the students and teachers.

Boyd, Emily, Gavin and Eli have blessed us with their coming to Mexico, Feb 16-23. So Wonderful! For a whole week even! We were able to search for alligators at Laguna de Carpentera(?), explore El Tajin, relax on the Costa Esmeralda at Best Western Norays, eat lots of yummy food, play at the beach in Tampico as well, visit the institute and English classes with presentations on New York City, and most of all we've been able to be together and reconnect with kids and grandkids, play games, and have fun. WE count this as a tender mercy.

Other news:

We've continued to have an extra cool winter, but we now that Spring and hot weather are going to be here soon. We'll enjoy this last bit of cool weather as long as it lasts. We're glad the weather improved while Boyd and Emily were here.

Jeff has lost the privilege to complain about other drivers--as he has shown he can drive even crazier.

Everyone says that I'm talking more Spanish. I don't feel like I know much more--I guess I'm just not as afraid to try.

I did give my first talk in Spanish at the baptism of our new student, Arely. Jeff has been able to sing at church and at some baptisms. He really enjoys that.

We look forward to Anna Min coming in a couple of weeks! Hooray!

I still can't figure how to easily move pictures around in this blog.... OH WELL...

NEW YEAR, NEW SEMESTER, NEW EXPERIENCES

2010-01-18T18:06:00.000-08:00

Toby dressed for the cold!

COLD WEATHER--Apparently, Tampico is having its coldest winter in 17 years. It's been soooo freezing cold! A couple of weeks of 50 degree weather and then three days of 40 degree weather. I know that doesn't sound bad, but with the humidity, and with the lack of heaters, and limited winter clothing, we've been cold. I've been wearing Jeff's socks, two tops along with my sweater and rain jacket all day long, inside and outside. We are fortunate to have a space heater to use courtesy of our landlady. Still we jump under the covers when we get home. Sunday, everyone was sitting in Sacrament meeting in their stocking caps, gloves, coats, and scarves, boots, and long socks . And at the institute, everyone was busy at their computers shivering in their winter gear. I took pictures on the cell phone, but I can't figure out how to transfer them to the computer.

Naranja, Veracruz, Mexico

UPDATE: I wrote that paragraph a week ago. We're back to some 70 degree weather. So revitalizing. We've had a lot of rain, but today we had sunshine. Love it!

TRIALS & MISHAPS: Jeff somehow completely erased my institute gmail contact list containing names, email addresses, phone numbers, addresses, birthdays, wards, stakes, pictures and notes. He felt pretty bad.... At least it happened the week before classes began and it gave us both something to keep us really busy. Most of it has been recovered.

OOPS! Then, Jeff dropped the camera on our second night of classes and it stopped working. We were able to take any pictures of the class. He felt pretty bad about that. He remembered that I wanted a new camera anyway. The next day when we went to go to the store, we discovered that things had snapped back into place and opened and shut as normal. A tender mercy.

NEXT, we couldn't transfer our photos onto the computer for some reason. I complained to Norton since I thought it might be because of the new virus software. They got on remote to help me and what do you know---it started towork.

NEW CLASSES: We started new English classes and have all new faces. It's fun. It's a smaller group than usual and we're not going to divide, but it's really just the right size—about 17-18 students. They are a really fun class. Of course, this means Jeff and I have to team teach. A tricky situation. I get kind of bossy. Jeff's handling the music. I'm planning the class.

Our Saturday Book of Mormon II Class has familiar faces! We appreciate the sacrifice of these kids to give us a part of their Saturday night—even when it is their only free day.

Reynosa Family

CHRISTMAS! We had a very nice Christmas and New Years which involved lots of get-togethers and dinners (Bentley's, Call's, Reynoso's, Trevino's), missionary farewells, BYU sports, a couple of movies, four new books to read. The highlight was being able to travel around the mission and deliver mail, packages, and Christmas wishes to the MEXICO TAMPICO missionaries in time for Christmas. On Dec. 23, Jeff and I travel to Naranja, Tuxpan, Huehutla, Poza Rica, Papantla, and a few other places I can't remember right now—a twelve hour day trip which met with lots of traffic, some car trouble, and some VERY HAPPY MISSIONARIES. It was worth it. Jeff went out with Pres. Call on Dec 24 to make other deliveries in the Victoria area.

