First Lutheran Women's Convention in Mexico

Wow, what a weekend! I'm still on a high from it.

Last weekend (July 30th - August 1st) the women in Mexico held their first national Lutheran women's convention in the city of Monterrey, Mexico. Above you can see the convention attendants. Women from our Lutheran congregations throughout Mexico traveled - some up to 30-plus hours by bus! - to be a part of this big milestone for the Mexican Lutheran Church.

Let's look at some of the convention's highlights:

Here's the woman behind much of the initial planning for the convention: Angelita Vega from the congregation El Redentor (Redeemer) in Torreón.



On Friday and Saturday, women listened to presentations based around the convention's theme: Unidas en Cristo, en Misión y Visión (United in Christ, in Mission and Vision).



We had the honor of having four women from the Lutheran Women's Missionary Society (LWMS) attend the convention. They gave a presentation that covered how LWMS began and some of the projects it carries out -



Now let's look at some of the women who came: this is Rosa Elvira from Juárez -



The crew from Puebla - these fun-loving women were a riot to be around. They'll be hosting the next national women's convention, which will be held in 2012, God willing -



The missionary wives (clockwise from top): Marlene Schlomer, Roxanne Martens, Julie Wagenknecht, and Trin and me. I'd like to point out that this was three-year-old Trin's second women's convention - it's good to start young!



Here are the LWMS women I mentioned above: (clockwise from top) Lanita Nolte, Paula Danekas, Kristen Miller, and Sue Fager. These women have such wonderful mission-minded hearts and were incredible troopers during their stay. Thanks so much for coming!



These women were elected to serve as president, secretary, and treasurer for the Mexican Lutheran Women's Society. They are, from left to right, Angeles Luna (treasurer), Rosa Flores (president), and Angelita Vega (secretary).



Saturday evening the Monterrey congregation put on a Noche Mexicana (Mexican Night) for all of us. Here's the Mexican food we were served:



And some of the dresses we wore (don't they look great?)



This is me with Olivia Flores, one of the pillars of the Monterrey congregation. Thanks for all your work Olivia!



Trin made a friend with Isaac, a boy who came with his mom from Juárez to the convention -



During the Noche Mexicana, members from the Monterrey congregation sang to us:



And really, what Noche Mexicana would be complete without this?



(sidenote: Noelle is sleeping in a pack-and-play not 20 feet from the mariachi band. My little mexicana snoozed right through the loud music, singing and dancing.)

Thanks to the Monterrey congregation for all of your work to put this convention together. Thanks to those that organized and ran the convention, to those that presented, and to those that participated. I'm already looking forward to Puebla 2012!