Get ready to laugh!

Hi! We had a great Thanksgiving and I hope you all did as well. We just heard this story about one of the pastors at a Baptist Church (yes, there are a few) nearby and I had to tell you! One day about 2 weeks ago, this pastor Jacob was eating something and got choked. The custom here is that when you are choking you are supposed to eat a banana and the banana will push the other piece of food on down. (very strange!) Anyway, so immediately Jacob's wife gives him the piece of banana and they see that it did not work. Jacob is now turning blue. They decide to put him in the back of someone's pickup truck and rush him to the nearest clinic. They really didn't know if they had time. So off they went racing down the street. When suddenly out of nowhere another truck is leaving a gas station and runs right into the side of them. This force threw Jacob flying across the back of the truck, slamming his face against the side of the truck, almost breaking his jaw. That is when out comes the banana and the other piece of food flying through the air! He had a swollen jaw, and a banged up truck, but he is fine! So we have now termed that, the Mexican Heimlich! ;o) It could have turned tragic, but God obviously knew that He had to intervene or Jacob wouldn't make it to the hospital! Okay, sorry we were laughing a ton at this story, hope you got at least a little chuckle out of it! Love you all! Missy

Happy Thanksgiving!!

When we first felt called into the mission field, I cried a lot about this decision! I was not one of those who felt called early in life and looked forward to it. It took me about 6-8 months to finally come around and answer God's calling. However, once I did answer that call, that is when I started to think about all of the things I would be giving up. One of which was holidays with family.

Just like everything else, God had a plan. He wanted to help me through the holidays, and He has done so by providing me with a lot of American friends here in Mexico. Now generally when you see a stranger in the store you don't just walk up to them and start a conversation. However, when you are out of the country, if you see an American it is very hard not to start up a conversation. So, each year God has brought someone new into our path and our American friend bank has increased! Today we will celebrate Thanksgiving with 3 other American families and we will eat an enormous amount of food. If I told you just how much food, you would probably all laugh out loud. Okay, I can't resist. Here is the menu. ( It really is funny!)

Turkey
stuffing
a different recipe of stuffing
gravy
cranberry salad
carnberry sauce out of a can
rolls/butter
sweet potato casserole
mased potatoes and gravy
green bean casserole
regular green salad
corn
broccoli salad
broccoli/ rice casserole
pumpkin pie
pecan pie
chocolate pie
cherry pie
apple pie ( yes that means more than one pie per family)
Coke
Diet Coke
Sweet tea

for a few hours later
white bread
chips
tostitos
Mexican layered dip
cookies

We all have to have one or two different things and that adds up.;o) That is just for 8 adults 2 teenagers and 4 children. ( one is still on a bottle)
I really don't think we will go hungry, do you? It is funny, though right? So, when I say God takes care of even the little details, He really does! If you live out of the country, it is sometimes impossible to find certain ingredients to make certain things. For example there are no ready made pie crusts, french fried onions, sweet potatoes,etc... We just substitute for other things and it all seems to taste the same. That is a miracle in itself! I have seen cranberry sauce in a can one time since living here and I still had one can for this Thanksgiving. I knew that would not be enough, so I prayed. I said, "Lord, you know how much we love cranberry sauce, and I know this is a stupid request when there are more important things to deal with. If you think about it, could you bless us with cranberry sauce?" I went to the store and couldn't find any. The next week I went back and in a store that never has cranberry sauce, there were about 50 cans! YAY!! God really does care about even the little details in our lives! For that......I am thankful!

I am also thankful for all of you! Without your sweet comments and prayers, living out here in a village could seem kinda lonely. However, I know all of you are out there and that really blesses my/our soul. I am praying today that God will bless each one of you and all of your family and you will really have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving Day!!! Love to you all! Missy

God is Goooood!

Here is the email answer to prayer I received today!