Karla Trevino came with us as we delivered Christmas packages & cards to the missionaries. Here we are in Poza Rica

CHRISTMAS AGAIN—This week (Jan 15) cards and packages arrived! We hadn't had any mail since November. We put on the music, opened the cards, the packages, and ate the candy that came with it. It was fun!

RECRUITING—Come to Institute! We're making the rounds to the different wards to invite the Young Adults to Institute! It makes Sunday's our busiest days. Yesterday, after visiting 3 wards and their Single Adult classes in the morning and early afternoon, we ran home for a quick bite and then ran out again to a fireside which the missionaries arranged for us to speak at. Afterwards, they served “Moyetes”. MMMMM..... good!

Moyetes!

Didn't think this would be sooooo long! So I won't go on about the language struggles, the traffic scares, Jeff's backache as a result of carrying a car battery 4 blocks, sniffles and colds,or the grandkids that we miss! I will just say that we are looking forward to having Emily, Boyd, Gavin and Eli here in a month! WHOOPEE!

Barrio Aeropuerto Young Single Adults

Feliz Navidad ! 2009 Christmas Newsletter

2009-12-19T18:17:00.000-08:00

This year we celebrate Christmas in Tampico, Mexico-- very much missing our family and friends from home, but enjoying the young adults and many new friends we have met here serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Just like the climate, the people here are very warm and encompassing.

It's been a whirlwind of a year! Many challenges! Many Blessings! Many things to do! Many new things to learn! The highs and lows include:

A CES/PEF Mission call (Church Education System/ Perpetual Education Fund) to Mexico

Traveling to Utah, Texas, California and NewYork to see mothers, kids, and grandkids

Checking off the endless list of “to dos” to get ready to live in a foreign country for 18 months

Making it through yet another busy tax season (Mary Ann)

Trying to learn Spanish over the telephone

Getting an unexpected offer on the house at the last possible minute—Yes we sold our house.

Receiving so much help from our Gallup friends and neighbors! (cleaning, moving furniture, offers to run erands, dinners, fix up projects, hugs, and love) THANKS!

Jeff's root canal the morning we entered the MTC and its ensuing pain and problems

A wonderful and overwhelming experience at the MTC (Missionary Training Center)

Driving to Tampico, Mexico—stopped for speeding (?) $40 payable on the spot. Driving the speed limit the rest of the way and being passed by EVERYBODY!

Having 50 kids show up to our first English class and being left to our own resources. Check out Jeff's singing the Hokey Pokey at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ilLu8QmlUM

Attempting to understand and speak Spanish. Everyone speaks so fast!

Realizing we're not through with late night activities with young adults—dances, karaokes, firesides, etc.

Enjoying the native cuisine! We love it! Contrary to prior information they do have some “hot” dishes here.

Speaking a little bit more Spanish—poco a poco

Jeff singing “mucho” -- solos, choirs, quartets....

Teaching Book of Mormon to a great group of kids.

Enjoying Temple work

Typing “registros” at the Mission office on Wednesday's. (Mary Ann)

Visiting young adults in this tri-city area of a million people and trying to find their house in the many colonias, often on unmarked streets, and illogical house numbers and incredible traffic. We're learning to ask for directions which is really the best way to find places once you get to the right Colonia.

Hobnobbing with the missionaries. They're another great way to find addresses and youth. And fun to be with!

Feeling more and more a part of things by participating in Family Home Evenings, Weddings, Christmas Choirs, Dances, Celebrations.

Getting to know the youth and being strengthened by their love and testimonies of Christ.

We feel so blessed! We count you as one of our many blessings! We hope that you have a memorable Christmas and a uplifting new year! We look forward to hearing from you!

Love, Jeff & Mary Ann

This is a giant tamale served at a wedding celebration!

Milestones, More Discoveries, & Gratitudes

2009-11-23T17:32:00.000-08:00

Book of Mormon Class Surprise

We've reached a few milestones:

1. Jeff turned 57 last Saturday.
2. We've been on our mission for 6 months now.
3. We've celebrated our first Thanksgiving here in Tampico. (A few days early).
4. Mary Ann answered a question in Sunday School Class on Sunday in SPANISH.
5. Mary Ann is singing in a choir for Stake Conference next week. Jeff thinks that's a milestone.
6. Mary Ann hasn't needed the English headsets in the temple for the last two times.

Thanksgiving with the Bentley's, Call's, and Bro. Alvarez

New Discoveries:
1. I learned today that you can't put fresh pineapple in jello. We had soupy jello at our Thanksgiving meal today. Oops.

