THE BIG PIG

The really big pig

So, we had to go to this little town again, further up in the mountains, to do temple recommend interview.  We parked on the side of the road across from the chapel.  On this side of the road is a vacant area with bushes and trees.  We have parked here before, Kathy’s side of the car is up against the “wild”.  When parked here before, Kathy had to deal with some really big chickens.  Well, this time, she went to get out of the car and heard a big snort.  She looked around, and there was the biggest pig ever!!  She jumped back in the car as the pig continued to snort very loudly.  Gary got out and surveyed the situation.  The giant pig was tied to a tree and very upset it could not reach more grass, so, it was grunting loudly.  Since the pig was secured, Kathy got out of the car.  Here is a photo.

The breakfast

We have two zones we are responsible for.   One zone, over the last two months, we have not done much for them.  So, we thought we would surprise them with a very nice breakfast before their zone meeting started.  There are 16 elders in this zone. We planned well ahead, made the sure the meeting was going to be held, at what time, and where.  We got up early and cooked for several hours.  We made scrambled eggs, bacon, ham, fried potatoes, and blue berry pancakes ( we bought the mix in Walmart in another town some time ago).  

Then came the challenges, we got everything in the car in tinfoil containers, and, started out.  It was important to get there before their meeting started.  Well, it turns out there was a giant foot race going on in our area.  We spent probably 30 minutes trying to drive around the race, every road we took, there was the race.  We finally got through, and got to the chapel where the meeting was held.  We went to the room where the elders were meeting and, cracked open the door, but, the zone leader was really mad and reproving the elders strongly because they had no action with investigators the past week or plans for the next week!  We were sure they deserved it, but, it seems we had another failure with this zone.  We closed the door, and, found we forgot the drinks, another challenge, so we went to a store to buy the drinks and came back.  When we arrived, things had calmed down and they were about finished with their meeting.  At the close of the meeting, we brought the stuff in and served the breakfast.  And, it was a big hit!!  They loved it.  So, we finally did something nice for this zone.

The pinchazo

We are always so worried about something happening to our car.  We need it working at all times in case of missionary emergencies, for traveling to handle temple recommends and other important tasks.    And, we have not a clue where to get the car fixed!

Well, the worst of worsts, the back tire on the drivers side was going flat.  We remember that next to a restaurant we have gone to several times, is a pinchazo.  That, is a tire place.  Well, this is not like a tire place we may be used to in the states.  It is a tiny room, no window, and open to the street.  Just a hole in the wall.  The man that owns the place works unbelievable hard on giant truck tires with manual tools!  The tire work is done on the side walk and on the side of the road.  We drove up and pushed our car in between tires and stopped.  The man was handling with big steel bars a really large truck tire.   We got out, and, with broken spanish and hand signs we got him to understand that the back drivers side tire had a slow leak and needed to be fixed.  The tire was taken off, a screw had punctured the tire, they fixed the puncture and got it back on in about 15 minutes.  The cost was about $1.30!! 

here is a picture.

The new missionary

As we mentioned before, we have been assigned to help future missionaries get their applications down and get them on their missions.   One girl, Cleidi, has been called to Veracruz Mexico and left today.  We have struggled for the last two months to get all her vaccinations done.  It is very hard to get vaccinations here.  We have to wait for the 2nd thursday of each month and meet this man in the local fire station.  He has a little cooler with all these vaccines in it.  And we have to pay.

So, we got the vaccinations done.  Then, our president was planning on setting her apart but called us saturday night and asked Gary to to the setting apart.  We, he did some praying and pondering and got, what we thought, an inspired blessing for Cleidi printed up.

We went to meet her to set her apart in her little town about and hour and a half away, at 1p.  We got a call that she could not be set apart and would have meet today at 7am.  Her grandfather died and the day was a mess for her.

We got up and 5 and were ready to leave for the meeting spot.  A church in a town about 20 minutes away.  We got this call, we could not completely understand the message but the person that called said the roads were closed!!  We we did not know what to do.   Cleidi has to be set apart today, she is leaving for the Mexico MTC!  We said a pray and drove off with faith and determination.  We would walk to the town if we had to.   We got to this Church at 7am.  Their was no road closing yet.  We were worried that the road would be closed at any time and we would be stranded!   Then we got a call.  They could not make it until 8:30a.  So, we went back to our town, got some gasoline, and went back, continually worried about the road being closed.  We finally met Cleidi and her brother in law.  They said the road was closed on the road to the capital and not here.  Well, Gary did a good blessing, and they took off to see if they could get through.  The bottom line:  We cannot do anything that does good for the missionary work without lots of obstacles in our way.   We are use to by now, and, we say a pray and just move on.