Hi precious Mookie love of my life! You are so yummy. I can't tell you how wonderful it was to see your face. You just radiate the joy of the GIFT of life, and it oozed through the computer and filled the kitchen and our hearts, even from across the world! I admire you and love you so so much. Thank you for taking thoughtful preparation time to have a question for each member of the family. You are beautiful.

I thought you may enjoy a detailed write up of Mexico...so here goes. This is the only way to share what we experienced with you. On the night of the NAP Christmas concert Coy and Haven announce that Haven has decided to come!

It was so exciting every day to check Spen's google doc and see who had signed up to sponsor families. The most amazing list of generous and beautiful people developed over time. Every single person was accounted for, and we had donations over and above that. People were so generous.

December 19 I met Ramon and Jen in the parking lot of the American Fork tabernacle to deliver most of our Christmas goods. They told border stories in their camper and we talked about how to hide all of the donations.

December 20, Big Day! Christmas choir songs, Heavenly Father blessed me and helped me play them adequately. We dress up all of the primary children in nativity clothes. It is total chaos and not very spiritual. We borrow Nicole Peterson's baby. 10:30 p.m. Jeni calls and asks if she can come. We check on a passport then say SURE!

December 21

We tried to be ready to leave by 8. Haven's family came over and helped attach a rubbermaid to the back of the suburban, which will be funny later. We were stuffing everything into the back of the suburban and it was FULL even though the kids could only bring two outfits, swim, church, scriptures and journal. We stuffed bags with Christmas gifts and brought supplies to cook food in the campground. We decided to abandon camping mats. We took off at about 9 with Seth and Annie tucked in with Marcia. We set funny rules for the trip. My rule is no more than 25 Niel Diamond songs total. Seth's rule is that the don't have to listen to Mom's 25 Niel Diamond songs. Joseph's other rule is that he gets to be right every single time no matter what. Haven's rule is that it's okay for her to be quiet. Jen's rule was limiting herself to 60 song outbursts, but we found out on the way home that the whole trip just counted as one continuous one. We put in a Pentatonix CD and everything feels really fun and exciting. The back seat was first class via a blue and white chevron blanket lifted to divide us.We laughed about Jeni going to Mexico on her cow.

San Diego that night is heaven. The pool is incredibly awesome. Everyone swims and laughs and plays like crazy. We played sharks and minnows, aerobics, and bunny bunny. It's a little cold but no one cares. We have a girl room and a boy room.

The next morning we eat and organize and meet up with Ramon and Jen and Nicole and Justin to cross the border. It's ten minutes from our hotel. I ask Jeff to take a picture of the cutes, Coy and Haven outside, and is sure to include half of his own face. We are all very nervous. When we pull into the border someone directs the suburban and van away from the motorhomes. We don't listen and follow them anyway. We throw away all of our beautiful fruit. We notice right away a different feeling. We all get out of the car and fill out travel permits and stand in a line. The suburban and van are through in a jiffy but we wait and watch as the rv's are x-rayed by a huge robotic arm. We all meet each other. We talk and play ninja. It's chilly and misty. Finally after a very long time a very handsome young mexican man comes out and tells them they are free to go. We pull through the border and in an instant we are in a completely different world. We are in the heart of Tiajuana. It is like nothing we have ever seen before. It is VERY hilly, steep hills everywhere completely covered in poverty. Houses are made of whatever and very smal and junky. There isn't a space to be seen that isn't covered by something. It is a different world and everyone is completely focused on taking it in. The road has no shoulders. Everything has changed. There is a giant statue of the Savior overseeing one of the poorest most violent cities in the world. vjgh98yWe don't get to see the Tiajuana temple because we'd have to drive through the city and we don't feel safe doing that. We are just staring at and commenting on everything in we can see. We are right right next to the ocean, and unlike San Diego, the million dollar homes are not at the beach. There are some nice homes, but mostly it is the opposite. Everything is small scale. We don't see any big stores or businesses, just small little dwellings draped in the shroud of poverty only just about everywhere. Some development is going in at the beach, some condo buildings, etc. Everything is gated and locked if it can be, everywhere. The first hour or two of the drive is just beautiful as far as the landscape goes. We drive along the beach and it is just gorgeous, but the people are so poor. We talk about how they have the same land, even better land infact as far as climate, they have the same sun, the same water, but the government limits their opportunities so much. We begin to feel a gratitude and humility for our constitution, our founding fathers and the liberty in which we live and labor that will deepen us to tears by the end of the trip.

