For thirteen years I wrote to my faculty every week. Monday Memos often were written later in the week when I got around to it. And so the tradition continues. . .
We love being here in Laredo! It is very fair to say our work here is different than the young missionaries who work long hours and physically challenge themselves to be out there teaching and finding every day until the sun is gone--all of that in very challenging weather (have I mentioned that Laredo is unrelentingly hot??!). We live in the same apartment complex as two sets of sisters, and we are constantly amazed at their commitment to give all they have to building up the kingdom of God. We, however, are old, slow, and have a hard time staying awake past 9:00.
Sunday we attended three branches (soon to be wards, we hope) and were exhausted by the mental exercise of understanding the Spanish. It is always inspiring, even when we are only getting a quarter of the message. We also had four sister missionaries come to dinner. We loved feeding them! Jim had to leave early for a general district priesthood meeting and then come pick me up to head off to YSA family home evening. The young people take turns teaching the FHE lessons, and we watch them grow and learn as they teach. This Sunday Papo (William) retaught and expanded on our Thursday Institute lesson on the new and everlasting covenant of marriage. During Thursday's lesson, Papo ended up teaching other young people the concept of exaltation, and that brought him an understanding that he continued to share in his lesson. He was only baptized in February, but he is quickly gaining a spiritual maturity that will ready him to be a leader in in Laredo. When young people join the church here, they often have to change everything in their lives to commit to Christ. It is inspiring.
Yesterday we got a call from a sister missionary who needed some help. While all the missionaries were at the church preparing for transfers, a woman showed up at the church wanting help getting to cross the border. (Living in a border town Is INTERESTING, to be sure!) So, Jim and I jumped in the car and headed over. It turned out to be nothing disconcerting, and we were happy to help. The woman had been living in California, but was heading home to El Salvador. While here she bought a truck and was trying to get across the border with temporary license plates. The temporary plates would expire while she was in Mexico, and though she had the paperwork, customs told her she would be detained without her real plates. She had no address here, so she had to find a way to express-ship the plates. She wanted us to witness that she had the original paperwork, so we took her to UPS and got the order arranged for her to pick up the new plates there when they arrive. She was a very nice woman who spoke English quite well and said she was learning Korean. So, that was our adventure yesterday--well, one of them, anyway.
We had a tire that was losing air since we drove it off the showroom floor. We were on our way to Texas, so filled it up a couple of times on our way, but, because it was a brand new car, we didn't worry too much until it started losing air very fast over the weekend. We had to fill it several times a day until the dealership here could order a new tire and finally get it replaced yesterday. It turns out that there had been a hole in the tire, and someone had plugged it! THEN-- Our newly replaced windshield caught a rock yesterday! So, the crack stretches across SLOWLY. Oh, my word!
Rio Bravo (without John Wayne): Rio Bravo is a small, poor suburb of Laredo, right on the Rio Grande. Every house is surrounded with tall, pad-locked fences and gates. Most houses are very old and poor stucco put-togethers. Every place has two to eight dogs of all sizes (skinny, scrawny, hungry), waiting to eat you up if you look at them. Partially-paved streets lead straight to the Rio, where border-patrol vehicles line the banks every few hundred feet. Rio Bravo police drive up and down between the chain-link fences. Sisters Paepke and Brown had an appointment to teach a member about Family History work, but they were not to go there alone, so we took them. The Sisters asked us to contact some other (YSA) members there while they went to their appointment. Somehow they had no qualms about this shady little town and were anxious to knock doors when they finished. I was not at all sure we should leave them for even a minute, but they shoo-ed us away with smiles on their faces. We went about finding the addresses we were given, despite dogs nipping at my heels and biting Jim's leg! We did talk to a couple of people, but were not able to find any of our contacts. When the sisters joined us later, they apologized for not warning us about dogs, and showed us how they carry doggie treats in their pockets. Still, it's not like people are on their front porches waving to passers-by! They are locked in their houses behind fences and gates. So, the only successful contact was the appointment the sisters had. The young man's mother had old Spanish genealogy that they were able to help put in the computer and get a very excited family started on Family Search.
We think serving here is like serving in a foreign country! We met one family at church this week who does not speak Spanish either. They are quite new here with his job, Mangusons, and she is primary president, and he is Sunday School president. They have a little boy. Everyone here speaks Spanish, even in the English wards. We had one new attendee at Institute who says he "lost" his Spanish on his Russian mission, but to everyone else English is his or her second language. So, we are working on Spanish and learning little by little.
Much love to all of you! Happy birthday, Donny!
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