Dearest Prayer Warriors,
]
I Just talked to Vance and Susan. Thank You Lord..God is so good. All nine trunks arrived safely today. They went through five of them but did not remove anything. Vance has already opened all luggage and all the 21,500 dollars was still there. They have already purchased seed corn to distribute to pastors of bush churches so they can give it to the church members to plant. They have also found a source to purchase bags of mealee to buy and give to the pastor and members. Mealee is what they make sodsa with. This is what they eat for every meal if they have the mealee to make it. Many do not. Vance and Susan said to thank you all for your faithfulness in lifting them up to our Father. Please continue to pray for them as the conditions there are desperate. Please pray that they will be able to accomplish all that God wants them to do in the five weeks they will be there. I will keep you updated if and when I hear from them again. With Love Because of Jesus, Cindy (Susan's Mom)

So, now you can pray for those precious souls in Africa as well as our precious ones here! Love you! Missy

Annie loves Polly Pockets!

Yay, finally a photo uploaded! I will try more later!

A story from our friends

Hi everyone,
Our friends, the Pirkles were missionaries in Africa for 3 years. Vance was my Dr. and delivered Annie. They have been back in the States for a year and have felt called back to their hospital in Zimbabwe for a little more than a month. They sent out this message right before they left on Sunday.


November 23, 2008

Dear Friends and Family,
Just wanted to share an amazing story and a specific request before we head to the airport in about an hour.

The Story:
The food at Sanyati Baptist Hospital has run out and people are literally beginning to starve. Dr. Mark Byler orders 12 tons of corn at a cost of $6,000 plus transportation with no money on hand and no idea of where the money will come from. 10,000 miles away, God burdens the hearts of the people at Bethel Baptist Church to not only meet this need, but give so that seed corn could be purchased for local farmers who currently have no corn to plant. Also, we will be able to start a large garden and buy some cattle to sustain the hospital into the future. The final total was $21,500! Vance’s brother and his family delivered this to us yesterday. We truly serve an amazing God!

The Request:
We have packed fourteen pieces of luggage with this money as well as medicines and medical supplies hidden throughout. We will be landing in Harare, Zimbabwe between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m. (your time) on Monday afternoon. Any or all of these things could be confiscated by customs agents if discovered. Please pray that we will be able to move through customs without any problems and get these things to the people who desperately need them.

Thanks for partnering with us through prayer!Vance, Susan, Elizabeth, Rebekah, Sarah, Caleb, and Phillip Pirkle

I received this update today.

Dear Friends and Family;

Just recieved email from Susan. They arrived safely in Harare but nine pieces of their luggage did not make it. Another plane is due in tomorrow. (which was early this morning, I think) Please pray that the rest of the luggage will arrive safely then, with all the contents. Most importantly the money and medical supplies. Thank you for your prayers, love and care for our family.. With Love because of Jesus Susan's Mom(Cindy)

Please pray that the other 9 suitcases arrive with all of their money and medical supplies! Thank you!

Just a quick update on last night! Annie had a great birthday, although she is a little under the weather and didn't have much energy. Our meeting went great and we had 33 people. We had one new visitor and our first offering collected just about $10.00! We felt very good about that considering that is how much one of our friends makes in a week! PTL!! Plus, against our wishes, Annie received a gift from almost every family. (They were all around a dollar each, but that is huge for them!) I will try and upload pictures, but I have tried many times a day for the past week and have had no luck! I will try again! Love, Missy

Happy Birthday ANNIE!

Just had to let you all know that my little girl is turning 5 years old today! It is just too hard to believe! If you want to say something to her, please leave a comment and I will read them all to her! Love you all!

Thanks for praying!

We went to the Dr. yesterday and she said that what Annie had were a bunch of planters warts on her hand. Which is what I thought. She said it would be way to painful for her to have them burned/frozen off. She gave us a get that we have to put on them every night for 2 weeks. This gel slowy burns them off. We are hoping/praying that this works because if not, she will have to have them burned/frozen off. Unfortunately, I have the same thing on my hand and will probably have to have mine frozen off. So, now you can pray for both of us! ;o}

Thank you all for praying for Barbara and Cesilia. We talked over the baptism issue with Barbara's husband, Icho yesterday. He said he would support her in this decision. This was a huge answer to prayer! I will update you when this is going to happen. (hopefully soon)

