Mexico Mission 2023

On the good, better, best scale, on Wednesday I missed choir practice to instead go with our son Alex and Liz (and of course their dog, Petzl) on a hike in a canyon. The company, views of the mountains, the waterfall and the lights of the valley below on our way back down were spectacular and all well worth the climb and scramble over and through the rocks.   Our guest at our Thursday morning Collections Zone devotional was an engineer that works on the Salt Lake City Temple communications team. He described  the ongoing work  as a "renewal" versus a renovation as when the work is complete it will substantially increase its capacity to allow us to do more ordinance work there than ever before.  I could very much relate to his characterization of the covenants we make, including those made in temples, that deepen our relationship with our Heavenly Father and the Messiah as we bind ourselves to Them.  With that relationship comes even greater careful care and...

We are creatures of habit and settling into a routine here in Salt Lake City. I saw my friend Nathan only once this week on my way to BJJ on Monday. He recognized me and wanted to know more about me.  Wendy met him that same day calling a couple to repentance while they were on their way up a set of stairs in a residential neighbourhood we pass through on our way to a grocery store. Wendy said she saw him at the corner this morning at about 8AM. I didn't see him on my way to the gym and he was gone when we went by again at 9AM after our Monday morning devotional. I pray for him regularly that he might get the help he needs to be made whole.  Our work at the Church History Library remains interesting as we piece together a timeline of implementation of self-reliance programming milestones in Mexico. This past week I came across a letter indicating the date a regional scouting committee was organized, the first in Mexico, formalizing scouting as the activity arm of the Aaronic p...

  Week # 7 and it's already beginning to look and feel a lot like Christmas but Halloween comes first. Costco here must have had a sale on skeletons. We have seen more than one of these scantily-clad fellas and tombstones are also appearing on people's lawns. (The bright blue lanyard around my neck is from the Church History Library and carries my pass to get into church buildings as an employee as well as onto city transit). It was drizzling and a chilly 5C some mornings but crews still were out stringing lights in the trees on the Conference Center lot (picture below). My friend Nathan was nowhere to be seen, until Thursday morning. I knew he was back when I saw the lineup of four burly guys on the corner. When we got there Nathan was yelling something out of Galatians. I was really happy to see him. When he took a breath I told him so but also said I had hoped to meet him on a different corner, not this one. He seemed healthier and yes, defiant. He looked me in the eyes, sai...

Sister Schlachter and I have had good cause to pause, to reflect and to give thanks for the circumstances of our lives and for the many privileged experiences we have had including this past week. In a previous post I outlined the security measures taken to protect the Prophet, his two counsellors, the Twelve Apostles and the Presiding Bishopric when they are on The Campus ( Temple Square and the church buildings that surround it). These efforts extend to the young sister missionaries that come from all over the world to serve here. Most of them are 19-21 years of age. When we first arrived, and ever since, I have made it a point to either spoke with or at least say hello or otherwise acknowledged a man, who is on the same corner as the entrance to the Church History Library where we are working. This corner can be very busy at certain times of the day as it the only way for pedestrians to get from the parking lot in the Conference Center to three of the four church office buildings. ...

On Monday Sister Schlachter and I met with our supervisor for the Latin America collections group, of the Church History Library. He assigned us with constructing a timeline of self-reliance programming in Mexico using the resources in the collection with a view to better understanding what is available and where there may information gaps to fill. He explained that when resources are available, like us, they like to explore research questions they anticipate receiving. As we have been called as self-reliance missionaries, our work in the Church History Library will also provide us with a better understanding of self-reliance programming in Mexico.  This past week we spoke with Javier Romero who was the Stake President of the Popocatepetl Stake who I have met several times over the years when visiting Cholula where we used to live.  Someone  at the Church History Library has also set up an interview with our dear friend, Alma Soler Vda. de Cervantes from Cholula to add t...