..work,work,work- there is no satisfactory substitute especially in missionary work."

"I have often said one of the greatest secrets of missionary work is work! If a missionary works, he will get the Spirit; and if he gets the Spirit, he will teach by the Spirit; and if he teaches by the Spirit, he will touch the hearts of the people and he will be happy. There will be no home-sickness, no worrying about families, for all time and talents and interests are centered on the work of the ministry. Work, work, work- there is no satisfactory substitute, especially in missionary work."   President Ezra Taft Benson 

Conference Weekend

So several of our areas were fortunate enough to have a room in their church buildings set aside for them to watch conference in English. The pouty faces above represent "We can't get the connection to work!"

Success! They were able to listen to conference in English. What a group of silly boys.... but they thoroughly enjoyed conference.

 "Our spiritual buckets are full!"

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Elder Hernandez our "Chicken Pox Kid!" He broke out with them the day after mission wide transfers. He had visited a family several weeks before where their children broke out with them. He was quarantined with his new companion, in his new area, and new house for 8 days. He was a trooper! And we were blessed to not have it spread to any additional Elders or his previous companion as of yet! Tender mercies. 

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Monday

The following weekly letters were sent to President. With permission I share them with you. Hope it touches your heart or makes you smile.

President Egbert! its another week down the drain  only because it just flew by! i have been more thorough this week and i have been waking up at 6 and it has made a huge difference! i feel more productive. and have a little extra time to exercise and study so that's been helpful. I'm very excited about the people we are teaching. we have been teaching 4 Christians and they are already reading in Alma 30 and ____ is a pastor in his church or some leader of the Christian church, and after teaching him you wanna know what he said? he said "i know this your church is true, and i know the Book of Mormon is true". I'm so excited for them and he and his wife have baptismal dates for the 27th of October;) ...wanna hear how we found them? a member had been sharing about the Book of Mormon. After some discussion with this member, they decided to fast. They fasted for 3 whole days, and when they ended their fast we walked by and we found and met them. Totally unexpected!  We have been teaching them every Saturday for one month or so.. and they attended general conference broadcast this last Sunday. i have hope for them and i know that the Lord answered their prayers by allowing us to find them. also conference was amazing and just the extra spiritual boost that i needed;) thank you for all you do. -elder I

Hola, presidente Egbert,

yo quiero escribir en espanol, pero yo no puedo escribir mucho. haha 

In the future letters for sure though! I have been loving it here! the people are so nice, the food is so good, and the spirit is so strong. I don´t know all of the names of the investigators yet but i love all of them. A few seem very close to baptism! At one of the houses i was able to bare my testimony of the plan of salvation and how sweet the fruit will be when we are able to return to live with our heavenly father again. I think that whole family felt the spirit very strong as i shared my experience with my mom (this Elders mom passed away from cancer) and the plan of salvation. we have been visiting the menos activos tambien, and they are all wonderful too! I aspire to be able to speak more Spanish that way i can be my normal self with people but in Spanish. It kills me not being able to be as personable and talkative. I miss that for sure, but it is good motivation to learn the language even faster. This week i have been working on learning the baptism invitation, first vision, and alphabet with perfect pronunciation. I am close to perfect on all of them, but i still have a little bit of work to do. It was a good challenge that elder Dove (Presidents Assistant) gave me. I also have been reading, studying, and saying my words with a wide open mouth that way i can pronounce them easier. I have full faith that with the power of the lord i will be able to learn all of this language. Elder Santos is great, I have loved being able to learn mucho from him. Our Christ like attribute for this week has been patience, i haven´t studied it much because of the preimer doce semanas y the things i have been trying to memorize, but i have been experiencing it everyday with not being able to communicate fully. I am excited to be here, i love the area, and things are going great! Thanks for being such a wonderful president, we can feel the love that you and sister Egbert have for us!

-Elder C (one of our newest Elders- President said "He's a ROCK Star!")

