Eagle Project Part 3

I thought I would just share a few of the pictures that President Moreno sent.

Here too is an email we received from President Moreno:

thank you for all your hard work and your big heart on put all this together, we feel pretty bless to know people like you guys but hope we are hopping to be friend forever not only church people, i want this since i was called as a branch president to know this kind of people willingly to help people in Mexico, i was thinking on a few things that we never get and sometimes we think that those things are not important but they are like personal cleaning items (shampoo, soap, toilet paper, toothbrush etc) that can be a HUGE help.

My parents are going back to Rocky Point this weekend and together with their friends we are sending TONS of food and hygiene items. We have decided this will be an ongoing project for us. Hopefully we can teach the people how to fish so they will not always need to be given fish.

Mariachi Festival

After making tamales all day, Sal and I took the kids to the Christmas Mariachi Festival. Sal and I had the best time but I think the kids were ready to leave after the first mariachi group played.

I LOVE mariachi music... I only wish I knew what they were singing about. One day I will have time to take a few Spanish classes, but for now I enjoy the beat and the voices. This year there was an all female mariachi group. Mariachi Reyna de-Los Angeles.

I really enjoyed listening to them, but there is something about the men.... perhaps it is their costumes that I love?? Just kidding.

One of our favorite mariachi group was there.... Mariachi Vargas, we truly could have left after they were done singing. They were the highlight of the night for us.

Sal and I decided that we would not take the kids again. Olivia fell asleep half way through the show, Hayden was playing games on his iTouch most of the night, and Cole screamed, "NO!!" when one of the groups came back for an encore. What can you expect when they don't understand the words to the music either. Maybe we all need Spanish lessons!

Annual Tamale Party

We once again had our annual tamale making party and as usual we had the best time every. Sandra was patient with those of us with babies - we took lots of breaks to nurse and put the down for naps. She said that next time she will bring her doll baby so she can have as many breaks as us. Mason and Slade are great friends and they were good to play on the floor. Mason had a ball pulling Slade's binky out of his mouth too.



Hayden wanted to be the mixer.... here he is mixing our masa, corn, cheese, baking powder, and salt.... of course Nana was close by to make sure Hayden was mixing it correctly.


What would tamale making be without BoSa donuts and Sonic drinks?? Sal, Heather and Jill cut up all the chili's and jalapeno's. I am not sure what I was doing other than taking the pictures..... oh yea, my job was whipping the Crisco and masa. This year we made about 35 dozen green corn tamales and they were the BEST ones we have ever made. We sure missed Manny and him telling us how to do our jobs. Thanks girls for the great time. I can't wait to do them again. Do we dare try them without Sandra's help??

Eagle Project Part 2

As I sit here and type this post, I am VERY aware of all the noises in my house at the moment. The dishwasher is going as is the washer and dryer and I just heard the heat click on. Today I am more aware of the humming of my house because we just had the most wonderful experience in Rocky Point.

This weekend was finally the day that we have waited for. We are delivering all of our donations to the people of Mexico. Granny and Papa and Mitzi and Clark left on Friday with their cars loaded to the brim. We left on Saturday and our Yukon was so full, we almost didn't have room for the kids. We were all worried about getting through the border, but our prayers were answered in that none of us were stopped. We were just waved through and we didn't have to explain or bribe anyone to let our items through.

We met President Moreno and his wife Ismelda at Burger King and after quick introductions we followed him to his house.






He has a beautiful house and we immediately felt warm and welcome there. We were ready to unload the items, but Guillermo (Pres. Moreno) insisted that we sit and eat. Guillermo's mom was also there from Mazatlan and they had made my favorite - posole!! They even had all the fixings - lime, radishes, cabbage, red onion. It was delicious!





We had the best time talking and visiting. We learned so much about the LDS branch and the Moreno's. Here is just some of what we learned:

1. 60% of the members of the branch are unemployed - 60%!! They are mostly construction workers that have no jobs because the building in Rocky Point is at a stand still, due to the lack of tourists. President Moreno said that they do anything they can for money including standing on the street corner washing car windows for money.


2. They have no Bishops storehouse or church welfare programs. They do collect a little bit for fast offering but not nearly enough for their needs.


3. Electricity is VERY expensive in Mexico. Pres. Moreno said he pays between $100 and $200 every month for electricity. The houses have NO heat. If they did their electricity bills would be nearly $700. Their house was cold and we had our coats on the whole time.


4. The youth in the branch want desperately to go to the temple in Hermosillo, but to do so they have to rent a bus to drive them the 3 hours. The bus rental is $1000. The youth of his branch had decided to try to earn the money by holding a car wash and a bake sale. Pres. Moreno said this might be possible to raise that much money in the States but in Mexico it is an unattainable goal. People do not have extra money to donate even if they get a car wash or a cake out of it.


