Oaxaca

At the beginning of summer, Elder Wakefield and his his assistant pastor, Bro. Mario went on a trip to visit a pastor in Oaxaca. I did not get to go on this trip, but got a kick out of the pictures and stories my grandpa told from their time there. I figured you all would as well! 

Monte Rebon

It took them 13 hours to get there (they were lost for three of those). A large portion of the trip was driven on a narrow, sometimes paved and sometimes dirt road twirling round and round the steep mountain.

Rock slides are common - the people just remove the obstructing pieces and continue on

The drop off the side of these roads was thousands of feet down - so scary!!!!

This is the pastor and his family - Elder Wakefield dedicated their baby daughter while he was there.

Pastor Jesus, Elder Wakefield, the pastor's wife, son and little baby girl

The pastor's sister, Elder Wakefield and the coffee trees

This is a coffee tree! These people make their own coffee and from what I heard it is delicious. When the little white flowers fall off, there's a little tiny green seed growing there - that is the bean! I thought that was really interesting!

The service was held in the pastor's home. One man received the baptism of the Holy Ghost!

In the pueblos, the ladies wear skirts. The modern world hasn't reached them yet - it is neat to see.

This looked like a very interesting trip to me. I'd love to go visit sometime in the future just to see how they do things away from "civilization" and experience their way of life. It is fascinating!
We look forward to seeing more of our brothers and sisters from Oaxaca in the future!

~Bethany~

First Day of School 2016

Hello, hello! Hooray for getting back on the blogging schedule! 

 

Today was our first day of school! We are starting our FIFTH year of school. That seems hard to believe, but on the other hand, it seems we've been at this forever. This is our life now and it is hard to remember how things were before. What did we used to do with our time?!

Summer is officially over and school has begun. We have a very exciting new addition to our class - our very first GIRL! Can you believe that in four years of schooling we've only ever had BOYS?? Nicole and I are so happy to have Sara with us this year! We now have a ninth grader, two seventh graders, a sixth grader and a fifth grader. 

Sarita

I've already seen a glimpse into how Sara will change the ambience of the classroom. She is playful, lively and likes to egg these boys on! As the only girl, she has a special edge. If I were her, I'd definitely be demanding my due honor on the playground! At recess, I saw how her and Austin made quite the team. They are probably going to end up getting the other boys in trouble....they are mischievous! 

 

We started the day off with prayer. Dad taught the Bible class for the morning - he spoke about good teachers and good students of the Bible.

 

The opening prayer of the day wouldn't be complete without Beau wandering in and finding someone to snuggle up to. In this case, he meandered in when all eyes were closed, leaned his body on my legs then slowly slid down to the ground in a puddle of laziness. In Beau-speak, that means "rub my chest with your foot."

 

 

While Dad was teaching Bible, I looked out the window to see the volcano letting out a very dark-colored plume of smoke. At first I thought it was just a weird cloud because it was coming out of the side of the volcano, but it quickly grew larger and larger.

 

Of course I immediately go to google to see what is happening. Sure enough, there was a small explosion that threw ash over the city of Mexico. (We are in Puebla so we didn't get any!)

 

After a nice belly-rub, Beau went and flopped down in front of my desk. That was this morning, and now at the end of the day, he hasn't budged. He is currently snoring softly. As long as he doesn't start producing offensive odors due to his total relaxation, he can stay!

Beau seems pretty happy to be back to his normal school schedule. I think this spot is much more comfortable than his dog house.

I get a kick out of reading time. After lunch, the kids come in and choose a book to read for the next half hour. It kind of makes me happy to see Austin prop his foot up on his desk...to watch Fabby get lost in a book while slowly spinning in his chair...everyone just relaxes and things are calm. Seeing this made me really happy to be back in school.

 

The teachers :)

I hate myself for admitting it, but this selfie stick is so handy.

All the kiddos! 

 

 

Here's to another great school year! 

 

~Bethany~