Cesilia and her girls are all doing much better and they are going to church with us in another village tomorrow. This will be a good get away for them and a great way to receive the Word in Purepecha. Love you all! Missy

Pray for Annie

Hi everyone, this is a picture of Annie and another mk named, Amber. I am asking for prayer for Annie today as she will be going to the doctor. Before she was burned, she had a tiny wart on her finger. I guess that when she was burned this wart opened up a little and has now spread, covering one finger and is now spreading to another finger. We have tried everything the pediatrician recommended so today we are going to a dermatologist and they may burn it off today. Now, if she hears the word, burn, you know what she will be thinking. Please pray that they can remove these warts without any pain and that Annie will not be traumatized! Thanks for praying for her! love to all! Missy

A VERY long day!

Have you ever had one of those days where you counted down the hours until it was over? Well.... today was that day for me. The first part of the day went well and then I had to go to the funeral of my friend Cesilia's husband. Barbara, ( my other friend) went with me and all I could think about was how much I wanted to acurately describe the things that happened. So, if you are up for a short story, read on, if not, close this page out!

Okay, so have you ever been the only white person in a group of oh, say 1000? Well, let me tell you it is an interesting feeling. I did not go to the mass at the church, I joined them afterward when they carry the casket to the cemetary. It is about a 1/2 mile walk. Talk about some burning muscles. So, here we all are walking the 1/2 mile on a dusty dirt road and all I could think about was how Jesus had to walk a long dusty dirt road as well. I hadn't seen my friends yet, but I was praying for them with my whole heart on this walk to the cemetary. Once we arrived at the cemetary, I spotted Cesilia and Lupita sitting on a tombstone quite some distance from where the casket was. I walked up and hugged them and that is when it all started.

It was as if a wall of emotion fell away and poor, little , 13 year old, Lupita fell into my arms and WHALED! She cried and cried and said many things about her grandparents that she probably shouldn't have said, and at the time I had no idea why she was saying these things. I later found out that her grandparents, her dad's parents had not let any of Cesilia's family get near the casket. As if they were protecting him from them. I just sat there and tried to hug them and pray quietly with them while the rest of the 1,000 people were singing sad songs around the casket. I noticed they all had bottles of rubbing alcohol and couldn't figure out why. They were rubbing it on their skin. ( very strange) Anyway, Lupita stands up and asks me to go and say good-bye with her. I am thinking, "Oh great, now I have to get up in front of the 1,000 people." However, I went and as soon as they saw her coming, they all lifted the casket and carried it to the grave. (it was under a little shelter for a few minutes) So Lupita and Cesilia tried to push their way through the crowd so that they could reach the casket. That is when I thought I was going to lose it with these people. The family of Juan made a wall about 5 people deep all around the grave so that they couldn't see anything. They never got to even touch the casket. Then before you knew it they had lowered the casket into the ground and more whaling started. Some women came and took Lupita from me and escorted her out of the cemetary as she continued to WHALE!!! I was helping Cesilia when I see Lupita go completely limp. Hmmm.... now I know what all those bottles of alcohol are for. So we carried her over to the side of the road and I started slapping her. Okay, get this picture in your head, the only white women is now slapping the poor 13 year old who just lost her father. Really good picture huh? God has to laugh at some of the predicaments I get myself into! Anyway, they begin to throw alcohol at her face and on her clothes and they were putting their arms that had been soaked in alcohol under her nose now. She finally comes around and starting screaming at the top of her lungs that she was not going to stop crying, and no one loved her mom, and why were they all telling her it would be okay? They said something that I didn't understand and she got up and started walking down the street with the rest of them.

As we followed the thousands of people down the street, I asked Cesila where we were going. She said, " Well, all of them are going to the house that used to be mine and are going to eat, but we are not allowed to go." Mama Missy kicked in and said, "Well, we will just go to my house." So WE did. I thought WE was Lupita, Annie and Cesilia. NOPE.....about 30 people entered my house and that is when God showed up! Many of the people from our Monday night meeting came and they all started to pray. We prayed and they gave Godly counsel and I fixed popcorn (the only thing I had) and after about an hour and a half, they all left.

