missionaryMAC

Signing Off

2012-01-07T10:35:00.002-06:00

So I guess this is my farewell to the blogging world. I've loved having missionaryMAC as on outlet for sharing news, joys, frustrations, and more these past few years. Keeping this site up to date hasn't been a burden, but rather something I have truly enjoyed. But I think its time to say goodbye. My feeling is that as people who have collectively given nearly $50,000 to my cause and invested countless hours of worry and prayer to my ministry, you have had a vested interest in the minutiae of things like when I get sick or when I spend an afternoon baking cookies.

But now I'm back to being a "normal" person with a "real" job. I realize that CPH is just another mission field and that it will be exciting and dynamic in its own ways, but I'm back to being just your daughter, sister, cousin, niece, godmother, goddaughter, grandchild, friend, babysitter, former student, co-worker, fellow church member, whatever. I think I'm really going to enjoy my new calling, but the ins and outs of my daily life will be far less noteworthy than they have been.

I guess the missionaryMAC URL will be forever preserved in cyberspace, but consider this my last entry. Thanks for your faithful readership and support since I began this venture in 2008, and feel free to keep in touch with me via e-mail, facebook, or phone--all of which have not changed! If you're interested in future YLM happenings, the redesigned website (www.ylm.org) is a great resource, and my coworker Chris Hill has promised to update his blog (www.chillonamission.blogspot.com) more often too!

Blessings always!

1 Cat, 2 Days, 1200 Miles

2012-01-05T18:59:00.001-06:00

My last day in El Paso on Monday was one filled with getting ready to leave, in all its various forms.

AM: Packing! It started off pretty organized, but then became a case of squeezing everything wherever it would fit! I didn't have to leave anything important behind except for my hangers, which I figured were easy and cheap enough to replace. When I was finished, there wasn't room for much more than Freddy's carrier and Dad's backpack!

I didn't have any plans for all afternoon, but that didn't last long. Chris took me out to lunch, then we swung by Lowe's to say bye to all my friends there. I think that really says something about my life in El Paso! When we got back, I ran into Susannah Barbian and wound up spending a lovely hour or so at a little cafe talking to her and her husband Frank, drinking tea, and eating sopapillas. That night, Bob and Kathy Zeeck (one of YLM's "Snowbird" couples who had arrived in their RV that day) took me out for my "Last Supper!" We went to a Mexican place that I had actually never been to with the BEST flan ever. Then I hung out with Chris and Jeff until I was falling asleep on the couch!

Tuesday morning I put the finishing touches on my packing, cleaned the apartment a little, and then picked up Dad from the airport at 10:20. When we got back, my car had been condemned by the DEA (aka Chris and Stephen):

Then Victor (one of the YLM maintenance guys) tried another tactic to keep me around by parking the pick-up in front of the car, but to no avail After more good-byes to everyone in the office, we left at about 11:45, slightly delayed because trying to get Freddy into the carrier was a bit of a battle. He was the angriest that I have ever seen him, and he bit me really hard on my left wrist. Its much better now, but was pretty red and swollen for awhile.

We made it to Abilene, TX, by 7ish on Tuesday night--about 440 miles. Freddy turned out to be a little angel the entire drive, after the earlier incident. The hotel we stopped at had TX shaped waffles as a part of the continental breakfast!

We left Abilene about 6:30 am on Wednesday morning. Here is my last TX sunrise somewhere along US 277:

And we arrived back in St. Louis around 8 pm on Wednesday night with 1 cat, 2 days of traveling, and 1260 or so total miles logged under our belts. Praise God that the trip was completely uneventful. No car trouble or weather issues, and only 2 wrong turns of about 1 1/2 miles each. It only got a little tedious after stopping to see a friend of mine in Springfield, MO, about 3 hours from home.

I am completely unpacked by now, and running lots of errands. Yesterday I bought necessities like hangers and cat litter and went to the eye Dr. (new glasses should be ready in a few days), and today I am getting my car inspected. Maybe I'll go shopping for business casual clothes with Christmas and birthday $ sometime too. I start my new job on Monday, and I am so excited! Freddy is adjusting fine--he hid under my bed most of yesterday but is getting braver and more adventurous in his new space by the minute!

Until next time, blessings!

Pictures from Christmas and Mayer

2012-01-05T15:57:00.001-06:00

I'm home!!! But more about that later. Here are the pictures that I owe you from Christmas and the first few days of the Mayer Lutheran High School group:

Penguins I made for my high school friend get-together!

I stole the idea from a friend of mine at San Pablo; it's just carrots, jumbo and medium black olives, and cream cheese.

My siblings and I on Christmas Eve: me (25), Kyle (23), and Kara (14).

My whole family!

Christmas morning on Thornberry! My dad, my brother, and I all went in and added to my mom's collection of Nikko Christmastime dishes. She inherited the set from her mom when she passed away, but it's incomplete and the pattern is discontinued. In this picture she is putting together a 2-tiered serving tray that I thought would be perfect for Christmas cookies!

Dad's Coke can pillow.

Me opening something.

I am totally putting this on my desk at CPH!

Best. Slippers. Ever.

Sweet Tart candy canes screamed "Kyle" to me.

Kara's new lamp will match BOTH themes of her bedroom decor: pink and zebra.

Sibling love with our new skillets! Trying to look menacing...

...and smiling!

Switching gears...2 of the boys on my crew nailing on siding.

Standing wall #1.

I think she would adopt him if she could.

I was inspired to take this picture when they were all sitting in a circle playing BINGO!

Look out, Joel!

One of my favorite things on a construction site is teaching girls how to use power tools!

Coloring!

I LOVE this one of Jenna and Mael marveling at the house's progress!

Time for my eye Dr. appointment...check back soon as there is more to come! Until then, blessings!

The shepherds returned...

2011-12-29T19:01:00.002-06:00

Quick update before a shower and then dinner with Rita...

This entry is inspired by the Christmas Eve sermon at St. Paul's, which I loved. Pastor Smith talked about the very last line of the traditional Christmas story: "The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told," (Luke 2:20). They didn't go shave their heads, put on sackcloth, and sell their possessions; they returned to their everyday work of being shepherds, but with a marked change--they were glorifying and praising God.

I had a great time in St. Louis for Christmas. I brought 2 large suitcases of my things home (thank you Southwest Airlines!); it almost all stayed behind which will hopefully lighten the load in my car on Tuesday. I was disappointed at the lack of snow--especially since El Paso had a White Christmas--but overjoyed at spending my favorite holiday with many of my favorite people. When I wasn't hanging out with family or friends, I mostly played Betty Crocker, like to the tune of 7 batches of cookies, but that was just fine with me!

And now I've returned to El Paso. My "last hurrah" group, 33 students and chaperones from Mayer Lutheran High School in Mayer, MN, arrived on the morning of the 27th and will be here until after dinner on New Year's Day. As is customary for them, we're building 3 houses in Anapra. I was assigned to Casa Tres. Today we put OSB and fascia on the roof, ran the wiring, and started the sheetrock. Casas 1 and 2 are slightly ahead of us I think, and we seem to have initiated a friendly competition, but the important thing is that 3 families have new houses for the new year by Saturday afternoon. Our family is 7 people: grandma, grandpa, 2 daughters, son-in-law, and 2 grandkids. I hope that my conduct both on and off the worksite qualifies as glorifying and praising God.

OK I stink...a hot shower is going to feel amazing! Until next time, blessings!

***I left my computer and my camera cord in St. Louis (yes, on purpose), so unfortunately I cannot yet share the pictures I have from Christmas or Mayer (my battery died today so it will only be 2 1/2 days of them). I promise I'll put up an entry to catch up on pictures once I'm settled in St. Louis though, and I'll keep giving you the 411 with no pictures in the meantime!

A Christmas Story, Mariachi Style

2011-12-20T12:31:00.000-06:00

Mariachi San Pablo had a Christmas Concert this year, on Saturday night 12/17! They had one in 2009, but that was before the release of their Christmas CD, "Gozo al Mundo ~ Joy to the World." I told Ann and Miguel (the manager and director) that I would bake them each cookies if they had one in 2011 since I dearly wanted to hear a full-on concert, especially one featuring the sounds of the holidays, once more before I leave for good. I'm pretty baked goods didn't have anything to do with it, but I was really glad that they listened to me! The concert included all the songs from the Gozo CD, plus several new ones. My undisputed favorite is still "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," although "Carol of the Bells" is a close second. The group called it "A Christmas Story, Mariachi Style," and incorporated a skit with the Sunday school children at the beginning. You may remember that I changed my plane tickets home for Christmas so I could be there--so they put me to work too as the "Storyteller!" Basically I read the Christmas story to 3 of the kids, while the rest acted it out behind me--with appropriate songs interspersed in the drama. Since I was onstage, Chris's mom Carol was my designated photographer:

The group was divided by section either side of the church: violins and trumpets on one side...

...guitars and bass on the other.

Me reading!

P.S. Pajamas and a Santa hat = comfiest costume ever!

I even showed my listeners the pictures.

The whole nativity scene.

The stable animals were adorable but a little distracted by the hay...

The kids all came back up front--with jingle bells and personalized Santa hats--for the last song: "Feliz Navidad."

Afterwards they all shouted "Merry Christmas!" in unison. It was hard to get them all looking at the camera at once though.

The MSP members donned Santa hats for the finale too--navy blue to match their trajes!

I have to commend the group on their hard work in preparing for the concert. Judging by how late their cars were in the parking lot for the end of November and most of December, they spent countless hours rehearsing the new songs and planning every detail, from the skit to decorating the church to favors for all attendees to the tamale sale that ran concurrently with the concert. It totally paid off--the only issues were a few microphone mishaps that are probably long forgotten by most everyone. Our hope is that the CHRIST in CHRISTmas was proclaimed loudly and clearly through the wondrous musical talents of all involved!

Finally!

2011-12-19T20:34:00.000-06:00

I was in town for a Ysleta Lutheran Mission distribution! We give away 120 food baskets every week, but we do it up big every August for back-to-school and every December for Christmas. Somehow in my 3 years here, I have ALWAYS managed to be out of town, in a meeting, etc. for the both of our major annual distributions...until Saturday! I don't have numbers yet, but I know we gave away food baskets, blankets, toys, and hygiene kits to hundreds of the needy in our community. Hundreds more of everything listed above will be sent to our Juarez missions. Elvira and her corps of volunteers had the whole thing under control (as much as it's possible to have that many people under control), so I just roamed around taking pictures:

A PACKED house for the abbreviated worship service that prefaced the distribution.

Singing "Un Dia a la Vez."

Kiddos in the church.

Pastor, Miguel, and Rita leading some prayer & praise and giving everyone instructions.

Rita helping keep the warehouse scene orderly.

LOVE my camera's panorama mode...LOOK at all those people!

Elvira was prepared though!

Sharing Christ...and some helpful items just in time for Christmas and colder temps!

(The line for toys, jackets, and hygiene kits.)

Until next time, blessings!

Posada-ing

2011-12-12T12:15:00.003-06:00

I went to my first and only posada of 2011 yesterday. I'm not sure how it worked out that I got to attend all of them in 2009, but this year they are almost all after I go home for Christmas; last year was the same story. Oh well, I guess the dates just worked out right.

Yesterday's was pretty toned down, but fun anyway--lots of kids! A posada is a traditional re-enactment of Mary and Joseph's search for lodging in Bethlehem. It's a responsive chant between one group of people representing the pilgrims and another representing the innkeepers. Generally the parade winds through the neighborhood and stops at various homes, ending at one where the pilgrims are finally allowed to stay. Then the whole thing turns into a big party with Christmas carols and lots of food! Ours had one stop, the church itself.

I was one of the pilgrims.

Chris didn't want to let us in!

But finally he and the rest of the "innkeepers" relented!

Perla and Cristal, twin girls who I think are fairly new to the congregation. Their brother is involved in guitar, and theirs is one of the 3 houses we're building with Mayer Lutheran High School in a few weeks.

