Castaños

The Sunday after Christmas, Hector lent us his Suburban and we headed up to a town called Castaños to attend church there.  I am going to let Karl tell about it.

When I was a missionary, my camera was out of commission during the four months in this special town. Not a single picture made it home. Here at last are a few images of what might not look like much, but for me the place is sacred. You would need to read the memoir of my mission to understand why. Suffice it to say that it was a beautiful thing to spend a few hours in the town of my heart's desire.

First you see the lovely church building built for growth that still hasn't come to Castaños. We arrived late for 9:00 services, but church did not begin until 10:00. The second person I saw was someone I knew well, Pedro Ramirez, the branch president when I was there. I asked him if he remembered me, but he could not, which is understandable. Missionaries come and go, and it was almost twenty years ago. Still, stepping into the building was like stepping back in time. There were still just a handful of members, and it was still the kind of branch you could volunteer to speak and be given the floor; a new voice is always welcome in Castaños. From the pulpit, I recounted the memories of the time spent in their company.

Unlike her husband, Armida in fact remembered me well, pictured here on the left. She fed me at least weekly for four months. As if the schedule never lapsed, she invited us into her home again. I learned that all those meals were prepared on a wood stove which was only recently replaced by a gas one. 

This is the beautiful pecan tree orchard between the Ramirez's house and the church. You used to be able to walk between the two through the orchard until someone put a fence up. It was such a soothing contrast to the big city of Monterrey where I spent most of my time as a missionary.

Daniel in the light.

Chiara looking for pecans

I learned a little more about Pedro Ramirez on this occasion. He used to work for a steel factory in nearby Monclova along with most of the rest of the male population of Castaños. Now he is a custodian at an elementary school. He was orphaned at an early age with 7 siblings, too many for anyone to take in. They pretty much supported themselves and learned how to survive. His role in the flock has changed little; now he is the counselor in the branch presidency.                                  

The rubik's cube was solved by Elena. She sometimes makes patterns and letters like alternating H and I.

Marlene had her quinceñera party while I was serving in the area. For some absurd notion of missionary obedience, my companion and I chose not to go. Now, it seems it would have been well within the spirit of the work to have participated in the most significant social event during our sojourn in this town. She was home for Christmas from Orem, Utah where she works and studies. I asked her if she remembered me and at first she didn't think she could. But then she thought and said, "El era muy serio," he was very serious. I knew that in fact she had remembered for I was, during that phase of life, a somber, serious, quiet missionary.

Pedro Jr., Elena, Daniel, Chiara, Karl, Stephen, Pedro, Armida, Marlene, Joseph

To the best of my knowlege, this was our missionary pad. It was a studio apartment attached to the landlord's house. The rent was about $30 a month, divided by two, by far the cheapest place I have ever lived, about $.50 a night. It was also my favorite.

Something special happened on Calle Bravo. You would need to read the memoir to understand what. It is not something I can fully express with words, but perhaps the memoir will help you see why it is significant for me.

What would not a person give to capture a glimpse of heaven?

Christmas Day

On Christmas day, after checking out what Santa left and eating a big breakfast, we decided to go to a cool park.  Karl and Hector served in Saltillo at the same time, although not as companions, and they remember coming to this park to play basketball and play on the slides.  We fed pumpkin seeds to the ducks, and then went over to the slides.  There's a hill leading up to the duck pond, and on the hill are a bunch of concrete slides that have been painted with something that makes them slippery.  There were at least ten different slides, and the kids all had a blast playing on them.

Karl and Hector

Elena takes Chiara down.  She loved it and went down on her own several times, too.  She even tried head first a couple times.

Elena, Chiara, and Iris.

Joseph, Karl, Daniel, Carlos, Hector, and Iris

Lilian and Iris

Daniel heads down head first.

As does Stephen.  Stephen and Joseph also tried "skiing" - sliding down while standing.  They always fell before making it to the bottom, but had a great time.

Joseph

In the evening we all went to see a movie.  Movies here are either subtitled or dubbed, so we find subtitled ones that we can listen to in English.  The theaters are great, and they are cheaper than in the states.

Noche Buena

Karl served his mission in Monterrey, Mexico.  One of his companions, Hector Lugo, now lives in one of the areas where they both served, a city called Saltillo.  They were companions for seven months while Karl served as the financial secretary, and they have remained friends, corresponding occasionally.  When Hector learned that we were going to be in Mexico all year, he invited us to spend Christmas with his family.  So on the evening of December 23rd, we boarded an all-night bus to Monterrey.  We then transferred to another bus and arrived in Saltillo about 15 hours after leaving Puebla.  We have decided that overnight buses are definitely the way to go when traveling with children.  While we can't say we slept that well, it was so nice to have our over-active two year old asleep for the majority of the time.

We arrived in Saltillo on the 24th of December, so we got to help with preparations for the Noche Buena dinner, which is much like our Thanksgiving dinner with traditional dishes.  The Lugos injected their turkey with orange soda, and it was really delicious.  Other traditional dishes include a hamburger-based stuffing, fruit salad, spaghetti with a white sauce, ponche, and lots of desserts.  We made our traditional Christmas cinnamon rolls to add to the feast. 