I asked Cesilia what she wanted to do, and she said, "I guess I will go home." "Do you have anything to eat?" " Not really." Then I got really sad and realized she hadn't worked this week and had no money for food. So we went to the meat market, bought some food and they returned to their home with smiles on their faces. This poor woman has a very tough life and I am not asking, but begging you to please pray that God will bless her in ways we can't even imagine!

Sorry it was so long, but I had to share this with you. I asked for prayer for Barbara too, and we never got to meet with them today, we are going to try again tomorrow. Until then!

Pray for Cesilia and Barbara

Hi everyone, today is the day. Cesilia's husband, Juan (or rather his body) arrived yesterday. They went to the visitation and didn't have any problems, that was a huge answer to prayer! Today is that actual funeral at around 5:oo pm EST. Please pray that all will go well and the in-laws will not cause a scene. Pray also for Cesilia's daughters Annie and Lupita, today is sure to be hard on them as they say goodbye to the father they will never know. I will post an update tonight letting you all know how it went.

Pray for Barbara too. Barbara is my friend who wants to be baptized but is scared to tell her husband. We have plans to go over to her home this morning ( kids will have to do school work alone, another prayer request) and explain to her husband the decision she has made. She has asked us to do this with her so he will have a better understanding of her decision. Please pray that he would be accepting of her decision and that this would not cause any marital problems! Thank you!

Annie

Please keep praying for Annie. She really is doing great however, she is complaining more often of pain. She still has a part on her leg that is 3 1/2 inches long and and inch wide and another that is 2 inches long and 1/2 an inch wide. That probably doesn't sound that bad, and in comparison to what she had, it isn't, however it still causes her problems. So, I am asking you to continue to pray for her. We will be seeing the Dr. again on December 7th. We are hoping they will say that this part will eventually go away. Thank you so much for all of your prayers!

Jerod's Class

If you look really hard you can see part of Jerod sitting at a table at the front of the line. He has really impressed us with his ability to teach children. He has come up with a system of letting them dance for the first 5 minutes to get their energy out. Which has been a problem some days. He has also come up with prizes if they can recite a Bible verse or if they behave while he is sharing the story for that night. So, this is a picture of him giving out prizes for reciting the Bible verse for the night. All of this sounds really great, but remember he is doing this in Spanish! He does a really great job, last night he had 14 kids in his class! ;o)

We had 31!

Hi all, okay so it wasn't 37 like last week, but we did have 31! That was exciting. What is neat is that each week we have someone new come. Last night we had 2 newcomers. One of them is a lady who we have been praying for since we arrived here. She has always been one of those people I had to pray for often because she challenges my niceness. ;o) If you know what I mean?!?! So, last night she came, sat and listened to the whole story. She was incredibly nice to everyone, (answer to prayer) and even said she would come back next week. She is 82 and very set in her ways, so we are praying God will move in her life. Please pray that with us!

We actually felt like last night was a turning point night for our group. They opened up to eachother, shared many requests in Purepecha, (some were even crying) and even talked about giving an offering each week. That was a shock to Greg and I since they aren't real giving people. (plus it was ALL their idea) They all agreed that next week they would start that action. So, we are well on our way to being a true church! PTL! I will try and upload more photos today. Hope you all have a great Tuesday! Love you!

It's a Monday!

Please pray for us today and into the night as we will have our time of fellowship again tonight. After having 37 people (as pictured above) show up last week, it makes us hope for that to happen again tonight. It could have been a one time experience but I am asking you all to pray that tonight we will experience another great night! I will let you know tomorrow.

Please continue to pray for Cesilia and her girls. They are all hearing many mean things said about them. Things that just aren't true. It might get worse before it gets better. Pray that we will have wisdom to know how or what we should do to help her situation. Thanks!

pic of the boys

Soccer fun!

