Bibleing & Outtakes (Not)!

 

Sunday night I was just tootling around the kitchen, when I realized that I needed a Bibleing recording for the blog! Austin was already in bed, but I dragged him out of bed to make a "quick" recording. He did not mind getting out of bed at all... That boy will do anything to stall bedtime!! :))

 

What I thought would be a quick recording, turned out to be a time of stalling, joking, laughing, and threatening Austin within an inch of his life to JUST DO THE RECORDING. All were done in good humor of course, while I had him in a chokehold (in my mind)... Hahahaa.

 

Austin is a show-off as you all may already know, so staying true to his usual ways, he very adamantly ordered me to put the whole recording on the blog because "everyone will LOVE it!!!". I really can't argue, because while reviewing the recordings before uploading them, I was laughing at my little booger of a brother.

 

UPDATE: Well, as you followers probably already know, I tried to put up recordings of how the other night went, but I'm still in the process of finding out how to embed an mp3 file into a blog post... Reading and trying to figure out Java and HTML while in a rush to get a blog post up is a sure recipe for a nice headache.

 

For now, here's just the Bible reading recording. I'm going to try to add in the little extra recordings sometime in the near future. (Maybe today, or maybe in a few years hahaa... Maybe never...)

But hey! Check back soon just in case! :))) 

 

-Beware of the background noises.... I had no idea during the recording of all the ruckus going on in the background... Who knew dish washing could be so loud? :))-

 

Here's the link to listen to Austin read:

https://soundcloud.com/bethanyraquel/john-16-1-13

 

But the easiest way to listen to Austin's recording is to just look to the right side bar player and click play!

 

 

.....Now to get back to figuring out how to put those recordings on here >:(

 

 

*Nicole*

 

 

 

Elder Wakefield's Trip to Guadalajara

A few weeks back, Elder Wakefield took a trip Guadalajara. This is where the Luz del Mundo church is headquarted. The Luz del Mundo (Light of the World) church believes a little like we do. They baptize in Jesus name and kinda sorta have holiness standards. We have a Luz del Mundo church right down the street from our church. Nicole and I visited it one time. It was, of course, very dead. They don't believe in musical instruments and the women have to wear veils. The main difference between us and them is that they have a prophet that they believe to be God. His name is Samuel Joaquin. Every church has a throne inside that only this man is allowed to sit in. They sing songs to him - it is very creepy.

The Luz del Mundo headquarter's church

The goal of Elder Wakefield's trip was to spend a couple weeks preaching on the buses, knocking doors, and planting as many seeds as possible. Prior to this trip, Elder Wakefield had done some serious investigating in their doctrine. He was armed and ready!!

A few years back, Elder Wakefield went into one of the Luz del Mundo churches here in Puebla. He had some questions about what they believed and wanted to talk to a minister. He went in a found the pastor of the church. Elder Wakefield began asking him some questions, but got to a very important one. "Do you believe Jesus is God?" This man suddenly became extremely angry and replied through clenched teeth, "That is blasphemy!" He escorted my Grampa out of the church.

When Elder Wakefield arrived in Guadalajara, he began looking around for a place to stay for the next couple of weeks. He found a very nice lady that offered him a room in her home. However, when she found out his reason for visiting Guadalajara, she said that she could not, in all good conscience, board him. She was a Luz del Mundo follower. So he kept looking and found another room for rent.

His room is the one with the t-shirts hanging out in front

It was a nasty little place, and very primitive - lol!! You can see this in the next few pictures...

This was his kitchen.

Notice the clothes hung everywhere? He had to take his clothes to the laundromat to get them washed, but they did not have dryers. So he brought his wet clothes home and hung them on hooks, nails and chains that were on the walls. We got a good laugh out of this when he told us!! :)

His bathroom

More clothes hanging out to dry

He told us that the bed they gave him was as hard as a table and it had one dirty, holey blanket on it. So my Grampa had to go down to the store and buy a towel to lay on and another one to cover up with. (That is his little prayer mat beside the bed :)

The kitchen

The stairs leading up to his room...eww, dirty!

So as you can see, this girl's Grampa knows how to take care of himself! Even in the most primitive of situations, although I am sure this is not the worst conditions he's had to deal with through the years.

A Catholic church in Guadalajara

In the weeks Elder Wakefield spent in Guadalajara, many contacts were made. Pray that God would continue to work in the hearts of the people he talked to. Too many parts of Mexico do not have a church - there are just not enough men to start works! Pray not only for Guadalajara, but for all the cities in this country that need a church. That God would place a burden on someone's heart to come and labor in these cities.

~Bethany~

Blessings in Disguise

God has been working here in Puebla as of late! There has been some shaking up going on-- some may find it uncomfortable, but they are all blessings sent by God. It seems like every Saturday for the past few weeks, Pastor will get a call or feel the need to go to so-and-so's house... And lo and behold the world is seemingly crashing down on them...