2. Three couples at the dinner share a common ancester--Sally Tiffany and Cyril Call. And we learned today that following back Sally Tiffany's line that we have ancesters that came over on the Mayflower. Pretty nifty, huh?

Gratitudes:

1. The tradition of Thanksgiving dinner.

2. Opportunities

3. Family

4. Friends--here and back home

5. Freedom

6. A loving Heavenly Father

7. Our Savior, Jesus Christ

8. We're grateful for the people we work with as well.

NEW DISCOVERIES

2009-11-09T15:00:00.000-08:00

Hey! We've been in Tampico for five months. We are learning new things all the time. Thought we'd share a few of them.

We have a pepper tree growing in front among the avocado tree and the lemon tree. Didn't know that black pepper grows on trees.

I did this 999 piece puzzle (lost one piece). It was fun. Jeff was glad for the computer time.

We've discovered that when Jeff hit the gate in a downpour of a rainstorm a couple of Saturday's ago and ripped off our side mirror, it was a good thing. It led to our meeting our Elder's Quorum president in the branch who is now our new mechanic. He was able to resourcefully fix the mirror and charged us less than five bucks. And when he changed the oil in the car and saw how dirty the oil was, he informed us that the gas in Mexico is very bad and we need to use the premium. Another discovery.

The best time to drive is on Sunday, especially Sunday mornings. Not as much traffic. Driving to Church is so nice. After Church, we usually have appointments and have been traveling to some of the outlying areas. The roads there are worse, there are even fewer street signs, and it's a little less modern than Tampico. We wish we would have remembered to bring the camera. Anyway, we are very pleased with ourselves because last Sunday, we were able to find an address in one of these outlying areas without a map, and only by learning the general area from a branch member and by stopping a couple of times to ask directions along the way. (A hard thing for Jeff) When we got there, no one was home. A common event. But we were so happy that we even found the place, we didn't care. We've had some earlier stressful experiences--like driving around for 2 1/2 hours and not finding an address that was on the map and getting lost. We won't talk about that.

Moving on to other new discoveries---Mole. Hma. Christel invited us to dinner yesterday and served us Mole. It was great. Couldn't tell you exactly what it is--a type of sauce served over chicken. Today we tried "Enchiladas" at Sanborn's--not anything like the enchiladas we're used to, but very good. We've also discovered a new restaurant--Pipilos. It serves very good local dishes buffet style.

Shopping. Sister Bentley, the temple matron, took me and Sister Call to the mercado. It's a little outdoor market place that comes to the street by the institute every Thursday. Pres. Martinez took us there once and told us it was the best place to buy fruit. Sister Bentley convinced us it's the best place to find clothes, especially modest, missionary-appropriate clothing. Most of the clothing is used, some of it new. It comes from the United States as we see "Goodwill" and "Deseret Industries" and"Ross" and other store tags on some of the clothing. She convinced us to try some clothes on over our clothing to see if they fit. So we did. I picked up 2 skirts and a jacket for about $20. Good deal.

The Mexican people are so resourceful. At a carnival activity, darts for the balloon game were made from straws, straight pins and hot glue. They worked great. Rings were made from packing tape only. A friend went to pick fruit from a tall tree with a milk jug and old broom handle. Vendors on the street, "in" the street, actually, will wash your windshield, even replace wipers while you wait at the light. Other vendors sell candy, toys, balls, fans, etc. etc. There's even flame throwers, jugglers, and entertainers all in the streets hoping to earn some pesos from those stopped at the red lights.
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This is Luis. He's 13. Jeff and I teach him English once a week. We usually come up with a game to play as Luis isn't always interested in learning the usual ways. He's a good kid and we really like to teach him.

Can you tell today is wash day?

We're having our ups and downs, but we love the students, teaching English, visiting, and especially teaching Book of Mormon. We feel very blessed to be here. We feel more at home all the time.

Treasures in Tajin

2009-10-15T19:07:00.000-07:00

We had ourselves a little adventure last week.