Today Greg took the boys and two of our friends to a soccer game in a city about 2 hours away. They had a great time enjoying the game and the culture. There is nothing like going to a soccer game in another country. Even though the Monarcas lost, they all had a great time. Annie and I stayed behind, watched Barbie movies and played with Barbies and Polly Pockets most of the day. We had a lot of fun too! I tried to upload a picture of the boys and our friends tailgating before the game but so far, no luck. :o( I will keep trying!

A game of Jenga

This is a picture of Cesilia and her 2 girls. We invited them over for lunch today. She has had a rough week with a lot of criticism being given to her. I guess the culture here is that when someone dies they always have to blame someone or something. In this case since her husband left her 7 years ago they are blaming her for his death. It is her fault that he was an alcoholic, it is her fault that he left for the States and ultimately it is her fault he died. This always bothers me when they try to find someone or something to blame. So, she came over to our home to try and have some fun. After we ate, we played Jenga. Have you ever played the game Jenga with someone for the first time? The game itself is fun, but the expressions on their faces were priceless! They laughed and played and just had a great time. Her daughter's name is Annie too and the 2 Annies had a great time playing together. Of course they were both COVERED in dirt after they were done playing, but they had a great time!

Cesilia's in-laws are playing dirty with Cesilia and won't tell her when the body is going to arrive and said they would beat her up if she came to see his body. It is a very big mess and I am looking forward to all of it being over! I believe Cesilia is too. If you think about it, please keep her in your prayers. She is so sweet and just wants everyone to see Jesus in her. However, these are the type of people that bring out the worst in someone. After calling the funeral home we now know that the body is supposed to arrive on Wednesday. So please pray until at least Friday. We believe they will actually bury him on Thursday. When they were leaving they seemed much happier and we all knew that God would take care of every little detail. Okay, that is all for now! I am going to try and add more pics since it seems to be working now!

Update :o)

Okay, I am going to try to add my pictures again today. I have tried everyday this week multiple times and still have no pics. Maybe today! I just wanted to give you a quick update, I woke up this morning and sure enough the 2x4 mark is still there! ;o)

Tonight we went to one of the small groups that are meeting in a nearby village. Whenever we go they always treat us like royalty. So it didn't surprise me when they pull out a special chair as soon as I walked in. They had about 5 rows of 2x4s laid across some bricks which made pews. So, I came in and sat down on the 2x4 pew with Annie on my lap and J and A beside me. Greg always sits in a different spot because he is always expected to preach. (of course his seat was comfy!)The women all looked at me and said, " Why don't you sit there in the chair?" I simply said, that seat is special and I am not, so it would be better to save it for someone who needs the chair more than I do." (If I had come in and sat down in the chair all I would have heard in my head would have been my mother saying, "How rude!")They just laughed and gave it to an elderly lady, which made me feel better. After sitting on the 2x4 for over an hour with Annie on my lap, I was ready to pick sweet little grandma up out of the sit and tell her she could have the bench now! Know what, I wouldn't have cared if my mom thought that was rude or not, my bottom was NOT happy! These are the times when I think I hope I am earning some really cool jewels in my crown in heaven! ;o) That is probably a really non-missionary comment!

Anyway, as Greg started to tell a parable the village announcements started. (they announce that there is fresh bread being sold or tacos for sale or whatever is going on that needs to be annouced)That is when I would do anything to have my video camera. He was telling the story in a very loud voice for him, and the announcements got louder. When I say announcements, imagine your preacher with Ty Pennington from Extreme Home Makeover yelling through his megaphone right beside your preacher. That is how the "announcements" sound. So it is all I can do not to fall off of my comfy 2x4 from laughter. The louder the announcements got, the louder he got. Then all of a sudden they would stop and my soft spoken husband is now screaming the story. It really makes for a great scene. It is one of those moments when you think to yourself, if my friends could see me now! So, since you couldn't be there, I had to let you know just how funny it was. However, it is probably one of those, "You had to be there" moments and you are all shaking your heads thinking, hmmm.... I better check the laundry, because this is a waste of my time! So, go check your laundry and I will try and think of something really great to share with you tomorrow! Love to you all!

God really is good!

