Who would guess that I would get a text message from Reid asking where my blog post was?  MMM, tables have definitely turned.  Well I knew that today would be good, so I didn't want to post until it was over.  And how did I know it would be good?  Because we got our first brand new missionaries that were specifically called to our mission.  We had some new missionaries when we got here (they had one week in the mission field) but they were called to one of the two missions that we received parts of, to make the Mexico City Chalco mission.  So these were the first ones to actually receive a call letter to our particular mission.  And they are the first out of the brand new CCM in Mexico City.  We got two sisters and two elders, all Mexican.  They come from Tampico, Veracruz, Puebla, and Oaxaca. They are awesome, one of our sisters is the first 19 year old sister missionary in our mission.  Lots of firsts.  For those that don't know about the CCM, it is like the training center in Provo, and was created from what was a LDS high school in Mexico City.  One of our new sisters and one of the elders had been going to school there, and just stayed when it switched to be a CCM.  So, it was an interesting day, they are young and excited and well prepared.  After some training, our assistants had this great idea to walk them out into the city center and do a little street contacting, after demonstrating some ways to ask people questions, or answer there questions if they were interested.  Jerry, Harper, Blair and I went with Elder West and the two sisters, and Elder Milner took the two new Elders.  We were gone for about 45 minutes, and I actually got my first referral.  I started talking to a young man working in a cell phone store, just making conversation in my pretty terrible spanish, and we just sort of hit it off, I told him I was just learning Spanish and he said he was trying to learn English, so I told him that reading the Book of Mormon in both languages at the same time had really helped me learn what little I knew.  Elder West could see that I had him talking, and I knew that I couldn't say all that I wanted to, so he came over and got in on the conversation and we found out that the young man was actually already a member but was not coming to Church.  Well Elder West told him that if he would come to Church and use the things they would teach him, that God would help him with his studies.  And the elders in the area have an appt with him on Sunday afternoon, to bring him an English Book of Mormon and talk to him about other questions that he has.  The sisters went back with three contacts and gave away two Books of Mormon.  I told them that this was my first time too, so we could be nervous together, but the Lord in his mercy, knows we are there to do his work, and the nervousness evaporates and the Spirit helps you know what to say and who to talk to.  It was an amazing experience and we have 10 amazing sister missionaries that are gonna see a lot more of me in the next few months.

I spend a lot of time baking things or cooking for the missionaries, I kind of think it might be the only thing that qualified me for this calling (I mean Jerry for sure had the qualifications, and the missionaries love him, because he has fun and still gets things done, he had his own amazing story today, but that's for him to share)  So of course I had to make dessert for the new missionaries and the office elders.  They love the peanut butter swirl bars, and they seem to come out ok even with the pretty bad oven and the ingredients that are not quite the same.  But it makes me more than happy to have them like them so much that one sister that came in asked me for the recipe and would they be hard to make....and the one of the new elders who speaks very good english told me that they were addicting.  mmm, he is probably right about that.  So tomorrow we have 7 elders going home which means they are coming to dinner, with the assistants.  The weather here is so gorgeous that we are going for the american backyard bbq theme (i can't help thinking of those zone conferences with Kari Porterfield and her fun lunches that always had a theme, I can't quite match it but I'm gonna work on it here)  We have tables and chairs for the back yard which has huge covered porch (where nightly pingpong battles occur) and a gas bbq and another little covered area with a regular table and chairs.  I tell you this, because it could very possibly be pouring rain and any given moment after 3 in the afternoon.  It is a rare 24 hours where we don't get a downpour sometime between 3pm and 4am.  I'm thinking about digging up some of the lawn and putting in a garden.  How great not to have to water it. Anyway its hard to see these first missionaries leave as we have just barely begun to get to know them...and so it goes.

The other highlight (this may be a bit tongue in cheek) was going last Wednesday into the middle of Mexico City to a huge government building to complete our resident application by signing who knows what and getting fingerprinted.  Driving into the middle of the city is no small feat from where the mission home is...about a 5-6 hour drive depending on the traffic.  We drove the hour and fifteen minutes to the mission office (poor Harper and Blair have learned to sit, and wait, and sit, and wait a lot this summer) picked up the office elders and proceeded to battle traffic as bad as anything in NYC, LA or San Diego when the Del Mar races, the Surf soccer tournament and Labor Day weekend all coincide.  It was an experience to wait in the offices for our names to be called.  Elder Durham, the elder that takes care of all these things asked us if we wanted to look over our signatures on our passports as we would have to sign documents three times with identical signatures.  Now for me, that was no big deal, but those of you that have seen my husbands writing, especially his signature will know that he was just slightly panicked.  I think Elder Durham had looked at his signature beforehand and wondered how in the world that said Jerald D. Crickmore.   He passed, but was pretty glad that he did, and we walked out mostly relieved that el Presidente could sign his name the same three times in a row.   We ran into other elders there, once a year they have to go in and redo this scenario to renew their visas, it was fun to meet some elders from one of the missions that we received elders from.  Then to celebrate successful signature signing and because this whole scenario which started for us at 6:30am, we went to lunch at Sanbourn's which one of our teachers in Provo told us was a must.  It was really good, nice and different than the little stands that we have eaten out of up until now.  It was also part of a huge mall, and lo and behold I happened to see a sporting goods store.  I have been looking for a bocce ball set and/or a croquet set, we have a huge back yard (well for us, I mean we lived in Cardiff with no yard, so compared to some people it is just an average yard) but it is all lawn except for the pool.  I thought when the missionaries come for their last dinner it would be fun to have something for them to do while the president does their exit interviews.  I have looked in Costco in Cuernavaca, and a big Target like store there, Walmart, Sam's Club and two sporting goods stores here to no avail. And there it was, a gorgeous croquet set...unfortunately they wanted 350 dollars for it, yep dollars not pesos, and I didn't want one THAT much.  Maybe if we go back in the winter it will be half price...one can always hope.  

Well this is long enough.  Every week is something new.  While writing this I had to take a phone call from a sister about a health issue, she doesn't speak English, and weirdly, she understood what I told her.  Perhaps that might be my only other qualification, knowing so much stuff about so many illnesses and injuries...that's what raising six kids will teach you.  Well I have a few pics to add so this is long enough, Reid should be happy now.

Janna

 Just the view on the way to the office in the morning

 Yep, he really did get fingerprinted, me too

 wildlife on our screen door, it had an 8" wingspan

 This is the only way to buy flour...it is weird after buying it in 25 lb bags for years

Our first Mexico city Chalco missionaries!