Rancho Chico

 
Today we are on our way to a little branch called Rancho Chico.  It is an adventure to get there so we thought we'd share a bit of the experience with you.  After Panuco you turn onto a dirt road and it's 1 1/2 hours on that road.  This is sugar cane country and one of the sugar plants is on this road.  The overloaded truck arrive to deliver their cane.  Some of these trucks look like they could tip and roll at any time.

The cane is beautiful as it grows and when it's almost ready it gets a tassle on the top.

We were told that as beautiful as it looks on the outside you would not want to run into that field because of what lives there.  I'll leave it to your imagination.

This is the cane in the beginning stages.  They get 3-7 cuttings from one planting.  President Ramirez grows some cane so he gave us some interesting information on our drive to Rancho Chico.

Here is one of the trucks on it's way from the field to the plant.

Here is Rancho Chico.  They have a small House of Prayer.  This pueblito is so far away and remote that we can't have missionaries there but there are always 30-40 people at their meetings.  All of them are related in one way or another.  We did have a baptism of someone from Rancho Chico last year.  She married into the family of a man from Rancho Chico.

Here is our friend Jaqueline again.  She is from Panuco and is one of our favorite little friends.  She is the daughter of the counselor in the District of Panuco which Rancho Chico is part of.  She and her parents came with us for the day.  Her mother is from Rancho Chico.

Dad and Pres. Ramirez.

Here is a picture of the inside of their little chapel area. 

One of the reasons that we came today was to meet with the Primary children and give them their bibles and scripture bags.  They are the last of the branches to receive them.  They are filling out their info sheet and coloring a self-portrait for us.

These children seem to always be smiling a giggling eventhough they come from such meager circumstances.  Is there a lesson there?

I love this little guys smile.  It's hard to not pick them up and hug them.

And here is a picture of most of the branch that was there today.  Some had already left before the picture.  One family left to prepare food for us at their home.

The woman on the left is Kristy.  She is Jaqueline's mother.  The woman in the middle is her grandmother who we believe is 84.  They weren't quite sure.  The woman on the right, an aunt.  The structure in the rear is the woman's home.  She lives across the street from the House of Prayer.  She has been faithful and true since her baptism 50 years ago and probably started the whole church population in Rancho Chico.

She has zinnia's in her garden and I just needed a picture when I saw that there is something as tall as I am here in Mexico.  Zinnia's were my dad's favorite flower.

Two of the little girls who received their gift from our Sandy ward Primary.

Then we went to lunch.  We sat down to a huge pot of talapia.  I'd never seen them quite like this before.  Only breaded and served in a restaurant.  I knew they were good but I lost my appetite when this was what was placed in front of me.  We were almost afraid to close our eyes during the prayer for fear of what was landing on the food with our eyes closed.  We washed our hands out back of the house in a little bowl of water that everyone else had used that was right next to the garbage.  What an experience.We prayed hard that all would be well. 

And it was.  Kristy's husband, sitting next to her, was a companion to Patrick Boice who is the son of Dad's cousin.  He helped him learn to speak English.  We were so surprised to make this connection with this good man.

Yes, they all got eaten but one.  Mine is in the middle, Dad's on the left and Pres. Ramirez on the right.  The Mexican's know how to eat it all right now to the very bone.  It was an another unforgettable experience.

On the way home we saw the leantos that the workers who cut the cane sleep in at night.  Those are mosquito nets.  They cut the acres of cane, after it has been burned, with machetes by hand.  They come out of the fields black as if they'd been working in the coal mines.

Closer to home we passed by this street vendor.  Right now the streets are filled with piles of pineapples for sales.  This isn't very much.  Generally the back of a large truck is overflowing with them.  They are sweet and delicious.