Hi all, I have just returned from the hospital where I had taken my friend, Rosa. She took her husband and her mom with her and they all spoke with the Dr. about her situation. We were all relieved to find out there were no other signs of cancerous cells in other areas. I fully expected them to leave the Dr.'s office and get another opinion. Instead, her mom left his office and said, "We are ignorant. I am glad my daughter has you to look out for her." They then said they wanted her to have the surgery today and unlike the U.S. she had the surgery and left within the hour. So she is now at home resting and we all feel a lot better about her health! So, thank you for your prayers and please keep praying for Cesilia.

Another day......

Hi everyone! I have been trying to post something for the past few days and our internet just would not allow it. So.... today I will try again! Thank you all for your prayers for our friends. I am still trying to post pictures so you can see who you are praying for. Our friend, Cesilia could have one of the toughest weekends of her life coming up. There is a lot of STRONG dislike between her family and her husband's family. Without prayer there are sure to be lots of problems this weekend. Please pray that there are none!

I am taking our friend, Rosa and ALL of her family to the Dr. today. They are talking about getting a second opinion, (my frustration is high right now!) before she receives the laser surgery. So, who knows what will come of today's visit to the Dr. Please pray it all goes well and I remain patient through this whole process. I am finding out that helping people sometimes is tougher than I thought. :o)

On a good note, one of our friends came over to our home and wanted to talk. Her name is Barbara and I mentioned her a few weeks ago. She is the one I said felt like she didn't want to come to our home anymore. She felt like Satan was attacking her. Anyway, she came over and said she had made a very big decision in her life. She said she knew it would change her life in a big way. I was afraid she was going to say that she was going to stop coming on Monday nights. However, she said, I have been praying and I really feel like God is telling me now is the time for me to be baptized. HUGE answer to prayer! She asked us to pray for her husband, Icho because she wasn't sure if he would be in agreement with this decision. So....please pray for Icho and Barbara! We are very excited about this news!

Okay, I have made up for a few days now. Lots to pray about and we couldn't do this job without all of your prayers! I really appreciate all of you who pray for us and who have interest in this blog! You are all precious to us!! I don't know all of you personally, but I can't tell you how happy it makes me to know there are people in this world who care about what we are doing! So... hugs to you all!

And then there were.....37!

Don't cha just love it when God moves? This past week has been a little rough. Our friend finding out she has pre-cancer, then our other friend's husband dies and there are other little things that Satan loves to throw our way. However, God loves to give us all big hugs during these times. Tonight we got together for our weekly meeting and expected to have our normal 20-25 people show up. But NOOOOOO! God brought to our home 37 people! Can you believe that? We were so excited. Not only because of the number, but because our friends were the ones who did the inviting. So please PRAISE God for us! Cuz He is GOOOOOOOD! :o) Okay, so I am in a good mood! I took a picture and I will try to add it tomorrow. For some reason it just won't upload right now. So.... tomorrow.

Please keep praying for our friend, Cesilia, she is really struggling with many things right now. They plan on bringing her husband's body back here sometime this week. It could get really tough on her! Please pray! Love you all!

Our friend Cesilia

The first person interested in hearing Bible stories was our friend Cesilia. She accepted Christ a little more than a year ago. Since then she has tried so hard to live her life the way God would want her to. Her husband's name is Juan. He left her with 2 small children 7 years ago. (2 girls who were ages 6 and 6 months) He left promising to go to the United States and make money so that she could have a bigger home and nicer things. He sent her money about a month after he left and that was it. He never called or even let her know that he was alive.

Since the day she accepted Jesus, she has been praying that he would come back home and support his family. Each week she would ask us to pray for Juan. She said she had forgiven him for the way he used to beat her. She said he had a problem with alcohol and she had forgiven him for choosing alcohol over them. Cesilia truly believed that one day he would return to them and her life would be perfect.

