"Echoes of Eden" Dayle King Searle

Elder Gong visited Mexico this past week. We had the privilege of covering five of the events he spoke at, including two in Monterrey. In Mexico City, we attended a devotional for the workers from the Mexico City Temple, A devotional for the Church employees, and a cultural celebration for the youth. In Monterrey, we attended a devotional for Young Single Adults and a devotional for women, which around 4500 women attended. All of this has left me feeling tired from a busy week. But then I look at Elder Gong’s schedule. In that same week, he spoke at all those events, plus held three leadership training meetings (one in Villahermosa, one in Mexico City, and one in Monterrey), spoke at a broadcast for bishops and their wives, held the area review, had a Zoom meeting with the mission leaders, travelled to Puebla to tour the temple being built and held a devotional there, and went to sessions in three different temples. Okay, I’m exhausted just writing that! It was amazing to watch Elder

Monday was Valentine’s Day, and I woke up to find a basket of candy and a sweet note. In return, I pulled out the giant chocolate turtles I bought at the chocolate museum last week, so our day was filled with chocolate and love. (You can say, “Ahhhhh” if you want.) That evening, we invited the other Teca Once missionaries to join us for a Valentine’s dinner at Terraza Grill. Sickness and injury kept some of them from coming, but we did have the Wrights, the Davises, and the Frandsens join us. The following evening, the Everetts invited us all to their apartment for a Valentine’s Family Home Evening. They instructed us each to come ready to share something we’ve learned about love on our mission. I said that I’ve learned that you don’t have to be able to talk to people to love them. Ron said he’s learned that he and I can spend twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week together, and not get tired of being together. (You may “Ahhhh” again if you’d like.) Thursday, the Lomas Ward Relief

Monday was a holiday, so only the senior missionaries were at the area offices. Ron and I spent a few hours there, and then took off with the Deavers and went to La Mexicana Park in Santa Fe. Bob Alsop told us about this park and said we should go see it. We didn’t get the chance to go there with the Alsops before they left, but now we can see why he recommended it. Santa Fe is probably the newest and most modern area of Mexico City. The park is on a hill that sits at the base of a line of skyscrapers that have interesting shapes and architecture to them. It is very family and pet friendly, and since it was a holiday, it was full of people enjoying the beautiful February weather. Along one edge of the park is a long line of restaurants, and we chose one to eat dinner at. Santa Fe also has a beautiful mall, which Ron and I visited when we were looking for places for the Giving Machines. We debated walking to it, but it was about a mile and I was feeling a little off that day, so we didn