Arrival in Mexico

Very early Wednesday, May 21 we left the MTC for a rainy drive to the Salt Lake International Airport. We rode in a shuttle with 6 young elders and one young sister, all very excited. The driver was a fun young man who had served a mission in Canada. The first thing we did after we lugged all of our bags into the airport was to weigh them again. We knew we would have to pay extra for two of them but when we weighed them on the airport scale, all of them were 2 pounds overweight. Over 50 lbs you have to pay a fee, over 70 lbs you have to pay a double fee. We had 2 suitcases @ 52 lbs and 2 suitcases @ 72 lbs. SO, we started taking things out of the suitcases and putting them in our carry-ons, what a fun job that was. Dad ended up with shoes, and extra books in his backpack, I had our i-pod station in my tote bag. Anyway when we weighed in at the counter the girl said what great packers we were because each of our cases was exactly on (if she only knew!!). The flights were on time and uneventful other than being very full.

We arrived on schedule and made it through customs easily. Elder Garvin, the director of the visitors’ center and his wife were there to meet us. With them were two elders to drive the large van and help with the luggage. The driver was the nephew of Rick and Karen Feinauer, small world. He was a great driver which is no small feat with the traffic in Mexico City.

When we arrived at our apt the elders helped us lug our luggage to our 2 floor apt. The Garvin’s had put fruit, juice etc in our fridge and had us up to their apt for soup and bread. Since arriving all of the couples have come to visit and we have an invitation to Sunday dinner at the doctor’s apt. The Garvin’s took us shopping at WalMart and Sam’s yesterday and we got all stocked up.
Our apartment is nice. We have a small kitchen equipped with microwave, crockpot, and all the needed items (no dishwasher but Dad is good at that). We have a small porch-like room off the kitchen with washer and dryer and a few shelves. We have a dining area attached to our living room, the living room is quite a good size and we have 3 bedrooms, one is set up as an office. The bathroom is nice, beautiful tile, but no tub. Oh well, I didn’t really expect to have a tub. It is pretty sterile looking right now but we will start adding a bit of color and interest to it soon.

Today was our first day at the center. Our duties are mostly administrative; the young sisters do all the tours. They are darling and it will be so much fun working with them. The center is really beautiful and we are very excited. We met with the mission president today, which was really nice. We do not report to him directly, but to Elder Garvin, but it was very nice to get to know him and I am sure we will see him from time to time.

We are very happy to be here and know it will be a wonderful experience. The spirit is so strong in the mission field it is a joy to be serving. I even bore my testimony today in Spanish in front of the young sisters in our morning devotional, now that is a test of faith.