Austin the Gymrat

Austin loves going to the gym! We do our shopping runs about once a week so that is the frequency that he is able to workout here... :)))

This is our preferred gym because there such a wide range of equipment, the people here tend to dress with more modesty, and the overall spirit of the atmosphere is just so much more wholesome... Haha!

*Nicole*

Sunday

It's been a crazy weekend. Mine started Thursday after school - we were driving into town in terrible traffic when a wave of carsickness and nausea overcame me. It is hilarious and completely coincidental, but this carsickness segued right into the flu. I like to say that dad's stop-and-go driving started a domino effect - Nicole and Austin now have the bug and several people in the church. One little girl ran out during the preaching last night twice - filled the boys' restroom sink first and on her next trip out, filled the girls' sink. Sigh.

After we got home Thursday night, Dad came in my room to pray for me. I'd already taken my contacts out so when he came in all I could see was a blurry, but unusually dark bottle of oil in his hand. When he got closer I saw what it was. "Ummm, Dad? I fried chicken in that...!" Hahaha! We both cracked up...and he brought back some fresh, clean oil!

Elder Wakefield went out of town with Bro. Mario this weekend to visit a pastor in Oaxaca. Gramma was going to be by herself so she invited me to stay with her Saturday night. 

They have service Sunday morning so I went with her. Bro Gelacio taught the adult class....

I thought this was a funny picture... :D

Bro. Gelacio helping Fidel find the Bible passage

 Abner preached

During the preaching, something very odd happened...

It seemed like every time I would close my eyes, I'd open them to find another almond around me.
Like it'd literally fallen from the sky.

 At first I thought they were falling from maybe a nest in the roof...or a squirrel...honestly, I had no idea LOL! 

This one was behind my chair...

Turns out, there was a mischievous little toddler in the back throwing his snack... HAHA. 

 Abner preached for us as well. 

He had everyone come up to the altar and separated them by whether they had the Holy Ghost or not. 

I got this incredible picture! The people on Abner's left are the ones that have the Holy Ghost and on his right are the ones that have never ever received it. 

This is INCREDIBLE! On the right side are backsliders and people coming because of Sunday school. We have so many people that need the Holy Ghost!!

We had an incredible time in the altar - God really moved! I saw people bawling in the altars that I've never seen moved before. It was so good. A wonderful Sunday, like it should be!

~Bethany~

2 More Lychee Converts

This past Sunday I had to go to the carniceria (butcher) down the street to pick up meat for dinner. When I got there I ran into Daniela and her little non-Spanish-speaking friend, Elena. They are our neighbors and Daniela is the girl that gave me the "chicken" a few weeks ago. Elena, the littler girl, only speaks Mazateco - her family is from down south in Oaxaca, Mexico. She's a cutie! I sympathize with her and can better understand the reason why people fawned over us so when we were younger. You ask her something in Spanish and she responds with wide eyes and a shy smile - probably our same response before learning Spanish. Elena is probably four, which is cute because Nicole was five when we moved to Mexico.

Natchi Elena

Anyways - Daniela said she'd wait with me then walk me home after picking up the things I needed. We sat on the bench inside the butcher's shop while he worked on my order. Daniela sat there swinging her legs back and forth while we talked about Sunday school and what the lesson was going to be about that day. She randomly popped out with "my dad started drinking again". Matter-of-fact. What could I say? I said the first thing that came to my mind: "Had he ever quit?" I don't know. It amazes me though at what losers these kids have as parents. Daniela lives with her uncle that runs around town dressed as a woman.

After finishing at the butcher's, we went to the verduleria (vegetable and fruit store). I was elated to see a crate of lychees outside - I'd forgotten this is the season they come out!! Nicole and I are crazy about lychee - the outside shell is pinkish-purple and bumpy. They are about the size of a ping pong ball and the fruit inside looks like a peeled grape. They are tangy and sweet. There's nothing like them! We eat them like popcorn, one after the other :D

Daniela said she'd never had lychee so I told her after we left that I'd let her and Elena taste one. I bought what I needed and we started walking home. A bird hopped across the sidewalk and Elena waved at it and said, "Hola!" Daniela smiled proudly and said, "See? She is learning!"
We got to the door of my house and I said I would see them in a little while at Sunday school. Daniela put her hand on her hip and with wrinkled eyebrows and bit of sassiness said, "Hey. Didn't you say you were going to give us a taste of that fruit?" Whoops! Almost forgot!

Daniela, Elena, and Elena's baby sister came to Sunday school later on that day. They are a cute little trio!

~Bethany~

Carnitas: Before and After

A couple of weeks ago we were in school, there was a peaceful quiet in the classroom and everyone was diligently working. All of a sudden a panicked squeal began to crescendo from our neighbor Angelita's yard. I ran outside to look over the fence and saw there were a few men pulling Angelita's pig from its pen. I'd seen them do this a couple months ago when the vet came to visit and perform some work on him. I figured it was just another checkup or something. When the screaming escalated and started sounding more panicked, however, we knew that someone was planning on pork chops for dinner.