5. The kitchens have no hot water. After dinner, we got up and said we would do the dishes. Of course there is not a dishwasher so we were going to wash the dishes by hand. I fiddled with the faucet for a minute and then asked how I could get hot water. Pres. Moreno giggled and said, "welcome to Mexico." At first I thought they were kidding and I looked like the stupid American, but I quickly realized they were not kidding. The water was ICE cold and I was thrilled when Mason started to cry so I didn't have to stick my hands back in the water.

After dinner we brought in all of our donations. We had a TON of stuff. I think we counted over 1000 articles of clothing.

Later as we sat on the couch Guillermo said, "I wish you could just stay and visit. I know you have tired kids, but I would love to just visit." He then invited us back for breakfast the next morning and we accepted.

At the end of the evening I presented President Moreno with a gift. The whole time we were doing Hayden's project, I had the thought... "Our hands are His hands" and the thought kept coming to me that I needed to give something to Guillermo and Ismelda to make them realize that we were just acting on behalf of Heavenly Father in doing and donating all that we had. To be honest, I shrugged off the thought a few times and right before we left, the thought came so strong that I had to run out and get what I needed for the gift. Luckily, I have Kara who did my vinyl at the moment I asked. Here it is:

It is all of our handprints and in Spanish it reads, "Our hands are His hands." As I gave it to Guillermo, he said he was going to cry. Right then and there the Spirit bore witness to me that Guillermo was a man of God, chosen to lead His people at this time and that we are truly His hands on Earth to do the work that He would do if he were here.

As we left that night, my heart was full of love for Ismelda and Guillermo and the people of Mexico. I felt as though we had not done enough. My wonderful Sal said, "Ali, don't think of it that way. We need to realize that we can do MORE." And we will.

Here is our family with Ismelda, Guillermo and Guillermo's Mom!

Only in AZ......

do we blog about the weather. Last night it rained and this morning we have FOG!! The kids LOVED it and it was such a nice change!

Hayden's Eagle Project - Part 1

It has been quite a while since I blogged last. We have been up to our eyeballs with Hayden's Eagle Project.

When Hayden turned 11 and went into the Boy Scout program the first thing he did was go through the book to see how soon he could earn his Eagle. He said, "Mom, I want to get my Eagle on my 13th birthday." He has worked hard and he will realize his goal in Feb. 2011.

As he thought about projects and what he could do, he asked what Cam and Colby had done for their projects. Colby didn't do one and Cam did his project in Rocky Point or Puerto Penasco Mexico. Hayden decided that he wanted to do his project for the people of Rocky Point as well.

It took a while for us to find a contact in Mexico. Granny works for the Church and she was able to give us the number to the temple president in Hermosillo, Mexico. I called and spoke to Sister Young. She gave me the number for her nephew who lives in Rocky Point. Hayden called him and got the number to one of the counselors in the branch presidency who happens to be the brother of the branch president. We then FINALLY got in touch with President Guillermo Moreno. He spokes very good English and he and Hayden were able to talk about his project and what kinds of things the people in Mexico need.

It was determined that the people were most in need of winter items. For example, sheets, blankets, winter clothes as well as dresses and white shirts and ties to attend church. He also asked if we could collect frozen turkeys. A turkey in Mexico costs between $50 and $70 EACH!!

Hayden was SO excited to get started. Unfortunately, we had a difficult time getting his project approved. Hayden had to jump through many hoops and convince many people that Mexico is a safe place and that we would not be in any danger by going. Hayden was told on more than one occasion that this would be a "difficult project" and perhaps he should "simplify it". Hayden was determined and would not change what he wanted to do. After nearly a month, Hayden finally received the sign off to begin. Granny printed nearly 1000 flyers and Hayden and his friends and fellow Scouts passed them out to everyone in our neighborhood as well as members of our ward.

We set it up to collect the donated items 2 weeks later. When November 20th came, I thought for sure we would be OVERWHELMED with the amount of donated items. That day, we picked up 3 bags and one turkey. To say that Hayden was disappointed is an understatement. He worried about how he would fulfil his promise to President Moreno with just 3 bags and 1 turkey. We assured him that we would have enough and would find a way to get the necessary items. We sent out emails and asked our family to clean out their closets for the necessary items. I emailed family and friends out of state and asked for donations. Hayden received over $100 in donations and he used that money to purchase items from Wal-Mart and Goodwill. Little by little, donations showed up. When it was all said and done he collected 1058 articles of clothing including blankets, sheets, ties etc and 8 turkeys.

Hayden had the Scouts come help him sort, fold and organize all of the items. I was surprised to see the boys trying on the clothes and being silly. Here are just a few of the pictures we took.



All of the items are ready to go to Rocky Point this weekend. We can't wait.