Dia de los Muertos

In many Latin American countries, including Mexico, November 1 and 2 are days to honor the dead. Families gather to honor their ancestestors and create private alters decorated with sugar skulls, marigolds, and rememberences of their loved ones. November 1 is the Catholic holiday, All Saints Day, and November 2 is All Soul's Day. While in the US, Halloween on October 31 is a scary holiday, Dia de los Muertos is a celebration of loved ones who have gone to the next life. We were in Zacatecas and Durango during the week of these holidays so were able to witness many interesting displays. Here are a few photos of the shrines created to honor loved ones.

September 09 Changes

Our outgoing missionaries...
Back: Alvarado, Sheffield, Miranda,
Front: Hna. Marquez, Basilio, and Carmona. We miss them dearly.

Our New Missionaries...Elder Nava



Elder Juarez

Elder Diaz

Elder Jimenez

Elder Vargas






Elder Pedraza

Elder Torres and Elder Guzman returned at the end of August so that they could start school on time. Here they are posing at the airport on their final morning.

A visit from Elder and Sister Johnson

Elder and Sister Johnson, our new area president and wife, spent the first week in September with us touring our mission. We had an enjoyable time becoming acquainted and being with all of our missionaries for special zone conferences. Elder Johnson is a master teacher and asked the missionaries to come prepared with some thoughts on Article of Faith #4. We had great discussions in all of the zones and the missionaries really prepared well. Elder Johnson also presented a new way of approaching prospective members and it relies heavily on being worthy of the spirit. We have our work cut out for us as we try to incorporate this method and try to be worthy of the spirit at all times.
This is a view of a small park in front of the hotel in which we stayed in Zacatecas, Zacatecas. It's called the Mason de Jobito and was a very comfortable place. Zacatecas is a very beautiful colonial city and the Johnsons enjoyed seeing a bit of it.

A walkway within the hotel.

President Clark is always thinking---about missionaries!

Elder Daniel and Sr. LeAnn Johnson. She's originally from Sugar City, Idaho and he's from Chiuahuah, Mexico. They met at the "Frostop" drive-in in Ashton--the home town of President Clark. It's a small world after all.

Mission President's Seminar

Mission President's Seminar

August 2009--Mexico City, Mexico

In August of 2009 we had the opportunity to attend the annual Mission President's seminar in Mexico City. In attendance were all 21 of the Mission Presidents serving in Mexico. Conducting the seminar was our new Area President, Elder Daniel Johnson and his counselors Elder De Hoyas and Elder Tenorio. Presiding were Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Elder Walter Gonzalez of the Seventy. It was a spiritual feast and a great time to meet the new presidents and their wives and feel of their enthusiasm for the work.

We took a short walk from our hotel to watch the Voladores de Papantla in Chapultepec Parque.
Here they are flying!

We had the privilege of attending the Temple in Mexico City and then posed for a group picture
in the Visitor's Center. Here is a photo of our new area presidency with Elders Christofferson and Gonzalez with their wives. (Hna. Gonzalez was not present)

We had an afternoon to be tourists while there. Our choice was to visit the famous Museo Nacional de Antrophogia and then tour the downtown area by tour bus. It was all very interesting and beautiful.

Bruce shares his passion for running with this statue of one of the famous Tarahumara Indians who are famous for having the stamina to run for very long distances.

Mexico City was designed by Napoleon and patterned after Paris with large boulevards and lots of beautiful statues.

Angel de La Independencia

La bandera de Mexico

We celebrated our 36th anniversary with a beautiful cake and well wishes presented to us by the other presidents at lunch on our final day.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson, Hermana Clark, President Clark, and Elder Walter F. Gonzalez of the Seventy.

Zone Leader's Council--July 2009

Zone Leaders Council

Every six weeks, all the Zone Leaders in the mission meet at our mission home for two days of meetings as we plan the upcoming zone conferences.
These young men oversee the work of approximately 20 missionaries in their zones. (we now have 190 missionaries in the entire mission). They have a huge responsibility and take it very seriously. Here they are pictured during the Monday evening portion of our meeting.



