Mom always seems to find a cute baby to hold. This little girl was in the chapel at Martinez de la Torre, which is more than 3 hours north of Veracruz. She is the daughter of the couple who are in the other photo. We were there that Sunday afternoon so that I could conduct a final baptismal interview of the man following permission from the First Presidency to baptize him. He committed a murder a few years ago. The interview was very strong and he was baptized and confirmed the next weekend. The missionaries are Elders Bowen (Camarillo, California) and Rojas.

Late in the afternoon we were back in Cuernavaca at one of the ancient haciendas of Hernan Cortés. The gardens were beautiful and the dinner was good. The drinks are horchata, or rice water with sweetened milk and cinnamon (very tasty)and jamaica. Very pretty to look at, too. The jamaica is made from harvested hibiscus flowers which are boiled to steep out the color and flavor. Mom and I are standing at the base of a giant tree whose roots grow outside of and into the ancient stone walls. To our right is either a poster on the wall, or a door into another room showing Pres. and Sister Nancollas of the Mexico City North Mission across the court which gives you an idea of the immensity of this place. It presents a fun optical illusion, too.

Much to Mom´s delight, there was even an ice cream shop in Taxco. It was a heckuva lot cheaper than Baskin Robbins and tasted just as good in the sugar cone.

In the afternoon of that day we went to a small town called Taxco. It is famous for its silver mines and silversmithing. In a shop there Mom bought a thimble for her collection from a very old man. His weathered hands hold the thimble and also a needle holder. I bought a silver and jade letter opener at another place using my American Express card. We think it was they who sold the number to someone and my card was charged with $1800 (American) of computer equipment and plane tickets. AMEX caught it, found us through Jane, and the money was refunded to our account without problems. The next time we are in Taxco we will use cash. The second picture is of a goofy-looking hat salesman. He didn't want his picture taken, but I gave him 10 pesos and he was all smiles, as you can see. These hats were 50 pesos each, or a little over $4.00. We demurred.

These are images of glyphs on the sides of the Temple of Queztacoatal "the Feathered Serpent." Pretty interesting, huh? Remember that you can click on the photos to enlarge them to full-screen.

On August 21-23, 2008 Mom and I went to Mexico City. The purpose was to meet there with the 20 other mission president couples, the Area Presidency, the Fourth Quorum of Seventy, and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. We did that. The days were packed with training and with the Spirit which we have written about in our letters to the family. One day, we were taken on a tour to a magnificent ruin called Xoxicalco, 700-900 A.D, also called the City of Flowers. As many as 20,000 Lamanites may have lived there. You can look it up online. It is quite a beautiful and interesting place. There were various temples and sacrifical altars and one of those ancient Mayan ball courts where they played and the losers were often sacrificed.