Last night we decided to have all of our friends over to watch the movie "Facing the Giants." We had a great time and everyone loved the movie. Cesilia said, it really is true that nothing is impossible with God, isn't it? I assured her that yes, it really is true. As I got ready to take Cesilia and her daughters home they asked me to take them by a relative's house for a second. So I agreed to do so and took them. When we arrived at the relative's house they had just gotten word from Juan's cousin (who is in the U.S. too) that Juan had died. We wanted to make sure this was true so I contacted the hospital in Los Angelas. They gave us the bad news that yes, he did die.

Please pray for Cesilia, Lupita and Annie as they are mourning the loss of the husband and father that they had hoped would one day return to them. Please pray that their faith will stay strong and they would find strength in Jesus. Cesilia is so poor and is always struggling to put clothes on her girls and food in their mouths. She sells candy at the elementary school and probably makes about $10 a week. Pray that God will provide for her every need and she will not feel as if He has abandoned her.
Thank you for your prayers!!

J and A in front of the aqueducts

This was taken at the end of the aqueduct, right before the water would have gone underground.

Field trip pictures

This is Jerod, Alex, and Annie in front of the aqueducts in city near us here in Mexico.

Field Trip!

One of the great things about what we do is that we ALL are together ALL the time. Many people would probably see that as a nightmare, but thankfully, we really like being together! Today we took a field trip to a city that is about 2 hours away. We have been studying aqueducts that were used in Rome in the 1800's, and they built one in this city around that time too. So, we took a trip to see how they worked and the structure of them and what not. Next week we will be building our own aqueduct, I will let you know how that goes, it should be fun!
I will try and post some pictures I took today while there.

I was struck by many thoughts today. As we traveled the 2 hour trip, Annie went on her own trip. She went on a trip down memory lane. She was talking about her nurses. She now wants to be a nurse and thinks they are great people. (which I agree with) Ya know after the trauma she experienced I am really kinda shocked she has any good memories, but she does. I still have some sense of panic when we talk about or even think about that time in our lives. However, thankfully Annie has been given a gift from heaven, the gift of good memories! She was reliving every moment as if it were yesterday. She remembered each nurse and the things they said such as, "ouchies." She just kept on and on about different things and then said, " That was so fun." Okay, call me crazy, but if you look at the pictures, she doesn't look like someone who was having fun. ;o} That is when it hit me that when I look back and remember the pain, she remembers all the ways that God was blessing her. He blessed her through GREAT doctors and nurses. They are the people who she remembers and of course we will ALL remember the comfy couch house! That gave us more comfort and safety from the storm we were in than anything else. It is quite fitting that the comfy couch house didn't experience any damage during hurricane Ike! I just had to share this with you! So.... if you are in the middle of a storm in you life, just remember that with God's help, we can see that storm through rose colored glasses and one day that storm will pass and you will only remember how He helped you through it. Our God really is big!!

Psalm 55:22 Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.

Picture of Rosa and Missy

This is a picture of Rosa, please pray for her. I am very concerned.

Please pray for Rosa

Hi everyone, I wanted to update you on my visit to the doctor on Tuesday. This visit we actually did get to see the Dr. and he was really great with my friends. Many times our friends are the victims of prejudice. Some Mexicans look at them as dumb or just as lesser people because for one they don't speak Spanish very well and for two, they aren't considered "Mexicans" they are Indians. So, prejudice is everywhere!! Anyway I took my 18 year old friend, Rosa to see this Dr. She has been married for 4 years had a baby about 3 and a half years ago and that baby died at 8 months old. She has had a few problems since then and has been to her Dr. about 6 or 7 times. Each time her Dr. would do a "woman's test" and find everything was normal. Well, her pain persisted and she told me of her symptoms. I am not a Dr. but immediately knew something was wrong. So, my Dr. had to give her the news on Tuesday that this wasn't just an "infection" but it was pre-cancer. If she waited much longer it would be an aggressive cancer. So.... we are going back today and next week she is going to have surgery. Luckily she can still have children. I am very sad for her and she is of course is a little sad and scared too, but please pray that they don't find anything else to worry about in her check-up today. Thanks for your prayers!

Go Vote!

