Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to our angel mothers! 

Can you guess whose mother is who's?

...AND I am grateful for my children who call me Mother, or Ma for short.  I love them dearly and am thankful for their support while we are on our mission.  

On Saturday, to celebrate Mother's Day, the Belize City Branch Young Women treated the mothers to  pedicures, manicures, and makeup make-overs.  And did we feel pampered!  

Afterwards, the Young Men, Young Women,  and fathers served dinner to the mothers.  (Notice the fruit sticks and the cream cheese filled chocolate cake)  Delicious!  

Earlier in the week we had occasion to visit the island town of San Pedro. It's an hour and a half ride by water taxi.  We like to ride on the top where it's open and breezy.  

We met up with the Elders at the San Pedro chapel located about a 20-minute walk from the water taxi.  

The San Pedro chapel is simple, functional, and a source of pride for the local members.

We joined with the elders and sisters in district meeting via Skype as we connected with them in Belize City and Orange Walk. 

The condition of missionaries' shoes is always an amazement because they are walking all day and evening, in all road and weather conditions.  They are illustrative of the Lord's declaration to Isaiah "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him (and her) that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace...that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!"  

We enjoyed visiting with Manuel and Elsa Velasquez, originally from Honduras.  They live in a beautiful home in San Pedro with an immaculate yard, no doubt because Manuel is a retired gardener. 

Back in Belize City we visited with Silbert and Jennifer Gordon.  They just returned from being temple missionaries in the Guatemala City Temple, the first senior missionary couple to serve from Belize. 

Silbert is a master wood craftsman, having made all the mahogany furniture in their home.

In a few weeks we will have one year left on our mission. We've learned much. We've learned that the Lord is in charge of His work, that missionaries can be led to whom to see, what to say, how to help, and even--when it matters--when to arrive to see someone. 

We've learned that senior couples just draw on their life's experiences and add greatly to the preparation and enthusiasm of the young missionaries. We've learned that angels are round about us, protecting us, likely when we don't even know it.

We've observed that those members of the church who exercise faith to keep the commandments and live their covenants are blessed with sufficient for their needs, and can live comfortable lives even in surrounding, challenging economic circumstances. 

We've learned as a couple to depend even more on each other's gifts and talents.

We've come to see the Book of Mormon in a greater light, that it is the instrument that brings all people to Jesus Christ. It invites the Spirit into our lives as we study it daily.

Again, why are we on this mission?  To share the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ. Enjoy this new short video our church produced explaining what we believe.

To end this week's post, I will share this picture I took one day as we were leaving a roadside eatery.   I hope we didn't eat his sister for lunch!