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Tuesday

Quarterly Interviews in the Mezquital Zone

 I love Elder Russell's smile.....

 Check out those shoes (above)... our missionaries are workin' hard!

(Below)... reaping the benefits of their hard work!

 Checking out the Zone Leaders "Homestead".  Elder Oliver and Elder Terry are working on getting a fresh coat of paint through out the house and then we will hang a few curtains and it will be an even more "home sweet home." This little apartment is right, I mean right across the street from the church. You couldn't find a better location if you tried.

 Elder Fox and Elder Hernandez have the cutest little home. They keep it spotless! They are going to see about maybe painting the main section of the house. So proud of their efforts. They have little chickens that run around their yard.

Sister Ramirez and Sister Diaz live in the perfect part of Actopan. They are close to the center of town, and live in a protected cluster of apartments with a middle court yard. These sisters were missing an entire window. I said "Where's your window?" They reply "Oh the previous Elders broke it out." So President says "Let's get that fixed and the mission will reimburse you." "OK", they say. Never a complaint before now... they just deal with what-ever. The concerning thing is that it rains so much and there is no roof overhang where the missing window is... so nothing to prevent the rain from coming in their cute little abode." Love these sisters!

Elder Pass ate at a members home with this spoon and then she ended up letting him keep the spoon because she knew how much he liked it. First real Mexican souvenir...I'm not sure if the chicken on the table by the window is a pet or tomorrows dinner.

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Wednesday

District Meeting In Pachuca Mx

Elder Dove getting carried away with that fancy fast picture snapping camera!

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So funny story Tuesday night with Elder Macias and Elder Sanders. About 3 am a huge loud crash which startled them both awake. Elder Sanders has been here just over a week and stated "I am NOT getting out of bed!" Elder Macias stumbles out into the middle of the house to find that their kitchen ceiling had collapsed. (picture above) Needless to say.. must have been a small leak that caused the ceiling to give way. The home owner did come and help them clean up the mess. And then on to District meeting they went. TROOPERS! Oh look at how effective their bathroom mirror is?  

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Above: District Meeting with Elder Hixon as the new District Leader in Pachuca Sur- Plazas. He did a great job and they meet in a very nice chapel. We then went to check out both companion-ships' houses. 

Elder Beck and Elder Jimenez have a "sweet" arrangement. They actually have a washing machine (Very unusual) and a kitchen with a stove top and big fridge (very unusual). They had their place in "tip top" shape. I loved the huge map of their area that they had made- Elder Beck is being a great trainer and example to his new companion in the field. So proud of them both!

 Then onto Elder Hixon and Elder Rogel's house for inspection. I have checked Elder Hixon's house twice before and always found things in order and extremely clean. So I have no worries where ever he is stationed. However, I had not been to this specific house and so wanted to check the status of quality and safety. Kudos to these two Elders! Mom Hixon and Mom Rogel job well done on preparing these two for the mission...... See for yourselves!

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Thursday

 Quarterly Interviews in Pachuca Centro Zone

(Above) Yep... that's me (Hermana Egbert) practicing language study with Elder Gomez' help. (Below)  The agenda books for our missionaries... the one on the (left) of a Sister missionary and the one on the (right) of an Elder. Need I say more? Makes me smile... you did too, huh?

Elder Heninger got his package from home... he loved the mini family photo album. Thanks Mom Heninger!  Elder Caballero received his medication shipment from his Dad. Thanks so much!  Elder Segura and Elder Gomez excited about their plate of banana bread!

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I have to share the story of these two sisters. Hermana Contreras and Hermana Cebreros. 

