El Templo

This weekend we had the opportunity to go to the temple. We went with all the workers and the 3 MBA's. The taxi drive there was crazy. The temple is about 8 miles away from here and it took us over an hour to get there. I wanted to take a picture when we were in the middle of the intersection and there is a bus and 3 other lanes of cars coming towards us. I kept saying "is this even real". It was so crazy. The taxi driver was really nice. He said "mi taxi is su taxi". The open sewer systems are pretty sick. The whole city smells bad but we passed this one place and the smell was soooo strong. I wanted to gag. I took a picture of the taxi driver's reaction. The temple here has the visitor center and the MTC all in the same area. The visitor center was really pretty. Calvin and I got to go on a tour with some missionaries and their investigators. We were able to teach with them/share our testimonies. It brought back some of the feelings I felt as a missionary. It felt good to testify again in Spanish. There was an American missionary there and Calvin and I were standing by him for a bit. And then I said something to Calvin in English and the missionary was like "Woah you guys are American?!". It was funny he had no idea. There was lots of weddings that day. We took pictures of them (from the side so I didn't look that creepy). It was a really fun day. We went to Burger King after which was a really fun treat. It was about the same price as it would be here. We drove with Janet and Marvin ( the engaged couple). On the way home Calvin actually fell asleep in the Taxi. I have no idea how that happened. That's when you know you can sleep anywhere. He's awesome.

It's been interesting to the changes that these students have made in such a short time.We had a guess lecture (one of the past students) come and talk to the students. After his presentation Jeremi asked the students what they learned from it and any impressions that they had. The first student to share his story was Javier, a stake president from Morelia. By profession, Javier is an accountant that does his best to run his business. He told us that everyone just assumes that he has money because he is a stake president, but that “for years he has wondered why his business is struggling so much.” In his mind he thought that he was doing all that he could “spiritually” so why wasn’t his business doing any good? That’s when he called a call from Elder Lyons, the Area Seventy who knew about Javier’s challenging financial situation. This is what President Javier said:

“Brothers and sisters, you all know that I am a stake president. I am sure that you all assume that because I live the gospel and I am a church leader that I am automatically successful in business. However, let me tell you that I am in the worst financial situation that I have ever had in my life. I am in debt, I am busy, and I have not known how to make my small business grow. You may even wonder how this is possible since I am an accountant. However, I am not at all in a positive position. In fact, Elder Lyons, the Area Seventy over my stake, knowing my horrible financial condition and knowing that it has impacted my self-esteem, my happiness, and my ability to lift others up called me on the phone three weeks ago and said, ‘President, I have been praying earnestly about your situation. I have thought long and hard about this and taken my feelings back to the Lord. Please, president, I promise you in the name of the Lord that if you and your wife fast this weekend and offer a generous Fast Offering, the Lord will have a miracle in your life occur.’ Then, when I went to my wife and I told her about what Elder Lyons spoke to me about she said, ‘How in the world are we going to do this? We barely have enough to survive and we are too stressed. But, if it comes from the Seventy then it must come from the Lord. Let’s do it.’ So, we did.”

Then, with tears in his eyes President Javier said, “When Gandhi came to my home stake (5 hours away from México City) and as I listened to the Academy and I saw the PowerPoint and then I heard about the focus and mission of the Academy, the Lord confirmed to my soul that the Academy for Creating Enterprise is the miracle that Elder Lyons was inspired to tell me about. And, now I am doing and each day that I am here I know more and more that this is exactly the miracle the Lord had in mind for me. I am thankful that I listened to the voice of the Lord and that I am here. I know that my stake will be fine and that my family is safe, now I am learning the culture of economic success and I am going to be more complete as a person and a Son of God. Also, I know that I will send as many young returned missionaries as possible from my stake to the Academy for Creating Enterprise.”

It was a pretty cool experience. This Academy really is changing lives down here. The gospel has taught them the importance of being self sufficient and we are teaching them HOW to be self-sufficient. It's been pretty incredible!!

This is my favorite student Gabriel. I will probably most lots of pictures of him cause he is so funny. I wish you guys could hear him talk.
Calvin hard at work
Everyone in this picture is either a bishop, a member of the stake presidency, or a in the stake presidency. They are all students here. Javier is the one in the yellow long sleeve shirt.

You can't see it very good but this is us and Eduardo (another intern) in front of the temple

(Left to right- Ben, Eduardo, Brent, Me, Calvin, and Nate) This is also in front of the temple

This is Calvin on the way home from the temple. You can tell he was terrified.
Janet and I at Burger King
Our Taxi driver upon smelling the worst smell in the world.