I keep thinking life can't get busier, then it gets busier!  This week was a case in point.  The week started off as always, with a "slow" Monday--only this week slow (normally 25 people) turned into almost 100 people who visited the VC by the end of the day.  Each subsequent day reflected the increase  We're not quite sure what the cause was, but it was great to welcome so many to the Center and have the chance to talk with them and show them around.  On Wednesday we had our training meeting broadcast from SLC via Skype, which of course wouldn't work.  We sent the Sisters to their district meetings (which they usually hold after training), then brought them back once the system was up and running.  As always, the training was great and got the sisters thinking in different ways about what they are doing.  On Friday we had scheduled a live broadcast of the Messiah with the Tabernacle Choir, unfortunately the sound would NOT work!  I thought it would be just Tom and I, but we actually had 15 people show up--and they all left disappointed.  About 8:30, Tom got one theatre up and running (of our 3 theaters!) and we played 1/2 hour of the broadcast.  We promised everyone that we would reshow the broadcast--so we need to get that going this week-assuming SL can get the announcement in Facebook in time.  That all happened on top of our losing our Pday, since our substitute couple for the morning (the Cisneros family) ended up in the hospital.  It made for a long day!  Wednesday night we had dinner with the Tanners, Winwards and Johnsons one floor up from our apartment.  It was a fun chance to speak English and just get acquainted.  Saturday dawned bright and early and we opened the door to 20 busloads of people who were there for the temple.  We had two Stake Primary groups, two Stake YM/YW groups and a performance by the Ballet Toyolotl Masaeua (an offspring from Benemerito's dance group).  The Center was hopping all day long!  The Ballet group was GREAT!  We are promising ourselves to attend all the Ballet Folklorico groups that come to visit!  We had about 175 people in attendance at the Ballet, and another 1800+ at the Center for the day!  This is turning out to be a lot of fun!
I wanted to talk about the Zarate's .  Elder and Sister Zarate are from Oaxaca, have 12 children, and are pretty humble people.  They are quiet, and do any and everything asked of them.  They were assigned to serve an 18 month mission at the CV, and arrived 3 months before we did.  They are also AMAZING missionaries.  We learned the first week here, that they were not happy at the CV because they didnt' have enough to do.  They had actually asked the President to be reassigned!  He gave them permission to work in some of the Sister's areas when they were not "on" at the CV.  As a consequence, they now go out every morning and walk the streets, handing out pass-along cards and invitations to come to the CV.  Any referrals they get are passed along to the Sisters, but thus far (after 6 months), the Zarate's have had more than 6 baptisms--with several more scheduled.  That's better than most full time missionaries!  The rest of the Senior Couples are pretty much in awe of them!  They are quietly magnifying their CV calling and showing the rest of us how to be missionaries!  We LOVE the Zarates!  By the way, they have now asked to have their mission extended to 2 years!  Sister Zarate is also an expert embroiderer, and is currently working on embroidering a whole dress Oaxaca style.  She has been watching me embroider the quilt I am making with the Sister's names embroidered over their signatures.  She is fascinated by the "new" stitches she has never seen before (like feather and backstitch).  I can hardly wait to see her dress, because those will be new stitches for me.
One last item, the Jacaranda and Magnolias are in bloom!  We have several magnolias right outside the CV, and they are wonderful to see!  I have missed Jacarandas and magnolias!  The picture below comes from one of our trees!  Next week I'll look for a jacaranda!