We get to Ensanada two hours past the border and stop at Costco. We are the only white people in the store. The people are so beautiful. Everything in Costco is in a different language, but we feel like the big difference there is us. We try to order lunch and can barely be understood. The lady laughs and we resort to sign language to get a pizza. It is cold. When we get back in the car and pull out of the parking lot and up to a stoplight, the car in front of us isn't going anywhere. He has broken down. The Mexican man in front of us gestures and asks if we can push his car with our car to the side of the road. Jeff doesn't want to do that because he doesn't want the liability. By the end of the trip we realize this is a very American idea and most people down there just help each other and make do. Anyway, we point to our muscles instead and Coy, Spencer and Joseph extricate themselves from pillows, blankets, backseats and go help him push his car. Everyone is laughing. We get him to the side of the road and he comes to our suburban as we pile back in and says “Welcome to Mexico! We love you!” We couldn't know then how prophetic those words would be. 8 days later we would cry tears of goodbye because we were SO welcomed, and SO loved by such a beautiful people and culture. We would remember this trip forever.

I am going to change to past tense now. I don't know why.

The rest of the drive that morning was supposed to be just two more hours, but it felt much longer than that. We started driving on tiny little roads away from the beach that were difficult to manuever. Mexico continued to share it's only face, simplicity, poverty, and some of the most beautiful people in the world, inside and out. It was rainy and cold and that contributed to the feeling of driving all day again. . We finally pulled into San Quintin after dark. We pulled into a hotel that was called something that would seem to translate to the Celestial Kingdom of the Virgin Mary. Spencer had a breakdown about Coy and Haven snuggling. Ramon came to find us in his camper and we all went out to eat at an open air taco restaurant/stand. They cooked it all right there in front of us. We overdid the order, ordering three tacos for each person. It was SO YUMMY! We laughed, talked, ate and experienced, then we pulled into camp at about 7 and it was raining and very dark. The campground, Los Olivos, seemed awesome, but we were kind of cold and tired. Marcia was not excited to set up camp in the rain. There was a hotel next door, and after much discussion we decided to go and check it out. The grounds were like walking into paradise. Tall, beautiful palm trees lining the drive in, exquisite gardens everywhere. Jeff clearly expressed that we could not afford the hotel the whole week, but we checked in for the night. It was AWESOME! Three queen beds in each room on spotless white tile floors, showers as big as my laundry room, and we worked it out so everyone had a bed. I slept in the boy's room, Kaden wanted to be with his Mom, and the girl's room had big puffy chairs and foot rests we were able to scoot together for a bed for Addy. It was awesome! I had a great talk with Coy about physical boundaries that would help he and Haven to be appropriate in front of others. It was warm, dry, everyone slept well and the next morning we woke up in paradise. There were orange, lemon and pomegranate trees, birds singing that we had never heard before, and such beautiful and exotic plants. It was incredible! Everyone just wanted to walk around and look at everything. Many had scripture study in the tropics. The rooms were $60 a night for all of that. We woke up happy and ready to go. We checked out, reloaded, and unloaded next door. We set up camp in the sunshine. We made pancakes in our little griddle. It wasn't hot, but it wasn't Utah. We wore our jackets, but the sun was shining. At about 11:30 we left for the orphanage.

