Centro Para Visatantes

We have been asked exactly what our responsibilities are at the Visitors Center, so we thought it might be fun to take you on a tour and show and explain the Center to you.

Our main responsibilities are supervisory. We greet people as they come and we visit with them while they wait, but also make sure that the young sisters are there to greet them and to organize them into tours. The young sister missionaries (hermanas) are very well trained to meet the needs of the visitors.

Visitors may arrive in busloads, small groups, families or even individuals. The sisters usually sit and visit with them for a while and access their needs and then begin a tour with a Christus presentation. After the presentation (recorrido), the tour will vary but we will take you on a typical tour.

The tours start down the hall past the office where Elder Foley is working. Then they go past the sala where sisters are researching referrals. The first stop is at the temple kiosk. Our Visitors Center is the only one that has this particular display. The large board shows all 12 temples in Mexico. The screen is interactive with a map of the world. You can touch any country and it will enlarge to show you where temples are found in that country. It also has interactive programs explaining various things about the temples. The area has large chandeliers and pictures of rooms in the Temple. There are large windows that look out at the Mexico City Temple.

The next stop is usually the family area. Here is an exhibit of a family home. In the living room area is an interactive board with questions about the family. If one is chosen a "Homefront" ad related to that question shows on the TV. All the actors are Hispanic and it is done very well. There are also samplers with some of the more common quotes on the family and pictures of some Mexican families.

In the central part of the Center are various displays. This area has rounded wall on both sides with pictures portraying the life of Christ. In the middle are areas regarding the Plan of Salvation and speak of the purpose of prophets, the Savior, the family, etc. There are many interactive displays with testimonies of the prophets and testimonies of modern saints.

On the other side of the Center is an area dedicated to the Book of Mormon. There is an interactive board with stories from the Book of Mormon.There is a board with pictures and recorded testimonies of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, and there are Mexican saints testifying to the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. There is also a display of Books of Mormon from many countries in many languages.

In addition to the displays there are two small salas( den-like rooms) for small groups or individuals to watch a Church movie. There are also five theaters ranging in seating capacity from 30 to 60 where larger groups can view shows.

The tours are usually completed with a movie, after which the visitors are invited to fill out a referral card. If it is a member they fill out a card referring a family member or a friend. If is it not a member, they fill out a card for themselves with the opportunity to request a Book of Mormon be delivered to their house and to invite the missionaries to come by. Processing these referrals is a big part of our job. We process about 1500 to 2000 a month. Most of them are for the Mexico City area but we also send referral cards all over Mexico and to the Referral Center in Provo to be forwarded to other parts of the world.

In addition to this, we have other assignments we work on. Janice keeps a book of short biographies and pictures of all the sisters in the Visitors Center. She also maintains a large frame in the office with the pictures of all the missionary companionships. In addition she is helping with administering immunizations to the missionaries. Larry is writing a history of the Center and as part of that is collecting spiritual experiences from the missionaries that serve there. He types these up both in Spanish and English and then prints them with a picture of that missionary.

One of the stories that shows why we love our work so much was just given to Larry this week. The sister that wrote it told about a day some time ago when she saw a woman and her two daughters in front of the Visitors Center. She went out and invited them in. The daughters really wanted to come but the mother was very hesitant. She finally did come in and it turned out she was a member who was having serious doubts about the gospel. She visited with the sister and then watched a Church movie with her daughters. She became very emotional and left. The other day she came back into the Center and this same sister missionary was working. The woman had a friend with her. She walked up to the missionary and asked if she remembered who she was. The missionary said, "Of course I do" and gave her a big hug. The sister then told her she had been going to Church and her friend was taking the missionary discussions and would soon be baptized. We hear so many stories like this, it is very exciting.

We also try to enjoy the missionaries outside of the center when we can. Janice had two of the missionaries recently come to the apartment and helped them bake brownies. Today we had the two companionships that live in our building come to dinner. One of these sisters finishes her mission tomorrow and one of them is being transferred back to another Mexico City Mission from which she was serving until she had a medical problem. They were really funny, I had made that homemade hot fudge for dessert and had ice cream, nuts, m&ms and whipped cream to make sundaes. I also had some little cookies. Anyway they each built these sundaes and then insisted on putting our name tags by our sundaes and taking a picture. I guess it was some kind of a contest or something. Then when they were ready to leave they said they wanted to sing a song for us. I told them about the saying in the states to "sing for your supper" and they thought that was pretty funny.

We enjoy our work so much. We are constantly learning new things. We know we will continue to learn and have more opportunities to serve.