Hugs!

Eating their nachos; there were also three kinds of noodle dishes, soda, tortilla chips, molded chocolate pops on sticks, and goodie bags ("bolos") with peanuts, oranges, and candy. Side note: the bluish cup on the left of the table (and many others like it) was leftover from a dental clinic in April 2011. It's like those ones you use to rinse with; I thought it was so funny but fantastic that they were being used in ministry!

Passing out bolos.

Until next time, blessings!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2011-12-05T10:58:00.005-06:00

Especially at Fred Loya's house! Loya is the owner of a local insurance company, and every year at Christmastime he puts on the El Paso Christmas Light Show at his house. This year there were lots of neighbor complaints about trash and noise--even before the City Council--but Loya won the right to continue the tradition. The show is held each Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in December leading up to Christmas at 6:00, 7:00, & 8:00 pm; I went at 7:00 last night. It was cold but so worth it! Before and after the show, you can walk through the Loyas' circle drive that has been transformed into a winter wonderland. I took lots of pictures, and then there is a video at the end. I've seen something like this on YouTube before, but it was even more spectacular in person!

Yes there was a manger scene!

A pine forest on the side of the driveway.

The Loyas' home as seen from the corner of the CrossPoint Lutheran church parking lot, where most everyone parked.

Front entryway.

Using my camera's panoramic mode to get the entire house and yard in one shot!

Even Santa made an appearance.

And a couple stills from during the show...

Until next time, blessings!

Pillow Fight!

2011-12-04T16:07:00.005-06:00

I don't know if there were any pillow fights, but there was a sleepover at Iglesia Luterana Sin Paredes that started yesterday and ended with this morning's 11:30 am worship service! I was able to drop by for an hour or so yesterday afternoon and snap a few photos--in between rehearsal for the Mariachi San Pablo Christmas concert and the mission's policy that we have to be out of Juarez by dark--but mostly I include this on here because of its milestone status in the life of a relatively new mission church. The whole event was entirely planned and executed by the church's faithful group of youth. From setting the schedule to fundraising for the refreshments to designing and passing out "cordial" invitations, they took the reins and ran with them, and it was inspiring to see! Even in these few images, you can see all the hard work that went into the pijamada:

Welcome sign on the front gate.

Watching Luther in Spanish!

Chatting (and laughing) informally with Pastor Stephen. He rode with me; other YLM representatives to make an appearance were Chris, Jeff, and Karla, who led a Bible study on John 3:16 but left before Stephen & I showed up.

Once the camera comes out, there's no stopping the photo shoot!

She followed me around like a puppy dog for a little while and asked for her picture by the Christmas tree at one point.

They even hired a REALLY LOUD Christian band.

Dusk is coming over Anapra...

A cold front blew in over the weekend so I was a little worried about them freezing to death, but of course they had thought about that too: a couple of space heaters made the room where everyone slept nice and toasty!

Until next time, blessings!

Laying it all Down

2011-11-29T10:23:00.000-06:00

I spent my Thanksgiving weekend working with a servant event from Our Father Lutheran Church in Centennial, CO. At devos one night, the Bible passage used was the one about laying down your life for your brother, and I think that's what impresses me most about the group. Twenty-one people, including lots of teenagers, set aside family and tradition to serve their brothers and sisters in El Paso and Juarez. It never ceases to amaze me, but I think I've learned from them that sometimes new traditions are OK.

I was excited this year to see many of the Coloradans I've become friends with after working with OFLC's Thanksgiving AND summer servant events for 3 years now. The whole weekend is just a festive thing to experience, too. Aside from serving 1200 plates of food for San Pablo, San Lucas (food was sent to Cristo Rey with volunteer Jeff), Santisima, and YLM's Saturday volunteers, the group completed a service project on the side--tiling and painting one of the YLM offices. That's where I mostly came in; even given my love for cooking, I just feel like I'm stepping on everyone's toes in the kitchen since they have everything down to such a science. I was also the roaming photographer and wound up serving beans at Santisima!

Who knows? Maybe some or all of the Mackenzies will be taking part in this Thanksgiving tradition again sometime soon!!!

She is stuck to the trowel!

Pastor Heimer giving a blessing before service at San Pablo on Thanksgiving Day.

Serving line at San Pablo.

Hanna on cake duty.

We put salsa on our turkey in El Paso!

Me, Hanna, Chris, Tina, Hammer, and Kevin during potentially my last visit to Scenic Drive.

Most of the OFLC group plus Chris and I at Scenic Drive.

Tile Glue Twister: Left foot...next to the bucket. Right foot...in that teeny space where there's no glue yet!

LOTS of activity happening at once in the kitchen Friday morning.

Me with Panchis's second grandchild, born on November 21, 2011. His name is Armando, just like his dad (Panchis's son) and grandpa (Panchis's husband). His 1 1/2 yr. old sister is Luna; maybe you remember the story of me driving Panchis's daughter-in-law Pati to the hospital at 3:00 am when she was born!

A CROWD at San Lucas.

Serving line at San Lucas.

This little guy was enthralled by my camera; it was hysterical!

OFLC kids and San Lucas kids on the playground structure outside.

A surprise from the Moes family, who stayed back from Juarez to give the office a first coat of paint.

Santisima was packed as well, and the kids sang for us! I had a moment while they were singing as it occurred to me that it might be my last time witnessing such a contingent belting out Mariachi San Pablo songs!

Serving line at Santisima; I'm in the middle on charro bean duty! I loved serving 2 years ago, but had been trying to let the group members do it until somebody yelled that there was a vacancy.

Chris and I with our adopted goddaughter Julia.

Me with Josue, from Mision San Pedro y San Pablo.

Me with Josue's sister Genesis.

Natalie and Ruby: the story behind this one is that Natalie's brother Nick has taken a picture exactly like this one for the past couple of years. He couldn't be there this year since he's away at college, so she stepped into the pose in his stead.

A beautiful pavo real (royal turkey--> peacock) that a lady named Amelia at Santisima made for the OFLC group. Earlier this year, somebody from their church donated a sewing machine to her so she could continue with her hobby.

The almost put back together YLM office--my desk is left center if you want to see what my home for the next few weeks looks like!

Until next time, blessings!

Turkey Day

2011-11-28T23:33:00.003-06:00

Thursday might have been Thanksgiving Day, but today was most definitely Turkey Day!

The lesson of Thanksgiving transcends the 4th Thursday in November; Colossians 3:17 says, "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." As Christians, our daily lives should be expressions of thankfulness. When I was looking for Bible verses about thankfulness, I found this really cool image of what happens in heaven when we offer God our gratitude: "Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being," (Revelation 4:9-11). I'd also like to point out that the verse of the day on BibleGateway.com was Psalm 126:1, 26: "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever."

But I like me some turkey! I've discovered here that I truly enjoy cooking and making people happy by by feeding them, so I prepared a full-on turkey dinner for 4 of my YLM companeros in addition to myself. It was apparently so tantalizing that they couldn't resist sneaking some "appetizers" during my ever-so-brief photo shoot ;) Starting from the stack of plates and moving counterclockwise there's the platter of turkey, mashed potatoes (black pot), extra stuffing, the stuffing that was inside the turkey, gravy, green bean casserole, maple glazed sweet potatoes, whole berry cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, apple pie brought by one of my guests, and whole wheat dinner rolls. YUM!

Until next time (an entry about our annual Thanksgiving servant event from CO--hopefully tomorrow), blessings!

Having my cake and eating it too!

2011-11-27T23:29:00.002-06:00

As I approach the 5 weeks left mile marker, what better time to participate in one Mexican tradition I had yet to experience?

Chris, Jeff, and I went to Santisima this afternoon, where the congregation celebrated my birthday; no one seemed to mind that it was actually over a week ago. The Sunday school kids serenaded me with "Las Mananitas" (Mexican birthday song), accompanied by 3 cakes courtesy of Chris & Jeff. At the conclusion of the song, everyone chanted "Mordida, mordida, mordida!" meaning I was supposed to take a bite out of the middle with no hands. I knew they were going to try and shove my face in it, so after a few attempts at outwitting the mob, I surrendered!

There are worse things to have up your nose than chocolate frosting ;)

YES we ate it afterwards!

Joana and I; her birthday is coming up on December 9. I'm pretty sure the fiesta is going to continue next Sunday because of that and the fact that it will be my last at Santisima!

OFLC Thanksgiving blog coming soon; they left this morning and should have arrived back in Denver a few hours ago. As far as tomorrow's homemade Thanksgiving feast is concerned...cranberry sauce: check, pumpkin pie: check!

Until next time, blessings!

Mt. Cristo Rey

2011-11-21T16:47:00.006-06:00

The delayed birthday event from Saturday morning was climbing Mt. Cristo Rey! It's something that I had wanted to do for a long time; it was even on my El Paso bucket list. The cross at the top, which is actually a crucifix, can be easily seen from a couple of our mission sites in Juarez, and supposedly the summit is where TX, NM, and Mexico all come together. It's roughly 800 ft. in elevation, which is reached via an easy 2.2. mile trail. I would definitely recommend the hike as a Sunday afternoon activity for El Paso-based SE groups--the view alone is worth it, as you will see below!

The start of the trail, with the summit off to the left in the distance.

Silhouette of the summit from early on in the hike.

One of YLM's Juarez missions, Iglesia Sin Paredes, as seen from about halfway up. It's the reddish building with a bluish trailer next to it, dead center in this shot.

A little higher up now...looking out over Anapra.

Another of YLM's mission churches, Iglesia San Lucas, as seen from near the top. I tried to center it in my shot as well; it's the large white building with a peaked roof.

Made it to the top!

Views of the crucifix...

Panorama of Anapra from the top...this one is quite possibly my favorite!

Me with Anapra in the background.

The only possible angle that includes part of the statue AND Anapra.

This was definitely my favorite of Chris's plans for my birthday, even though it actually took place on the 20th. I mentioned in yesterday's entry what dinner last night was, but there was dessert too: pumpkin carrot cake! I also wanted to share some of my birthday wishes from Juarez; I'm so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family on both sides of the border!

Until next time, blessings!

Where we're gonna be when we turn 25

2011-11-18T15:46:00.005-06:00

I remember hearing the song "Graduation" by Vitamin C ALL the time around high school graduation. The opening lines go, "And so we talked all night about the rest of our lives/Where we're gonna be when we turn 25..."

Twenty-five seemed so far away then, but I hit the quarter century mark yesterday! Here's "where I am":

Residence: El Paso, TX, for 6 more weeks, then with my parents in Kirkwood, MO, until further notice.

Education: B.A. in Spanish from Drury University in Dec. 2008, looking into obtaining a teacher certification once I'm settled in the Lou...

Employment: Finishing a 3 yr. stint as a long-term volunteer at Ysleta Lutheran Mission in El Paso, TX, on 12/31/11, starting as the Assistant Marketing Manager in the Multilingual and Curriculum departments of Concordia Publishing House on 1/9/12.

Hobbies: St. Louis Cardinals baseball, scrapbooking, reading, cooking and baking, walking, crossword puzzles...

Family: Single; younger brother owns a landscaping business in St. Louis, younger sister is in 8th grade

Friends: a few are still local, others are scattered in southern California, Houston, Omaha, and Springfield, MO--I'll be leaving behind many in El Paso too :(

Faith: looking forward to reading the Bible in a year for the 4th time in 2012 and returning to the church that I claim as my home base, St. Paul's Lutheran in Des Peres, MO!

Pets: 2 1/2 yr. old cat, Freddy :)

I had an awesome day of celebrating--actually 2 days! Chris had been making plans for months, but the first "event" was put on hold until this morning when his dogs escaped from his yard. I had to wait to find out what it was, so you do too...I'll post a blog with some pictures you'll definitely want to see tomorrow. After we found the dogs--a block away!--we went to the El Paso Museum of Art to see the special exhibit, which was about Normal Rockwell. It was a fascinating display, featuring the photography he created his works from. It was great, and something I wouldn't have treated myself to. After killing a little time, we went to one of those Japanese hibachi places for dinner on a recommendation from some coworkers. My teriyaki NY strip was delicious, and the chef's antics were pretty impressive too. The night ended with something sweet--Dairy Queen blizzards!

