Los Ahuehuetes Baptisms (Erica and Ricardo)

In December we had a very special church "field trip". My dad's Bible study family wanted to be baptized! Remember Jael? His parents. They didn't want to be baptized just anywhere though. They wanted running water! So we got a bus that would take us out to Los Ahuehuetes and headed out early one Saturday morning.

Things were pretty tight so there were a few kids on laps.

Our chauffeur

Caught in deep thoughts of disaster

Hey, ya big brute! Could you please move to the side of the road?

Thank you very much.

When we arrived at the dirt road leading to Los Ahuehuetes, the bus broke down.
 

At this point we still had about a mile to go. It was getting pretty stuffy in the bus so we grabbed our bags and the food and started walking.

After walking a while on that dry, dusty road, this was a beautiful sight to behold! We were getting pretty hot and sweaty :D


Jumping in a cold oasis was sounding like the most refreshing thing in the world.

When everyone got to the spring and got their things settled, we gathered in a circle to start the baptisms. Dad read a few verses and talked for a little bit.

He then got in the water...a little bit at a time :)
It was a little chilly!

Erica was the first one to be baptized.

I'm so glad that I've been buried in the name of the Lord!

Her husband, Ricardo was next. Pastor showed him how to hold his hands and then they prayed...

Then he was put under...
These pictures show what happened next :)
The rocks on the bottom of the lake were a little slippery - haha! 

They soon found their footing and the baptism got back on track, despite a few giggles from the crowd. 

Family picture afterwards!

Jael has a bit of a chip on his shoulder - he reeeeally wanted to be baptized - aww! The deal is that he has to get the Holy Ghost first though.

After the baptisms, we ate lunch. Everyone brought a little something to share. Sis. Rocio made tamales - yes, those famous tamales. This was my first time to taste hers - after this, I was in love. No other tamale will ever top hers.

 Some days after eating Rocio's delicious baptism tamale, I went over to her house. The subject got brought up and I told her again how yummy they were. She laughed and in a taunting "ha, ha, ha, ha-ha" kind of voice she said, "And I didn't tell you want kind of meat was in them! Ha ha ha hahaha!!!" I froze and...*gulp*..."WHAT WAS IT, ROCIO?!!" *punch, punch in her arm* Of course I am thinking she's about to say it was iguana liver or lamb nostril...or something weird like that. When she replied smugly that it was a duck from her very own yard, I breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, duck qualifies as "civilized food". 

The lyrics to this song are appropriate...."The devil thought he had me, he thought my life was over..." HAHA. 

 Rocio - now and forever to be known as "the tamale queen".

Choyo, Sara, and Rocio

 After lunch, a bunch of the kids jumped in for a refreshing swim in the water.

The baby loved the water!! Look at that grin! 

I got her after she got out of the water and had dry clothes on. She seemed so happy without her diaper on - heh heh. Yeah, I was a little nervous, but if you've ever held a freshly bathed baby with just a thin little sleeper on, you know they are irresistible!! So soft, squishy, and cuddly.

Baby toesies!!!

When it was time to head home, everyone was so tired. We were also very relieved that bus had gotten fixed. Ugh!

The spring we went to is surrounded by fields of corn. By the entrance to the little pueblo where the water is, there are little shacks selling everything corn. Corn bread, corn tamales, elotes, grilled corn on a stick, and drinks. We always make it a point to stop and pick up some "souvenirs" at this place.
This time, we got corn tamales and a sugar cane juice.

Once we got back on the road, everything was good for the first ten minutes or so. Then the engine started to overheat and do...I don't know what...but this was only the beginning of the stop and go trip that lasted about three hours. (It is supposed to only be about an hour and a half drive).

Eventually, we did get home. Looking back, it is just another memory made, but at the moment it was NOT very pleasant at all! I am glad to be home :)
Keep our new family in your prayers - they need the Holy Ghost! They are a sweet, sweet family. I will be back with an update on them soon, hopefully!

~Bethany~

Sunday School Update

This trimester we are having a Sunday school drive of the kids inviting visitors. There are a few kids that are really going wild inviting a ton of kids! Carmen warned me last week that there were going to be a lot of kids that her family was bringing. I told her I'd meet her an hour before class to pick them all up. Usually I go by myself, but it was nice to have someone with me this time! She is so good with children and they love her. Someone else also got to witness how crazy the kids can get in the car!

Knocking at the first house

Waiting at the next house....

Cesar and Carmen

 Before I picked everyone up I got this "before" shot....

...and AFTER! 

Definitely not record-breaking for the amount of people we've fit in our van, but definitely record-breaking for the number of kids I've picked up for Sunday school. There were 13 of us packed in there :)

~Bethany~

End of the Year Party 2015

In December we had a get-together for the church. The instructions for this party were "bring enough food for your family and a few others!"

Vero and Estefania

 We found out that the best tamales in Puebla are made by one of our very own! A lady in my church, Rocio, made the best tamales I have ever tasted - and I have had quite a few in my lifetime.

Dad's Bible study family - 

Our little Sunday school girl, Ailyn, and her family

 

FOOD! 

After eating, we had games. For this game, there is a mountain of flour on a plate. You put a gumball or marble or whatever on the top of the mountain and each player has to cut away a "slice" of the flour. This game was GREAT! 

The player who knocked the gumball of the top of the flour had to dig the gumball out with their face - no hands! Ailyn was the first to experience flour up the nose :)

The guys played a round - they really showed everyone how to do it! 

The screaming, shouting, hollering and cheering coming from our church was unbelievable! I'm sure the neighbors were wondering what in the world was going on.

We had to play the Oreo game, of course! 

 We also continued the tradition of a gingerbread house competion. Three families were chosen to build and decorate a house.

 

The teams were given about 15 minutes to decorate their house as best as they could. When they finished, everyone in the church was given a slip of paper to write down the number of house they thought was the best. At the end, we tallied the votes....

And the winners!!! With their prize :) 

The last game we played was "for married couples only, please!" 

Each couple had to grab a ball from the bin and, like in a relay, balance the ball between their mouths without using their hands, and drop it in a bowl at the other end of the church. This game was a riot!

This game also elicited much cheering from the crowd :) 

Everyone left this party completely wore out, I am sure. We had a great time! 

~Bethany~