Sunday y Algo Más

I forgot (in my haste to report about the ranch) to write about Sunday. Our first Sunday here Marcos had a fever and so Edgar, Lili, and Ruben took a taxi to Aútlan (about 1/2 hour by taxi, an hour by bus) to go to church. Nobody was there and it was all locked up. They waited about an hour and then took the bus home. They were gone about 3 hours.

We weren´t sure what to expect this week. The branch members were there, though, in full force. They had had stake conference the week before in Manzanillo (3 hours away). During the opening song, "Praise to the Man," I started crying. They were singing with such fervor and I felt the Spirit so strongly. It was great to be in the familiar church setting. Also, the man who blessed the bread for the sacrament spoke so humbly and reverently, it brought tears to my eyes. There are four full-time missionaries there and they were planning to have 5 baptisms that day. They ended up having only 2 since the other 3 investigators (all in the same family) didn´t come to church. The Church really is the same everywhere.

Marcos went to his first hour of nursery. He loved the snacks and playing with toys. I stayed with him. Lili didn´t want to go to Primary unless she could be right by Ruben. They came and got me out of Sunday School (Edgar was with Marcos then) because Ruben kept bugging Lili, and they didn´t know if they should separate them or not. Again, the Church is the same everywhere! Ruben could cause trouble in any Primary, anywhere. We caught a bus quickly from Aútlan, and the ride to El Grullo was so long and hot and sweaty and smelly. Poor Marcos fell asleep in Edgar´s arms. After we got off the bus, it seemed like we had to walk forever to get home. It was so hot.

That night we went to the Plaza to hang out with the rest of the town. They were getting ready for some event, and we decided to stay and see what it was. It took quite awhile and I was worried about the kids getting to bed on time. Then they started. A woman was introducing the evening. She is the president of a women´s group here, and she said March 9 is International Woman´s Day. It was an event to celebrate womanhood and they had chosen 24 women from El Grullo to honor. Women went around giving carnations to every woman. I got one. I was thinking it was all so nice and then I saw one of the performers. She was so scantily-clad and looked like a Las Vegas show girl. I couldn´t believe it. I asked Edgar if she was one of the performers. He said yes, and we left. I was so bothered. What a slap in the face to womanhood! I couldn´t believe a women´s group would honor women by objectifying them. I also hated that we seemed to be the only ones that had a problem with it. There were so many families and children there!

We continue to have lots of invitations to eat. This morning Edgar´s Tía Malena met me at Ruben´s school to invite us to eat at her house at 2:00 today. I stayed at Ruben´s school awhile to volunteer/observe and when I got home I told Edgar about it. He had been out and about with Marcos and had run into his Tía Bertha and agreed to have lunch with her at 2:00 today. They both wanted to have us before we go to the beach (tomorrow morning). Edgar called Tía Malena and we are going to her house now on Monday. On Sunday, Edgar´s cousin Noé invited us to eat and then other family members invited us for the same day. We´ll go there later. We will have a day of feasting rather than a day of rest.

It was interesting to be at Ruben´s school. The teacher is very strict and doesn´t seem too happy in her work. The 3-4 kids who misbehave get most the attention. She kept wanting me to translate for Ruben. I think Ruben will learn more if I don´t go. I told her she does a good job with so many kids. She said last year she taught 37 three-year-olds!

The clock on her wall (like the one at Lili´s school) doesn´t work either!
We couldn´t find Ruben´s glasses this morning. He looks so different without them. Some of the kids wear uniforms and so don´t. The same is true of Lili´s school.
Ruben loves wrestling with other little boys.
I don´t think Ruben would love school nearly as much if it weren´t for the playground.

Yesterday we had a calm day. We didn´t visit anyone and nobody visited us. It was kind of nice. We had Family Home Afternoon because we thought someone might come. We went to the Plaza and also a playground place lasat night and bought tacos and ice cream. Here are some pictures of the kids. They love playing on these things.

Marcos loves horses as much as his brother.
Lili prefers a good horse.
Marcos wants to do whatever his siblings do. Last night he insisted on having Edgar floss his teeth.

Tomorrow we´re off to the beach for 3 days. I don´t think I´ll be blogging. Edgar´s dad is letting us drive his truck there so we don´t have to go on the bus. Also, it´s a great time to go. Lili´s school is cancelled tomorrow, Friday, Monday, and Tuesday! I think her teacher just needs a break. I found out that he has an afternoon session of about 40 first-graders too! Ruben´s school is cancelled Friday as well.