On the way we were able to take in what we had missed the night before in the dark. San Quintin is a sweet, humble little town. All businesses are small and most are taco stands, little stores, or car repair. There were a very few clothing stores, one big huge church, and some markets. Everything had a homegrown feel to it. We took it all in and it was so fun. Everything was dirt, everything was muddy. We didn't see one car that had a current registration. No street signs. In about 5 educational miles we arrived at a beautiful orphanange. The buildings looked like white adobe stucco. The welcome building had a large cross atop the entry. We walked in to an inner courtyard. Everything was so clean and the Spirit of the place was so beautiful. We were ushered in to their chapel and seated. We then spent a delightful time listening to a man named Marlo. He is a Phillipino man by descent, but his family lives in Canada. He was so warm, personable, happy, such a man of God. He told us how 50 years ago this couple from California donated $10 to sponsor a child to go to school, at least that was their understanding. They received a surprise phone call asking them when they would like to come pick up their child. They were baffled. They decided to take a trip to Mexico to discover what was really going on. They found a few people struggling to take care of a small group of orphans, and they also discovered a much greater need around them that was not being met. They felt God calling them to do something about this. They were very religious people. They decided to purchase this sprawling 75 acre estate which had previously been used to entertain American guests in ways only the devil would celebrate. They gathered the money and when they attempted to purchase it, they were 5 minutes late. The woman had felt so strongly about this particular property she came out of the office crying. A man was sitting there and asked her about the source of her troubles. She explained and he told her that he was the one that had just purchased the property 5 minutes before and his intent was not as noble as hers. I don't remember what he was going to do with it. Anyway, he sold it to her for less than he bought it for. Church members from all over the world come and volunteer at this beautiful orphanage. They have 85 children full time, and bring in handicapped children whom they care for during the day then take back home, it seems like there were about 29, and then they also bring in children who are caring for their siblings, like 6 year olds caring for 2 and 4 year olds while their parents work and let them go to school and eat and then take them back home. They have “house parents” who have families of 12 little children and live there full time caring for them. They have a baby room. Their youngest baby was 11 hours old when he arrived. The children attend school, and if they are raised in the orphanage Christlike donors sponsor them to go to college! They pay for all of it.

Where do the children come from? Good question. Many are brought in temporarily while the parents find work or get on their feet, then they come back for them. Many are true orphans, either their parents have passed away or they have been abandoned, and many are taken from their families because they are being abused or neglected. His story was so fascinating and he was so warm and personable. He shared many miracles of people feeling called to help and serve. The place is thriving with Christian love and service. The estate includes 75 acres, and they raise macademia nuts to help support their cause. The fields are beautiful. Everything about it was beautiful.

They ushered us out to the courtyard where the children were starting to gather. Most of us didn't know what to do. There were several Americans whom we engaged in conversation, but our children set the example here. They just began to hold their arms out and the little orphans would come right up into their arms. They were clean, well dressed and so beautiful. I met a lady from California who had been teaching English in the school for a couple of years after she retired from school teaching.

They invited us to Christmas dinner with them. They had turkey in mole sauce, warm tortillas, pasta salad and a lemonade that we did not drink. It was such a precious time. After the meal we were taken to a big gym they called the theater. We blew up 85 balloons and tied them on strings and got ready for our Christmas party. I met another family from California. They come down twice a year. They come down and run a Vacation Bible School in the summer for the orphanange, and then they come down at Christmas and bring Christmas gifts. We told her we had brought blankets and she said “See, God knew and worked it out so we didn't overlap” or something towards that idea. We waited a while then the orphans began to arrive. I held my arms out to a beautiful little girl, maybe 2 or 3, and she came right into my arms. She didn't want to get down nearly the entire time. We put balloons on everyone's feet. I was concerned that these little kids would be heartbroken when someone chased them and broke their balloon, or hate the noise, but it really went very well. It was fun. Some kids just held their balloons. The teen boys had a blast chasing each other. After balloons we gave out bubbles. That was magical. It gave everyone something to do and the little kids loved it. There was a lot of giggling, catching bubbles, chasing them, so much darling interaction. I was so amazed at how happy the children were, how clean and bright. It was such a beautiful place run by such Christian people. I was deeply humbled by their service and reflected through the afternoon about my own consecration to Christ. I was taught so much by these people, mostly by seeing the beautiful fruits of their labors. They brought in a big speaker and Jeni got up on the plywood stage and led everyone in Cotton Eyed Joe and We Built this City. It was funny.