On Wednesday night we get a call from these two scared to death sisters that they thought someone was in their house. Its like 930 pm and they had run down to the little corner market and a "hombre" (man-not a member) had offered to come back and check their home. They were asking permission to have him go in their home while they waited outside. They also informed President that they hadn't had power for 4 days. I guess the house next door had the power turned off and they had turned off the wrong house. They thought it was resolved but still did not have power. The very kind man got their power turned on and checked out their home reassuring them no one was inside. So fast forward to the next morning...at interviews they tell President they are doing "Bueno". I get talking to them with the help of Elder Arnett (translating some.. though these two sisters speak some English) and come to find out they had no power for 4 days, no hot water still (9 days) and no ward members feeding them lunch (Here in Mexico ward members feed missionaries lunch daily). I felt horrible! These two 19 yrs old girls bathing with a bucket of cold water and a cup in the dark with one candle- and no food offered on a daily basis. To say the least I got a little emotional as I watched these sisters "buck up" and be "so tough". Never complaining or calling until the night before because they were literally scared to death. I thought of Tahlia Mae my own 19 yr old daughter and how I would want her to be taken care of and the simply necessities available here in Mexico at their disposal. Needless to say when they saw I was emotional they got emotional and started to cry. Elder Arnett as their zone leader felt equally responsible as I did. We arranged to have Elder Arnett and Elder Cordova go to their house the following morning to assess the situation of the water boiler and gas. At 9:15pm the same night as interviews, these cute sisters call again saying they don't have any power. I was thinking "OH MY HEAVENS!"  President told me not to panic and he called Elder Gomez and Elder Segura who lived the closest to them to run quickly and help them. They must have run the entire way because 5 minutes later they call saying there must be a short in the switch and after wiggling it the power came on. Yeah!! President asked them to check the hot water situation while they were there and they reported the Sisters did have a broiler but two empty gas tanks. So the following morning the Zone Leaders got the two tanks filled and then Presidents two assistants and Elder Campuzo (construction experience) the VISA secretary went and trouble shot the boiler and finally got it functioning! HEROES! All these boys saving the day as a group of concerned Elders taking care of their own. President and I so grateful. What touched my heart was the sincere toughness of these two sisters whom you can imagine were carrying on with their responsibilities  never complaining, and never planning on saying anything about their situation... rather just moving forward. I have Elders who won't go one day with out hot water...I don't blame them by any means.. but these sisters situation totally touched my soul. 

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Friday

 Quarterly Interviews in Tecamac II Zone

This was such a great day of interviews... The flow of Elders coming in and out was perfect. The Spirit of the day was perfect and they ate sugar cookies like they were going out of style which always makes Hermana Egbert feel good!  How cute is this group???

Elder Stewart is the English Companionship guru and has committed to help his new companion Elder Lopez study and test before he leaves for home in December. These two Elders are doing amazing together... President is so proud of them!

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After Interviews President and I delivered a "working"' fridge to Elder Smith (trainer) and Elder Smith (New missionary). They have a house with lots of character. Look a pretend fireplace to hang their Christmas stockings on! Hope Santa can fit down through there! We have a few leaks in two sinks to remedy but other than that this little humble home sits in a gated area that has I believe 4 families who are members. Makes me feel good to have members close to watch over our boys. 

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and then ...

 Elder Unamuno pointing to the Best Mission in the World with the Most Extraordinary Missionaries in the World!

 Bowling and Service Project!! (above) Personally those bowling shoes add to the missionary attire...what do you think?

 (Above) What would President and I do with out these helpers in the Office? (Below) So I walk up to drop off something to the secretaries house during morning study time and found this going on ...?? I thought "Oh no, they are fighting! Elder Campuzano locked them out of the house!  But the more I quietly observed I realized they were practicing/role playing door approaches and talking to potential investigators or less actives. Loved it!

...when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.

Our Newest Additions to The Mexico Pachuca Mission...

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As with every 6 week cycle- when missionaries head home and new ones come, "Change" is inevitable. Along with those changes new leaders are called and transfers of areas and companions can be a much anticipated blessing or a sad unexpected announcement. I so appreciated this comment from Elder Bickley on Monday when he was told he would be involved in transfers -

"Life is a garden.... so DIG it!"  

