December 23rd - Sam and Martha

I got up at about 8 o'clock so that I would be ready to go when Sam and Martha got to the house. Blanca was so nervous about translating my grandfather's talk for the whole congregation that she was shaking. All I could think about was how Gaby hugged me from the night before as she cried. I couldn't believe how quickly 3 weeks went by.

Sam and Martha finally arrived and we headed off to Vips. Even though we were laughing at the breakfast table, we were really crying inside. When we finished our breakfast, we piled into the van and headed toward the Kingdom Hall one last time.

I put my Zen on the podium so that I would be able to get my grandfather and Blanca saying every word. We got so many hugs and kisses that day.

Blanca did a fantastic job with the translation!! I got some pictures with them on the stage, but they are hard to see because of the window behind them. But it was still nice to have the memories.

The Watchtower was done in Nahuatl and Spanish at the same time because some of the words don't have an exact translation. Some of the friends even prepared a comment in English so that we would be able to understand some. And they thought it would be nice to do something for us before we left.

When everything was over, Blanca told one of the brothers that I would like to take a picture of the whole congregation, so he made the announcement from the stage for everyone to come to the front of the Kingdom Hall. We moved chairs and everyone got into a nice group. I believe 3 rows. I set the camera up to take a timed picture. That way I could be in it too. I got one for my grandfather as well. Then people wanted to take a picture of me and my grandparents together. It was really nice to be with everyone one last time. I got a picture of Luz Maria, Mariana, and Mario as well. I couldn't leave Mexico without one.

I got a gift from Carla and Mariana that day. Carla gave me 2 Mexican dolls and a Mexican bag, (kind of like a mail pouch). They were gorgeous!!! And Mariana gave me a picture frame and a piece of Mexican candy. They both wrote me a card in English. It was soooo sweet.

Mariana and I hugged tightly and she started to cry, all the time saying, "Don't go! Please don't go!" I lost count of how many times I hugged her that day. As I walked out to the van, I turned to wave goodbye. She shouted after me, "See you later alligator!" It about tore me apart. I looked back and said, "After a while crocodile." I got into the van, closed the door, and we drove off. The further we went, the smaller Mariana got as I looked back.

We went back to the house we changed our clothes and headed out again. We went towards the city and to the other side. I needed to get some more gifts for people, so Sam said that he would take us to a place where we could get some typical Mexican stuff. Man was he right. I loved it there. They had Mexican dolls, pottery, jewelry, and food. It was amazing. I got everything I needed for my friends that night. We even ate dinner while we were there. Not only did we shop, but we went to the home of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo for a tour. It was interesting. The house was older and really unique. I loved the way it was set up, even though I didn't like the artists. They are pretty much the Mexican version of Van Gough. Their pieces of work were very strange.











That night, we went back to the house and had cake and ice cream. I put all of my pictures on Jose's computer so that the family would be able to have them, and we talked to my parents when they called the house. Saying goodbye to Sam and Martha that night was really sad because we had gotten so close to them over the past 3 weeks. I went to bed around 11:00 because I was filling out cards for everyone in the family to thank them for everything they had done for us.