A "toreo" or bull ring that is never used.
Making flour tortillas.
A favorite food now!
Near a Catholic Church with his new companion to be in 2 weeks
Beautiful sunset with a nice backdrop.
On splits in a field of sheep?
Playing a little street ball with the locals.
Dear Family and Friends,
We had another great week here in the Aurora! We saw a ton of progress from our investigators and were super excited to see a couple of families at church yesterday! I went on splits a couple of times this past week and enjoyed getting to know other parts of Saltillo. Tomorrow we have a zone conference and I am going to give a talk this coming Sunday (I thought I got out of it with the piano excuse but I guess not.... :) Also, I received some super big news that is going to affect me for the next 4.5 months that was really surprising!
To better explain the big news that I received this week, I want to give you a very short update how the mission offices are set up here in Saltillo. The missionaries that are working in the offices are members of the zone here in Valle de las Flores so it's always interesting to hear what they are up to. There are only 2 weeks left in this transfer and then we are going to see a ton of changes in the mission offices.
Right now, there are two assistants to the president, one executive secretary, one materials secretary, and a senior companionship named Elder and Sister Lugo (from Queretaro, Mexico) that are working as the Financial secretary and the Secretary of Forms (registros en Spanish). In two weeks, 5 of the 6 missionaries working in the offices, all except for one of the assistants, are going to finish their missions and head home! Basically, the mission is gearing up to see a bunch of new faces in the offices with so many experienced missionaries leaving.
With this in mind, my companion and I have been wondering who could be the new secretaries. Then, last night, I received a call that I would be serving as the new financial secretary!
Sister Lugo is currently the financial secretary and I am her son because she is training me to take care of the tens of thousands of pesos that the mission moves around every month to pay for the expenses of the missionaries, cost of rent, medical expenses, etc. I am super excited but also nervous! Sister Lugo makes the mission run and answers a million phone calls a day and has a year and a half doing it! I have no idea how I am going to manage without her.... However, I am very excited to learn from her for the next month before they leave to visit their daughters in Utah. I am confident that I am going to figure it out sooner or later.
I also found out that Elder and Sister Lugo are planning on coming back to the mission to serve for another year and a half and return to being secretaries in January of next year. I have been told that I am going to be filling in for her, for the 4 months that they are going to be gone. I am super excited for my new comp, new responsibilities, a new P-day (FRIDAY!), and the chance to open area again. I am sad to leave the Aurora ward after only having 6 weeks there. It's a great ward with great people.
I want to relate all of the changes that are happening in the mission with a great comment I heard on Sunday in church. The teacher during the third hour mentioned that there are a few constants in life. One is death, one is change, and one is the love that our Heavenly Father has for each of us. This change in assignment, and my time as secretary will last until probably the end of January of next year. That means that my time to be a leader here in the zone will also come to an end here in 2 weeks. That makes me sad because I really enjoy helping the zone become better disciples of Jesus Christ. I wasn't expecting it, but I know that I will come to love it because I know that is where the Lord wants me to be so I can best help the mission. Even though change can be intimidating or uncomfortable, I know that change makes it possible that we can progress and improve as followers of Christ. Thus, I am very excited and ready to continue giving it my all and loving the wonderful people here in Mexico.
All the best,
Elder Shipley
Elder Ship - Glad to hear you are enjoying your mission service. Your wealth of experience both before and during your mission will serve you well in your new assignment.
ReplyDeleteFor Elder and Sister Lugo - For the last few years I have been doing temple ordinance work for Los Angeles Lugo family members. My grandfather's first cousin Dorothy Broberg moved from Oklahoma to Los Angeles in the late 1920's and fell in love with and married Jorge Lugo. Jorge is a descendant of Don Antonio Maria Lugo, the Spanish soldier who was rewarded for his loyal service with vast land. He was the recipient of a large Spanish land grant in Southern California. At one time, he increased his holding from Sonoma in the north to San Diego in the south...a distance of 700 miles. His Rancho San Antonio included much if present day Los Angeles. The Zorro movies are a fictional account based on history of the Los Angeles area land grant families. Here is a link that tells part of the Lugo story: http://hmart.tripod.com/Family_Lugo.html
Much of Don Antonio Lugo's descendant's temple work has been done but there is still more to do. If you want to do work for any of the Los Angeles, CA Lugo family, let me know and I can try and transfer names to you.
steve@balkman.com