So here is to "Life in the Garden" of Pachuca... and these faces are "diggin' it".

If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.
Maya Angelou

Challenge from President: 

"... that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." Mosiah 2:17 

This is a translated section of President Egbert's weekly letter to the missionaries on Sept 30th... 

"I realize as missionaries we constantly focus on serving others, never-the-less I feel the need to challenge you to focus even more on serving other people. During the coming week I invite you as individuals and companionship's to seek out opportunities to serve others. Look for opportunities to serve each other, the families that you visit, the investigators, the less actives, and especially the families that feed you daily. Think constantly on the needs of others, and the opportunities that exist to help them and improve their lives  Think of the examples of Christ like service that you have seen in your own lives, the lives of your parents, church leaders, or other missionaries. And strive to become more like them ... next week I ask each of you to share some of the experiences you have had, the feelings that you felt, and the changes that have occurred in your heart... I testify to you that true charity develops through the service that we give to others. You will come closer to your Savior Jesus Christ through charitable service than through any other way." 

Presidente Egbert

So below are a few of the responses back to President in this weeks letters. If it inspires you to be better, be a little more aware of others needs and act upon it then I'll give our missionaries full credit for inspiring you...

This week has been very edifying. We have been looking for opportunities to serve our fellow men. And personally I have made breakfast for my companion every day and ironed his shirts most days. It feels very good to help others. As a zone we have provided service to those who needed it. Wednesday we focused in district class on "Service", Thursday we painted the house of an investigator, and Friday we helped with a ward Family night where we did the game. On Saturday we had a baptism of a 21 yr old with 7 of his friends, a ton of support from the ward along with less actives and investigators in attendance and on Sunday he was confirmed. It was a great week! "Elder C"

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Hola Pesidente!

Hows everything going for you? Everything is going well here in our area. I'm looking forward to these transfers. This past week has been a good one. We had a good amount of lessons and they were all really powerful lessons. We had one experience where we passed by a mans house looking for his daughter, because she is an old investigator of the previous Elders. We ended up teaching this man the Plan of Salvation and it was really powerful. His wife had recently passed away and he had a lot of questions about the afterlife and why things like this happen in our lives. The spirit was present and I think he felt it too. He didn't end up going to church but we'll get him there next week. I had a good experience with fasting this week. We have a family that we are teaching, and the previous elders had been teaching them for some time. Its always been really hard to get them to come to church. I decided to fast for them, so that they would come to the chapel. Turns out they did. It was the first time in a long time for this family. It felt good, because I have a weakness of fasting, but my testimony was strengthened through this experience. We have been striving to give more service this week, and it turned out pretty good. We washed dishes a few times, and helped a Brother dig a ditch. It was good. Most of the time the Hermanas wouldn't let us do their dishes. But I really tried to serve my companion more and it turned out to be a good thing. Our relationship grew this week, and I think it is due to the focused service.Thanks for everything Presidente! Thanks for guiding us with your revelation, and helping us to become better missionaries and members of this church! "Elder J"

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Hello President 

This week was pretty good, we had one of our two investigators get baptized the other one smoked two days before, so we have set some goals with him to work on that challenge and maybe he will be baptized the 19th of October. This week my companion and I really tried to focus on serving and we had some really cool experiences. Our first experience was trying to help a sister get a pea out of her sons nose, in the end he had to go to the emergency room because of how far he had stuck it up there but we were able to help her calm him down. Our second experience was helping a member prepare some party bags for her friends daughters third birthday. It was fun and she was able to see that we are here to help all those that we can. Between companions we have been really trying to find the little things that just change a day, ironing shirts, shinning shoes, making breakfast ect. its really helped me feel more in-tune with the spirit and follow his promptings. I cannot wait to continue doing this- thank you for the challenge and recommendation. "Elder M"