I wanted to find a great picture to put on here and couldn't find one. Well, all I can say is .....GO VOTE!! I know I put the poll on here a while back, and we know who one that. I won't get too political on here, but I hope that poll was accurate! :o) Our kids are voting today. They don't vote for the person because we know they would vote for who we would vote for. Instead we have laid out Plan A and Plan B and they vote for the plan. They then vote for the person, Person A and Person B which describes what the person believes, they put those together and they decide who they want to vote for. After all of that they find out who they voted for. We shall see who wins the J, A and A Christian Academy voting.

Enough on politics, I am getting kinda tired of it anyway. Please pray for us today as I take my friends back to the doctor. Another hour there and another hour back an hour of waiting and an hour of being seen. Can't wait! :o) I am just hoping they can be seen and that they don't have anything serious. Thanks for praying!

Annie swinging

This is a picture of Annie and one of her best friends, Lupita. They love to swing together! All you need is a tree, a rope and a shirt, wala....you have a swing!

Taco fun!

Greg, Jerod and Alex eating their favorite tacos.
I know these pics are out of order, but the internet is going fast and the pics are actually uploading, so I figured I would do as many as I could. :o)

Annie and I at the Taco Stand

Greg took this picture as we were enjoying our favorite food, TACOS! This is a typical mexican taco stand set up outside of someone's home. We try and eat at this one at least once a month, because they are AWESOME and cheap too! Each taco is about 35 cents.

Picture of grave

This is a picture of a grave where someone left food for the spirit to eat. Notice the candle in the shape of a skull, quite interesting. They are sadly confused!

Day of the Dead

Well, yesterday was the day that they celebrate the "Day of the Dead" here in Mexico. In our village they had mass at the cemetary yesterday in the morning and then last night they returned to the cemetary to meet with the spirit of the loved one that has passed on. They brought food and waited for the spirit to return and eat with them. It is very sad for us to see how many people really believe this. One of our friends was telling us how her mom was asking to borrow money so she could buy fruit to put on the grave of her father. She doesn't have money to buy herself food and yet she somehow feels she is obligated to give her dead husband fruit. Please pray for the people in our village. Pray also for this woman, our friend said she was going to try and bring her to our meeting tonight.

The JOYS of living in Mexico!

The joys of living in another country are sometimes as great as the frustrations! Halloween came and went last night without much thought. We had plans to visit a church last night so we told the kids we would do "Halloween" today. So, we will let them dress up today and do a scavenger hunt for candy around the house, bob for apples in our kitchen and then say, "Happy Halloween!" One year Greg's mom was coming near Christmas time so we changed when we would have Christmas, since no one here celebrates like we do, it is easy to change the day to accomodate our plans. That is the JOY of living here!

I have been trying to upload some pictures but our internet does not want to do that! Sometimes it is faster than other times. So, I will keep trying to upload it throughout the day. It is a picture that will give you a good example of how dark this time really is around here.

Today is the first "Day of the Dead" in our village. I have learned more about this day through our maid. She is 18 and has been married for four years. She had a baby that died when it was about 8 months old of bronchitis. This happened about 3 years ago. The custom is to go to the grave at night and place food on the grave so that the spirit of the dead person will come back and visit with you. They will eat and enjoy fellowship with you. Tonight is the night for those who died as infants. Tomorrow they will have Mass for those who died as adults and they will ask forgiveness for the sins of those who have died. She asked me what I thought about visiting the spirit of her dead baby today. (she is a new Christian and really wants to do the right thing) I asked her if she believed her baby would come back and eat the food and visit with her. She said she didn't believe that but was confused. We talked about how after a person dies it is too late to ask forgiveness for their sins. She said the people here don't believe that babies sin very much and that is why they don't need to have a mass for children. She said she believes the spirit of her baby was in heaven. I assured her that the spirit of her baby wasn't hungry and didn't need to come here to eat! I told her I like to imagine my grandma rocking her baby in Heaven. She said she liked that idea too! So, she said she would go and pray for herself but she didn't think she needed to bring food or pray for her baby. Please pray for Rosa and Chavo today as I am sure they will be pressured to do many things that they no longer believe is necessary.