On Wednesday, Oct. 7, we traveled with our neighbors, the Misbach's, for about 130 miles south to Poza Rica in the state of Veracruz. It took us about 4 ½ hours which should tell you how the roads were. They can best be described by the words: Potholes and Topes (Topes are GIGANTIC speed bumps). But hey, the countryside was beautiful and lush and we traveled through the areas where they grow oranges and bananas, etc. Poza Rica is a good-sized, very bustling city because of the booming oil business there. Anyway, when we got there, we learned that I had goofed up and made our hotel reservations for Thursday and not for Wednesday. The Poza Rica Inn was all booked up. The Fiesta Inn was all booked up, another Poza Rica Inn had a suite that we could all share. Not acceptable. No one brought PJ's. Three snorers in the bunch. We kept looking. The Emerald beach motels were full. Oh no. We found another hotel employee who was nicer and more helpful. We got reservations at the Hotel San Francisco. Definitely a one star hotel. But hey, so what if there were no railings on our second story platforms which led to our rooms, the rooms weren't that bad (TV & Air Conditioning)and the price was wonderful. We finished up the rest of the KFC we brought, for dinner. (We saw the kitchen at the hotel restaurant)

The next morning, we were off by 8:00 for Tajin. It is near the city Papantla and is a very amazing archealogical site from a civilization of Totonacs dated around 300 a.d. To 1200 a.d. For unknown reasons it was abandoned by its people, then it became overgrown by jungle so much that even the early Spanish explorers never found it. That is why it is so well preserved. There's a market place, ceremonial buildings, pyramid structures, and ball courts--imagine a game somewhat like volleyball where you only use your knees, hips or shoulders to move the ball and the ball weighs about 8 lbs, and it's not supposed to touch the ground. Now imagine the winning team captain allowed to be beheaded for a human sacrifice to the Gods. Sorry I was side tracked there. There's the palaces and places where the merchants and the leaders lived, and the places where the lower class lived. Many places are still being excavated. Tajin means city or place of THUNDER. And they have a lot of it there. We felt very fortunate to be there during good weather. There were hardly any crowds. We hired an guide who spoke English which was great. Perfecto.

Here's dad at one of the ball courts.

This is the market place.

This was Elder Misbach's 80th birthday. He said it was his best ever.

After touring the area, we decided to do some business in the nearby marketplace putting the extra $$$ we saved from the change in hotels to good use. This area is known for its vanilla and its embroidered shirts and dresses. I love them all. We were off for Tampico by 1:30 p.m. Arriving home just as it was getting dark --exhausted but having had a great time! It was a nice diversion. We want to visit it again.

< This is my Tajin skirt and top.

Classes, Soccer, Dances, and Celebrations

2009-09-24T13:29:00.000-07:00

Karla & Alejandra

Raul--we went to his soccer game. He loves soccer!

Independencia celebration at the stake center!

Branch Pres. Soriano, his wife and one of his daughters.

So much good food!

We're still here in Tampico, Mexico. We're still teaching English Classes. We're now teaching Book of Mormon in English as well. We love it. Always, we're looking for new ways to teach. We're still doing the Hokey Pokey, This Little Light of Mine, The Grand Old Duke of York, I've got that Learning Spirit, and the Bunny Hop. Yes, our training in Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts has really come in handy. We also sing I am a Child of God, and As I Have Loved You and have the students learn about and repeat scriptures. That's a little more missionary-like right?

Seeing a former student, Francisco, unexpectedly at Church with a brand new white shirt and tie is a wonderful tender mercy that we have experienced. He was having the missionary lessons when he stopped coming to class. He attended faithfully and when he stopped I worried if something had happened. So seeing him at church was a wonderful thing. He told me his work schedule had changed and he couldn't come anymore to English Class. That's OK. He's coming to church.

Another student, Diego, was baptized last month. It's a great feeling even though we're not directly involved in that side of things. His contact with the missionaries was made in my class.

Most every Friday, there's a dance somewhere. Of course, we try to go to them all if only for an hour. The picture posted is a Spanish theme dance (can't remember the actual name). It's fun to see the kids in their outfits and it's especially fun to watch them dance. They all love to dance here it seems.

Each stake here and apparently throughout Mexico celebrate Mexico's Independencia (Sept 16) with a big party. There's dancing and performing and lots and lots of food. We enjoyed the food and the beginnings of the dancing etc. but were too tired to stay until midnight when there's really a lot of celebrating. It was lots of fun.

We're making visits still. Sometimes we go out with the full time missionaries as they can help us in locating where these youth live. We were invited back to one of the homes with the sister missionaries to give a FHE and were surprised with dinner--Frijoles Charro (not sure on spelling). It was very good. We just feel bad that we forgot the camera. We've been forgetting it a lot.