Beau couldn't stand the noise - he added to the clamor with some long, anguished howls for his fellow beast

I went out and looked again - the pig was tied to a post in the yard and they had it on its side. The men were holding machetes. Between Beau and I, we watched it all.

Beau! Cover your eyes! You're going to have nightmares!

At first it didn't click in my head why Angelita was standing there at the ready holding a bucket. When they slit the throat of the pig though, she put the bucket under the flow to catch all the blood. 

Mexicans make something called moronga - it looks like chorizo, but is pure blood. 

The funny part was a bunch of our Sunday school kids were there standing around watching this spectacle. The next day, one of the girls came over to say hi after church. I was eager to talk to her; I was looking forward to getting the juicy details, the inside scoop on what it was like seeing that up close and personal. 

Imagine me, impressed and excited.

Me: So, Daniela...you guys killed a pig yesterday! 

Daniela: *Shrug* yep. 

Me: What'd you think of that?

Daniela: .... *shrug*
........

It was obvious she was NOT impressed. Just another day on the farm!

If you zoom in on this picture you can see the pig tied to the post.

This turned out to be the most distracting day of school we've ever had. Obviously after the pig died it quit screaming, but man oh man. He carried on for a long time.
After killing it and draining its blood, they proceeded to shave the pig. Nothing is wasted!!! The blood is used for moronga, with the skin they make chicharron (pork rinds) or fatty skin tacos, the head is considered a delicacy and used in different things like pozole or carnitas. People are fanatics of sesos (brain) - in taquitos, molotes, even sesadillas (yes, like a quesadilla but with brains instead of cheese). Anyone ever heard of pickled pig's feet? Yeah, it's a real thing.

This is moronga. Looks like sausage. Of course we don't eat this because we do not eat blood.

The pork man I talked to said every part of the pig is used except for the bones, tail, and eyeballs, but that this is a guarded secret among common folk. Isn't that disgusting? I mean, I'm not huge fan of pork because...hello.... Pigs EAT the tumors off of each other...and do other similarly disgusting things. But this revelation just goes to show that when you eat carnitas, you just don't know what body part you're chewing on.

Have a nice day! :D

~Bethany~

Out for Breakfast with Carmen

Sis. Carmen always knows the best places to eat. The other day, she said she wanted to take me to breakfast at the market. Honestly, I am not the biggest fan of eating there. If there is any place that should cause one to fear for their life, it is the dirty market! However, I pretty much trust Carmen with my life (and my digestive system) as she has never failed me yet, and has introduced us to some of the tastiest cuisine the streets have to offer.

We were to meet on the corner at a specific time. Being the thorough-bred American gal that I am, I got there about 2 minutes early. Carmen, arrived a couple minutes late. This turned out to work in my favor since I got to witness a little fender bender between the gas truck and a little car. The poor little clunker's hood looked like an accordion so I had to roll my eyes when the gas truck driver acted very preoccupied while inspecting his perfectly fine headlight.

We arrived at the market with no further incident. 

The smell of the food rose to my nostrils as a sweet-smelling fragrance.

Carmen made me very proud when she announced it was time to pray after receiving our plates of food.

I ordered a gordita with a slice of bistec on top - at Carmen's recommendation. 

It was FABULOUS! 

Basically, a thick tortilla filled with a pinch of refried beans. On top - green and red salsa, sprinkly cheese, onion and whatever bistek is in English...steak? 

I don't know, but literally my stomach just growled.

~Bethany~

Cinco de Mayo

For Cinco de Mayo, we had two days of school off. Nicole and I woke up bright and early and took off for the center of town where Puebla's yearly celebration parade is held. We've blogged about it many many times so I'll just put a couple links to past year's posts if ya'll want a refresher! In these posts you can find the history of Cinco de Mayo, why we go to this parade, and why it is important to Puebla.
2011
2012
2014

I'm sure I've said it before, but I must say it again. I find it hilarious how Cinco de Mayo is a major holiday in the US, but here in Mexico, Puebla is the only one of 31 states that celebrate it as a huge holiday. I DON'T GET IT!!! I remember going to Walmart one year during 5 de Mayo and they had displays out with jalapenos, tomatoes, and onions. Little Mexican flags, traditional decor, etc. I was thinking, "Oh, the US celebrates it too? That's weird." It's like if Mexico were to celebrate the Battle of the Little Bighorn. It just doesn't happen!! It is possible that the US celebrates it more than Mexico :D

Anyways. Where was I...

Nicole and I went into town. We didn't eat breakfast and instead, started our day off right with a tamale bought from a lady selling them on a corner.

We saw some beautiful horses passing by on the street so I very excitedly pulled out my phone to take a picture. Unfortunately, the camera was on on front-facing so I got a picture of Nicole instead.

As soon as we reached the location of the parade, a man passed by pushing a cart of watermelon shish kabobs, watermelon cups, watermelon with chile. 

