Mexico City and bethel PT 1

Well we have been back a few days but we had a great time visiting with family and getting to know the city!:$ everyday we were about 20-30 family members, so as u can imagine with such big groups took us awhile to get from one place to another ;-) but we had a blast and made every minute count ! There is so much to say but ill "try"(notice the " ") to simplify it ;)

Note: while in Mexico City it was very chilly at night (like 40s I think..) and decent during the day(60/70s) .. I think we had gotten semi used to Chetumal's heat.. So we were freezing while there with our Chetumal clothes, lol.

Day 1:
arrived to airport and met up with my parents who flew in after us , cousin German picked us up, then we all went back to hotel to meet rest of the tribe. it was evening by that time so we checked out the famous Zocalo, cathedral and had some Elotes on a stick with cream , queso and chile ... Yum!


Day 2:
All 21 of us boarded a Turibus (sightseeing bus , hop off n on bus..) takes u by all the tourist/historical sites in city.. this took most of the day and not to mention we filled up majority of the top of bus ;)

Day 3:
We had a slow start to the day , but while most of the group went to check out the Castillo de Chapultepec( castle where Spanish and French lived while they governed in Mexico very long time ago..) Rafa, Jeanette, and I went to the Anthropology museum. It was pretty darn awesome, Rafa played tour guide to Jeannette and I :) we listened as he got all excited explaining all the motherland history to us ;) lol.
Later that night all 20 of us from out of state checked into bethel and stayed with different couples that had offered their rooms to us for our last 3 nights. We all loved our host!
Rafa and I stayed with a couple named Jose Luis and Araceli Perez, super sweet couple! And they bilingual so that was nice for my gringa side;) they shared their experiences with us and how they arrived to bethel..

They were already serving in circuit work for 4 years just outside of Mexico City. Their District overseer invited them to join the bethel meeting at assembly,.. Jose Luis said he nervously told the DO that he did not qualify... The DO surprisingly asked how can he be in circuit work but not qualify for bethel? (Jose Luis was in his early 40s, making him just over bethel age limit to apply..) so he agrees to go anyways. At end of the meeting the brothers handed him and Araceli the bethel app.. They were honest in telling us that they weren't really sure about bethel since they were already serving in circuit.. But they decided to leave it in Jahs hand , and let him decide where he wanted them, so they applied and continued in their circuit Work. Well 2 months later on a Wednesday they received a a very shocking call...they were invited to bethel, and by that very next Monday there were bethelites!:) they said it all happened so fast that they were quite shocked for awhile , but 20 years later they are very happy and grateful to have had privilege to be there. The brother works in service department and the sister works in graphic design in the printers department . We had so much fun and were encouraged by them! We can't wait for them to visit one day! (Look for their pic below from the bethel dining room during morning worship)

Days 4-6 post n pics in next post

Well sorry for long post and the many pics!! But hope u enjoy!:) and comment if u can:)

"La Zona Libre"

Hello all,

Sorry we haven't been online here for a while .. Internet has been off/on... Anyhoo, we have been busy with service here, and this last weekend we even had a few brothers and sisters over from the hall to our little apartment.. And Rafa has gotten a few groups together to do what else: soccer and basketball at the local park;) it's about 2 houses down from us, and it's a very nice park with lights and all.. So we r still getting used to the territory , and all the walking in the HEAT!!! .. Oh and the bugs :/ ..