The Basilica de Guadalupe

It has been over two weeks since we updated our blog and the time has flown by. We are still so happy to be here and are loving our work in El Centro para Visitantes.

Weekends at the Center are especially exciting. We have worked the past two Saturday mornings and both weeks we have had three big busloads of people arrive. Last Saturday we had three buses with a total of over 200 people arrive within an hour and a half. The stakes and wards in the area often rent buses and then either the missionaries or sometimes the bishop will organize a group, usually consisting of investigators, newly baptized members, and other members and bring them to the Center. They start their tour with the Christus presentation and then usually watch a Church movie. The most popular ones are The Testament and The Restoration. The children also really enjoy some of the interactive displays at the Center. During the week we usually have two sets of sisters working with us in the Center. On Saturdays we have four sets and they really keep busy. It is so wonderful to see them with the large groups and how well they relate to the visitors.

We work every other Sunday from 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm. Sundays are also busy days, but it is largely member families bringing their children after church to watch a video. On Sunday evenings we often have concerts. It is a joy to watch the Mexican families. The parents show such affection for their children and they take such good care of them. Even the poorer families seem to always have their children so well dressed and they are very patient with them and the children seem exceptionally well behaved.

Janice has taken on an added responsibility. The doctor who lives across the hall in our apartment building gives immunizations to the missionaries in the MTC here. He has asked her to help him out. It is a good chance for her to practice Spanish since all of these missionaries are natives. She especially needs to know how to say "relax," "you are so brave," "have a candy." Her vocabulary continues to grow. Actually she enjoys seeing how dramatic some of the elders and sisters are.

On the 18th of June we had to go to Immigration to be fingerprinted and fill out some paperwork. It took an hour’s cab ride to get there, We were somewhat concerned not knowing what to expect but it turned out to be a very easy process and did not take long. The Immigration office is in a lovely part of Mexico City and since it was our day off we decided to explore. We found some nice malls and were even brave enough to both get our hair cut. We were both pretty pleased with the results although it was a little scary not knowing what we were getting into. We then had lunch and decided to walk to the Metro to go home. It was quite a long walk and we saw some really interesting things along the way. One was an amazing mall called Palacio de Hierro. This mall is very high class with a beautiful fountain in front and exclusive stores inside. We were too tired to explore but we might go back sometime.

That night when we got back we went to a farewell party for the DeHoyos, the cute young couple that lived in our building. He recently got a new job in Puebla which is where they are from. So they left and took their cute little Alberto with them. We now are without any babies in the building to grandparent.

Basilica de Guadalupe
On June 26th we went to the Basilica of Guadalupe with Paul and Ellen Garvin. Besides the fact that Paul and Ellen are great company and very knowledgeable about the area, they have a car and we didn’t have to fight the public transportation system.

The Basilica is very famous. In fact, John McCain during his recent diplomatic trip to Mexico went to see it the other day. The Basilica is not just another old Catholic church but is the central place of worship for Mexico’s patron saint, the Virgin of Guadalupe. The Virgin unites the native Indian religions of Mexico with Catholicism. The blue-mantled Virgin of Guadalupe is the most revered image in Mexico, and you will see her countenance wherever you travel. The Basilica may be the second most visited shrine in all the Catholic world, second only to St. Peter's in Rome.

The Basilica occupies the site where, on December 9, 1531, legend tells that a poor Indian named Juan Diego saw a vision of a beautiful lady in a blue mantle. The local bishop was reluctant to confirm that he had indeed seen the Virgin Mary, so he asked the peasant for evidence. Juan Diego saw the vision a second time, on December 12, and when he asked her for proof, she instructed him to collect the roses that began blooming in the rocky soil at his feet. He gathered the flowers in his cloak and returned to the bishop. When he unfurled his cloak, the flowers dropped to the ground and the image of the Virgin was miraculously imprinted on the rough-hewn cloth. The bishop immediately ordered the building of a church on the spot, and upon its completion, the cloth with the Virgin's image was hung in a place of honor, framed in gold.
Since that time, millions of the devout and the curious have come to view the miraculous image that experts, it is said, are at a loss to explain. So heavy was the flow of visitors -- many approached for hundreds of yards on their knees -- that the old church, already fragile, was insufficient to handle them. A magnificent new Basilica was opened in 1987.

The spacious grounds of the Basilica house not only the new and old Basilicas but are also surrounded by other Catholic churches, magnificent gardens, fountains, statues, a museum of religious icons and paintings. It was indeed a time well spent. It is further evidence, however, of how deeply ingrained the Catholic religion is to the people of Mexico and the challenges in teaching the gospel here.