The rain has been coming a lot lately. It's good because they've been experiencing drought conditions here. It doesn't feel like it. It feels humid, humid, humid. Always. I can't count how many times my glasses fog up. When I go outside our door I feel like I'm in one of those tropical rain forest zoo areas. With all the birds, it sounds like it too.

We are especially grateful to be here in Tampico, Mexico. We love the people. We love the area. We love teaching. Most the time, we love visiting. We look forward to working with PEF (perpetual education fund) training. We miss our family and friends. We miss a few American products, but I can't think of them now, so we must not miss them that much. This is a wonderful growing experience.

Hokey Pokey

2009-08-27T17:31:00.000-07:00

We've started new classes in English. This is my class. I have the beginners. Somedays I feel like I can neither speak English or Spanish.

Here are the people that are at the Institute most everyday: Hma Lopez, Hermana & Hermano Blanco, Pres. Martinez, Pres. Esparza. It's Hermano Blanco's birthday.

My desk.

Here's Jeff's last semester class. We had brownies and ice cream that night. It was a real big hit.

Someone from this class recorded Dad (Jeff) singing the Hokey Pokey with the class and posted it on youtube. Here are the links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ilLu8QmlUM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag76jJxwq3I

New Living Quarters

2009-08-27T15:15:00.001-07:00

We moved from our apartment to this little cottage last week. It is quiet, peaceful and private. We live right behind our Landlord, a very nice lady named Maria Magdaline.

No trouble finding a parking spot. This is our driveway with a gate.

Our living room. It's fully furnished. The Batt's also left us a lot of stuff.

Our dining room table and work area.

We are very comfortable. Jeff just loves this chair. It's like our old one at home.

Here's a peak at our kitchen. This one has some cupboards and an oven. Our last one didn't have them.

The biggest drawback is the short doorways. OUCH! OUCH! Just ask Elder Nolte. You should see the top of his head.

Another peak at the kitchen.

Our Bedroom has a King Size Bed. Thank you Elder & Sister Batt. It's wonderful!

Tucked in our bedroom closet is our computer area. We feel very blessed to be here in Tampico in our little cottage. We like this way of "roughing" it.

Blessings and Beaches

2009-08-11T15:11:00.000-07:00

President Martinez and Elder Nolte

Last Thursday night at about 10:30 p.m. as we were leaving the Institute, Jeff turned to me and said "Are we lucky or what? We get to work with the Young Adults!" We had just spent the evening teaching our English classes and then stayed around for the Karaoke party to start. We just love being with these kids. They are so great! They coaxed Jeff to sing with the karaoke--they had some beatles songs that were in English. It was fun for Jeff and for me (I just lipped standing next to him.) We are so blessed!

Bro. Alvarez and Pres. Martinez singing Karaoke.

It was another busy week. The Olsen's (welfare missionaries who train Stake Presidents and bishops, and orient new couple missionaries) flew into town and we were able to visit and have dinner with them and the other couple missionaries.

And while Jeff tries to track down young adults with the missionaries, I'm going to do some work in the mission home. Two mornings per week, I'll be filling out "registros" and doing other things that come up.

We do are visits on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday's. It's always a bit scarey--trying to find places, and talking with people we don't know (at least for me it is), but we've always felt welcome and felt the spirit with us and with those we visit. We come home afterwards so uplifted.

I spent 3-4 hours at the beach last Thursday with the ladies. It would be the last time for Sister Batt. So beautiful and relaxing. We didn't feel guilty for leaving our husbands behind. Although I'm anxious for Jeff to come cause I know he would love walking along the beach, basking in the sun, and relaxing.

We got together for Family Home Evening last night. We provided the refreshments: my favorite, Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream cones. Jeff gave the lessen. Played Apples to Apples. We're really going to miss the Batt's when they leave to go home next week.

The beginner English Class

We're trying to not have too much fun. There are still challenges. Can't think of them right now.

Hot Dancing

2009-08-08T15:05:00.000-07:00

There were 1200 kids ages 12-18 here in Tampico, July 29-Aug 1 , for an area wide youth conference. Quite a massive undertaking. We were not directly involved, but we sure felt there presence. The institute was a real hub of activity.

We were invited to go to the "Programa Cultural" on Friday night held at the gymnasium of the nearby university. Each Stake's youth performed a native or cultural dance. It was amazing--the energy, the skill, and the enjoyment of performing. It was really amazing. And I thought of all our granddaughters and how much they would have loved the beautiful dresses.