Last wknd we went to the "Free zone" with another young couple from our hall that we have been hanging with, Aaron and Claribel, (they got married same just 2 weeks before us! He is from the states and she is a local from Chetumal) so the free zone is technically on Belize territory but considered a middle point between Mexico and Belize borders.. And is basically a place no one lives but there are tons of shops and markets. It's only open during the day, and has stuff from both countries n where most things are super cheap!! There are buses (btw they are creepy lil old cars/buses/trucks... but we decided to trust our brothers... lol)that go to the free zone from chetumal and take u to Specific stores, and its free as Long as u look around their stores(its their way of shuttling In business, ) If u dont take one of those shuttles its gets pricey to catch a taxi to the border and then u have to deal with belizian border officials who might try to scam u for money.. so shuttle works our better cuz u cross free and no dealings with scammers.. While we were there we found rafa a much needed service bag! we must have gotten the deal of a lifetime because the bag was only $18 for his "Giorgio Armani" bag! And next door we bought a $18 "Juicy Couture bag" what great deals... haha.. There was even a Target store! But it was false hopes because it was not the American target that I am soo addicted to haha.. Claribel and i got hats for service, and then Aaron took us to one if his fav food spots for their famous fried chicken. In his words "best place to get American style fried chicken" we were excited for some chicken, but we became a little nervous because when we walked up... We saw it was a Chinese restaurant! Lol! ...but the food was yummy! We dis some more window shopping , Then we got a ride back to the border on this little funny shuttle, the driver drove like crazy and into oncoming traffic , soo fee times didnt think wed make it back , haha.. So it was an experience ..

Tomorrow AM we are catching our flight to Mexico City! We can't wait! We will be there wednesday thru Monday! We will be meeting up with a ton of family: Tio Serg+Fam, Tia Lisa+ Fam , Tio Alex, tio Chuyito+ Fam, Lizettes Dad & Mom, plus the family that lives in Mexico City and in the Mexico bethel! My last count we will be about 21 or so!

So we will be tourist ! will be checking out the museums , archaeological sites, pyramids, pyramids, and more pyramids! (the pyramids supposedly rival the Egypt ones!! ) and of course will be checking out the local cuisine! which we both are looking forward to, because surprisingly the food around chetumal .. well we havent been too impressed.. haha.. but its a mix of many regions and not what we r used to... but back to the trip: Friday night -Monday all 20(+/-) of us get to stay in bethel! So there will be a bunch of Sanchez representing during morning worship monday morning.. haha!

So will be uploading pix from the next week soon! We can't wait! Hope you all have a good week and weekend!

Circuit Overseer Visit

This week we are having our CO visit. The first for this new hall. Its been great, the brothers are very loving and energetic. Their names are Dwayne and Prodigy Turner. A little background on them: Both were bethelites in New York (him for 19 years and she joined him for 8 of those), Gilead grads, missionaries in Honduras, and have been in the circuit work for 8 years, and were assigned here from Honduras 4 months ago.

On Wednesday we had the privilege of giving hospitality for lunch, in the home of one of the couples in our hall( Rebeca & Antonio's). We made them Chicken in creamy  mushroom sauce with veggies, white rice, and another sister made a salad. Then for dessert made Thai Sticky rice with coconut ice cream and fresh slices of mangoes :) They said they really liked it all, and kept going back for more (so that was a good sign!) The next morning the sister thanked us again, because she told us they enjoyed it soo much they had the leftovers for dinner that same night! :)

We've been able to go out to service with them a few times during the week, and even got caught in a  tropical storm yesterday in middle of service afternoon. The poor brother and another brother he was with got soaked! We have enjoyed their experiences, and company so much, and already are going to miss them! THeir example shows us the blessings and the great experiences that come with serving JAh whole souled, and taking advantage of all the training/schools that the society has available for all of his servants. Makes us so happy to be able to be here in Chetumal and meet all the wonderful brothers and sisters.

Tonight we were invited to the pioneer meeting with the hall, looking forward to it! (will be joining the 7 local pioneers)

Oh and its It's been a very hot and very humid week! High 80s F, with 82%humidity!!! Ahhh, lol. And it's funny because we are both melting in the heat! And the local bros n sis tell us "oh this is our Cold "fresco" weather .." They say this as they wear coats and long sleeve sweaters!! Lol.

Will keep ya updated n more soon on all the weird bugs and things of living here in this part of Mexico! Lol.

~Rafa n Lizette

Here are some pics from service with local sisters, and of our visit with Dwayne n Prodigy.