OK gotta go--birthday dinner #2 (homemade butternut squash risotto) coming up! Until next time, blessings!

A Maybe Crazy or Maybe Not-so-crazy Thought

2011-11-10T13:13:00.002-06:00

These few weeks around Thanksgiving seem to be prime time for planning next year's mission trips; almost daily I am getting more and more e-mails from groups wanting to book for next year. It's looking like summer 2012 will be more like 2008 with its 33 groups in 10 weeks than 2011 with 7 in the same time frame. At least part of the reasoning for that is because the violence in Juarez has improved markedly. There are still killings almost daily, but the numbers are far less inflated than in past years. The military and federal police presences have also been dramatically reduced.

That leads me to a thought that has been in my head for quite some time now. I'm not sure if it's completely crazy or not. I think that maybe the improved situation across the border and my leaving are related. The onset of the cartel violence roughly coincided with my coming down here to volunteer long-term, and the same correlation applies to its present respite and my moving back to St. Louis. I believe that this is not a coincidence, but rather a God thing. Not like He is bringing change to a city of 2.5 million because Erin Mackenzie isn't going to be here anymore or something, but like He used my presence on the border in a special way, and things looking up in Juarez is one more sign that my calling here is up. Maybe He needed my words in an e-mail to convince doubting groups that the needs in El Paso were as great as in Mexico, or needed my calmness to lend peace to those who were apprehensive about crossing the border.

You decide if I'm crazy or not, and please also continue to pray for the evil taking place less than a mile from where I sit right now. I definitely have a good feeling about how next year is shaping up though!

Until next time, blessings!

Making plans

2011-11-08T15:37:00.003-06:00

I am sitting at my new desk in our freshly rearranged offices as I write this. It all happened while I was out of town. I actually moved next door to where I used to be, which has its pros and cons. It's noisier and I get interrupted far more often, but the activity level makes it more exciting and unpredictable, I am less enclosed than in my former corner cubicle, and I am right next to the copier.

I wanted to let you all know what my plan for the next few weeks is. I can actually make some firm plans now that I have a JOB!

Sunday 12/18-Monday 12/26: STL for Christmas

Tuesday 12/27-Sunday 1/1/12: work with a servant event from Mayer Lutheran High School

Tuesday 1/3 (8 weeks from today!), AM: begin my drive to STL

Wednesday 1/4: arrive in STL

Monday 1/9: start my job at CPH!

I believe either my mom or my dad is going to fly to ELP and drive back with me, the reverse of what my dad did in January 2009. I've also been researching how to take a road trip with a cat! I already have a carrier, which is a good thing, and I may invest in a harness so that Freddy can get out of the car briefly when we stop. Other than that, all the sites I looked at just recommended having small amounts of the cat's regular food and water (some said use ice cubes so as to avoid spills) available, and a mini litter box on the floor, although cats can apparently hold it for up to 12 hours with no ill effects. I guess next on my list is researching pet friendly hotels, or smuggling him in wherever we stop ;) Another option altogether would be paying $75 to fly him home on Southwest with me at Christmas, but I think I can avoid that with some planning ahead!

Until next time, blessings!

I GOT A JOB!

2011-11-03T11:39:00.002-05:00

I may be in town to celebrate the life of my godmother, who passed away on Sunday, but it worked out that I was able to pay one more visit to CPH...AND I GOT THE JOB! I know she would be proud of me.

So you can finally stop asking! I'll be moving back to St. Louis in January to be the new Marketing Assistant/Sales Rep in the Multilingual and Curriculum departments at Concordia Publishing House! My start date is Monday, January 9 :)

Until next time, blessings!

Let Freedom Swing!

2011-10-29T11:45:00.003-05:00

(I'm writing this from St. Louis, where I am once again on short notice--this time because my godmother passed away yesterday afternoon.)

Friday was YLMHC's 3rd Annual Golf Tournament. I titled this blog the same as the article that came out about the tournament in YLM's quarterly newsletter a few weeks ago. I was really excited when I came up with it! Most of YLM's supporters are not local, so instead of traveling to El Paso to golf, they sponsor a soldier from El Paso's very own Ft. Bliss. The man who is essentially the brains behind the whole production, a member of Zion Lutheran Church, is a military veteran himself. I thought the gesture became especially meaningful this year as our nation commemorated the events of 9/11.

I spent a few hours at the country club where the tournament was held in the morning--taking pictures and encouraging golfers to buy mulligans--and then came back in the evening for the buffet dinner and program featuring Mariachi San Pablo. I missed the first few innings of Game 7, but Chris was gracious enough to lend me his smartphone ;) We get better and better at pulling off the event each year; 2011 marked our highest golfer total yet at 92! Below are some of the pictures I (or Chris's mom Carol with my camera) took:

Some of the soldiers--including one in uniform--at registration.

All the military represented.

This was the first year that I actually ventured down to the course for some action shots!

One of the foursomes (minus a teammate who showed up later on).

Until next time, blessings!

Bringin' out the big guns!

2011-10-28T23:37:00.005-05:00

AAAAHHHH!!!! The Cardinals just won their 11th World Championship in '11 and I am WAY too amped up to sleep right now. So, I figured I'd share a little about the past week of my life. I was thrilled to have a group again since the last one was in mid-August. I kept calling them "Barrington" since all but one of the 5 guys originally came with a group from St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Barrington, IL, but in reality they traveled to El Paso from Barrington as well as Albuquerque, St. Louis, and Atlanta.

Their task was a home for the Cardona-Contreras family of 7 near Pastor Hernandez (Pepe)'s San Pedro y San Pablo mission site. We brought out the big guns! Maybe it was because he got them back in August and had yet to play with them, or maybe it was because the group was small and had to finish the house in 4 days since they left today, but for whatever reason Chris let us use nail guns! Boy, did it make a difference on certain tasks! I sincerely enjoy hammering when it comes to framing, but I tried the nail gun on siding and trim. I got a little nail-happy a few times; Chris had to tell me not to put them so close together! Here's me with the new toy, plus some more photos that capture the rest of the build:

Day 1 progress--before lunch!

This picture does double-duty: it shows one of the many animals that was very much a part of the family, and it illustrates how spoiled we were in that the foil is from some burritos made by Pepe's wife Blanca. She treated us to lunch everyday!

I love cats and normally want to pet them all, even ones in Juarez that I know I shouldn't go near. This one, however, I found rather creepy. Notice that one of its eyes is blue and the other is green, the result of a dog bite...needless to say I kept my distance.

One more storyline about the family pets--this little neighbor girl was incredibly cruel to them, especially the cats. I'm thinking that there are some major underlying issues there.

New house and old house. You can see what their home looks like on the outside, and the stench of urine on the inside was unbelievable. I don't say that to gross anyone out or arouse anyone's pity, but just to convey the reality of life across the border at times. I'm fairly certain the family didn't have running water, so I honestly have no idea how they went about cooking or bathing.

Painting "Beeswax" yellow. I was in charge of choosing a paint color that matched a part of the existing home not visible in the above photo. My selection wound up being just a tad lighter, but pretty darn close!

One of the guys on the trip works for CPH and was given some Spanish coloring books in exchange for some good "kid-with-coloring-book" photos.

Chris's and my adopted goddaughter (see this post) is a member of Mision San Pedro y San Pablo. Blanca and Pepe told her we'd be working there, so she skipped school on Thursday to stop by!

Singing "Alabare" at the start of the house blessing/key ceremony.

After the formal stuff, it was time to give out more coloring books, blankets, and these cool fleece hats that double as scarves.

Mom Araceli and her 5 kids.

Group + family + Nelson + me.

Same crew outside the finished and painted house. The only thing the group didn't accomplish that they wanted to was painting the interior, so Chris, Nelson, and I agreed to knock that out this coming Monday.

Pepe was ready for Game 6 of the World Series, which wound up being the best baseball game I have ever witnessed. Judging by this photo, I don't think Dave agreed...

Until next time, blessings!

It's a no :(

2011-10-22T00:11:00.002-05:00

I promised I would keep you updated on my job situation, so here goes. I heard back from the first of my leads today, and it wasn't the news I was hoping for. LCMS called right after lunch to tell me that they went with another candidate for the job I interviewed for in St. Louis earlier this week.

It's definitely a blow and I'm pretty bummed, but I guess it's a pretty clear statement that God has another plan for me. I still have two awesome leads out there--CPH and St. Paul Lutheran Church in Weston, FL, so hopefully I will hear back from one or both of them next week. All of this uncertainty is beginning to wear on me.

Today's verse of the day, consequently, is one I happened to hear on the radio when I was coming back from Hobby Lobby (scrapbook shopping therapy!): "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him..." (Psalm 37:7). I am terrible at that!

Until next time, blessings!

Happy Flight

2011-10-17T12:15:00.003-05:00

My exciting weekend kicked off Friday night with the this year's Annual Banquet for our local Thrivent chapter. It took place at Great American Land & Cattle (a steakhouse), and was mostly a success. I booked for 80 people, and we maxed out the slots! (Side note: there were TVs in the banquet room so I could get my fix of NLCS Game 5!). The meal was chicken or steak tampiquena + sides; I had the chicken and thought it was delicious. We did have some frazzled servers, but apparently it was the kitchen's fault and they made it right on our bill. Not that I'll be here, but my feeling is that they will go back there next year. We chose to provide our own dessert, so two others from the board and I made cookies. I made a double batch (7 doz. ish) of gooey butter cookies, and they turned out to be a HUGE hit! They ALL disappeared, and then people started asking for the recipe. I scribbled it down for a couple of them until the Communications Director approached me and said maybe we should just include it in the next newsletter. I do have to give credit where credit is due--the recipe came from my Aunt Casey.

Saturday the Women of San Pablo went to Deming, NM, for the LWML Rio Grande Zone Rally. It was a good way to spend an October Saturday. We left around 7:30 am since it's about 2 hours away. I drove, which was fine by me, and we arrived just in time for registration. Everyone in attendance received a beaded bracelet that can be used to explain the life of Jesus--cool concept but they are big on my tiny wrists! We wound up having the biggest contingent at 9 ladies, aside from the host congregation. Redeemer is tiny even compared to San Pablo, but they have a VERY active LWML chapter with 17 members. The programming started with a wonderful Bible study on some of the women who were a part of Jesus' ministry. We also sang hymns, heard reports from several District and Zone officers, had lunch, and were audience to a hysterical skit about a District convention that's taking place in El Paso next year. On the way back we stopped at a Texas Roadhouse on the West side of El Paso to pick up a donation--peanut bags and appetizer cards for every golfer at our upcoming golf tournament! It smells like peanuts in the office right now as I am typing this!

Then last night the Cardinals earned a World Series berth! Their motto of "happy flight"--winning on travel days--continues. In this case it applies to me too...I'm headed to the airport in about 15 minutes for my quick trip to St. Louis, aka "Baseball Heaven," for an interview tomorrow. Hopefully my return trip on Wednesday is just as happy!

Until next time, blessings!

Surprise...St. Louis!

2011-10-14T15:57:00.002-05:00

My apologies for the lack of blogs this month. I suppose not even I have something enlightening to say all the time, although a few job hunt updates did take place this week (one of which involves a surprise trip to STL!) and I have plans today and tomorrow.