In spite of the strong Catholic influence the gospel is true and we are seeing many of these humble Mexican people accept it. We process around 2000 referrals at the Visitors Center each month and see many baptisms resulting. It is so exciting to be even a small part of this wonderful work.

Back among the living

We are slow updating our blog due to illness. Both Janice and I were hit pretty hard with the flu. However, the last few days we have felt pretty good and think that it is a closed chapter. We are looking forward to being among the living again.

On Monday June 2nd we went to our first TIANGUIS which is like a big open air market. Several of the smaller streets are blocked off and vendors set up tables and bright red overhead awnings where they display their wares. It seems like they sell everything from nuts to bolts. The food goods include fresh vegetables and fruits, meat, dried herbs, and candy. You can also buy cooked foods, household goods, clothes, shoes, electronics, flowers, spare parts and tools, to name a few things. The prices are reasonable and it is a fun adventure. We hear that there are Thursday and Saturday tianguis in other nearby neighborhoods buy we have not gone there yet.

That night we attended our first family home evening. This is a custom among the senior missionary couples living in our apartment complex. Usually the three couples assigned to the Visitors Center, the medical doctor and the mental health advisor and their wives and a couple working as office missionaries in the Mexico City South Mission attend. There is a young couple living in our complex who also attend. We just got the news that they are moving and everyone is sad. We all take turns hosting the family evening and presenting the lessons. Besides the good lessons that we hear we also enjoy treats afterwards. Next Monday will be our first turn.

On June 5th we celebrated our 44th wedding anniversary. We took a bus to a nearby shopping mall that has an Italian restaurant we had heard was good. It was really fun and the food was delicious. We asked a waiter to take our picture and told him it was our anniversary. We decided to share a dessert and when he brought it they had decorated it with Happy Anniversary. (We want you to know the wine bottle on the table is part of the décor and is on every table – we certainly want to clarify that!).

The Visitors Center has a tradition of inviting musical talent to perform in the Center. These events take place on Sunday evenings in the large reception area next to the Christus statue. If visitors come for a tour, the performing group waits a few minutes until the presentation is finished. One of the outstanding groups is the Garza family from a neighboring stake. They have been performing in the Center since May 2007. The family consists of a mother who had a career as a professional singer. She directs the group. The father is the pianist for the group and also is one of the vocalists. There are four girls and one boy, all under 14 years of age, who take part. They often do their own arrangements and perform in different combinations. Sometimes friends of the family accompany them. The family has phenomenal talent, particularly the mother, the 11 year-old girl, and the 12 year-old boy. Their concerts add to the beautiful spirit at the Center and are enjoyed by all who attend.

Working at the Visitors Center has given us spiritual experiences that we are beginning to cherish. The Christus presentation centers on the teachings of Jesus Christ. The missionary sisters start the presentation by welcoming the visitors to the Center. A recorded message is then played which quotes several scriptures about Christ told in the first person. The sisters conclude by bearing testimony of Christ and then they take the visitors to different parts of the building for teachings about the Restoration, Plan of Salvation, Book of Mormon, and Temples. Many times the Spirit is heavily felt both by us missionaries and those on the tours. One of my assignments is to compile a history of the Center. I am collecting stories from the sisters of their most special experiences. These are truly heart warming and a source of joy to read. Many of these sisters have been members of the Church for short periods of time and sometimes are the only members in their families. It is also a joy to feel their strong sprits and see them grow in the Gospel.

Another example of the sweet sisters was on Monday, June 16th, Larry’s birthday. The 4 sisters working that evening knew it was his birthday. At 8:30 pm we close the center and have a closing devotional with a prayer and song and relate any special experiences of the day. This night about 8:15 two of the sisters called me to the back of the center and asked me if they could run to a nearby restaurant and buy a little cake for Larry. It was raining and dark but they were insistent so they ran somewhere close by and came back with a tin of sweet rolls. When our meeting started everything seemed as normal, but when Larry asked what song they wanted to sing they loudly started singing a Spanish birthday song. They then opened the cupboard and brought out the sweetrolls with matches in them for candles. They lit the matches and were so excited. They all took out cameras and took lots of pictures, it was such a fun surprise.

We continue to be so happy that we are in Mexico at this time serving the Lord. We love the gospel and can think of no other place we would rather be. We enjoy your comments and hope you enjoy sharing parts of our mission with us.