It was a great program. Only one drawback. The air conditioning was not working. Never been so hot in my life. A half an hour after the program when we returned home, every article of clothing I was wearing was wet, real wet. Never been so hot in my life. Program was still worth it.

Crocodiles and Tamales

2009-07-29T09:56:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that July is almost over. This month has gone fast. We've doing much of the same things--teaching English and visiting youth. We've even managed to find the homes on our very own. We rely heavily on a map. We've learned that you have to find the Colonia first, then find the street (there are several streets with the same name throughout the city), and then the number (which may or may not be placed sensibly) Last of all, you ask someone when you get somewhere close. And speaking of street names, there are some very interesting ones here: 20 de Septiembre, 20 de Noviembre, Libertad Medine Cedillo, BLVB Adolfo Lopez Mateos, Universidad de Wi sconsin, etc. --long names that only partially appear on the street sign--if there is one. Many of the streets are named after generals and dates of war victories, it seems.

We feel very proud of ourselves when we actually find what we set out to find. And we feel very happy when someone is home. We love the youth here!

So we finally saw some crocodiles. We took a boat cruise around the "Laguna de Carpentiera" and saw crocodiles, iguanas, and birds. It was only about 20-30 minutes, but very enjoyable especially being with the other couples who are here serving. Afterwards, we visited a nice flea market near by.

We've come to love Tamales. A mother of a student brought us some and they were so good that we've been buying them at HEB every week. So good and easy to heat up. We're getting used to the chilli pepper here. They do have it and it can be very hot. We still love the NM green chillis.

The local missionary couple (the Blanco's) that we share an office with took us to 7 Leaguas (Mexico's Fast Food place) and we ate delicious hamburguesas, fries, and pop. Instead of lettuce, they put a type of cole slaw on the burger and it tasted wonderful. We're going out today to try "Pollo Loco" (Crazy Chicken).

It's still very hot and humid here. There's been some rain, but not a lot. They're in a bit of drout here. We're starting to adapt to it and even feel cold at times in air conditioning. I am so glad Anna Min encouraged me to buy the Birkenstocks--they are the most comfortable shoes here. When I don't have to walk anywhere, they are the best.

Today, over 1000 Seminary age youth are meeting here in Tampico for a Youth Conference. The conference will last 3 days with lots of things planned--one being a big dance festival, cultural program. We're looking forward to that.

We love our mission and feel it was meant for us. We're learning all the time. Poco a poco , little by little. Buenos Tardes!

ONE MONTH

2009-07-06T09:45:00.000-07:00

We've been in Tampico now for one whole month! It's feeling a little more like and home and Jeff and I are settling in to the way things are here and working out a little routine, getting used to working together and finding our way around.

Events of this week:
Met new mission president and his wife: President Stanton Call--we're related, but it's way, way back. He's a marathon runner, which is what he's been doing since he's been here--been around meeting all the missionaries.

English classes are going realy well. We've been maintaining a count of around 45-50 kids each class period. There's always 4-5 new sign ups each time. Jeff is taking the more advanced English speakers and I'm taking the beginners. We've taken photos of most everyone and it's helped us to get to know everyone quicker. The students are fun, helpful, and very nice. And I love this part of our calling especially.

Jeff loves the visiting. Yesterday (Sunday) we drove out to Altimira (about 15 miles away) with the help of Italia and attended the three wards there, and their young single adult classes to give them a message and get them to sign up for institute. We were gone from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Then we went to a stake bishop's meeting at 7:00 p.m. with much the same message. Jeff was in heaven--he loves days like that. Earlier in the week, we visited some new converts with the missionaries. It was fun too.

There's a tradition here of the missionaries going to the temple when they are going home and we're very glad that we are invited too. We much enjoyed our session and find I am understanding the Spanish more and more. (still grateful for English headphones).

Challenges: Ants and Mosquitoes and ? . The ants just "spontaneously generate" at anything left out even if it's in a package. Sister Bentley (Temple matron) said that she's tried everything and has just learned to live with them and keep everything in plastic ice cream buckets. Then there's the mosquitoes or that's at least what I think they are. Don't hardly every see them, just feel them sting a few times. Yet my legs and arms are filled with bites and I can't itch them enough.

English Classes and Temple

2009-06-29T13:28:00.000-07:00

So far we've had 78 people sign up for our English course. Only 45 have shown up, but that is still a room full--so we've divided the class and Jeff and I each have a class. But we really enjoy teaching and being with these youth. They are polite and enthusiastic and fun to be with. We've been traveling around to the different wards and stakes and also to individual homes to visit them and encourage them to come to institute.