I received a call at 7:20 on Wednesday morning regarding the application I filled out for an Administrative Assistant position at the LCMS International Center. When I told the HR lady I was currently in El Paso I was expecting her to suggest a phone or Skype interview, but she asked what the chances were that I could be in St. Louis next week! Later that day I booked some airfare, which LCMS is reimbursing me for. Bonus! I get in Monday night, have my interview (and a test on the Microsoft Office suite) on Tuesday at 9:00 am, get to see my sister play volleyball on Tuesday night, and fly out early Wednesday morning. At least that is my plan right now...although I am keeping a VERY close watch on World Series Game 1 tickets on stubhub.com. They're coming down, so IF the Cards make it and IF tickets get cheap enough I might take advantage of Southwest's No Change Fees to fly back Friday instead...

That night at 6:00 I had an interview with the church in FL that is interested in me for the position of Director of Christian Education and Family Ministry. I talked to them for about an hour and 15 minutes (only missed 3 innings of Game 3--including ALL the scoring--but the Cards won!), and I feel like it was positive. I especially felt that way towards the end, when the conversation became less of an interrogation and more of an informational session on the demographics of the church and community. They are conducting phone interviews with a couple others as well, and from that pool 2 people will be invited to interview in-person. I guess that means more hurry-up-and-wait!

Tonight is our Thrivent chapter's Annual Banquet at a local steakhouse...which also happens to be during a Cards playoff game! I'm on the board though, plus I planned the whole thing, made some posters, and made cookies (gooey butter...these Southwesterners need to experience a St. Louis tradition) for dessert, so I can't very well NOT go. I'll just have to find an outlet for keeping myself updated on the score ;)

Then tomorrow the Women of San Pablo are headed to our Zone Rally. It's taking place in Deming, NM, which is about a 2-hour drive, so we're leaving at 7:30 am. In all honesty I don't know what it's going to be like, but it should be a good time with some wonderful women. You never know, maybe it will inspire a blog sometime next week!

Until next time, blessings!

One of those blogs

2011-10-06T16:46:00.002-05:00

One of those blogs that gives you a general update on my life as of late...

Job news: The head of the call committee from St. Paul in Weston, FL, contacted me today. First off, they revised the job description to be much more to-the-point. I have until next Wednesday to look it over, because I have a phone interview at 6 pm. They are conducting phone interviews with 3 candidates, after which they will invite 2 of us for in person interviews.

Cardinals: I watched 6 hours of ESPN a week ago Wednesday, the night the Cardinals won the Wild Card by virtue of a win and an ATL loss! IF the Cardinals win game 5 of the NLDS vs. the Phillies tomorrow, game 3 of the NLCS would be next Wednesday, which will hopefully not interfere with the timing of my interview. I don't want to count my eggs before they hatch...but we do have the Rally Squirrel!!!

Spanish classes: They are going well, although I haven't had all 4 of my students together in probably a month. It's hard remembering what stage everybody is at, taking into account everyone's different skill levels to begin with and then absences on top of that! It's not a big deal since it's super informal, just an added factor that makes my first ever teaching experience that much more challenging.

Website translation: It's DONE! Have I told you that before? If not...the translation of our website into Spanish is done! There are some odds and ends that will have to be translated separately, but what a huge accomplishment and burden off my shoulders to have 81 pages done! Time to train someone else since I'm not going to be around forever...

Supervisor Letter: this is something new as of yesterday. Per a campus ministry servant event group leader's suggestion, YLM now has a letter, written by us, available, that high school and college students can use as they request time off. There is a link to a PDF it on the "Servant Events" page of our website (in English AND Spanish!), and we will work with all whom it applies to in getting it filled out and signed.

Golf Tournament: YLMHC's 3rd annual Golf Tournament is on Friday 10/28. I don't have a whole lot to do with it, but I am in charge of door prizes. I've been working my way down a humongous list of local restaurants trying to solicit gift certificates that we can raffle off. I've got 6 or 7 so far, and lots more phone calls to make these next couple weeks. Tomorrow afternoon I am picking one up from Cheddar's.

Mariachi Christmas Concert: Mariachi San Pablo is holding a Christmas Concert on 12/17. My original flight home for Christmas was on 12/16, but I changed it to 12/18 so I could go! Thank you Southwest Airlines and your No Change Fees. That's how excited I am about hearing "Carol of the Bells" (new this year!) and more, mariachi style. The concert is going to be combined with a Sunday school Christmas program, with tamales afterward ;)

And that about covers it! I feel like October is kind of dragging; I'm impatiently waiting to hear something from one or another of my job leads and counting down the days until the next servant event arrives on Saturday the 22nd and I'll get to help build a house in Mexico. I hang out in the office mostly, but it's pretty quiet and my inbox only contains 4 messages! I've also been running some in the mornings since it's FINALLY noticeably cooler, getting entirely too good at crossword puzzles, and reading A Wrinkle in Time and the rest of the "Time Quartet" series. Did you know that's where the phrase "It was a dark and stormy night," comes from?

Alright...Women of San Pablo meeting in 15 minutes. Until next time, blessings!

I've got my head in the clouds!

2011-09-28T15:49:00.003-05:00

The June 2011 servant event group from Trinity Lutheran Church in Centralia, IL, painted the entire interior of Iglesia Luterana Santisima Trinidad. Pepe chose beige for the bottom half and blue for the top half of the sanctuary, to mimic land and sky. He also wanted clouds on the triangular sections created on the front and back walls by the peaked roof, but Trinity wound up not having time to add them. So, someone with a pretty flexible schedule who enjoys doing artsy things as a hobby was needed. Know anyone like that?

I sketched outlines first.

Back view, close-up.

What people will see when they walk in.

What people will see as they exit.

Pepe thinks I'm quite the artist. He also pointed out that I've left my mark on the church now, kind of like the lady who painted the murals. I might be leaving in 3 months, but I'll be a part of the congregation in spirit even when I'm gone!

Until next time, blessings!

Casting Crowns

2011-09-24T16:46:00.005-05:00

Last Thursday night, a group of us from the YLM office and a few other friends/relations were privileged to attend a Casting Crowns concert! It's not often that a big name band performs in a market like El Paso, but this concert actually happened to be the kick-off of a 40 city tour promoting their newest album, "Come to the Well," that comes out on 10/18. Being the first night, there were a few hitches, like the lead singer forgetting the words to one of the songs! After a long instrumental interlude, he said, "This part of the song is really cool, but I forgot it." At first I was irked, but it also kind of endeared me to the performers onstage as fellow imperfect humans. Looking back, it was one of my favorite moments of the night!

Before the main act took the stage, there were 3 opening acts that were all excellent I thought: Lindsey McCall, The Afters, and Sanctus Real. During one of the Sanctus Real songs a music video was played on the screens that included shots of a tornado-damaged Joplin, MO. It kept flashing images of the LCMS church there and we cheered every time!

Then it was time for Casting Crowns. I recognized most of their songs from the radio, but there were some unfamiliar ones too since I'm not THAT up on Christian music and they are about to release a new album. All the band members are youth pastors or youth pastors' wives, so we were often treated to humorous discourses in between songs. One such mini-sermon was about how God is sitting on the front porch with us, watching our grandkids play. It's an interesting image that might not be precisely Biblical, but the message that God is bigger than time definitely is, and was comforting to me given the present uncertainty of my life in about 3 months. One of their numbers featured The Jesus Painter, and therefore skyrocketed to being my favorite moment of the concert! There are tons of pictures below of this guy--he uses his hands, just a few colors, and a seemingly imprecise splattering/smearing technique to create these incredibly complex masterpieces of Jesus's face. My camera took pretty good pictures of the rest of the evening too:

They opened with their newest single, "Courageous."

Lead singer Mark Hall.

We had awesome seats, 2 rows behind the priority seating section on the far left side, because Karla got there fairly early and saved them!

Karla, her daughter Michelle, and her sister Eunice.

Megan, one of two female band members.

Here begins the Jesus Painter sequence...scroll through them quickly for kind of a flip-book effect.

I liked my idea to take a picture of someone's smart-phone screen in the foreground with the actual stage in the background, except that it's a little dark.

All the acts came back onstage for the encore number.

In case you're wondering (like I was) where the band's name comes from, it's found in Revelation 4:10, in the ESV translation. The chapter describes John's vision of the post-Judgment Day throneroom of heaven as he sees it upon completing his letters to the 7 churches. The NIV reads: "[The twenty-four elders dressed in white and wearing gold crowns] lay [cast] their crowns before the throne and say: 'You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being," (Revelation 4:10-11). The footnote says that casting their crowns at Jesus' feet was "Acknowledgment that God alone is worthy of ultimate praise and worship." Amen!

Until next time, blessings!

Who'd a thunk it?

2011-09-24T16:09:00.003-05:00

This blog covers the week after I got back from CA/Houston. First off, I felt like I was in the kitchen ALL week between 2 potlucks and a breakfast meeting where I was in charge of goodies. I made Three Bean Salad for an office potluck (diaper shower for Damian's new baby boy), lemon blueberry muffins (below) and granola for the Thrivent board, and chocolate chip cookies for a church potluck last Sunday. The church potluck was in honor of the CTCR (Commission on Theology and Church Relations) immigration conference that was held in El Paso. You can read more about that in my September newsletter that will go out this week. All of the participants attended a bilingual mariachi service at San Pablo, with lunch to follow. I chauffeured some of the out-of-towners to and from their hotel, and wound up getting another St. Louis based job lead out of the deal!

Rev. Carlos Hernandez, the pastor who preached at Stephen's ordination and installed him as COO of YLM, asked me during lunch if I was interested in a position at LCMS. He received my resume forwaded to him from his supervisor. Yes! The way he described it, it sounds secretarial in nature but with many opportunities for making it into more that that--perhaps even doing some writing for TimeLine, the LCMS black ministry magazine, or helping to start a Hispanic ministry magazine. From there it's actually kind of a funny story. Pr. Hernandez directed me to fill out LCMS's online application. Easy enough, but when I went to do it the website would only let me do so for a specific position, and the one we had discussed wasn't listed. He said I should fill out an application for something else just to get my info in the system. I did so, and received an e-mail earlier this week telling me I wasn't qualified to be a staff auditor! Maybe I'll hear something this week about the ACTUAL job I am interested in!

That brings my job lead tally to 4. Who'd a thunk it?!? Somebody asked me a few days ago if I was scared of the unknown that is ahead, and I responded that I wasn't. How can I be, when it is clear through the many soon-to-be offers I have (hopefully) that God has my back? Besides the addition of the aforementioned new lead, the only other job news from this week is that I had another interview with CPH on Thursday morning: more questioning, some Spanish speaking, and I send them lots of reading material (YLM and San Pablo newsletters, papers I wrote in Spanish in college, documents I've translated from Spanish to English for LHMI, etc.). Now I hurry up and wait.

That same afternoon, as I was getting ready to take the CTCR participants back to their hotel, Krysia invited me to a cookout in Ascarate Park. My other plan had been to tab newsletters...so OK! I kind of felt like I was crashing a Mariachi San Pablo party, but it was a fun evening of volleyball, watching Pastor Stephen jump in the lake to fetch the volleyball, carne asada, and time with friends that I only have a couple more months with! Yes, I said "lake." The crazy thing about Ascarate Park is that there is a lake! Who'd a thunk it? A real, honest-to-goodness lake! How have I lived in El Paso almost 3 years, and driven by Ascarate Park a million times, and not known this??? For you St. Louisans, it reminded me of the the lake in Forest Park--you can fish and paddleboat and canoe in it! No lie--there is photographic evidence below! Too bad I discovered it so late in the game; I think paddleboating would make a lovely Sunday afternoon activity for U.S. based servant event groups.

In other news...the Cards are still hangin' in there by a thread. I'm wearing my jersey as I write this; they need all the help they can get. Tonight I am going to learn how to make gorditas. Zion Lutheran Church (I think my other newsletter article is going to feature Zion...I've THOUGHT lots about my September newsletter, I just haven't worked on it much yet!) is having a Fall Festival tonight featuring Mariachi San Pablo, and the Women of San Pablo are going to sell gorditas. The "Fall" part is a misnomer considering it was 90 out today, but I'm looking forward to it!

Until next time, blessings!

Houston, we have a visitor!