Noche Buena began with a Christmas program.  Hector and his wife, Dina, have four children:  Hector, 12, Carlos, 11, Lilian, 10, and Iris, 9.  They all play piano.  So the Christmas story was read with songs interjected throughout it, and the four Lugo children and Elena switched off playing the piano for the hymns.  Sometimes everyone sang, and sometimes there was a duet.  Karl and Hector sang a duet and sounded fantastic.  Hector's sister and her two children were also there.  After the program, presents were opened.  Lastly we had the big dinner at about 10:30pm.  Karl says some people wait until midnight to eat.  It's traditionally a very late-evening meal.  The only thing that really happens on Christmas day is that gifts from Santa have arrived.  We were up until about 2am.  Joseph and Daniel fell asleep before dinner and the other kids headed to bed shortly after dinner, so they weren't up quite as late.

Unfortunately, we only brought Stephen's camera with us to Saltillo, and then discovered when we got there that the flash was no longer working.  The lighting was off in all our pictures - even outdoor ones, and then the camera gave out completely.  So the following pictures aren't the best, but they are all we have.

Hector and Hector (jr) in back, Carlos, and Hector's sister

Dina, Hector's nephew and niece, and Iris

Hector and his sister sing a duet.  Hector (jr) is playing the piano.

Sparklers!

Because it is so dry in Nevada, fireworks are illegal.  Even sparklers.  So the boys were so excited to find out that you can buy them here.  Sparklers were being sold on the street corners during the holidays.  They are part of the Christmas tradition.  Our boys were thrilled when we bought some.

Ward Christmas Party

On Tuesday December 15th, we had a ward Christmas party.  When there is a ward party, the women get together in groups to prepare the food.  And everyone contributes money because there isn't a ward budget.  I was put in a group that made chili rellonos with chipolte chilis, which are traditional for Christmas.  Tuesday morning a sister that lives near me came to pick me up, and together we rode the bus to the RS president's house.  There were four in our group.  We put cheese in the chilis and dipped them an egg batter and fried them.  I have no idea how they warmed them back up at the church.

The party started around 7pm.  First were the pinatas - seven of them!  The young women had made some of them.  Five were for the primary kids and two were for the youth.

Here you can see all the primary kids watching the pinata.  Notice the ladder - a guy was on the roof pulling the rope of the pinata.  There's a fun song that everyone sings while a child swings at the pinata, and when the song ends, your turn is over.

After the pinata was knocked down, Brother Frias shook out the candy and chips.  The kids were so excited the first time that they knocked him down, and he is a big man!

As one woman in the ward commented, Chiara is the ward doll.  All the little girls flock around her and try to play with her.  Here Chiara is wearing a piece of the pinata as a hat.

Joseph takes a turn at hitting a pinata.

and Daniel . . .

and Stephen . . .

and Elena.

After the pinatas, everyone came inside for the program.  The youth started with "Angels We Have Heard on High."  Karl, who is the YM president, led them and Elena accompanied them.

Next was the nativity pagaent presented by the primary.  The story started with the Nephites.  Someone had painted the beautiful backdrop with the pyramid that can be seen here.

In between scenes, the primary kids all sang.  Daniel is at the end dressed in a blue sheet, and Joseph is in the back with a yellow sheet.  They learned some of the choruses of the songs, but mostly faked it since it's hard to learn a song when you don't even understand the words.

The angel appears to Mary.

The star was so cute!

The angel tells the shepherds about Christ's birth.  Daniel is one of the shepherds (with a yellow head-covering).

The kings discuss the new star and what it foretells.  Joseph actually got to say a line: "Nunca habiamos visto una estrella asi." He did a great job memorizing it.  He is the king in a yellow sheet.

Then the kings followed the star (her Mom helped her walk around) . . .

until she stopped over the stable where the kings fall down and worship the baby.

After the primary, some of the RS sister performed a couple of dances.  Finally, when the program was over, dinner was served.  It was after 9pm.  We had turkey, spaghetti, stuffed chipotles, fruit salad, and ponche (a yummy warm drink made from various fruits and sugar cane).  It is typical for the Mexicans to eat their evening meal between 9 and 10pm.  Their afternoon meal is usually eaten between 2 and 5pm.  Everyone sat around eating and visiting, and our kids were exhausted.  Daniel fell asleep on one of the benches, and Joseph turned backwards on a chair and fell asleep with his head on the chair back.  It was a fun party.

Clay Nativity

We didn't have much in the way of decorations, so Elena decided to make us a clay nativity scene.  Stephen helped her with the shepherd and sheep.  The kids also made a Christmas tree out of poster board which we taped on the wall, and a lot of paper chains which were strung around the house.  We probably would have bought a Christmas tree if we were going to stay here for Christmas - they do have trees here - but we knew that we were going up to Monterrey, and we were having car problems and were without our car almost all of December, so picking up a tree was a little difficult.

A view of the Cholulan pyramid

This picture was taken from a hill across from the pyramid at Cholula.  It shows a broader view of the pyramid.  The stone steps are actually part of another structure that was in front of the pyramid.  The area under the church hasn't been excavated, but from what they can tell, the pyramid ends where the hill spreads out.  The pyramid spreads out that far.  One side is completely gone because the locals used stones from it for their buildings, so they have to guess at the actual dimensions.

Favorite Pics

For the past several years, my parents and sisters and I have put together a photo calendar.  We were in need of pictures to put on the kids birthdays and such, so we headed to a nearby park to try to take some.  Here are some of our favorites.