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hola presidente,
esta semana fue bien. estoy medio triste a tener cambios pero animado para ver que va a pasar. no tengo quejas de ningun tipo. esta semana hemos hecho lo que pidio, hemos enfocado mas en el servico. mi relato favorita es, caminabamos a una cita y vimos una hna quitado cajas de su coche. estababomos medio lejos cuando vimos que ella iba a tratar a cargar una caja bien grande. a esto punto empezamos a correr a ayudarla. llegamos en tiempo y tome la caja y la puse en su casa. ella estaba tan feliz que estuvimos alla a ayudarla era algo muy especial. 
hasta manana 

translation

Hi President

This weeks been good. I am a little bit sad to have changes but I am excited to see what will happen. I don't have any complaints of any kind. This week we have done what you have asked, we focused more on serving. My favorite story is this. We were walking to an appointment and saw a sister taking boxes out of her car. We were quite a ways away when we saw her try to lift a great big box. At that point we took off running to help her. We arrived in time and took the box and put it in her house. She was so happy we were there and being able to help her was very special.  See you tomorrow. "Elder K"
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Hola President Egbert!

I hope you are doing well and Sister Egbert as well! Things have been going good here for me and companion and this was another good week! Last Monday I really enjoyed your letter its message about service. Service has always been something I've loved doing and I had some of the best and memorable youth activities as service projects. There really aren't any words to describe the feelings that come to see the gratitude and happiness of someone that you have helped, and I guess you could say its an addicting feeling. And this week we had the opportunity of being able to have a service project with our district and paint the inside of a house for a member. They were very grateful and it was wonderful to be able to provide that help for them and I am looking forward to more opportunity's. Well President I hope you and Sister Egbert have a great week and thank you so much for everything you both do for all of us.  "Elder J"

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Hola Presidente,

Thank you for everything! So you asked us this week to look for more serving opportunities... And to study more about service. So one day this week my study was focused completely on service. I studied Pme, the bible dictionary, BoM, and a lot more books that I have. But mainly what touched me the most was from a talk that I read from the last General Conference. It was from the talk of David L. Beck, in his talk, he shares a story. It is about a girl who starts High school and is bullied. And the mom asks an aaronic priesthood holder to help her daughter. Well he is the starting quarterback, and he and his friends, start to help her out. The bullying eventually stops, and she has friends. This story really touched me for some reason. It really made me realize that I need to do more service and help people. There are a couple phrases that I really like that I want to share with you. The first one I love because it promises us blessings when we serve others. It says:

"That’s what happens when you lose yourself in serving others—you find yourself. You change and grow in ways that would not be possible otherwise. These young men have experienced the joy of ministering and continue to seek opportunities to bless others."

I know that if I serve others, not only will I grow and find myself, but I will want afterwards to continually seek opportunities to serve others. I love it. I love that I am giving to years of my life to serve others. This work is not about me or my family, its about helping others to return to their Heavenly Father and have eternal life with their families.

The second:

"You don’t have to be a star athlete to minister to others. You received the power, the authority, and the sacred duty to minister the moment you were ordained to the priesthood. President James E. Faust taught, “Priesthood is the authority delegated to man to minister‍ in the name of God.” The Aaronic Priesthood holds the keys of the ministering of angels."

This simply states that no matter if you have a name tag or not, that it is our responsibility to minister in the name of God. Even more so when we have been set apart to be Representatives of our Lord Jesus Christ. Today I was reading a talk by Elder Bednar and an experience he shared made me realize that we represent Jesus Christ. Here he is talking about a man that needed help with the Word of Wisdom. The stake president asked Elder Bednar to come, and as he greeted this man, He said “I am an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, and He sent me to this stake this weekend to tell you that you can do this. The Savior knows you can do this. As His servant, I know you can do this. And as His representative, I promise you will have His help.”

This is what I want to do. I want to know that I represent the Lord Jesus Christ and that I act in his name. I want to say this the next time I meet someone. I want to help. I love these people. It is so hard for me to see all the work that Satan has done here in Mexico. They are such great people. They are so loving and humble. All they need is to know the Savior, and how they can return to live with him.

