Mexico City Temple

Temple #84

2/10/2018

Mexico City Temple

     ¡Mexico! Living in Mexico was like a dream come true. It was warm and sunny most of the time, we ate three to four large meals everyday of delicious Mexican food, and traveling around Mexico was super easy. We were so excited to be here and couldn't wait to go to our first temple.

     With ILP we weren't allowed to go to Mexico City alone and we had to go with our coordinators. This was totally fine with us and preferable actually since we loved our coordinators Sergio and Lulu. They helped us plan the weekend trip and before we knew it we were headed to Mexico City! 

     We rented a van and left at 4:00 in the morning to get to Mexico City. We were going to leave the night before but the traffic is so bad in the evenings that Sergio wanted to leave early in the morning. Although we left super early in the morning we still hit some traffic in the city. It took us a while to get to the temple and we ended up doing the 10:00 session because we were late. 

     The entire week before we went to Mexico City the weather said it was supposed to rain and storm for the entire weekend. Every day it would change how much it was suppose to rain and what days and so we were a little nervous to go. So Ivy and I prayed and hoped for the best. As I've said before, when it comes to Ivy and her prayers for good weather, it happens. We got to Mexico City and it was sunny with completely blue skies! It was a little miracle and the entire weekend was blue, sunny skies. 

     The Mexico City Temple is like none other. It's in the middle of a crazy city of concrete buildings. It's quite massive, having four levels. It's beautiful and fits in with the Mexican architecture with an Aztec style. Surrounding the temple were palm trees and many flowers. 

     It was a busy day which is always good to see. The temple was full and so was the temple grounds. Ivy and I and one other girl from our group went and did a session while the others slept in the van in the parking lot. The session was full and in Spanish, which is always fun. 

     The Celestial room was unique and beautiful like the rest of the temple. It had stained glass windows where the sun was shining through. In the middle was a large chandelier that was star shaped that glistened in the sunlight. We were so happy to be in the temple in Mexico! As we sat in the temple we thought of how great it was that we were there and how wonderful it was that our coordinators/host family in Mexico were members who also loved the temple. It was so perfect. 

     After the temple we walked out the front doors and to the front of the temple. There is a large fountain in the front and directly in front of that is a large iron fence that separated the temple grounds from a main road. 

     We got a picture and then rushed to the rest of the group who had been patiently waiting for us. We then all went to the visitor center which was located right next to the temple. It was a large and very well done visitor center. It had many exhibits of the first Mexican members and of prophets and many other church things. There was also a large Christus statue just like other visitor centers in the world. The place was packed with people and it felt so good to be there. 

     As we walked around the visitor center and the temple it was amazing to see how many members were there. They weren't there for just a quick session but for the day. They had come in large groups to do the temple and stay the night in temple housing. Many were having picnics and were just hanging out on the grounds. It was awesome to see so many people enjoying the temple and it's grounds. The Mexican people are very spiritual and love doing things together as a family and that is one thing we love about the Mexican culture. 

     The temple was a great experience for us all, even those who didn't go inside. After the temple we went to the outskirts of town to Teotihuacan, the ancient ruins and pyramids. They were beautiful temples and magnificent in size and design. The city was built around 200 B.C.  to about 250 A.D and at one point had a population of more than 100,000 people. It was incredible to stand on the pyramids and imagine what they were like two thousand years ago during Christs time. Also made us wonder if Teotihuacan was part of the Nephite or Lamanite civilizations at one point. It was a fun idea to imagine. 

     After the pyramids we went back into Mexico City where we ate at a Chinese Restaurant where Sergio and Lulu used go eat at when they lived in Mexico City. For some reason there are tons of Chinese restaurants in Mexico, but they are delicious so we don't complain. 

     After dinner we went to a luchador fight, which was silly and not to worth it but an experience. The next morning we went to church and enjoyed listening to sacrament meeting in Spanish as we always do. We don't understand much but we still feel the spirit in church. 

     The people at church were very friendly and gave us some water to go. We then went to breakfast and ate huaraches, which are delicious tortillas with meat, cheese, limes, beans and other good things on top. It was right across from an enormous flower market that we then went to and toured. It smelled of flowers and we couldn't believe how big it was. 

     We then went to the Museum of Anthropology, a museum of the history of Mexico and its cultures. It was a fascinating museum with many neat artifacts in it from all over Mexico. 

     We were just about to leave but we wanted a desert, so Sergio took us to a churro shop. It was amazing and churro ice cream sandwiches that were amazing! It was a perfect way to end our time in Mexico City. 

      Mexico City was a large, cramped, dirty city, full of fun things to do and we had a blast there! From the ancient temples to the modern temple, it was all fun. We were so glad to have started our trip off with a temple and to have finally gone to a temple in Mexico! We had one down and twelve more to go and we couldn't wait to see what other adventures and fun experiences we would have in the many cities of Mexico!