Lots to catch up on...

Things have really picked up around here since the holidays. We've had many teams come in to help, and that has kept us REALLY busy! At one point, there were over 40 people from various teams here to help! It's been amazing to have all the help, and also very tiring at times trying to keep up with all of the new names and things going on. Having teams come in really gives a huge boost to the ministry. I don't think we'd be able to function nearly as well without them. The church buildings need fresh coats of paint every year, kids adore the times when the "gringos" come and bring all sorts of fun, and there's always plenty of people in need of a bag of groceries, a hug, and a smile in Jesus' name. We've had a couple of teams recently that really inspired me. The first was a team from Iowa that brought a carnival for kids. They had all sorts of fun games - bozo buckets, drawing suckers to see if yours had a dot, tossing toilet paper into a toilet seat, balloons, face painting and even a prize counter where the kids could turn in their tickets they won for really cool prizes! It was SO exciting for the kids and it ran so well.


The second group that was particularly inspiring was a group of doctors from Iowa. They've been trying to come at least two times a year so that they can continue to follow up with their patients. They even keep records of everyone that comes! All of the medicine they give free of charge, which means the world to some of the people who have really serious health problems but would never be able to afford a doctor's visit. I was so blessed seeing these doctors serve so faithfully putting in long hours and lots of care, giving up their vacation time to love these people, when I know they could really use a break from their full-time jobs and stress. And they had fun with it! They were a really fun group of people. One of the other gifts that they brought was a prayer night for the women missionaries and staff here at La Vina. They had done this last year and it was such a blessing that they decided to do it again this year. We all spent several hours just praying and blessing one another and it was so uplifting. It was so great having their team here! What a blessing they were!



It was a great experience for me getting to spend the holidays here in Mexico. I did really miss my family, but I did my best to enjoy everything despite the homesickness. There were so many parties, late nights, pinatas, and all sorts of fun things. It was a great experience.


Another great tradition I got to experience recently was getting to go to a qincenera! It was AMAZING! The girl's family happened to be somewhat wealthy, so it was decked to the max. Her dress was a huge pink ballroom gown, she had about 10 girls/guys in her party all dressed in tuxes and fancy dresses, a Hummer limousine taking them back to their house for the reception, and a very large reception complete with a beautiful cake and dancing. It was even nicer than many weddings I've been to. Here's a video of one of the choreographed dances they did:


Megan's birthday was just last week and we threw her a surprise birthday party, complete with
the well-loved "mordida" tradition of shoving the birthday person's face into the cake. They really got her this time! She had cake all up her nose and everything. It was so funny. We didn't manage to surprise her with the birthday party, though. She knew about it for about as long as we had been planning it, but she had a great time any way. We did manage to surprise her with a shopping trip to the mall to buy her quincenera dress. She looked amazing and had a wonderful birthday and time at the qincenera. I'm so glad that we could have that time together before she and Jen head back to school in Virginia.... THIS WEEK!!! Ahhh!! I'm going to miss them so much. It has been a huge blessing for me to have them here. I don't know if I could have survived my first month very well without Megan, especially. I love her so, so much and I'm really going to miss her presence and all of the amazing things we've gotten to share together. I want to cry just thinking about it...
















The start of a new year has given me a lot to reflect on and see where I've grown, especially in the two months that I've been here. I really have learned so much. To start, my Spanish has improved to such a point that I've gotten to translate one of the team's messages to the kids, help translate prayers, and help lead worship in Spanish. It's been very exciting to see the improvement I've made in this area so far. My Spanish classes have started up again this week, so I can't wait to keep learning!

I think I've also grown so much in learning about all different types and styles of ministry, about starting churches, about being flexible and willing to step out and do things that are unfamiliar, and about leadership... all things that I was hoping to learn in this experience! So many times I've been asked to do things that are very new and unfamiliar to me and really pull me out of my comfort zone. Each time that I get to do this, I get better and better and feel so much more confident in the way that God seems to always work things out despite my lack of experience. This is especially the case in my English classes. I've already gotten to teach 5 classes and with each one I'm learning more and more how to be more creative, explain things more clearly, and just be an over-all better teacher. It's also been so exciting to build relationships with the people that attend my class. The other week some of the girls from the class walked me back to Kyle and Ellen's house and we had a really nice conversation. I got to find out all about their dreams of what they want to become, what they like to do, and all sorts of fun things. It was one of my highlights so far this trip, for sure! I really hope to continue to build these relationships and maybe even lead someone to Jesus!

Here's some pictures of where Kyle, Ellen and I teach English each week:












More to come...