This week I didn't have any big service projects, but I have been edified by looking and trying to think of ways I can help the people here better! I know that charity is a selfless act of love. I want the people to know that I love them, and that I am a representative of Jesus Christ, and I can help them. I love this work. I love these people, and I love my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Thank you for helping me to realize the importance to serve the people. I am going to continue to do that forever. I love helping.

Thanks for all the love and time you have for us. It is appreciated a ton!   

"Elder B"

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This week has been great. I have been extremely blessed to work with, and learn from my companions. They are incredible examples to me of service, kindness, and genuine love for the people. This week as we were walking (after an appointment fell through, and the plan B wasn't home) a husband and wife waved us over to their home. They asked us if we could help them move a refrigerator from their car into their house. We did. We then began to talk with them, introducing who we are, what we do, etc. We then performed more service by loading up large box's into their truck. As we were leaving, my companion asked if they knew of anyone we could visit. They thought for a second, and then started to walk. They walked to the next door neighbors house, and walked right inside. She came out after about 45 seconds and welcomed us in. We then proceeded to teach a marvelous spiritually led discussion. I was amazed that even when our appointment fell through, and on top of that, our Plan B wasn't there, we were where the Lord needed us to be. It truly was a great experience. We gained 4 new investigators through that simple act of service. "Elder S"

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The Perspective of Children.

Sister Egbert- Last Saturday we were asked to go to a primary/mission activity in the church. We explained to the children what missionary life was like and how it had blessed our lives. After, they all wrote us letters and drew us pictures. This was one of the pictures they drew! We thought it was hilarious because Elders Hirst and Rodriguez are stick figures and Elders Arnett and Menendez are a little too big boned to be stick figures haha. 

Notice the tie on Elder Arnett! 

See you tomorrow at changes!

Thanks for all you do for us! We love you!

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 District Mtg - Elder Mijangos first assignment. Job well done.

 Elder Poulsen "gifted" his camera to Elder Dove...it takes ten pictures quickly!
They had fun taking these after district meeting. Thanks Elder Poulsen.

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 Elder Lastra's district meeting. It was great... practice time is so crucial!
Elder Fox is "rockin' " the language.

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Interviews in Tulancingo

One of Presidents' favorite parts of the mission.

Elder Kearl and Elder Rodas................ Elder Pena and Elder Cardon 

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Pictures above include- Elders who came in the office for language testing and college application help, Elder Heninger trying to catch dinner, Elder Poulsen modeling a jacket a convert made for him, and President Egbert with future missionaries he met at a stake conference.

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President Egbert's father told him as a young man regarding missionary service, 

"Go my son...If for no other reason than the joy of coming home." 

Pictures of Elder Shillig and Elder Poulsen's return home last weekend.

 Elder Cortez (above left) that returned home the cycle before- greeted Elder Poulsen at the airport. (Below) Elder Poulsen's sisters and little brother at the hotel on the night of his arrival. Love the hats!!!

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He expects our......

A New Vision For The Work of Salvation

Wishing will not make it so. The Lord expects our thinking. He expects our action. He expects our labors. He expects our testimonies. He expects our devotion.

President Thomas S. Monson

Elder Russell and Elder Enriquez

"The Story Behind This Family"

As related by Elder Russell

"There is a family in the ward where the mother is an active member, the father is very Catholic, and the children are not baptized.  The father had not permitted his two children to be baptized for many years until yesterday. The story begins like this.....  we knew about this families specific situation, but we didn't really have any hope of changing the situation because we knew how the father felt about his religion and the challenge that he was almost never home.  We had planned the day before to visit some close neighbors of theirs and put the part member family as a backup.  The first visit fell through, so we passed by their home as a surprise to them.  The surprise flipped in our direction as the father happened to be home this weekend, which ended up presenting the opportunity for us to discuss the need for his children to be baptized. He told us that his children can do what they want, that it didn't matter to him anymore, but that he wanted to be at the baptism.  This presented a unique situation in that the baptism needed to happen the next day because he would be available.  This was OK, because the children had been active in the church for years even though they weren't baptized.  The next day they were baptized. It was amazing to see how God puts everything in place at the time that he wants.  The Lord sent us to that family at the perfect moment when the father was home and his heart was softened. Heavenly Father also provided the means so that we could make the necessary arrangements for the baptisms.