2011-09-15T18:52:00.005-05:00

The second leg of my whirlwind trip led me to the other side of the Lone Star state: Houston. Two more of my high school friends, John and Linda, are currently living and working there. I got in around 2:30, and went hiking at a local park with John. Then it was back to his place to wait for Linda, who came when she got off work. We had Mexican for dinner, although I ordered quail to mix it up a bit since I eat Mexican all the time. Don't see that very often, if ever, but it was delicious! We walked off dinner by paying a visit to the Waugh Bridge bat colony. The bridge is (unintentionally) the perfect habitat for a certain species of bat, and they take to the skies every evening at sundown!

The black patches in the sunset are bats flying off in search of food!

The bridge isn't very far from John's apartment, so we spent the rest of our evening there--playing cards, reminiscing about high school (we watched our senior class video that includes all of us introducing ourselves at freshman orientation!), and singing hymns! It was blissful. I love how even though we haven't seen each other for months or even years, any time any part of my high school gang gets together it's like we were never apart. We were talking about that too--how maybe, hopefully, we're past a certain threshold of losing touch with each other. We've all been through college and are scattered all over the country now, but we're as close as ever, and I hope we stay that way. John had plans to go to a football game the next day, so Linda and I were all set to go to the Blue Bell Creamery until we Googled it and saw that they don't have weekend tours. Lame! But we went to an aquarium instead, which was very cool!

Me touching a stingray!

Hi! I'm peeking through the bubble window that lets you see the underside of all the creatures as they swim over top of you.

I'm a scuba diver!

I am not sure why there were white tigers at an aquarium, but they are rare (1 in 10,000) and gorgeous animals.

Linda and I kept marveling over how their mannerisms are EXACTLY like a housecat's, only much, MUCH bigger.

Feeding time!

We rode a little train that took us inside a building with one of those glassed-in tunnel tanks, with all sharks inside. These are nurse sharks--bottom dwellers.

This one is a sawfish, which is actually a type of stingray, not a shark.

The train paused for a few minutes so the tour guides could give a short talk, and the whole time one of the sawfish was directly above where we were sitting!

The rest of the afternoon, I helped Linda organize her classroom (she is a preschool teacher), and then organize her apartment! We stopped at the grocery store in between her school and her apartment because we decided that we were going to make John dinner (spinach salad with berries and feta, apple pork chops, sauteed zucchini, brown rice, and Blue Bell ice cream). That was the main motivation behind the apartment organization: we needed to be able to use (see, for that matter!) the table. Linda had just moved a few weeks prior and was grateful to have some company while unpacking. We emptied probably a dozen or so boxes, and dinner was delicious!

Sunday morning I went to John and Linda's church, Memorial Lutheran. They are both in the choir so I got to hear them sing. After Bible class we went to lunch, then walked around the Galleria (high end shopping mall) for awhile to kill time before my flight. We spent the longest in Borders, where everything was 90% off. I got to the airport 2 hours early since it was the 10th anniversary of 9/11, but didn't encounter any holdups at all. Oh well, better safe than sorry. I got back to El Paso around 8. I miss all the friends I saw along the way already, but I should get to see most, if not all, of them at Christmastime!

Until next time, blessings!

P.S. I have a Skype interview with CPH tomorrow for the position of (Bilingual) Marketing Assistant/Sales Representative. Pray that God's will would become clear to me as I further investigate all of my potential job offers!

California Dreamin'

2011-09-14T12:55:00.008-05:00

The first leg of my recent travels took me to California--the furthest west I have ever been. Marie, Philip, and I drove for 12 1/2 hours last Tuesday to get there. We debated driving through the night, but elected to go the next day because we wouldn't really be good for much after a red-eye roadtrip. Plus I was still spending time with them, albeit on I-10W in the confines of their Cadillac Catera. My first California experience was at about 10:00 pm the night we got in, at In-n-out Burger. It's a California and Arizona joint that is the best fast food burger I have ever had. Their menu consists of about 5 items, but there is this not-so-secret secret menu too. For instance, per Chris's recommendation, I ordered mine "animal style:" grilled onions, pickles, and extra 1000 island dressing-esque sauce. Their burger wrappers have Bible verses on them too!

"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me." --Revelation 3:20

The next morning we went running (uphill!) and then went to the pool at their apartment complex. Marie had a class all afternoon, so Philip and I and Jon, another friend of theirs, went to Hollywood! We walked down the Walk of Fame to Grauman's Chinese Theatre, then hiked up to the HOLLYWOOD sign!

Next best thing to getting tickets for a Jeopardy taping: getting your picture taken by Alex Trebek's star!

Outside of Grauman's Chinese Theatre...

Me putting my hands over Julie Andrews's handprints!

Some of the squares had quirks other than signatures, handprints, and footprints. For instance, the Harry Potter cast's includes their "wandprints!"

I had heard of Sonja Henie as a figure skater, not an actress. I thought it was neat that she included her skate prints, but she had tiny feet compared to mine! Philip said some of the actresses made their toe and heel impressions separately to make them appear smaller though, since that was the fashion of the day.

Me with a wax statue of Shrek!

The Grauman's signs, walking back in the opposite direction now.

Philip and I with Mickey Mouse! How appropriate that the star in the photo belongs to Donald Duck.

Bob Barker and I...fellow Drury University alums.

We took a shortcut up to the portion of the path marked off by the white fence that you can just barely see at the top of this photo. It was kind of like climbing a stair-stepper, but we all made it!

Downtown LA.

The trail leads to a vantage point above the letters; this is as close as you can get.

Jon, Philip, and I.

I love my new camera's panoramic mode; I could get the whole thing in one shot!

We hiked up THERE!

Dusk was just beginning to fall as we made our descent.

Thursday was beach day! Jon and his wife Sidney came along, and we arrived in Santa Monica around noon after sitting in traffic forever! That's California for you. I loved being by the ocean; it reminded me of many a family vacation to Florida as a kid. I also learned to skim board, boogie board, and play bocce ball!

Santa Monica pier.

Me skim-boarding! I am so thrilled that Marie captured this moment on film, so I have proof that my klutzy, accident-prone self skim boarded successfully!

Marie and I by the pier sign when we went up for lunch.

Sunset over Santa Monica.

The pier at sunset!

I wasn't ready to leave California yet, but Friday promised to be an early morning for my flight to Houston!

Until next time, blessings!

I'm done!

2011-09-13T15:30:00.002-05:00

You've already heard the news since I told you this was on the way, but I'm officially done with my support-raising! At least the financial aspect of it; I can always use your prayer support, especially now as I try and determine where to go from here.

That means that in the past 3 years or so, I've met and exceeded my goal of $47,851. Whoa. At present, I am over by $771.60. Some of that will disappear to cover areas where I might be slightly over budget, namely travel, but I'll have a small cushion left at the conclusion of my service. I finally have a clear understanding of what happens to those funds: they are funneled into a pool for general missions in my region, which is Latin America.

I double-checked, and LCMS doesn't have a way to designate my excess funding to YLM specifically. The choice is yours, but please know that you do have the option of sending checks directly to Ysleta Lutheran Mission (301 S. Schutz Dr., El Paso, TX 79907) should you wish to support the specific ministry that I've been a part of during my service with LCMS.

THANKS to the hundreds of you who contributed any portion of my funding, or have kept me in your prayers these last few years, and praise the Lord for His faithfulness!

Until next time, blessings!

My life is exciting!

2011-09-12T16:32:00.003-05:00

I have a few other blogs lined up to write, but this one trumps them all. My life just got really exciting!

As you probably know by now, my term here at YLM ends on December 31, 2011. Beyond that, my life is wide open. My degree and the experience I've gained by working at the mission give me a lot of flexibility. The only tie I have is to St. Louis, since that is where I grew up and where my family still lives. Of course I would love to be back there, but I really am very mobile since I do not have a spouse or own a home. Basically I can move anywhere in the world, literally, and do a myriad of different things.

I had to write because I actually have 3 potentials on the horizon right now!

1)Director of Christian Education and Family Ministry at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Weston, FL (near Ft. Lauderdale): a pastor and his wife that attended last year's Conversations in Spanish session got to know me during that week, apparently liked me, and have offered me an interview. Of course I knew my name was in the hat, but I just got the offer to fly down there and interview today. It wouldn't be a synodical call since I don't have the training for that, but they feel that my skills and personality trump that. I would love to be in the church environment and planning/organizing is right up my alley, but I'm not sure how my introvertedness would mesh with such an extroverted position.

(The next 2 are in response to a resume/curriculum vita (CV) that I sent to CPH and LCMS, per a suggestion from someone from my church.)

2)Something with LCMS World Mission in the Dominican Republic! I got a call on Friday from the Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, and he seemed very interested in my CV. He basically interviewed me right there in the Phoenix airport on my way from CA to Houston. I don't know the job description yet, but he said they have a very specific position in mind and having my resume/CV passed on to him was a total answer to prayer. He said he was going to contact my references and be in touch. This one would CLEARLY involve Hispanic ministry, but I don't know if I am so gung-ho about moving overseas anymore...

3)Assistant Marketing Manager at CPH in St. Louis. WHILE I was reading over the job description that St. Paul in Weston sent me, I got a phone call from a recruiter with CPH and I have a phone interview tomorrow afternoon! I had actually come across the position before online and didn't think I qualified because I don't have a BS or BA in Business or Marketing or anything, just a minor. However, I do have the fluency in Spanish that is "strongly preferred." I'm also a quick learner ;) This is the one that most intrigues me--using my Spanish working for a Lutheran organization in my hometown--even though there are aspects of it that sound over my head at present.

My life is exciting! Please continue to pray for me as I DISCERN what God's will is for my future!

Until next time, blessings!

House Blessing

2011-09-05T22:30:00.003-05:00

Marie and Philip are flying back to El Paso tonight so we can drive to Cali tomorrow! They were supposed to get in at 6:15, but wound up having to take another flight that doesn't arrive until 11:55 pm. What am I doing to stay awake until then? That's right--blogging!

I went to a house blessing service yesterday, for a trailer that was first worked on by a servant event from Sugar Land, TX, last July. A car bomb in Juarez led us to abandon what we already had scheduled for them, and the lot fell to San Pablo member Elsa Smith. Long story short, her trailer was a bit more than one group could handle. Not wanting to see what the Sugar Land folks left pending fall by the wayside, some volunteers from Zion Lutheran Church picked up the slack using Thrivent money. After maxing out the available funds in 2010, the Zion crew applied again in 2011 and were given just enough to add a few finishing touches. Chris, Melba (recent addition to YLM's volunteer corps), and I went out to the trailer on Friday a) to finish repairing all the electrical outlets; and b) because a few more Thrivent households were needed in order to comply with the grant stipulations!

The blessing itself involved walking from room to room and saying a short prayer at each stop regarding its function. This is all done while carrying a candle symbolizing Christ's abiding light. The purpose is to thank God for all whose hands have labored on a certain project thus far, consecrate the space to the Lord, and bless all who will inhabit it from there on out. We do "house blessings" all the time in Juarez, but it's a much more meaningful experience when you have more than 2 rooms and 288 sq. ft. to walk through!

This is what many of the outlets looked like before...

And this is what they look like after applying Chris's ingenious quick fix!

Melba and Elsa working on an outlet in the kitchen.

The blessing service even included a section for entering the front door!

Elsa and her niece during the blessing of the first bedroom.

Blessing the laundry area and the bathroom!

Zion member Charlie presenting Elsa with a wooden cross made by another Zion member.

All the blessing attendees.

Charlie hanging the cross.

Stephen and Elsa with the cross in place!

Until next time, blessings!

P.S. I hope I will have hot water when I get back on Sunday...I went to take a shower this morning and nothing came out...