The party wrapped up and we all went back to the chapel where our children were able to give a beautiful blanket to each child. That was so precious. They were throwing and catching them, hugging them, trading them. They seemed very happy. We sang Christmas songs and Randy spoke for a little while about Christian love and Christmas. Then we had to say goodbye. It was so hard. My little baby broke away TWICE from her caregiver and came back and hugged my legs. I only cried for a couple of hours about that. If there was any way to adopt her Mckay would have come home to a new sister, but we were told it is nearly impossible. Mexico doesn't want to lose it's work force so they just don't allow it. It was such a precious afternoon in a place that felt a lot like heaven.

We went to the gift shop on our way out where they sold homemade gifts made mostly by the house parents who make just $300 a month living there, but they also get room and board and those heavenly children all around them. We bought some fun gifts and macademia nuts.

On the way home we stopped at the market. We were pretty scared that first time. Now that seems silly, but we had a boy hanging on to every girl that first trip to the store. We bought water and oatmeal and avacados and a lot of other stuff. It was so fun to be in such a different place.

We bought poyo and braved the market with everyone and went home and had chicken tacos. They were heavenly. I DON'T REMEMBER THIS NIGHT EXCEPT WE WERE LOOKING FOR FIREWOOD. I DON'T RMEMBER WHAT WE ATE OR DID. I KNOW RAMON AND RANDY LEFT TO GO FIND THE RELIEF SOCIETY PRESIDENT.

We woke up Christmas Eve and had cereal. We pulled all the gifts out of our bags to go to the church. We got ready and were there by about 10 to sort and wrap. It took 7 hours to wrap and sort everything. Spencer was so precious and darling. He was in charge of his part of it all, and he did GREAT! Haven and Coy, Joseph, Annie, the Slichta girls and the missioanaries wrapped for 7 hours, minus a break for fish tacos, which were SCRUMPTIOUS! It was good hard work and absolutely wonderful. There were a lot of mistakes so we had to sort, change and reassign some things, but it was so much fun. I have some precious memories of this day. I loved watching Spencer just get so excited when a family was taken care of and everything was right. He was so precious all day. It was so awesome. I loved working with the missionaries. I loved working with everyone. I absolutely adore President and Sister Indus. They are the sweetest people. We were sick when we found out that they had left their family 6 hours away to come and help us with this project. I watched Sister Indus closely. She knew that branch so well. They were her family. She knew clothing and shoe sizes, needs, and even wants and likes. She carefully sorted a lot of things into piles for Gloria's family. Later we would discover why. She was so darling when she couldn't communicate with us, she would “grunt” her husband over to her side to translate. He was so precious as she held things up and suggested things for a person. He just had that male look on his face where he was so obviously out of his element, but so willing and pure and ready to help and agree. They never took one thing for themselves. Never. But Ramon watched through the day and set a few things aside he thought she had her eye on. It was such a wonderful day.

We were ready to deliver at about 6 p.m. It was dark and cold, but we divided up the goods and every car got someone who knew where they were going, and we were off. We were so privileged to spend the evening with Sister Indus. She is precious. I still tear up remembering her walking into every single home, hugging and kissing everyone, all of the children running into her arms. She knew everyone so well. She knew their homes, their children, what food they were best at making. It was so precious to see her love and minister and laugh with them. That was a sacred experience for me.

Our first home seemed to be a single mother and grandmother and two little children. It was a two room cement house, and every posession was available to view. It didnt' seem that they had enough blankets to keep them warm. The more well to do had roofs and doors. The middle class had walls. The poorest of the poor, if they had homes, were made of plastic or anything else they could figure out. We met a beautiful family of a grandmother, mother and a small child. We were welcomed in to their one room which served as everything. It was kind of an L shape with a bed, desk, kitchen table and some appliances. It was clean and beautiful and so were they. They were so gracious. They were trying to communicate to us that they would be traveling the next day, Christmas Day, to go see their relatives. Their eyes shone.

We moved on, every house had some kind of a closing and locking gate around the property. Everyone was so gracious and sweet. We absolutely loved meeting everyone. We met a family with three taller teenage boys, two early teen girls, and a Mom that had to be less than 4'10”. They were so very sweet.