Another example showing he knows each of us, our needs and desires." 

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Holiday Packages  

Mexico Pachuca Mission

Elder ________________

Boulevard Miguel Hidalgo 4.5 Km

Col. Villas de Pachuca

C.P. 42083

Pachuca, Hidalgo Mexico

Please send through the United States Postal Service no later than November 1st if possible.

If I may be so bold: Please consider something little for their companion in case they don't get anything from home.

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(Above left) As if learning the Spanish language isn't enough- Elder Stewart ordered a book on French. You GO Elder Stewart! Everyone in the office kept asking me if I ordered the book- are you kidding? I can barely say "Hola"!

(Above right) Elder Barber showed up to the mission office looking dapper in his vest. He looks trim and fit..... it's that Mexican diet plan... 

(Bottom) President BBQing "la comida" for Elder Poulsen and Elder Dove. 

It was the last lunch with our assistants before Elder Poulsen headed for home. I has been a little emotional all week...

The boys gobbled up lunch like it was their last meal. 

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District Meeting 

President's assistant Elder Poulsen attended this district meeting on Wednesday. 

He complimented Elder Duran on his excellent and well prepared training.

The camera for the pictures below takes 10 frames in a row.... I picked the best two...they got crazier and crazier the more the camera flashed... 

Look at those smiles...

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Departing Missionaries Sept 28th 2013

"Goodbyes are not forever. Goodbyes are not the end.

 They simply mean I'll miss you... until we meet again."

We sadly said goodbye to eleven magnificent missionaries.
Many served as Zone Leaders and Trainers and so again we felt a large leadership gap ...
President kept his emotions intact pretty good all Friday afternoon/night as he interviewed them and we had lunch and dinner at the house. Then when we met them Saturday morning at 3:30 am to see them off in six taxis to the bus station, for the bus to the Mexico City airport- we did pretty good... but about 4 hours later President came into the kitchen sobbing. I think it finally hit him that they were really headed home...oh- how we have grown to love and admire them each individually. 
This is a text I got on my phone Thursday night from the dearest Elder...
"All my bags are packed...I'm ready to go...Cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane -don't know when I'll be back again..."  
That's all it took and I was tearing up like a cry baby... 
...this is hard on the heart.

Elder Shillig (Rural Retreat, Virginia), Elder McCormick ( Hope Mils, North Carolina),
Elder Serrato (Tarimbaro, Michocacan Mexico), Elder Perez (San Miguel de Allede, Guanajuato Mexico), Elder Garcia (Cali, Colombia), Elder Bowles (Manti, Utah),
  Elder Hernandez (Guadalajara, Jalisco Mexico), Elder Peterson (Mesa, Arizona),
Elder Kofford (Las Vegas, Nevada), Elder Clawson (Taylorsville, Utah),
and Elder Poulsen (Ely, Nevada)

Below Elder Poulsen (left, going home), Elder Loza and Elder Dove (Currently assistants to the President) and Elder Shillig (right, going home). All have served as assistants to President Egbert.

