General update

Hi friends! I had a tiny bit of time before we start our Friday night meeting and I wanted to get you updated on some things. First let me say I had a wonderful birthday and enjoyed lots of food, family and fellowship. (Even if the family was spread all over the world, it was still nice.) Thanks again for all of your sweet comments! I am now officially over the hill. Oh well.

Next... the puppies. When we returned from our week out of the village we found the mama extremely skinny with only one puppy left. The other 5 had died while we were away. Sadly this is just part of life here in the village.

We arrived home and had some house guest the next day. Some friends of ours from Mexico City came to spend a few days with us and learn a little more about our people group. They have started to work with some of our people who have moved to Mexico City to sell furniture. We were happy to have them all here with us to love on our people.

They left and the next day my two precious friends from a nearby city came to the village to kidnap me. They took me by surprise and we went to our favorite restaurant and ate a delicious meal. We then went to my friend's home to watch a movie without any children around! It was a great birthday surprise!

I am now trying to catch up on emails, write my newsletter, and talk to you! In the background I am listening to Annie playing with 2 friends and talking and laughing all in Spanish. Her Spanish is really good now and she just loves to have her friends over. So, thank you again for praying for her Spanish. It has worked!

Adolfo, (our landlord's father who was sick with Shingles) now only has a few days left on this earth from what I can tell. He is precious and loves for me to come and rub his head and face as he just lies in bed. I guess because my hands are a lot softer than anyone else around here. Clear sign I work a lot less!  I have checked the hospice website for signs the end is near and he is definitely showing those signs. I am so sad for Mada, his wife. She said, well, all of my family is here now (They have come from a city on the border of Mexico and from California) but soon I will be here all by myself like a little fly. She has 8 kids and only sees 3 of them regularly. Anyway, please pray for all of them. They are fixing up Mada's home preparing for lots of people to come after he dies. They know it will be soon. Oh, it isn't from the Shingles that he is dying, but from prostate problems. However the only pain he seems to have is from his Shingles. Please pray.

Now, about Shingles..... I think that should be a 4 letter word. It has now been about 3 and a half months since I got Shingles and I still have some pain and itching. The itching seems worse than the pain but it is very frustrating. I have this huge, ugly red spot on my forehead from the bumps. Not pretty. Definitely not what you want to have when you are turning 40! Anyway, I know one day the itching will stop, but I don't think the red blotch will ever go away. I guess I just need to accept that and move on. Okay, enough about that.

SO, you now have been officially updated on most everything. Church is going well and we continue to grow. We are having a fun day at the farm on Sunday so I will try to post some pictures after that day. We always love these days. I must go now as our meeting will be starting soon. Love to you all! Missy