Down and out in Mexico City

This is Heather speaking here....we may not be getting our weekly update from my parents tomorrow because they are both down in bed with a horrible flu. My mom said she has never felt so awful! So we will have to wait in suspense and pray they get well soon!

La Semana Pasada (The past week)

We are tired, but a good tired. This week has been a whirlwind and we are still adjusting to a new and very different life, but we love it. We are slowly learning our duties at the Centro para Visitantes (Visitors ‘ Center) and hope before long that we can function with a little more confidence in what we are doing. I find it frustrating to not be able to speak the language and am very motivated to learn. Larry, on the other hand, impresses everyone with his command of the language and has a great camaraderie with the Mexican missionaries that I hope one day I will achieve. The sweet, young sisters are very patient with me though and try to help me understand as best they can.

When we arrived in our neighborhood, it was similar to what we had known from previous trips to the border town of Agua Prieta, near our home in Arizona, and from former vacations to Puerta Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas where we saw run-down neighborhoods, graffiti on the walls, and little make-shift stores, among other things. Our neighborhood here is pretty much the same. It is not a slum area but it is in the less affluent part of the city.

The Manzana del Templo (Temple Square) stands in stark contrast to the surrounding neighborhood. It is a large gated compound consisting of the Mexico City Temple (now under extensive remodeling), the visitors’ center, the missionary training center, the San Juan de Aragon Stake Center where we attend Sunday services, housing for senior missionaries, and other Church facilities. With all of the remodeling going on the landscaping has taken a hit but I am sure that it will be restored for the Temple rededication.

The temple is closed until October. Here are the workers working on it.

Our culture shock came this week when we went to the Mexico City East mission office on Wednesday to work on our immigration papers and on Friday with a trip to Chapultepec Park to see the National Museum of Anthropology. We saw a very different Mexico in these parts of the city. We were now looking at beautiful buildings, streets lined with large trees, lots of flowers, upscale restaurants, five star hotels, and smartly dressed people.

A tree and a home near the mission office

buildings in downtown Mexico City

Our trip on Friday to the museum was with Cornell and Marlene Thomas, the mental health advisor to all the missionaries in Mexico. Chapultepec Park is truly lovely and the museum and the grounds around it are done so well. We spent 4-5 hours in the museum and only saw a portion of it. We can’t wait to go back on another P-day. We also enjoyed a good lunch in the courtyard of the museum. Afterwards we returned back to our digs in the Manzana which we truly love.

Us and the Thomas' at the museum

Museum favorites

Lunch with the Thomas'

Saturday morning we piled in a van with the driver/technician, Paul and Ellen Garvin (the Center director and his wife), and four sister missionaries. The back of the van was stuffed full with boxes of posters, TV monitors, speakers, and other equipment. We drove to the Anahuauc Stake Center, some 20 minutes away, to conduct an open house. These open houses were started when the Visitors’ Center was closed for 9 months for remodeling. They were originally conceived as an activity to keep the missionary couples busy during the downtime. The plan they came up with is really quite wonderful and has been very successful, so successful that Salt Lake has requested it be continued even though the Center is now open.

The Christus and setting up for open house

It is very interesting to observe how the open houses are conducted. Missionaries from the host stake, both elders and sisters, bring in any investigators that they are working with. They also go out on the street and invite people in to hear the message. The open house tour begins in the chapel with a large poster of the Christus. All of the tours are conducted by the sister missionaries. The recorded message given at the Christus statue in the Visitors, Center is played. The sisters bare their testimonies and then move into the cultural hall where there are 18 posters in sets of six relating to Christ, the Restoration of the Gospel, and the Plan of Salvation. They explain the posters and then take the people to two interactive screens with pull up menus where they can watch video clips about the Book of Mormon and the Bible on one screen or teachings about family life on the other. As they conclude the tour, they are invited to fill out referral cards, note comments about their impressions of the tour, and request missionary visits and a copy of the Book of Mormon. They are also given pamphlets, a picture of Christ, etc. to take with them.

The sisters and some investigators watching

With very little advanced advertising, 111 people attended the open house yesterday, of which about 80 were non-members. We received 149 referrals from members and investigators attending the open house and from other people contacted on the street who did not have time to attend the presentation. One elder and his companion brought in 34 people from invitations on the street. This included a group of teenage boys who were leaving an all night celebration of a Quinceañera (a social event celebrated when girls turn 15). They looked a little sleepy but were still interested in the presentation. Some of the referrals that we received seemed really golden.
Our impressions of the day confirm that the gospel is true. It makes us so happy to see some of these beautiful families come in and get so excited to hear the message.