So now... onward to the next event...our focus changes to our arriving missionaries in the morning. We have 9 natives coming in the morning(Monday) and then we drive to Mexico City and pick up 3 Elders coming from the Provo MTC. We will share all those pictures in next weeks blog.
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So yesterday and today (Sunday) we zipped up to Molango again to check on and support the "Branch" and "Group" in that area. Elder McCormick who has been serving with Elder Heninger was one of our eleven that went home. Elder Caballero was transferred early before scheduled changes to be Elder Heninger's new companion. Because this area is so far away we couldn't have our missionaries out of the area from Friday through Tuesday. Elder Caballero has been serving as a Zone Leader in Mezquital but will do a tremendous job in this new assignment. President picked Elder Caballero because of his work ethic, trustworthy character and his ability to be a phenomenal trainer to Elder Heninger; who by the way is doing amazing with his language. Saturday night they had an incredible family home evening with branch members - I was so impressed. Then in today's meetings (5th Sunday combined RS and Priesthood) no one had been assigned to teach; but never fear- Elder Caballero taught a meaningful 50 min lesson on the atonement. "ALWAYS PREPARED"- if we could all be so lucky to follow his example.
Both Elders are trying to practice their limited piano playing skills any chance they get at the "House of Prayer" (church building). Its amazing how well the members do singing acapella every Sunday.
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Sharing corner...

• So this week I tried to make homemade rolls like Grandma Mae used to make. The first batch was little bit concerning (that's being positive)... one Elder commented "Did you pray before you tried to make them?" Of course I hadn't. So the next day I tried round two... prayed before... and they turned out so much better!
• In last weeks Sacrament meeting, my companion and I gave talks. I talked about miracles and they can take place in our lives. I really testified of that because many weeks ago we didn't have investigators in Sacrament Meeting, and this week we had five investigators at church. Something that I felt was a miracle coupled with hard work. A couple that we found is such a great story.. I would like to share.  A week ago my companion and I were in a suburb in our area, we had just left the combi (transport van) and were beginning to walk, but in that moment I looked back and I saw a woman. I felt a desire to go talk with her, but instead I ignored the prompting. We turned left on the corner and when we were walking I turned back looking to see if I could see where the woman had gone. We finally arrived at the place of our appointment and they were not there.  So then we returned down our previous path trying to locate this woman I had seen but we were unsuccessful. We began to knock doors and we found a young man that wanted to talk with us, but requested at another time. We then were going to another site in our area, but I felt bad about leaving. So we returned and found a man that the missionaries had taught in 2005 and he had  previously read the BofM up to the book of Alma. We were invited back to teach him and his family. We returned another day and we are now teaching them, and they attended sacrament meeting last Sunday. I really know that there are many people that the lord has prepared to receive the gospel right now. We only have to find them and teach them by the spirit.

• I do have a parable for your wife though if she wants to share it... This is an experience I had this week as I was at a lesson with my companion and my focus got distracted for a small amount of time...
  I saw a centipede, a very small one, and a spider. But the centipede was still much bigger than the spider. As I was watching, the spider trapped the centipede (which was on the floor and the spider was in his web under the desk) by shooting strings of web at his legs. The more webs he shot the closer he got to the centipede. Now the spider thought he was still in control and was going to have dinner for the next few days. Never-the-less he got a little too close and the centipede shot around in lightening speed and bit and killed the spider instantly. Now as I witnessed this whole event I began to relate this with us being the spider and Satan being the Centipede and the strings of web being things we forgot to do or did wrong. For example we forget to pray or read our scriptures, that is the first string and you now have Satan's attention. so this leads you to start being disobedient and doing other things that you know are not right. More strings to the centipede. Now you aren't reading or praying but you are going to church so you think you are in control. Unknowingly you are continually becoming farther and farther away from safety, Heavenly Father, and getting closer and closer to Satan and his power. But what we don't realize is that spiritually we are very weak; and then a larger and more serious sin comes in our way and you don't have the strength to say no. This is when Satan may reach out and fatally bite us causing our death spiritually. All because that one string of web (wrong doing) that was initially spit at us and started our whole entrapment. I have since contemplated how we need to remember that Satan has a lot of power and we never want to catch his attention from being spiritually weak and by making poor choices. We need to continually be obedient and focus on the fruits (fly's) that come into our home closer to our Heavenly Father.