Lesson 1

2011-09-01T18:55:00.004-05:00

I feel like I haven't given you a solid "newsy" blog about my day-to-day life in way too long, and I apologize. I'll try to keep this fairly brief. The last servant event until October is gone, so I am back to the office but it still feels like I am running everywhere at a million miles an hour. Some of the things I've been working on/will tackle in the coming days are:

--translating the website content into Spanish
--helping Chris and Ann address envelopes for a letter that will be sent to about 70 churches, asking them to include YLM as a line item in their budgets
--designing our fall quarterly newsletter
--soliciting restaurant gift card donations to be used as door prizes at this year's golf tournament on 10/28
--finishing work that was begun last summer at a San Pablo member's trailer with some Thrivent money, and doing a house blessing on Sunday afternoon

For fun I am reading Wuthering Heights. I'm not sure why but it was on my list of books to read. I am really enjoying the storyline, and also the fact that I will never have to write a paper or take a test on it, so if I miss a central theme or a critical detail, it's OK!

I also started teaching Spanish! I was approached last Thursday following our weekly staff meeting and asked if I would start teaching a few individuals once a week. I said yes right away, and immediately started planning things in my head. Today was lesson 1, for all of us--for my 4 students in Spanish, and for me in teaching! I don't have any curriculum materials, so I printed a handout from the internet and added some of my own notes. We learned about the alphabet, upside-down question marks and exclamation points, accent marks, and all of the question words (who, what, when, where, why, how, etc.). I loved it! I wanted to jump for joy when I could see that something clicked for somebody. Maybe God is trying to tell me something??? Next week we're going to do ser/estar (2 irregular verbs that both mean "to be") and some vocab, which will also require me to teach some more about nouns--definite articles, gender, pluralization, etc. With that we'll be able to do some basic Q & A and create some simple sentences. We might do some greetings too since it's supposed to be conversational, but that might be kind of a lot for 1 day. Eeek I am so excited I'm getting ahead of myself!

Speaking of next time, we're going to meet on Monday instead of Thursday because Marie and Philip are flying back to El Paso on Monday evening, then I'm driving to CA with them on Tuesday for the beginning of a short trip to see them and also some high school friends of mine that live in Houston. I can't wait!

There is still a blog about me being fully funded on the way, but I want to get a couple more questions answered by my contacts at LCMS first. Hang tight!

Until next time, blessings!

A Revelation

2011-08-31T16:34:00.002-05:00

I had a revelation the other day. I was typing the e-mail message that went along with the e-version of my August newsletter. One sentence read, " think it's kind of relevant as I decide where the Lord is leading me next." Then I proofread what I had written and changed "decide" to "discern." How silly of me! I could not believe that I was so dense as to think I actually have a say in the matter. I thought about my revelation during my whole walk to the bank right after I sent it, for the rest of that night, and even still. Knowing that God already has where I'm going to go and what I'm going to do in mind makes me smile and relieves some of the pressure I sometimes feel to determine my post-YLM plans. I just have to figure out what His grand scheme is!

Until next time, blessings!

The Southwest Territories

2011-08-22T18:51:00.006-05:00

This was my 3rd consecutive year working with the Canadians (Bethel Lutheran Church in Sherwood Park, Alberta). Like last year, they had 3 job sites this year. I worked with a crew in Juarez, building a home for the family of 3 that lends their yard to Pastor Hernandez's Mission San Francisco. The family had been waiting 3 years for an addition, and it was clear why when we went in their existing house to use the bathroom: there was a bed in the kitchen! The new addition will also be used as a meeting space for the Mission during inclement weather or for overflow.

Amid the enjoyment of spending time with many friends from north of the border, a disturbing trend came to light this year: every project they've worked on is adorned with a Canadian flag. El Paso and Juarez better watch out, or they are going to become Canada's newest province pretty soon--The Southwest Territories!

Singing "Lord, I Lift Your Name on High" after church at Santisima on Sunday.

Everyone in the group had permission to cross the border this year!

Siding wall #2 on Monday.

If you build next to a dirt lot, they will come...

Lots of kids and teens gathered around our site, especially as the week wore on.

Logan and Kelsey drilled for the electric and ran all the wire.

Loralee marking one of the plates for the partition wall.

Lori was on kid duty all week. When she tried to pick up a hammer and "work," the group leader forbid her to do anything but interact with kids. I understood completely as he explained that she was working in a different and perhaps more important way. To be fair, I did teach her how to install outlets on Friday!

The burrito guy on the corner of where we turned every morning to get to our worksite!

Aqua chiffon ;)

Loralee and Alondra reading under the shade tree across the street.

Pastor Hernandez and his wife Blanca stopped by several times throughout the week to check our progress, but Friday Blanca made us burritos and Pepe performed a house blessing.

He raised his hand to consecrate the new dwelling and asked all of us to join him.

Blanca and Alondra's little sister, Mara.

Claiming another 288 sq. ft. for the Canuks...

Lori, Katie, Josh, Erin, and I.

Mariachi San Pablo playing at the Diablos game for Lutheran Night on Saturday! The Canadians always leave on a Sunday instead of a Saturday, so they spend Saturday touring. Half the group went to Carlsbad Caverns, and the other half went to Hueco Tanks and then Lutheran Night. I have been to Hueco Tanks a bunch of times recently so I skipped out on that, but I caught up with them for the game. I really wanted to witness the bat flight program at Carlsbad, but I was in charge of Lutheran Night and I accidentally scheduled it on the same day! Maybe Chris and I will go one day in September.

Pastor Heimer sang the National Anthem too!

The pastor from the group and I signed some of the kids up for the between inning promotions. It's amazing what you can find out when you ask, and what kind of pull you get when you say you've got a bunch of people from Canada at a minor league baseball game in El Paso.

It wasn't very crowded so we were allowed to go sit in the front row of the red seats to take pictures of the hysterics. While we were waiting, I snapped some up-close shots from our incredible vantage point.

Kevin and Josh (left center of the photo) dominated the Balloon Bust.

Victory for Team Canada!

Until next time, blessings!

Adventures with Marie and Philip

2011-08-18T23:30:00.006-05:00

Stories and pictures from my week of playing tour guide for Marie and Philip...

And the kitten! One of the CIS students found a kitten, or rather the kitten found her, when she fell out of the tree in the middle of campus and was bleeding from the nose. Her name is Angelita
("little angel") because she fell from the sky! She spent a couple nights in the dorm and one at my house (after we tried to release her but she showed up on my doorstep) being fed and nursed back to health before Marie, Philip, and I took her to the Humane Society last Saturday morning.

My guess is she was adopted right away because she's so darn adorable! Freddy did not agree; he hissed and growled at the invader, who seemed pretty unaffected by his disdain!

Marie and I at El Paso Saddleblanket. Like my new kicks? No, I didn't really buy them since they were like $249.

Like White Sands, Hueco Tanks is another place you kind of have to take visitors to this area. Consequently, I have now been there 7 times! It's awesome every time though. In fact, part of the servant event from Bethel Lutheran Church in Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada is there right now. Here is a picture of some Native American pottery shards our tour guide found and set aside.

Check out how much water there is! You can tell it's the rainy season.

You read about this if you read my last newsletter, but here is a photo of the "Speaking Rock" that I took instead of one I found on Google ;) It's a pictograph symbolizing that there was water nearby, and the logo/namesake of the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo's casino.

Right below this sign, which reads "WATTER HEAR," there is a hueco ("hollow") connected to an underground water table. It has held water for as long as man has been on this earth except for last month, when it dried up because of our extreme drought!

At the National Border Patrol Museum, the only museum in the nation dedicated to the Border Patrol.

This ladder, used by someone to illegally enter the U.S., was found recently (aka while I've been in El Paso) near the intersection of Loop 375 & Yarbrough!

Marie and I in the Border Patrol Jeep.

Philip, Marie, and I on the Border Patrol jet-ski.

Sunday we went to a worship service at Iglesia Luterana Santisima Trinidad. Judging by their smiles, Marie made a new friend!

Marie and Philip at Santisima.

On Monday I put them to work! The Bethel servant event had 3 worksites; I was assigned to a house build in Mexico so they came along!

Marie liked the siding nails better than the framing ones!

Toasting the end of a great day and a great week with our Mexican sodas!

As you can see, they got a good taste of both El Paso and Juarez. I loved just spending time with them and catching up even when we weren't touring the borderland, but I also loved showing them what I do and where I go day in and day out. I talk to Marie all the time and tell her everything about my life--she's probably seen lots of pictures too--but nothing gives someone the context they really need to understand your life until they see it in person. It was so meaningful to let them in on a place that is such a huge part of the fabric of who I am now. I took them to the airport at 4:30 am on Tuesday morning. Currently they are in Guyana visiting another missionary friend of theirs, but I am so looking forward to their return on September 5, when I'll drive back to Riverside with them and then spend a few days in Southern CA!

Until next time, blessings!

Spanish with a Twist

2011-08-18T18:52:00.008-05:00

Last week was YLM/LHMI's 2nd annual Conversations in Spanish course: an intensive week of language instruction with the goal of launching participants into Hispanic ministry back home. Spanish with a Lutheran twist. Once again, I was one of the 3 planners; I wouldn't be alone in saying that I did the largest share of the work. As you read in my last blog and will read more about in my next one, I had 2 friends in town, but I feel like I was able to successfully allocate my time between those 2 responsibilities. I was completely hands-on with CIS for the first half of the week since Marie and Philip didn't arrive until 1 am on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. After that my involvement was kind of spotty, but as you can see from the pictures below, I got to know each of the students and share lots of experiences, cultural and otherwise, with them!

On Sunday afternoon I toured Mission Trail with the JumpStarters (7 of the students who arrived a day early to jumpstart their learning). This is something I had not done during my entire stay in El Paso--explore the 3 historic (1500's) missions that line an 8 mi. stretch of Socorro Rd. The Ysleta Mission, pictured above, is the first on the trail. It is the oldest continually operating church on TX soil and literally sits around the corner from our campus. People always confuse the Ysleta Mission with Ysleta Lutheran Mission! The tour was informative, but not as enthralling as it could have been since none of the missions were open on Sundays!

The Socorro Mission.

The San Elizario Mission, site of the REAL first Thanksgiving in 1598. At least that's what El Pasoans say, and they celebrate it every April!

The San Elizario Mission was originally built as a chapel for soldiers stationed in El Paso, which helps explain this plaque. Eduardo M. Pedregon was a soldier from the area who disappeared in Korea. His mother, now deceased, always believed he would be found someday. As DNA technology grew more and more advanced, she sent the military a sample of his, and his body was located this year. They're going to have a public memorial service at the Mission on 10/1 and then fly the remains to Arlington Cemetery later that same day. Cool story--maybe I'll go!

Me in the Billy the Kid jail, around the block from the San Elizario Mission. Billy the Kid was once imprisoned here along with some of his compadres, and it is now memorialized as the site of a famous jailbreak in which, surprisingly, no one was killed.

The JumpStarters and I inside the jail.

Ann speaking to the group at lunch on Monday. We brought in locals everyday to talk to the students about their lives, families, upbringings, work, etc. in our largely Hispanic community.

Monday afternoon we went on a field trip to Chamizal National Memorial, which commemorates the treaty between the US and Mexico that created a fixed boundary, as opposed to the naturally shifting Rio Grande riverbed.

Students studying a map of the Rio Grande's ever-changing course.

One of the photos in the exhibit room shows what one of El Paso's international bridges used to look like!

The free bridge (background) was a part of the treaty--no tolls to exit or enter the US, just really long lines!

The entryway to the visitors' center featured a powerful art exhibit highlighting the period a few years back where many women were kidnapped, raped, and murdered across the border. This one was simply titled "Juarez."

An example of the markers that show where the political border now lies.

Wayne is a Junior Ranger!

Back to work...the Level II class in session.

Tuesday we went on a field trip to Ranch Market. I had been there lots of times before but Karla introduced me to a new delicacy--candied pumpkin! There are a bunch of other flavors too--pineapple, sweet potato, and a couple fruits I hadn't heard of.

Jess sampling the candied chilacayote (exhibit A of the fruits I had never heard of)!