This past week, we've also had the opportunity to finally go to the Tampico Temple. It's a small temple and the session was full beyond capacity--chairs in all the aisles and extra rows up front. I was grateful for the headphones that translated it into English. There was a beautiful bride and groom in our session. There was a beautiful sky afterwards which we tried to catch with the camera.

I'm including pictures of the institute and the temple this post. Still haven't figured out how to add captions to each picture.

Siteseeing

2009-06-14T15:18:00.000-07:00

I wrote this blog, added pictures and then lost it. Anyway, we visited Victoria for a Conferencia Zona. We rode with Hmo. & Hma Batt. President and Sister Moss took us all out to dinner that night. The next day we went to the beach in Tampico. It was so nice to visit there. It's still hot and humid. Visited different wards today. Did I say that it is hot and humid here!! Everyone is so, so nice!

Mexico Apartment

2009-06-10T16:50:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone. We're still figuring this blog out. I thought we'd send pictures of our apartment. Sorry we missed getting pictures of the beautiful countryside coming down here. We were sitting on the edge of our seat watching for the right roads to turn on, watching for patrolmen along the way (we were stopped 3 times)--the first time $40. Others were OK. We were also watching for "topes" (big speed bumps). It was an 8 hour triip and we were so glad the Elder and Sister Batt waited for us at the aeroport.

We had dinner with President and Sister Moss that first evening (Sunday, June 7). It was so delicious. They have a beautiful home and it was nice to stay with them that first night. These past few days we have been doing all the paperwork and getting oriented to everything. Tomorrow, we are going to Victoria for a zone conference--it will be the last one for the Moss'. Then we will start on our CES assignment which will be to visit the youth, encourage them to sign up for institute and prepare for our English class.

Anyway, here are some pictures:

Last days at MTC

2009-06-10T16:39:00.000-07:00

CES

2009-05-27T19:58:00.000-07:00

We've had our CES training these past three days. It's been wonderful. I think I'm on brain overload. Hope that we can remember it.

There's no other place like the MTC. I love the people. I love the spirit here. The room is getting a little bit small. I am totally exhausted.

Tomorrow and Friday, it's PEF training at the Church office building.

We need some emails!

2009-05-23T21:13:00.000-07:00

FIRST WEEK!

2009-05-23T19:44:00.000-07:00

We have now been in the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo for 6 whole days! What a fabulous experience! Our days are filled with meetings, classes, firesides, role playing, and food! In the evenings we are working with our language tutor to learn Spanish. One evening we spent the whole time contacting younger missionaries and meeting them so we could practice our Spanish. Last night, our tutor blindfolded Dad and I had to give him directions in Spanish and we walked all around the grounds. We had fun but wow, were we beat!

There are about 25 couples just like us who have been called to serve in all parts of the U.S. and world, i.e. Cambodia, Croatia, Spain (Canary Islands), South Africa, Mexico, Ireland, Germany, Russia, Oregon, New Jersey, etc. It's been a highlight getting to know everyone.

And Dad's mouth is finally getting better. He went again to the dentist on Thursday and got an antibiotic (he forgot to give Dad a prescription). This morning, Dad finally woke up not hurting as bad.

Today has been our preparation day. We went to the temple, went to the store, cleaned the room, and took Ben and Kelsey and the kids out to dinner. It was great to get their hugs tonight.

What in store for next week---CES Training & PEF Training.

AT THE MTC!

2009-05-18T17:53:00.000-07:00

We've made it. We're at the MTC. Elder Nolte had a root canal this morning, then we came over and checked in. He's been in a lot of pain--at least until the pain medicine kicks in. We hope his mouth feels better tomorrow.

We're excited to be here even though we're quite exhausted. We've run into Alan Faust (Gallup Ward Young Man) which was fun. It's fun to find out where everyone has come from and where everyone is going. Dad is District Leader. They joked and told everyone that he was on drugs... There's a dentist in the group who's offered some good advice.

If somebody knows how to send this out to everyone, will you write us and let us know?

What Am I Doing?

2009-03-31T16:57:00.000-07:00

Well, I've created a blog. We'll see what happens from here. We're not south of the border yet, just busy trying to get ready to go there. But we figure this will be a great way to keep in touch with everyone. HOLA!