A little family night fun gives them a break from their planning. Here great minds compete in a game of scrabble.
Food is always appreciated after a hard day's work. Elders Ruiz, Sheffield, Rincon, and Santoyo act like they've never seen chocolate cake before.

Happy campers...Elders Noakes, Maxfield, Kjar, Hunsaker, Strawn, and Moreno.

Elders Sheffield and Ruiz are the Zone Leaders in our La Laguna Zone. They look pretty happy to be eating baked potatoes.

Here are all of them posing for their traditional group photo. This is a great group and we feel blessed to be able to work with them to help make our mission better.

Back: Hernandez, Libby, Sheffield, Strawn, Noakes, Guevara, Lule

Middle: Ruiz, Von Bracht, Kjar, Maxfield, Rincon, Masterson, Stoor,

Sitting: Santoyo, Moreno, Pres. Clark, Zizumbo, Guzman

Floor: Carlson, Hunsaker, Clark, Mills

Things that make missionaries smile....

Things that make missionaries smile...

Baptisms!

Elder Von Bracht and Elder Lule (our assistants) are dressed in their whites as they finish filling the font. A mother and a daughter were baptized later that day.

Family and friends that greet them at the airport after their missions!

Elder Cabrera is greeted by four former sister missionaries from the Mexico Torreon Mission! Hermanas Martinez, Garcia, and Carpio served with us. The other sister served with the former president.



Actually getting rained on in Torreon!

Elders Jimenez, Chatu, and Lamb were caught in this downpour in Torreon's sister city of Gomez Palacio.


Sharing a bit of their mission experience with family nine months after their mission is over.

Elder Spencer Wallin with his parents and his sister Lizzy at the mission home.


Getting packages from home and sharing your Jelly Bellies with your friends!

Elder Shimata had a great time sharing with Elders Guevara, Reyes, Maldonado, Lomas, and Franco!

Greeting friends at interviews!

Elders Flores, Mills, Roman, and Grover--brothers in the mission.



Playing the game "Basta" at zone conference.

The zones from Zacatecas and Fresnillo play here! To play Basta, someone names a letter of the alphabet and teams must quickly write down a theme, a scripture reference, a question, and a committment and then yell "basta" first. (that means stop) They get points according to their answers and originality.






Getting suckers from Sister Clark and the Liahona magazine from church headquarters at interviews.

Elders Checketts, Ray, and Meza






Knowing that being a missionary is a once in a lifetime experience and that you should enjoy it while you can!

Elder Lomas only has seven weeks left to share the gospel message. He does it with joy!






President Clark and I feel so blessed to be able to work with these great young people as they share the message that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored through a prophet in these days. The light you see in their eyes is the light of Christ. If you want to find out more about their message, go to www.lds.org.

Mini-MTC in La Laguna Stake

The La Laguna Stake in Gomez Palacio, Durango held a youth activity this Saturday that was outstanding. They organized a Mini-MTC or CCM as they call it here in Mexico. (Centro de Capacitacion Misional) All the youth in the stake attended in missionary attire to learn about how to be a missionary. We began with a welcome in the chapel where Pres. Clark spoke and the full-time missionaries sang. Then the youth were divided into two groups, the Sons of Mosiah and the Sons of Helaman. There were workshops taught by the missionaries and returned missionaries, lunch, and then the youth actually went out with a companion and an adult to an assigned area to talk to people about the church. They shared their experiences in a testimony meeting at the close of the day. It was exciting to hear of their successes as they found that it is not hard ot share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father hears the prayers of his children and knows the desires of their hearts. When they are ready, missionaries find them and teach them so that they can enjoy the blessings of the gospel in their lives. Here are some photos of the great youth in the La Laguna Stake.

Here the full-time missionaries serving in La Laguna pose for a photo.

The joy of missionary work shows in their smiles.

Breakfast in the MTC

Future Sister Missionaries

Gathering for a group photo.

Future Missionaries!