There is nothing more refreshing than watermelon!

We wandered around for a while looking for interesting sights, interesting looking people, and interesting food. (Mainly food, if we're honest. Cinco de Mayo week was an unhealthy one. Refer to previous blog entry.)

 When we felt the parade was about to start, we bought two little chairs from this vendor.

 We then found a decent-ish area to take a seat in. We sat down, got comfortable and let the sun do its perfect work.

The parade started shortly thereafter. I told Nicole to not bother taking a bunch of pictures of the parade since we've blogged about it so many times. But...she did anyways. So I shall not let her work be in vain. 

The army.

Lemme tell ya - there ain't nothin' to make you feel more patriotic towards the US than seeing the Mexican army! HAHHAHAAH

Because of the people in front of us with their obnoxious umbrellas, Nicole stood on her chair for the interesting parts of the parade. I hugged her legs to keep her steady.

The most interesting part of the parade is the floats! People get so creative. They are amazing!

This float had sounds of guns firing and men yelling. They had actors in it shooting at each other and keeling over. It was great!

The Mayan army?

This was a ship float with pirates running around in it. Look at those waves! We need whoever built these floats to come in and make us some Sunday school props - haha!

Hope ya'll Americans had a fun and festive Cinco de Mayo! Maybe if you were lucky you got school and work off. :)

~Bethany~

Feria del Cinco de Mayo

In celebration of Cinco de Mayo, our city puts on a fair each year. It has games, activities, rides, and food galore. We were given fifty admission tickets for this fair by one of Puebla's contending political parties to give to the people of our church. We took it as our personal responsibility to go and check this event out before endorsing it by giving out tickets - to make sure it had a clean, family atmosphere. We were also looking forward to having a good time and eating some yummy traditional Mexican food.

Dad, me, Nicole walking up the hill of Loreto towards the lights of the fair

This was our view

That steep walk required a refreshing cup of "agua de frutas"

Dad's first food choice was a beef shish kabob

Nicole is a huge fan of cotton candy; it's her favorite part of fairs (that and chalupas - lol!)

Nicole and I stopped over at Times Square in NYC :)

We had to make the required stop at the chalupa stand!

Oh, yum.

Take a closer look at this goodness

My favorite ride!!!

Food as far as the eye could see

Junk food for as far as the eye could see

My favorite part of fairs and these types of food-selling events is the apple salad. Oh yum, oh yum!

To finish the night off, Nicole and I went on our favorite ride - it's the one with booth/cars in a circle that when they turn, you are slammed into one another by gravity.

I could just imagine my hair whipping around and getting caught in the ride and ripped out of my head. Tie that mess up!

We get a kick out of it, as you can see! We go whirling around screaming and Nicole aaaalways says the same thing. "GET OFF OF MEEEEEEE!" and I always respond "I CAN'T!"
There was also some screaming of "PUT YOUR PHONE AWAY."
But Nicole didn't, which is why we even have these pictures :)
Thankfully she kept a good hold on it and it didn't go flying off into space. 

An extra layer is added to the adrenaline rush because of how rickety the rides look. It makes for a fun experience. We definitely had a blast! Stay tuned for the actual Cinco de Mayo that I'll be posting tomorrow. That is of course unless I die, lose internet, or have some kind of emergency that keeps me away from my computer - which I am not expecting. So I'll talk to you all tomorrow!!

~Bethany~

Visitors from Wisconsin

Many many years ago, when I was just a wee little girl, my grandparents were missionaries in Acapulco, Mexico. One day, they went to McDonald's and while eating they looked across the way to see an American Apostolic-looking couple. They went over to greet them and ask if they were Pentecostal. Jesus name baptism? Infilling of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues? Holiness? Yes, yes, yes, and yes! Turns out this couple pastored in Racine, WI and were in Acapulco vacationing!

Bro. Schumacher ended up preaching for the Wakefields while there and from that time on they've been good friends. Isn't that funny? Two Apostolic families meeting on the mission field - I know that does not happen very often! Every so often the they will come down to visit and sometimes bring a group from their church. They visited a couple weeks ago and we had a couple of special services with them.

Bro. Schumacher is a very calm preacher, but you hang on to each word he speaks. One of our new converts fell in love with his way of preaching and was very disappointed when he arrived at the next service to see Bro. Schumacher was gone! He wanted to know when that preacher would be back again!

God's greatest desire - a heart to live in

It was in one of these services that Ailyn got the Holy Ghost. I didn't find this out until later, but the ladies from Wisconsin that were praying with Ailyn said that when she first started speaking in tongues, she was saying, "I love you Jesus, I love you Jesus!"

Ailyn stood up in testimony service later on that week and began to cry. She said she was thankful that God filled her and her mom with His spirit and she has faith that her sisters, Perla and Suleima, will receive the same gift very soon. We are anxiously awaiting this as well! They were both in the altar on Pentecost Sunday praying!

~Bethany~