Week 72: Missionary work at the Coca-Cola Factory

A Tour at the Coca-Cola Factory

Hey

We had a pretty great week. We have had some pretty great lessons with our investigators. Elder Salazar and I could both feel the spirit in our lessons and we know that the people we were teaching could feel it too. Also it was día de los muertos this week and everyone went to the cemetery to visit the graves of their ancestors, so there were not too many people home.

We also went to a new pueblo that we have never visited this week. It is called Zapotillo. There is a member family that lives there that recently started attending in our branch and they offered to give us lunch on friday. So we got a ride with one of the members to go there because it is kind of far away. But we got to know their family a lot better. They took us out to eat which was really nice and then in the afternoon they took us to meet all of their nieghbors. So we met a bunch of new people. Then at night they bought us hot dogs and gave us a ride all the way back to our house. 

Then that same night President Myers wanted to interview us because the last time he came he didnt have time to interview us. So we were waiting in the casa de oración for him to arrive. Then after waiting for quite a while, we called him and it turned out that he got lost trying to find our little branch. So I explained to him where he needed to go and then he finally arrived. Then President Myers interviewed us and we both could tell that he was super tired. But it was really nice to talk with him. He is such a great president. I love him and his wife so much.

We also got some big news. Paul B. Pieper is going to speak to our mission. We have a conference this thursday, so I think I will get to use my new suit much sooner than I thought. Everyone is also super excited to hear him speak, and to see all the other missionaries together again is always super fun. 

Well today was one of the most fun Pdays of my mission. So there is a coca-cola factory here in los mochis and we have always wondered if the factory gave tours. So one day we saw one of the workers delivering soda to a store and we asked him if they gave tours. He said yes and gave us the phone number of the person that was in charge of all that. So we called about a month ago and we got scheduled to come visit today. So we got a tour of the entire facility and we actually learned a lot. I think it is the most educational thing that I have done in my mission. haha! They explained the entire processes of how they filter the water, clean the bottles, how they fill them, and then cap them. Then we got to see all the machines and engineers behind it all. We learned that fanta and other sodas have more sugar than coke and that coke is 90% water. And we asked why everyone says that coca-cola is better in Mexico than USA, and they told us that the recipe is the same in the whole world the only difference is the water that gets used. They said that the water sometimes does not get treated as well as it does in other areas and that is the largest factor in the taste. haha!

It was really funny because at the beginning of the tour when the woman introduced herself to us she told us that normally they only get visits from schools and that this was the first time that they had a "congregation" visit. hahaha we all got a really good laugh about that. Then after the tour they opened a fridge with a bunch of different beverages and said that we could choose whatever we wanted. So naturally everyone chose coca-cola. Then we went back to the presentation room and the woman in charge of the tour started to ask about our church. It was really funny because she said "I also thought that your church was the one that did not drink soda? But when I saw everyone grab a coca-cola I got really confused." It was pretty funny. We all started to laugh and then we got to explain what we believe and what we do. Who would have thought that our tour would have turned into a missionary opportunity. We ended up giving her a book of mormon and she said that she really wanted to read it because she always wanted to know what happened with the people that were here in america. 

I hope that I get my package this conference but if not I will get it really soon because we have transfers next week. I love you all so much. I hope that you all have an amazing week. 

te quiero mucho

Elder Snyder