This past Saturday there was another "tragedy". The husband of a sister in our church suffered from a severe stroke that should have done a lot more damage than he realized. We received an email (Imagine that! We were equally shocked as well :))....) from this man's daughter-in-law asking for Pastor to come pray for Ricardo, her father-in-law. Now, this lady that emailed asking for prayer is a backslider that quit coming to church about a year ago. Isn't it amazing that backsliders know where to come when things go wrong?? They haven't forgotten the power of God!

We went over to their house on Monday to pray for Ricardo.

Pastor, Ricardo, and one of his daughters.

My heart broke when we walked in to see him sitting there, slumped over, the right side of his body paralyzed. He could barely talk, and when he did it sounded like gibberish. This man, and his whole family, have a history with the church here in Puebla. He has come with his wife a few times, doesn't have the Holy Ghost, and since we've been here he hasn't shown any hunger. The whole family has been in and out of the church for the past few years.

As soon as we got there we started praying for Ricardo. And my goodness did we have a prayer meeting! The Holy Ghost fell and there were people speaking in tongues that we didn't even know had the Holy Ghost! :)) One man, (also a backslider and a son of Ricardo), was on his knees speaking in tongues, crying and pounding on the ground. There was no shame, no holding back in that little house, and not a dry eye in there-- the whole family was so desperate for God. It was an amazing thing to see.

Ricardo's son-in-law and son.

This powerful prayer meeting ended up lasting for more than an hour. When we left the house we calculated that we had been there for about and hour and forty minutes. For about 20 of that we visited and talked... After years of these people avoiding church, God brought it right to their house.

We did not get to see the miracle of this man getting up and walking, but God did touch his eye- His whole right side was not working including his right eye. When we came in he could barely open it. By the time we left he was able to open it all the way.

It may not have turned out how we wanted it to, but God knows what He is doing! This family got he renewing that they needed, and they are more motivated than ever to come back to God!

I believe that we are going to see Ricardo healed completely, but it is just a matter of time. In the meantime, we are looking forward to seeing this sweet family come back to God!

Keep Ricardo and his family in your prayers!

Sidenote:

At one point I had to take out my phone to document this prayer time, because it was so awesome!... I got more pictures of others praying and speaking in tongues-- there were about 10 people in the one little room. But just yesterday I found out that some members of this family are a bit tech savvy (hence the email LOL) and have "read our blog for ages", Lord help us! Hahahaa...

Last night I found myself going back into the deepest depths of our blog, looking at our past posts through the eyes of our saints... Sometimes there are pictures posted that are less than flattering, but we post them because they are so moving and show the heart of the people...

But alas and alack :)) We are going to have to be much, much more careful with what pictures we put up from here on out... :(

Afterwards as we were visiting with the family I looked out the door...

And I found this little cutie!

 I was sure she would run off when I got close but she actually was very curious about the camera!

...and she quickly stole the show! :))

 In almost every picture I took of her she has her tongue stuck out! So funny.

Where's Waldo?

^^I want this cat... She has a certain flair and sense of humor to her :)) ...and I don't even like cats!^^

Thank you Jesus for your blessings!

God, in His mercy, is using this stroke to bring Ricardo and his family back to Him.

Pray with us for the healing of Ricardo and the salvation of him and his family! I can't wait to see them in church this Sunday!

*Nicole*

Another Baptism!

Last night Israel was baptized! He's 18 and already giving us a bunch of trouble - haha! No really, he is a good kid. Seems like he's trying to get his life together and live right! We are excited about what God is doing in Puebla.

 Pastor and Israel

~Bethany~

Rocio's Baptism

Here are a few pictures of our service on Sunday...

The boys quoting the verses they learned in school the previous week

We also had a baptism!! There is a lady that has been coming to our church for about three years. She and three of her four kids have gotten the Holy Ghost. All of her kids were baptized, but somehow she slipped thru the cracks. She came to me after church last Sunday asking to be baptized and my response was, "What?? You haven't been baptized?!" I told her if we would've known this before, we would've been bugging her about it constantly :P

This lady normally is VERY giggly, and I think the giggles were exacerbated by her nervousness about getting baptized. She was all laughs as she sat in the water.

Her family watching her get baptized

Thankfully, she finally got serious after going under and came up worshiping God!

Everybody taking pictures...lol!

Then we sang, "I am baptized in the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus. I am baptized in the name of Jesus because He has revealed His name to me!"

Sunday morning, I'd gone to Elder and Sis. Wakefield's church. They have a man that has started coming in the past couple of months. His name is Juan el Bautista - John the Baptist! He testified to the church that he is going to be baptized this week. Praise God! John the Baptist is going to be baptized in Jesus name!

~Bethany~

That Dreaded Knocking

We were having a pretty non-eventful day at school today. The boys were at their desks studying dutifully with minimal talking. Nicole and I were at our desks, trying to look important.

