Homesick

This is what I feel like right now:

Blah.

I've lost my inspiration to blog.

We've been gone for just 8 days and I just want to go back home.

I just looked on Travelocity and a flight from LAX into Puebla is $642.
...Guess I'll just have to suck it up because it doesn't look like that'll be happening anytime soon.

I Really Do Like the U.S.A.

Sunset in Texas...

And our beloved Cracker Barrel

Yummy!

We are now in Eagle Pass, Texas. Tomorrow we'll continue towards Phoenix, AZ to be with the Garretts on Sunday. 

We Are Now Gone, Officially

This morning at 6:00am we left Puebla. Some of us are heart-broken and others are jumping for joy.

We are now in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico, which is about 31/2 hours from the border. With all the fighting going on in the border cities we decided it would be better to cross over when it is bright and sunny outside.
Personally, I would like to be able to see the bullets flying our heads.
Elder and Sis. Wakefield also had to renew their papers so we are traveling together. This is a treat.
Nicole and I rode with them all the way here, which was about 14 hours. They had taken the seats out of their van so Nicole and I stretched out on the floor and snoozed almost the whole way.

So far, we haven't gotten stopped by the police, which is a surprise.
Ha...tomorrow will be our day, now that I've mentioned it here. :))

Here are a few pictures of last night. 

A bunch of the youth came over and some of the church people to say goodbye. 

It was terrible! ...I hate goodbyes. 

We took tons of pictures. Actually THEY took tons. On my camera and on their phones. 

So here are a few of them...

We've been inviting Roberto to church for a few months now. He hasn't come yet, but he was there last night with his cousins to say bye.

One day God is going to save this boy. 

(Hopefully it happens when I can be there to see it!)

Me, Roberto and Veronica.

 

 Whenever I think that we won't be missed, I'll just look at this picture. 

Gotta love those facial expressions! :,(

Thank God for walkie-talkies!

Resting.

Then...Ready to go again!

And this is where we are right now, at the hotel.

...Time to rest!

 

Victory at Tabernaculo de Victoria!

This past Sunday we baptized this lady. She is one of the people that received the Holy Ghost at our conference last month. Since the conference there hasn't been a service that she has missed. She has had a very sad life. Her dad married her to a 46 year old man when she was only 12 years old. Of course, this was illegal but her parents falsified her birth certificate to say that she was 15. The man she married practiced black magic. She lived with him for 14 years and then was able to run away. Even now, after these seven years her whole family is telling her to go back to that man.  (He is now 70) There will be battles to be fought, but with God's help I believe she is going to make it. 

Thank you Jesus!

I Love My Church

Today we went out to the town where Brother Israel's wife was born. We understood that there was going to be some kind of celebration with their family. It was a beautiful drive to get out there. 

The "celebration" turned out to be this trinitarian church's anniversary. Israel's mother-in-law's church. 

The mother-in-law and a bunch of her family came to our conference a couple weeks ago, but walked out in the middle of the preaching. They said, "The Holy Ghost is not for us nowadays." But Israel gave them a Bible study on the Holy Ghost and told us that his wife's family was as "teachable as children". 

So anyways, we were invited to this service/lunch as friends of the family. 

Look closely at the preacher's mustache. Pretty impressive, huh?

The service was super dry...no surprise there. 

I did feel a little awkward, however, with the special singing. After a group got done singing I go to clap and look around...no one else is clapping. Everyone just said in unison, "Amen." As you can imagine, we had quite a service. *Yawn* 

Then we went downstairs for lunch. These guys were the hired entertainers.

Each person was given a plate with a pile of rice and a few chunks of pork, and of course tortillas and salsa in the middle of the table. It was pretty good, for the first few seconds. After that though, all I could think was, "Just keep chewing, chewing...chewing." What's it called? Miracle meat? 

Anyways...today just make me feel so grateful that I go to an Apostolic church where I can feel the presence of God. 

Buses R 'da Bom

Last night we had a youth service across town, and our usual going-out group, the Stupendous Six, got to take the bus. Actually, we got to take 2 buses, each way. So a total of 4 buses! Can life get any better?!

AND on every bus, we got to sit in the same exact spot, on this bench thing in the back. We've never in our lives ever been so privileged to sit back there! The Lord definitely shone upon us last night...

...Because last night's youth service was so good! Elder Wakefield's assistant, Brother Mario, preached. He is one of our favorite preachers, one of our favorite people, actually. And his wife, Sister Hayde did the music. This was awesome because Nicole and I almost always do the music, which we enjoy doing, but last night we got the chance to be out in the congregation, dancing, perspiring, and worshiping God with the rest of the young people. 

Zip Lining

Ismael finds an egg!

Ismael breaks the egg!

Daniela likes Austin. :)

The guys, showing off.

Ouch.

Now for the zip line...

One end of the rope gets tied to this tree...

...And the other end to this little tree.

And that's how it started. 

The guys slid down the rope, holding onto their belts.

Then they got a pulley and a hammock and rigged it up to where the rest of the kids could do it too. 

Austin's turn!

He loooved it!

Now Nicole...

Then the babies.

I didn't do it because me and ladders do not get along at all. 

But the kids had fun, we got to be together and that was the point. 

We are going to be leaving for the U.S. in 2 weeks to go on deputation so we told the kids last week that we need to pack these last days with as much fun as possible. We'll be gone for 2 whole months. 

I miss the U.S. and I know we will have a good time traveling and visiting the churches that support us, but if Nicole and I could...we would stay here. I cry when we talk about leaving, I can only imagine the basket case I'll be when we have to actually say goodbye. We are dreading it. ;)

I'm sure we'll be fine once we actually cross the border, but until then I have this constant sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. 

Once we get to the U.S. however, there are a few things we are looking forward to:

Caramel Apples.

Root Beer.

Root Beer Floats.

Paved roads.

Lines on the roads. 

Pretty houses. 

English. 

Green grass. 

Pacific Coast Camp in Ventura, CA. :))

Yep...we will have a good time...once we pry ourselves away from the people and get transported to the van. 

2nd Bible Banquet

The two Puebla churches are trying to read the whole Bible through this year. Every 3 months, those who are participating get together and we talk about what we've read and pat each other on the backs and say, "You can DO it!" 

This week was the 2nd banquet. Here are a few pictures...

Playing Fuzball after lunch.

(For kids 3-11?)

We are so proud of the saints from both churches that are reading their Bibles! It is not easy and like Bro. Dad always tells us, "You won't read the whole Bible this year by accident!" Sho 'nuff!!