Gloria's house is one we'll remember forever. Gloria has to be one of the most beautiful people ever. It was the light in her eyes that drew us all in. She had three beautiful children. She was a convert of 8 months and the light and joy of the gospel and of life just radiated from her. It became clear to us why Sister Indus had so carefully collected things for this family. Their home was beautiful and clean, but it was quite obvious that Gloria was doing all of this on her own. She was so grateful for the gifts and the tears flowed down her face. She quickly opened her pot of tamales and began to dish them up for us. We tried to tell her we'd like to just take a few and everyone could have a taste, but she was so excited to share her Christmas dinner with us.

We visited a family that promptly pulled a huge bowl of freshly cut strawberries and cream out of the fridge and gave everyone of us a cup full at least twice the size of a large size paper cup. We tried to resist, but she only refilled every time we did. It was some of the best food any of us had ever eaten. Sister Indus told us that her husband is a delivery man for Driscoll berries. She fed us THE ENTIRE BOWL! I felt so bad. She opened the fridge and showed us two more packages, but I know we ate more than that. Her little boy had cut them all up and he just sat there smiling at us, having none for himself. Sister Indus was so darling at this house. She was nearly jumping up and down to have some of the berries. She told us this woman was the best at strawberries and cream ever. She was cheering and dancing to be able to have some. She is so precious.

One really fun part of the evening was pulling up to a house where there was a wild karaoke party going on. They had the coolest karaoke machine. The brother was dressed up in his pink church shirt, black leather vest and black pants, and he was going to town. There were two cordless mikes. I was continually impressed with the feeling that they believed that the building of relationships is what we have time for, that's why it exists. Everyone just wanted to connect, not just with us, but it seems that this is what Christmas was about as well, in fact, life for them. They worked and lived so they could be together and love each other. Their lives were so simple and so full of family love, friend love, family time. It was strange to feel envious of those who had so little of the world's goods but so much of what the world wants. They had nothing that we enjoy, and everything we hope for, happiness, closeness and connection. I had not anticpated leaving Utah that I would envy them so much. This was surely evident at the karaoke house. The family was milling about in the small front yard around a fire and just loving life and being together. He sang for us, then motioned for us to sing Jen and Joseph and Spen sang Best Day of Our Lives, and then they motioned for Sister Indus that it was her turn. She didn't turn it down modestly, or check the time, she pulled her hairband out and sang Shakirah with all of her stuff. It was SO FUN! We were just clapping and cheering and dancing. It was such a precious experience.

The police were checking everyone that drove through the intersection. Juni was in front on is mother's lap, and they didn't care. I don't think we saw one car that was registered with the correct year the entire time we were in Mexico. Sister Indus's son was absolutely darling. He would sneak into the kitchen and find food wherever he could and come out to us carrying something. He saw a dancing Santa Claus on the side of the street and kept chanting “Sonta Clothes!” over and over. We still say it, it was so so cute. He loved my sister Jeni. She picked him up and swung him around and he kept asking her to do it again and again. Everyone made us feel like we had been friends forever, or at least wanted to be. The gifts were a side thought. They were very gracious and grateful, but they wanted to meet us and talk to us. I learned so much from these beautiful people. This is a precious Christmas Eve I will hold in my heart forever.

Christmas morning Coy, Jen and I ran to the gas station and bought Mexican treats, filled the Santa hats and put them on a fence with clothes pins. We had cereal and sweet Jena made up this super fun Christmas morning scavenger hunt obstacle course thing that led them to find the hats. We had a fun few hours, then got ready and went to the Church to deliver some more things. We were blessed to go with Elder Ramirez. He is so awesome! We drove all the way to the other end of the town and up the mountain to the Santos family. They live in the back of their grocery store. They had the hugest tamale pot I had ever seen on the fire, and their beautiful extended family was sitting around together. They served us “poncho”, the Christmas punch everyone makes, filled with fruit and sugar cane and delicious spices. They were such a beautiful family.

We headed back so Elder Ramirez could skype with his family. We took him to the church then back to the campground for such a fun and memorable Christmas dinner. We had hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, plus mashed potatoes, stuffing, and chicken tacos, and chips, and a little bit of a lot of fun things. We sat at tables in the bowery and then missionaries joined us. Elder Ramirez had not been able to connect with his family, so he skyped in the motorhome while Elder Florez ate with us. We ate and ate and ate and laughed and talked. We enjoyed the famous torte by Hermane Lette. It was so scrumptious. So fun!

