from mexico

Good Morning and Happy 16th of September – Independence Day in Mexico,



Today will be a festive day in Mexico as we celebrate independence from Spain that began in 1810. The “Grito de Dolores” was the battle cry of the Mexican War of Independence uttered on September 16, 1810 by Miguel Hidalgo from the small town of Dolores, near Guanajuato. Hidalgo and several educated believers were involved in a planned revolt against Spanish colonial government, and when the plotters were betrayed, he declared that war should be waged against the Spaniards. Just before midnight on September 15, 1810, Hidalgo ordered the church bells to be rung and gathered his congregation. (Hidalgo was a Catholic Priest) Flanked by Ignacio Allende and Juan Aldama, he addressed the people in front of his church, encouraging them to revolt. The exact words of the speech are lost; however, a variety of reconstructed versions have been published. Hidalgo is believed to have cried: “Long live Our Lady Of Guadalupe (a symbol of their faith), death to bad government, and death to the Spaniards!” The Battle of Guanajuato, the first major engagement of insurgency, occurred 4 days later. Mexico’s independence would not be recognized by the Spanish crown until September 27, 1821, after a decade of war. So today the city is decorated in the Mexico’s colors (Green, Red and White), the bombs will burst and there will be a grand celebration everywhere.



We will be getting together with our missionary friends for a field day at “Lions Park.” The park is located a short distance from where we live here in the city and it will be a relaxing day with several senior couples serving in the area. Monday night we had a family home evening at the stake building next to the temple attended by all those who are working in the temple as well as all of the senior couples in the city. It was a grand occasion with lots of delicious traditional food and entertainment. The evening was topped off with a Mariachi Band. They were great and we certainly had a wonderful evening.



We spent last week in Puebla with Tim Ziedner and Robb Jones from church headquarters in Salt Lake doing interviews with young men, their parents and leaders and several young single adults. Tim and Robb were great and we really enjoyed talking to them about the research they are doing and the process used in the church to get the best possible teaching material available to teachers all over the world. It is a laborious process but based on sound research and inspiration as materials move through the priesthood authorities in Salt Lake before any new or changed material is ever implemented by the church worldwide. We really appreciated there visit as they brought need things from home in the way of medications, pictures of the Hinton Family (they live right near Tim in Stansbury Park), and a new computer we very much needed. We have now started a “Grand Kids” photo album on our mirror in the bedroom and we hope the rest of the family will email us photos of your families or post them on a blog somewhere so we can download and print them for our mirror. We want to fill the mirror with all of our family photos as soon as possible…so get them coming our way.



We have often commented on the interesting afternoon weather here in Mexico City as we approach the end of the “rainy season.” Folks tell us we have not had as much rain as needed this year and we note there are many announcements asking people to preserve water. In all of this, however, we have seen more rain these past few weeks than the earlier months of the rainy season. In fact, as noted last week we have been in some downpours of late and the rain has not been reserved for just the late afternoon; rather, it comes in spurts at different times all day long. Therefore, it is necessary to carry an umbrella everywhere we go just in case a dark cloud comes over and dumps a bucket or two of water. It has also turned off a bit cool so we find ourselves putting on a sweater or coat to keep the chill of in the mornings and evenings.



Enough for this week. We send our love to all and thank you for your good examples and the many things you do for us and so many others.



Love,



Mom and Dad

Grandma and Grandpa, etc.