Sunday, January 7, 2024
This morning we woke up and went to church at the Cuautémoc ward in Hermosillo. I love visiting different congregations throughout the world. The church is the same everywhere -- and different everywhere.
Kimball had a classic Kimball moment at church. We got there a few minutes early, and we sat down to wait for the meeting to start. Kimball was sitting with his Ayala friends behind Betty and me, and he breathed out -- but loud enough for everyone to hear: “Estoy list para salir de este país (I’m ready to leave this country).”
Oh the honesty of autism.
It was fast Sunday, and that means testimony meeting. I especially love hearing people from all around the world testify of Christ.
River also had another great church moment.
This is our first Sunday of the new year, which means Ian has now aged out of primary, and River has aged into primary. She’s out of the nursery. And River loved the nursery. She loves the snacks and the toys. In primary, generally, there are no more snacks and no more toys. So she wasn’t thrilled about going. I decided to take her and sit in with her to see how she would do.
Well, right at the beginning of the lesson, the teacher pulled out a big gift bag that read: “De: Mi Padre Celestial. Para: Mí.” River looked at me and said: “Dad, it’s a present, for me!”
Oh boy.
I tried to explain to her that the present was probably a metaphor or some kind of pretend thing, but she just looked at me and said, “No. It says it’s a present for me.”
As expected, when the gift turned out to be the teacher’s personal copy of the Book of Mormon, River was not happy. Now she looked at me, and her eyes said: “Why would someone play a trick like that on children?!”
One of these days River is going to love primary. Today is not that day.
After church, I had to make a couple of calls for my bishop calling. And we took some pictures with the group as well.
After church we went -- you guessed it -- to the Ayala’s house. We really love hanging out with them. The kids went to the park for a bit, and we also played our new favorite game: spoons.
Then we went back to Alma’s house, where I snuck away from the group to go and take pictures of the Hermosillo Temple at sunset. I really want to get great pictures of as many temples and Catholic churches as possible on this trip. There is something so valuable in these sacred spaces. They are definitely becoming a theme on this trip.
In the night, everyone (Ayalas, Yolanda and her family, etc.) came over to say one last goodbye, and to celebrate Alicia’s birthday. Betty has a thing where she just celebrates people’s birthdays when it’s a good time to celebrate -- not necessarily on their birthday. Alicia does not like having this kind of attention. I told her it wasn’t really a birthday party, it was just us saying goodbye. I tried to tell Betty and the rest of the crew to NOT make a big deal about it. Then they lit the birthday cake, and I realized nobody had listened to me. The candle was like a 4th of July sparkler. I’m certain there is nowhere in the US that you can buy a candle like this.
We had such a great time visiting and eating, and we even did another piñata. River loves piñatas. Heck, everyone in Mexico loves them. In the parks they even have these poles for hanging piñatas that look like gallows. And these sweet and mild-mannered kids go after them with serious aggression.
Anyway, it all turned out to be a beautiful night and a perfect way to end our time in Hermosillo and Mexico.