After dinner we cleared the tables and had a pinata. The missionaries tried to teach us the pinata song but we bombed it. We used a Santa hat as blindfold and went all the way to the Elders and back again before it broke. We were going to go to the beach but it was just so cold. We were up against sundown which happened every day at about five. That morning we had scavenged for firewood and found a big building site where the Los Olivos people were building a shelter for mothers and babies. We asked for permission and gathered up tons of wood scraps. Christmas night was one of my favorite nights. We built a fire and snuggled up around it for 4 hours and played games, sang sons, laughed and talked. We had an epic game of psychiatrist that was at least more than two of the hours. One of the rounds the malady was whatever the person across from you was doing, you had to mimic them. Coy and Haven had been snuggling and singing some slow songs, so Addy snuggled up to Emmy and sang Josh Groban and it was so so funny. Jeni backed them up with a “stormy seas” from across the fire three times as loud as Coy and Haven were singing Josh Groban. We copied that one a million times. It was so much fun. No one was in the other room on their phone, no TV's or movies, just each other, the stars, a beautiful fire and time to spend together. I LOVED IT!

The next morning was food morning. We met at the market at ten and caused quite a ruckus with $2000 to spend. We gathered bags of rice, oil, beans, chicken, milk, soap, flour,. We gathered and filled cart after cart, then were lined up halfway through the store to buy it all. We organized in front of the store to bag everything to give away, and that caused quite a scene. One sweet little grandmother was very curious about all the food. Ramon took her in and asked her to get what she needed. She so graciously took a few things. He asked her to get something she never ever gets, and she got a tiny bottle of oil. He pointed to the next size up, she said no. He went up to the gallon size, and she couldn't even look at it. It was too much. He said “two of these” and she could not even consider that. He said, “okay, one” and bought it all for her. She was so beautiful.

The kids worked the assembly line and these two darling little boys carried every bag to the car for us. We also all got a carwash while we worked. When we were all loaded in we bought the corn man out who was in front of the store. He sold corn on the cob on a stick with three kinds of butter on it and hot sauce drizzled to order. We also bought half a truck of oranges from a man on the side of the road, and we were on our way. Seth sat in the back of the car and was completely buried in oranges.

We pulled into a little community called Paradise. There we saw poverty that at least for our family, we had not yet seen. The second house we approached was made only of greenhouse plastic and whatever they could find. The government rents land to the people for about $17 a month, but they have to take it from there. Most had a small one room cement dwelling. Some had doors, some had roofs. Apparently the roofs were built by the same church that runs the Los Olivos campground, wonderful people from Canada. We were a caravan of three cars, so we took turns praying and deciding where to stop. Our first choice was the plastic house, but it seemed that no one lived there. There was a little table, but no beds. I hope we were right. So many of these families are seared into our hearts forever. One house we approached all of us will remember forever. There was a little boy, about 4 maybe, sitting in an outhouse. The door was opening and closing with the wind while he was in there. He was so so cute. He finished his business and came out to greet us. We asked him to get his Mom. She came out and after getting permission we gave him a bag of oranges. He cheered, he danced around, he smiled through his cleft pallet and bleeding nose with a look of absolutely pure joy. So many of us were laughing and crying as he just danced with the oranges all over the road. We will always remember the family going for lunch at another family's house. We caught them just going in. The little girls were dressed in princess dresses they had gotten for Christmas. One had her name written right on the front of the dresss, near the shoulder, “Anna”. They had towels for crowns. It was so precious. One little grandma followed us for a long time. When she caught up with us she said “you came by my house. Thank you, thank you. God is good. She kept talking about how good God is, and saying thank you to us, saying “if God wills it” and things like that. She touched our hands, and smiled at us with the few teeth she had left, and hiked back toward home. She caught us later and this time she said, “You came by my house but I wasn't there.” We understood now she would love to have some food, but was having a hard time asking for it. Coy took a bag intending to carry it for her and she said “uh, uh” shaking her head no and pointed to her head. She said she would carry it no her head. Coy took it in his arms and followed her home, which ended up quite a ways away. When we arrived we saw her tiny house and her husband, clearly very sick and had been on that bed for a long long time. She was so happy for the food.