Paul bought everyone tamales and aguas frescas!

Listening to a Mariachi San Pablo serenade. I have noticed that they are beginning to introduce some new songs, like the kids song "J-O-Y." O is for others!

Playing Spanish BINGO with Victor, one of the instructors from Language Plus.

Pastor Schindler won a copy of La Bella y La Bestia!

Group picture--11 students + YLM/LHMI staff.

Certificate time on Friday night!

Until next time, blessings!

Aw, nuts!

2011-08-14T15:01:00.006-05:00

Hi! Two of my friends are in town visiting so I didn't think I'd have time to post until they left, but here I am...until we have to leave for Santisima at 3:15 anyways. I went to high school with Marie, who is an RN, and she and her husband Philip now reside in Riverside, CA, where he is getting his PhD in philosophy. Between them and Conversations in Spanish that was happening simultaneously, I've been having lots of excellent adventures! They arrived around 1 am on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. Our first adventure began mid-morning on Wednesday: we went to 2 pistachio orchards in Alamagordo, NM and then on to White Sands! I felt bad arranging a day trip so soon after their 12 hour drive to get here, but due to my other commitments it was the only day I could be gone. It turned out to be an unforgettable time! The pistachio orchards have been on my bucket list of things to do for quite some time now, and I'm so glad we finally went. The tour at our first stop was fantastic. We all learned a ton, and of course sampled lots of pistachios and pistachio creations like popcorn and fudge. The second stop was...record-breaking. You'll see below ;) White Sands I've been to a bunch of times but it's someplace you just have to take out-of-town visitors. Here are the first of many photos from my week of playing tour guide:

There are male and female pistachio trees! Who knew? Apparently this is also true of cottonwoods and pecans. The males do all the pollination, and the females bear the fruit. There are differences in appearance as well: males are taller, darker, and have rougher bark.

Marie and I under a pistachio tree.

We had to wear hair nets (and Philip had to wear a beard & mustache cover) to go inside the processing facility.

"The ladies" who go through all of the pistachios by hand to remove any blemished ones, remnants of sticks or leaves, etc. They work 8 hour shifts at a time with 2 breaks and a lunch break.

The color sorter, which sorts pistachios (or any other type of small object--buttons, screws, etc.) by taking a picture of an ideal one, scanning each item that passes through, and rejecting any that don't match the picture.

Now on to the roasting & salting facility...they were making garlic & green chile flavored ones when we went through so it smelled soooo good! The white piece of equipment on the left side of this photo is basically a giant cooler, where the batches that have already been roasted and salted are cooled. Cold storage throughout a pistachio's journey from tree to shelf is what distinguishes smaller farms like this one from its major commercial counterparts in CA.

Pistachios are roasted in a single layer in this oven for 3 minutes per batch. This photo is also useful for explaining how Eagle Ranch is a completely Kosher facility. Our tour guide explained that usually they only make 1 flavor per day because the facility basically has to be cleaned until it would pass a white glove test before switching flavors. That includes completely disassembling and disinfecting the oven. All in all, it's about a 3 hour process.

We ended the tour in the building where more pistachios are stored, and where all of the packing and shipping takes place. The founders/owners of the ranch are big into quality control, so the weight of every bag is hand checked on the orange scale in the center of this photo before being shipped or sold.

The bin labels in the cold storage room looked like something I would do...

Me in a truck that's been a part of the operation since 1928. The owner's son learned to drive it in the fields when he was 7! Now it's used for county fairs, parades, etc.

Our 2nd stop was another pistachio orchard just down the road. No tour here, but I had printed some coupons for their gift shop off the website, and it's home to the world's largest pistachio! Do you think we should have parked in this space?

Marie and I at White Sands.

We arrived during the heat of the day but quickly found a gloriously shady spot. Our plan was to do the Sunset Stroll at 6:45, but since all of our timekeeping devices were in the car and we were having so much fun sledding, playing Frisbee, and burying Philip, we didn't leave until 7:30! Oh well!

I got a picture of the amazing sunset anyhow!

More to come from what's been a hectic but wonderful week with some great company! Until next time, blessings!

My weekend and week

2011-08-04T22:13:00.006-05:00

Last week I was with St. Paul/St. John's everyday except for Tuesday, when I stayed back to get some last minute prep for the Conversations in Spanish session happening this week done. Starting with the Saturday they arrived, each day had its Kodak moments. I thought I would try something different and go day-by-day, highlighting one or 2 said moments...

Saturday: Pastor Stephen is ordained at San Pablo Lutheran Church. He has to go by that since Pastor Heimer is already taken! Below is his first official act as pastor, the benediction! (In half an hour or so I'm going to go see him do his first service all by himself at Zion, where he was installed the day after his ordination.) I dashed out immediately when the service ended to go to the airport, but it turns out I didn't need to be in such a hurry because the group's flight was delayed!

Sunday: We showed up for the service at San Lucas and there was no pastor! After waiting a little while, we nominated Chris to preach. He gave a 5-minute spiel on the Great Commission with Carol and I interpreting! We also sang a couple songs, said a prayer, and gave the benediction. We passed Javier, the MIA pastor, on our way back and it turns out he had been delayed at the bridge for trying to bring over a vanload of food for the congregation.

Monday: The group had 2 work projects: a house and a roof in Anapra. They also did some kids' activities in the yard at the house site. Four guys and I knocked out the roof right away on Monday. Chris said it should take us 2 days, but it only took until about 2:15 on the first day. That's without me working very much either since one of the excellent roofers below is a builder by trade!

Wednesday: It rained while we were eating breakfast, which was followed by this incredible double rainbow! It stayed drizzly and cloudy all morning; I couldn't have hand picked a better morning for Monday's roofing crew to reunite and finish the roof on the house! Also on Wednesday, two of the group members stayed back since one of them was taken to the ER for various symptoms on Tuesday night. When we showed up that afternoon, they had a fiesta set up in the dorm common room!

Thursday: see the previous blog!

Friday: The group gave the family a photo collage of pictures from the week. My absolute favorite one was a sepia shot of the little guy, Gerardo, sitting on the new tree swing (bottom right of the frame). Before we headed to the market, they took a few obligatory group photos and one not-so-typical one of them all walking down the street, towards Mt. Cristo Rey. They're going to include it in their PowerPoint slideshow with the caption "Walk by faith, not by sight."

This week I have two main events. One is Conversations in Spanish, which I am largely in charge of. So far 7 "JumpStarters" have arrived. We went to Famous Dave's and VIVA! El Paso last night, and this afternoon we are going to tour Mission Trail. Class starts tomorrow morning. The other is my friends Marie and Philip that are coming to visit from California! They're driving in Tuesday evening, so although I'll still keep abreast of the CIS program, I won't be quite so hands-on. Instead I'll be playing tour guide! My plan is Alamogordo, NM, for the pistachio orchards and White Sands on Wednesday, Mercado Mayapan/dinner at Andale with the CIS students on Thursday, hiking at Hueco Tanks on Friday morning, church in Mexico next Sunday with the servant event from Canada, and framing a house in Mexico on Monday, also with the Canadians!

Until next time, blessings!

The Coolest Yard on the Block

2011-08-04T18:30:00.005-05:00

This week's group (from St. Paul Lutheran Church in Chicago, IL, and St. John's Lutheran Church in Edgar, WI) is efficient, hard-working, and experienced. So, this afternoon we found ourselves sitting around watching mud dry. Sensing a little bit of restlessness, I suggested that a couple of guys fix the family's tree swing. The seat looked like it would snap in half if I sat on it, which is saying something.

They not only fixed the tree swing, but made 2 tire swings for another tree too! The homeowners and their kids (Wendy, 11, and Jocelin, 8, with another on the way) are going to have the coolest yard on the block now!

Until next time, blessings!

First ever "VBS" at Sin Paredes

2011-07-28T18:43:00.005-05:00

Monday through Wednesday Chris and I spent our mornings "helping" with the first ever VBS at Sin Paredes. We got volunteered for the job, and were basically needed to make copies of CDs for music, transport food across the border for lunch, and photocopy coloring sheets. I am officially OUT of recycled paper from that last one. The plan was to do 3 days, ending on a Wednesday with the regularly scheduled Mesa de Reyes programming. This week was our only open one before school starts again over there! Basically it consisted of an extended version of what takes place every week, with a few special treats thrown in. The kids divided into 3 groups by age for a very brief Bible lesson/prayer (sometimes), a coloring sheet/craft or practicing choreographed motions to a song (for the oldest group), and then lunch all together. Attendance was 60ish on Monday, 80ish on Tuesday, and 100ish on Wednesday.

I feel like it could have been more structured and exciting if I/we had felt more ownership of the event and put more effort into planning themed Bible lessons, crafts, songs, etc., but everyone seemed to get something out of it anyhow, even if it was just something to break up summer monotony, fellowship, and free lunch. There were a few special touches: leftover craft supplies from St. Paul's Des Peres, a water balloon fight, and distributing items donated by Pastor Mark Kluzek from Albuquerque.

While we were there, I spent most of my time helping the middle group and taking pictures!

The oldest and middle groups made scratch art crosses, leftover from St. Paul's Des Peres. There weren't enough for everyone to do them; well, there would have been, but I didn't know there was more scratch paper until it was too late! Even Pastor Martinez made one!

St. Paul's left 2 bags of stickers too, which spiced up their normal run-of-the mill coloring sheets.

Wednesday morning, like always, the middle group's teacher Alex taught English for an hour before Mesa de Reyes began. I was excited to sit in on the class and see what it was like. The subject matter was a review of what they had learned up to that point: personal pronouns, the verb "to be," days, months, colors, animals, and beverages. There was a real range of students, in age and ability level, which I could tell was frustrating. I also observed a real lack of order; people talked non-stop while Alex was trying to teach and many showed up late. There is definitely learning taking place, but pray for Alex's patience and that the class would prosper!

Water balloon fight!

Notebooks and pencils from Pastor Kluzek.

They have John 3:16 in Spanish taped on the inside.

Stuffed animals from Pastor Kluzek too!

Alex had a very organized method of calling his kids up one-by-one to choose a toy, using the attendance sheet.

AND toothpaste, toothbrushes, and baby blankets!

Brother and sister.

Using my camera's panorama mode to capture the entire multi-purpose room at one point during the chaos of lunch/donation distribution.

The kids made us a thank-you banner, which was incredibly sweet but I almost felt guilty accepting since we hardly did anything!

Until next time, blessings!

Time to Get Serious

2011-07-27T17:04:00.002-05:00

People ask me all the time what I'm doing when I leave the mission. It's a logical question, seeing as though I am right at the 5 months left mark. The answer is I have no idea, and it's time to get serious.

First of all, I AM planning to move on, after the Mayer Lutheran High School group leaves on 1/1/12. It's obvious to me for lots of reasons that my calling here is up. When I decided to extend my original 1 1/2 yrs. to 3 yrs., that was right for me at the time and I don't regret it for a second, but I have no intention of doing so again. No one here wants me to go, but they are starting to envision a reality without Erin.

It's time to admit to myself and everyone else that Lutheran Bible Translators didn't work out like I was hoping it would, leaving me at a crossroads. For a long time I was positive that my next step was LBT, so I never really thought about other options. Certain people are saying "I told you so" now, but I just have to move on to whatever those "other options" entail. I've come to the realization that I want to use Spanish in my future employment. I adore it, I've spent a long time around it including my entire college career, and I'm currently in practice. I never want to be that person that I see ALL the time, the kind that took it for a couple of years in high school but doesn't remember anything. I also want to be affecting lives somehow. I could probably get any number of positions (sales rep, etc.) simply because I am bilingual, but having been hands-on in ministry for a couple years now, I want to find something that will give me purpose and satisfaction. I'd also ideally like to be in St. Louis. My whole family and lots of my friends are there, so that will always be home to me: I'm a Midwest girl.

