HAPPY EASTER!!! (OR PASCUA)

Hey!!!

Just some quick facts about Easter in Mexico:  Here Easter is called the Pascua.  And they have nothing like a bunny that leaves candy hidden in eggs for little kids to find.  The week before the Pascua they have the Semana Santa (the Holy Week).  During this week, the kids don't go to school, and banks are closed and everything.  In Iztapalapa, they do a ceremony of the last week of Christ's life in which one "lucky" man is chosen to haul a big timber on his shoulders through town, dressed in clothes like ancient Jerusalem, and he has to haul it up a hill where they then put him on the cross.  In Iztapalapa, he doesn't actually die, but apparently this celebration is done throughout various places of Central America and South America and in some places, the person really is crucified.  It's different, no?

This week has been crazy busy!!!

First off,  I have spent a ton of time in the offices this week, because today is the End of the Month, so all of the missions money has to be "zeroed out"  (AKA all reported for and all the excess funds deposited back into the bank).  I didn't know what I was supposed to be doing to prepare for it, so when the old Financial Secretary came by on Monday, he told me that it looked like a mess.  Yesterday he told me that this was the worst End of Month he had ever seen.  And it was horrible.  Yesterday I had to spend all day here in the Offices working and today I had to work from this morning until about 3:30 to finish it.  But it's done!  Whew!  The thing is that with every single little thing that the mission buys (with credit card or cash), I have to allocate it to an account of the church, go to the company and receive an invoice, then I have to upload the receipt and the invoice and then put an explanation of the purchase and send the invoices to the bank and to the church.  It might not sound like much, but when you have to do it for tons of purchases, it all builds up on you.  At the end is a picture of how many facturas I had on my desktop at the end of the week.   

I also had to go to the airport on Tuesday and again on Wednesday to drop off two missionaries.  One was a temporary missionary of our mission that just got his Visa so he's now going to his mission in Reno, Nevada.  The other was really sick, so he had to go home.  We always have to leave our house like at 3 in the morning to go to the airport, so it makes us really tired afterwards.  

This Tuesday, Sister Mecham came out of President´s office and said "Elder Jarrett, we need your help right now".  I entered the office and President told me that he just received an email that President L. Whitney Clayton (the President of the Quorum of the 70) is going to come to our mission on April 16, 2016 and we had to fill out an agenda of the program on the spot.  So President planned it right there and told me about it and I typed it all up.    But that is going to be Sweet!!!!

Well, sorry, a little boring, but that's it for this week!  We are SO Blessed!!!   I Love You All!!! Take care!  

Elder Jarrett

Photos: Scorpions in Mexico

A scorpion we found right outside our front door a few weeks ago.

What an Adventure!

18 March 2016

Well just a few days here in the offices and I can already tell what an Adventure this will be!  

Monday (the afternoon) - We had the transfers. Elder Davies went to Pedregal, the ward right next to ours and that meets in the same building as us, and with Elder Peterson, the old financial secretary!  So although I was super sad to say goodbye to him being my companion, I am super happy that we will get to continue seeing each other often.

That night the missionaries that were leaving all came and stayed at the Casa Amarilla.  They didn't sleep at all that night and were laughing and shouting so much that none of the rest of us could get any sleep either.

Tuesday - I came to work at the Offices for my first day.  It felt weird and I wasn't quite sure exactly what to do, I just knew that I had a lot to do.  So it was a little stressful, but not too bad.  Then that afternoon right after the food, my companion and I had to go to San Pedro (close to Ajusco) to find a new house for the missionaries there.  We found a house and had to go tell their current owner that we are not going to renew the contract on the first house.  As we were riding back, I realized that a lot of the time we use as Office Missionaries is spent resolving everyone else's problems so that they can work in their areas without any concerns, but we don't spend as much time in our areas.  Even though we only spend half the day in the offices, the other half, we still run errands and receive phone calls for help and all that good stuff.

Again that night, we had the missionaries that were leaving in our house and they did a cookout of carne asada.  We hardly didn't sleep either because we had to leave for the airport at 3:30am, so I was so, so tired.

Wednesday - That morning, President Mecham and his wife came and picked up all the missionaries.  I had to go because I have one of the mission credit cards so I can pay for their luggage and everything.  So I rode there with Sister Mecham and the Assistants.  Then we waited at the airport until about 8:00, when the last missionary left, and then I came back with President Mecham and Elder Lovo.  (Apparently on the way back, I fell asleep and started snoring really loudly and President started laughing, so that's super embarrassing.  :)  ).   President Mecham told us that we could rest a little bit, so we had just gotten in our house and laid down to rest when we got a call that one of the Elders missed their flight.  So Sister Mecham came back and picked us up and we went back to the airport and bought him another plane ticket.  Sister Mecham doesn't talk Spanish, so I also act as her translator.  (Quick story - I had to act as a translator for Elder Davies too.  When he went to the hospital, I had to translate everything between him and the doctors.  Then one night, Elder Davies said he heard me sleep-talking.  And I was sleep-talking in Spanish!  Crazy, huh?)

We went straight from there to the offices.  Afterwards, we had to go back to San Pedro to sign the contract on the new house we had just found.  Then we taught a quick lesson in our area and returned home.  Finally we got to rest well too.

Thursday - We went to work as normal in the offices all morning.  Then in our area all afternoon.  It was a very productive day!

Elder Lovo and I are getting along really well and I'm super excited for my new calling!  I'm learning a lot and helping a lot of missionaries too!  I do miss teaching more and studying more in the mornings like I used to, but this is the position that the Lord has given to me so I'm going to give my all to it!!!

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!  Have a Wonderful Week!!!

Elder Jarrett

Photos of my New Office

Until Next Week!!!

Last Pics

Me in front of the Church in Coyoacán.

Us with the family of the Bishop Bravo.

Pics: Taking the Newly-Finished Missionaries to the Airport

The group of all of them that were leaving.

Me and three of my buddies:  Elder Gomez from Guatamala, Elder Murillo from Panama, and Elder Garcia (my old District Leader in Ajusco) from Guanajuato, Mexico.