Everyone's hearts were so touched by the family of 6 or 7 little children as I remember. A girl of about 13 was caring for all the children. They were breathtakingly beautiful. They had kercheifs and things around their heads, maybe to keep them warm, maybe to keep them clean. All of the little girls were in dresses, beautiful, colorful dresses. The girl was so scared of us at first, but warmed up and let us in to deliver food. They were so precious. That is one family we have spoken a lot about. That 13 year old girl doesn't get to go to school. We asked them if they had had breakfast or lunch, the answer to both was no. It was a very humbling encounter.

A family I will remember forever was one of the last few. Their children came to us and brought us to their house. They did not speak spanish, but rather a native mountain type dialect perhaps from another country. They looked different. The parents were so full of joy and pride in their family. The father had a few English words and communicated enough to introduce his family to us. He just beamed as he showed us each of his children and shared their ages. He wanted to meet all of ours and all of a sudden we had everthing in common. We were parents, and in that moment we seemed to understand that everything we did in our lives were for these little ones of ours. He was amazed that we had six children and laughed with us. They invited us into their compound. They were so very excited to show us that they were growing corn. They had two ears nearly ready to harvest and they brought us to the plant and stroked them like they were infants. They had darling puppies, clearly well taken care of. Only the father had a pair of old flip flops, no one else had shoes. The mother of this family is a kindred spirit of mine, I just feel it. She wore a very native dress, and her feet had clearly not had shoes for a long time if ever. When we brought in the food she hugged me so tight and then danced me back and forth over and over. We couldn't speak, but we communicated perfectly. She was laughing at how tall Spencer is, showing the difference with her hands. As we left we felt like we were walking away from dear friends who loved their family so much. They were so happy with what they had. They were bright and shiny and seemed to be so busy celebrating their blessings that they just didn't have time to think about what they didn't have. I want my eyes to shine with the joy of life like theirs did. Oh, the gifts we received in Mexico!

We headed to the beach and stayed about 25 minutes. It was so very cold. After the beach we went straight to the Celebration of the Family. We were just a few minutes late, and there were a few cars in the parking lot. We wanted to see what we could do to help. Oh, I wish we could re-do that night! If we had known what it would have been like....

We came in and talked to people, and then family after family began to flow in. They may not have much but they take such good care of themselves and their darling children. They all looked so beautiful, dressed up for family pictures. Hermane Lette came and all of the relief society sisters began serving tamales and got chocolate. The food was so incredibly good. The hot chocolate was absolutely divine. We found out later it was made from corn meal. I went in to the kitchen and held my hands up to see if I could help. They let me unwrap tamales. I again experienced a wordless conversation, a spirit to spirit connection as I worked with the relief society sisters, side by side. It was so much fun. Everyone was so elated at the turnout. We had 20 possible investigator families visit the church for family pictures. The members of the branch seemed to enjoy being there together. I could have sat all night and just watched the pictures being taken. The people are so beautiful. Their brown skin and eyes, their dark hair against the white background was just perfect. We served food, talked, mingled, played the piano for background music. It was wonderful. One of the relief society sisters as we were washing tamale from our hands just hugged me and said “I wish I could speak English” and I said “ I wish I could speak Spanish!” We laughed and hugged. This night was so fun as well because we had bonded with so many of them. We had been to their homes. We were friends.

We had no idea that night the entire branch had planned a party just for us. As the Celebration of the Family wrapped up, they began setting up for a dance. Three young members of the branch were largely responsible. They had been blowing up balloons all day and had balloons and confetti on a huge Mexican flag they were able to keep from the Tiajuana Temple dedication celebration. That dance was one of the funnest I have ever been to. Everyone danced, from 1 to 100 it seemed. Everyone danced with each other. You didn't have to have a partner, and if you did it didn't matter who they were. At one point I was dancing in a circle with 4 relief society sisters. I was trying so hard to learn their absolutely awesome Latin dance steps. They had a dance contest for couples, they said married couples. It started with about 7 and they eliminated a few every time with cheers from the crowd. Your Dad and I WON with the three Western Swing moves we know and a pretty awesome dip. It was so funny. I'm sure they were just being nice, but it was so fun. We would not have been dancing together that night it we were not in Mexico.