There is an unspoken rule in our family...or at least between Nicole and I. When the phone rings, the person closest to it is supposed to answer. When someone knocks, the person closest to the living room is to look out the window and see who it is. Unless that person is me. I do not like answering the doorbell or the house phone. Everyone knows I will do everything in my power to avoid it (unless it is Elder or Sis. Wakefield - I know they only call to talk to me - ha). There are various reasons behind this - the main one being that I know people aren't calling/knocking because they want to talk to me. However...during school hours, it is up to Nicole and I to handle door knockers, since we are already downstairs.

Today, there was knocking at the gate accompanied by a shouted "Buenos dias?!" (Good morning). I looked over at Nicole with one raised eyebrow. "You gonna get get that?" She responded with a total deadpan expression and replies, "I think it's for you." Since I had made the mistake of being the first one to acknowledge the knocking, I knew deep down that I was responsible for seeing who it was. It's called giving in gracefully lol.

Me, giving in gracefully

Standing outside were two ladies and a boy. They informed me that the "son of the lady with the long braid" (yes, yes, I know exactly who that is) told them that we give English classes. I told her we've never given English classes here at the church, but that we do have a school. She asked me what the schedule is. I replied, "8:30 to 2:00."

Two women knocking at our school gate. Just kidding, this is in the Middle East.

She insists that we do actually give English classes, but I insist even more passionately that we do not. I explain again that this is school, but we only teach math, history, geography, etc. The lady pondered this for a moment then tells me, "Well I like math...."

The look on my face after she tells me she likes math. What am I supposed to say to that? "ME TOO! I'm the math teacher, actually...Would you like me to quiz you on your multiplication tables?"

Ha! So maybe we will have a couple adults in our school next year! I'm sure they will get a kick out of recess time when the boys play dodge ball and basically try to kill each other in the most quiet way possible. I will encourage them to get involved.

~Bethany~

PS - I hope you all like the random pictures placed throughout this post. I found them on google. I know there are a select few of you out there that won't read a post without pictures so I'm just trying to be accommodating ;)

Bibleing: At the Firestation with Sparky

 

 

 Yes, that is Austin sitting on a Dalmatian, in front of a fire station...

 

No, this was not taken in Mexico. :)

 

We do have fire stations but they are not normally adorned with statues of Dalmatians and such...

 

This was taken a few weeks ago, while Austin and Sis. Wakefield were still in California.

 

This morning's recording had Austin and I laughing. All of the recordings we upload are first-takes! So that means you get to hear all of his errors and such. Sometimes he gets ahead of himself and then starts guessing at words... :))

 

This week Austin recorded John 5:36-37.

Click on the link below to listen to it, or use the player on the right to listen to it from this page.

https://soundcloud.com/bethanyraquel/john-5-36-47

 

 

For those of you who are new to the blog, and/or you don't know why we do posts about "Bibleing", check out this link to find out the purpose of them! We started this with a goal in mind and we are still working towards it!

Bibleing: Building a School-- One Chapter at a Time!

 

 

 

Oh, and a little note from moi:

 I know I'm a day late on this. *gasp*

....I think I'm having severe writer's block! It's been so hard lately to work up the inspiration and the want-to to blog. The only thing I feel when I sit down to try and post is a mix of anger and frustration. Hahaha. (Hence the not blogging since April 11th! Yikes.) 

All I can say is thank goodness for Bethany! :)) We're a pretty good team-- Seems like we have it worked out pretty well. When she could care less about posting, I suddenly feel so inspired! And when I'm down in the dumps, there she is clacking away on her keyboard, pulling stories from the wild blue yonder and making them funny for you all! (That's really what she did today, so expect a post from her up in the morning!)

 

I'd write a poem for her, but...well, we've already covered the fact that I have nothing to say. :D

 

See you guys next Monday... ;P Or until the joyful blogging spirit hits me again!

Hopefully that's soon...

 

 

*Nicole*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Influence of the Gospel

3rd grade history writing assignment --  5/02/13

What needs to change in the community where you live? Using your own words, explain what you think could change in your community if the people were transformed by the gospel.

Alejandro's response:

If God were to give me wisdom, I would make our streets Christian. The church that is by my house would become Christian and all the women would throw away their pants and would only wear skirts. The men would wear pants and would throw away their beer and cigarettes. 

Fabian's response:

I would do something to change the community where I live. Teach them the Word of God, that there is only one God and he is powerful - there is no other like Him. Also, I would teach them the gospel, that baptism is in the name of Jesus, and that they need to receive the HOLY GHOST. I would preach the gospel to them like it is written in the Word of God. I would also try to take them to church so they could be free for the rest of their lives and have eternal life.

UPDATE: I'm a little behind on this, but I just want to say that the 3rd-graders have got division down pat!! I think it's completely awesome because I am the one that taught it to them! Not that I'm so awesome, but it is a funny experience teaching kids math. Monday they don't know how to do something and Friday they've learned it. The brain is a cool machine.
This may sound very lame and obvious to you, but being a teacher makes one look at things in a whole different light. It's neat to see a the kids' ability to learn and comprehend ideas.

~Bethany~