A highlight of the dance for me was a very sweet girl named Stephanie who had down syndrome. The dance began with her leading us in her own moves, she wanted us to follow her like an aerobics instructor. She had a whole line of followers and she was so cute. It was so fun. I never want to forget later in the night when Spencer asked her to dance and she brought her hands up by her face and said “Yeeesss!” in one of the most happy excited voices ever. She just smiled as she danced with Spencer. It was so precious. We did conga lines, dance circles...IT WAS SO FUN! I just wish we were dressed better and ready for such a beautiful honor and wonderful party! It was an AMAZING NIGHT! We have all loved finding confetti in pockets, etc. and remembering. I WANT TO LEARN LATIN DANCING! It was such a gift. We got so so so much more than we ever thought about giving in Mexico.

There were two very handsome young men at the dance on Saturday, Eduardo and Diego. #eds anddegs. We must have talked for at least 10 hours and made about 600 jokes about how to smuggle them across the border, or marry them off to any of the girls in our car, even the 12 year old.:).

Church is a sweet tender memory for me. President Indus called and asked some of us to speak. Ramon extended that opportunity to me. This is kind of what I said.

“As we were packing up this morning, we realized that we have received so many gifts from our time with you there is no way we can fit them all in the car. I asked some of the children with me what they are taking home from our precious time with you. Spen said he loves your family togetherness. Seth said your ward parties are way more fun than ours are. Haven she has felt so loved and accepted here. Kaden said he has learned that you can be friends without speaking the same language. Annie said it has just been such a blessing to be here. We have learned that Sister Indus can sing a pretty mean karaoke. We are taking home with us the light in your eyes. Our stomachs are full of tamales, our hair is full of confetti, and our hearts are full of the love of God we have felt with you. You have taught us that no matter how much you have, there is always enough to share. President Uchtdorf said “Think of the greatest love you can imagine, then mulitply that love by an infinite amount and that is the measure of God's love for you.” We have felt that love here with you. We want to come back, but we are afraid you won't be here. The City of Enoch learned to love each other so well that they were taken up to heaven. We may come back to find that you have been taken up. You have written his love and your love in our hearts forever. We can't thank you enough. Testimony. Close.

We had a sweet experience in Gospel Essentials. A man was sitting on the row with Marcia and I . We could tell he was talking about us with such wonderful smiles and affection, but we couldn't understand. We later learned that he has been inactive, but was so touched that gifts were brought to his home that he came back to church. The Gospel Essentials lesson was so sweet. The same spirit, the same message.

I loved picking up the children from primary, and seeing these sweet sisters in the gospel teaching sharing time, same message, same spirit, same darling little wiggly precious little souls.

Oh, it was hard to leave. Diego's mother, whom I don't even know, took a precious handmade shawl from Wahaca and placed it around me. I tried to give it back and she wouldn't take it. Her son said she really loves the shawl and it is a keepsake for her. We took home so many beautiful gifts from our time with those precious people. They have nothing that we have, and everything we want. Their eyes shine with the joy of life, they have close families and their entertainment seems to be each other. They love their neighbors. Life is so beautiful, there, in it's simplcity. They dance together, from 1 to 100 years old. They don't seem to have time to worry about negative emotions, they are too busy working to survive and taking care of each other and too busy feeling the joy of a warm fire, a bowl of strawberries, tamales at the home of a friend. They make do with what they have, but what they have is each other, and the very fabric of their lives seems to be those precious relationships. They live with and on the earth in a more intimate way than our heated protected homes provide. They see more sunrises, feel more earth, see more stars. How is it that with our wealth and substance we are more distant, distracted and discontented? What a strange and surprising emotion it was to envy them, but I felt admiration as constant undercurrent, and this turned to envy often. That was a surprise of the trip for me.

Another surprise was I thought we were going to minister to them, but the opposite was true. They loved and accepted us, they fed us temporally, emotionally and spiritually, and they taught us so much. Though Christmas game without presents wrapped with bows, we had such an abundance Christmas filled with so many gifts that I hope will last forever as we remember Mexico.