I guess I basically have 3 categories of ideas right now:

(1) Get a non-teaching job. As previously stated, I would want it to utilize Spanish somehow. I'd be open to any type of interpreting/translating; one common type that interests me is medical interpreting. I also remembered yesterday that my Spanish professor in college worked for the FBI...maybe I'll become a Contract Linguist ;) I've done a couple of monster.com searches, to no avail. I have also searched the LCMS Employment Database for jobs within all LCMS organizations.

(2) Teach Spanish. I keep thinking that I really would like to teach eventually. I definitely wouldn't forget what I've learned, plus I'd be instilling (hopefully) a love for it in more young minds. I wouldn't be doing what I do today if I hadn't fallen in love with Spanish in 7th grade. I have finally realized that I would be good at it, and between living in Spain and on the US/Mexico border I would have tons of cool cultural elements to bring to my classroom (which would look A LOT like my high school Spanish teacher's...). Spanish-wise I'm set, but I'd need a certification of some sort, if nothing else for my own peace of mind. I don't think a degree would be necessary, but I admit that I know nothing about pedagogy.

(3) Go back to school for a Master's in linguistics. If I would have gone with LBT, my pre-field training would have been in linguistics. I was actually super-excited about it, so part of me wants to study the subject on my own for no other reason than that it interests me. I looked at gradschools.com and made a list of schools with that program in places where I would be OK with moving (unfortunately, none in STL). But, the thing that keeps holding me back is that when I graduated, I would probably pursue option (1) or option (2) anyhow, so what's the point? I also have no idea how I would pay for it, unless it was a fellowship program (which it looks like there are actually a decent amount of). If I am going to do it though, now is the time: now as in before I have a career, house, family, etc., and NOW as in there is a 50% discount on the GRE between August 1 and September 30!

I don't want to say too much, but a pair of leads with the same organization did emerge from my LCMS database searches late last week. Both would be in STL, and one has a bilingual component, although I fear that it might be too much of a desk job to keep me happy. I submitted 2 applications and my resume though, so we'll see if I get a phone call for an interview in the near future. My mind is already spinning as to where I would live and if it would be possible to get my teaching certification in the evenings. I will DEFINITELY keep you posted. In the meantime, other ideas and prayers are welcome!

Until next time, blessings!

Where'd you go to high school?

2011-07-18T19:07:00.006-05:00

***Check out this blog about my adventures with the group from University Lutheran Church in West Lafayette, IN. New pics have been added!

MORE St. Louisans were in El Paso this week! The day that my church's group left, a group from King of Kings Lutheran Church in Chesterfield, MO, drove in. Of course I asked them all where they went to high school at orientation, since that's what St. Louisans do! It was awesome having people from my hometown here. We had so much common ground: the Cardinals, the zoo, the Muny, Ted Drewes, toasted ravioli. I had lots of other weird connections to the group members too, like I went to grade school with one girl's sister, I went to high school with the leader's brothers, and I worked at the ECC with the leader's wife. It's a small world, and the LCMS one is even smaller!

I mentioned that the group drove down and thus had their own vehicles, and they also cooked for themselves. Consequently, at the beginning of the week I was feeling a little unneeded and disconnected, I think due to a lack of forced interaction. I was also feeling very unprepared, since we had 2 job sites planned (a house in Sparks and some more finish work at the Hinojosa compound), and I had to "lead" the 2nd one with less direction than I would have liked. As usual, I was getting all worked up over nothing though. The site under my supervision went smoothly, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves all week, me included. I hung out with the group outside the worksite a couple times: watching a movie, playing Mafia (team role-playing "card" game in which the Mafia tries to outnumber the townspeople by murdering/lynching them...not as violent as it sounds!) and eating lasagna...twice. The first time they invited Chris and I over for Sam's Club lasagna and Texas Toast, which was good but prompted Chris to offer his chef skills in making the homemade version on Friday night...

We all painted at the house for 1/2 day on Friday, but went back to the worksite that evening for a house blessing. Unbeknownst to us, the homeowners Hugo and his wife Cynthia were cooking us dinner! My first reaction was panic since I knew Chris was putting the finishing touches on our Italian feast back at the ranch. You just don't say no to certain things though, in general and in Hispanic culture in particular. So, we all politely ate a little--or a lot--of carne asada, hot dogs, chips, guacamole, and salsa, and then came back to the mission and destroyed 1 1/2 pans of lasagna and 2 loaves of garlic bread!

They're stopped in Amarillo for the night right now and will be back home sometime tomorrow night. Maybe if I wind up back in the Lou in January (future plans update coming soon) I'll go visit K of K some random Sunday!

The dirt lot where the house now stands. This one is going to be the 2 kids' bedrooms. Two more 12 x 24 builds are slated for next month and then sometime in the spring, to give mom and dad a bedroom, then a living room, kitchen, and bathroom. FYI the slab, poured by Hugo and some buddies, is serious business. There's a rock wall around the perimeter, topped by cinder blocks; you can see it in one of the pictures below.

Everyone started off with a Home Depot nail apron, but those didn't last long once Chris reported their attire to one of our friends at Lowe's on one of his nightly runs. He showed up the next morning with Lowe's nail aprons, hats, and pencils for all!

YLM's first ever chair-rail paint job. 5-year old Jazmin wanted her room purple AND pink.

Adrienne painting soffet. The exterior is a sort of split pea soup green with cream trim; I approve.

Kristen and Priya painting.

Mark matches the color of 1 yr. old Hugo Jr.'s bedroom: "Yellow Lettuce!"

The group leader Dan handing over strips of a prayer cloth to each member of a family. Each group member has one, as does their church back home. The idea is to put it somewhere where it will serve as a reminder to pray for the other party. I've seen groups use the concept before, but including the family (and Chris and I too!) brings it a whole new dimension.

Jazmin and Hugo were all smiles!

Group shot with the family in front of their growing house!

Until next time, blessings!

8 Years in the Making

2011-07-16T20:17:00.015-05:00

I have known for the past 8 years (since my first trip here in 2003 at the age of 16) that July 9, 2011, would come. I knew that the calendar would eventually roll around to that date, but I also knew that there would come a day when I would be the Servant Event Coordinator for a group from my home church, St. Paul's Lutheran in Des Peres, MO. It finally arrived last Saturday, and I was unbelievably excited! The fact that the group included my entire family only added to my anticipation. Right before we left for the airport, Genaro told me he could see it in my eyes. Happiness was combined with 2 other overwhelming emotions/thoughts though:

1) Filling the role I have dreamed of was one of the reasons I signed on here for a 2nd 18 months, and it kind of feels like the climax of my service, like I can officially leave now that I've done my duty.

2)The week was a meaningful one because the Hefele family was along on the trip. I grew to know Amie and her late husband Jeff extremely well on YLM mission trips, but Jeff passed away suddenly in Oct. 2008. One of my first blogs ever was a memoir of him. This trip was Amie's first time back to the place Jeff loved so much since his passing, and she was accompanied by their 3 adorable girls, Abbie (11), Julianna (10), and Isabelle (Iszy) (9). They did him proud ;)

If I had to pick one word to describe the week, it would be "full!" We had some long, but fun and productive, days. It wasn't necessarily planned like this, but every night featured an extracurricular activity or 2 in addition to our work projects: building a house and running a VBS in Sparks.

Monday: Scenic Drive
Tuesday: Mariachi San Pablo dinner concert at Zion Lutheran Church
Wednesday: Mercado Juarez comes to El Paso/Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Thursday: Diablos game/12:03 am premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Friday: dinner out at Andale

Despite all that, we did finish the house, including interior and exterior paint, and shared Jesus with 272 total kids at VBS (103 unique). For whatever reason--maybe because my family was there or maybe just because we did so much--I took close to 100 pictures. Don't worry, I didn't put them ALL on here!

Iszy made up this pose...

Purple plaid shorts are awesome!

As are plaid shorts in general.

Iszy and I during our hiking adventure at Hueco Tanks on Sunday afternoon.

A group of us that climbed way up high.

The opening on day 1 of VBS: A Jungle Adventure!

Song leaders.

We fed the kids lunch everyday: a sandwich, chips, fruit, and a drink.

A little girl named Ailene took this picture during the red (youngest) group's Bible story time. Letting her take a picture with my camera was one of my attempts to make her stop crying for her mom, which didn't work. I did eventually get her calmed down though, and although she wasn't there Tuesday, she came back Wednesday and Thursday!

One little guy had a birthday, so we sang to him!

Scenic Drive during a dust storm...we couldn't even see the mountains as we drove west on 375.

I believe my sister and I have a very similar picture from last time my family came during the summer...

Pyramid picture!

According to my brother, 10 minutes of this = 4 hours of sleep. I think he makes these things up.

Leine, Ben, and Maria hanging sheetrock on day 2!

Nicholas, John, and my brother (the crew chief) on the roof.

Is the roof square, Kyle?

Last minute VBS prep under the shade covering that the family built for us Monday night after we left. They also added the table and bench!

Proof of Dad working, since normally he is the one taking all the construction site pictures!

After Monday, we realized that the demographic of kids at VBS was much different than we had expected in that there were far more older kids. Coloring sheets were a little below them, so we made up some impromptu word searches for the rest of the week, which they got really into!

Iszy playing along during the sponge relay game.

Day 2's craft was God's eyes.

This little guy was doing his completely wrong but having a great time!

Acting out the 10 plagues (they're on the one where all the livestock died)!

LeOra always gave a mini-lesson before crafts, which reinforced the Bible story and explained its connection to the craft.

Kara demonstrating the God's eye technique.

Abbie, Kara, and all the girls at their table.

Day 2 closing: "My God is so great..."

Us VBSers always stopped by the construction site after we got cleaned up, to see the progress and help out some. Tuesday the Hefeles and I trimmed the corners...here's the cutting crew of Abbie, Amie, and Julianna.

After Abbie, Amie, and Julianna marked and cut the boards, I would get all the nails started so the girls could pound away!

Julianna hammering.

Abbie hammering.

I was given a Cubs shirt and Mardi Gras beads by the co-leader of a group from Centralia, IL, who fully knows I am a Cardinals fan but enjoys antagonizing me. I still CANNOT believe I did this, but I passed them on to Iszy, whom Pastor Seban has brainwashed into being a Cubs fan. Then I couldn't give one Hefele girl something and not the other 2, so Abbie and Julianna got woven bracelets I bought from a Tarahumara lady in Sicachique. (Note my purse and its very intentional positioning for this photo!)

How many St. Paulsians does it take to hang a piece of ceiling sheetrock?

Susan came everyday with her brothers Hector and Martin (watch for their names to come up again later on...). Here she is doing Wednesday's craft, sponge-painted washcloths!

Tea party at the construction site featuring the kids who will live in our house and some neighbors.

Kyle painting trim.

Team registration plus Iszy.

My mom and I at the registration table. See her blue cast? And the cool scooter she got instead of a wheelchair?

My dad and brother spent most of the week at the construction site, but they each came 1 day to experience VBS. Dad led games on Thursday (with Iszy's help) and Pastor mudded back at the house! P.S. That's Ailene sqeezing out her sponge!

Me, Kyle, Kara, and 3 crazy Hefele girls at the Diablos game on Thursday night.

Backpacks and shampoo for Elvira that St. Paul's bought with some of their extra funding.

Kyle's first and only day at VBS out of the 6 times he's been here was Friday. His assignment was to try and make the boys who thought they were too cool for school participate.

Thank-you note from Susan, Hector, and Martin Chavez. Kind of makes all our hard work worthwhile, doesn't it?

Friday's Bible lesson was John's Vision of Heaven. Amie did a great job teaching it--the littlest kids especially loved these light-up crystal things she brought (and they're laying on a street of gold).

Even in the oldest group, EVERYONE wanted to volunteer to hold the shimmery foil paper illustrating the jewels of heaven. It was a stark contrast to earlier in the week Amie had to twist people's arms to get them to act out frogs or boils.

I thought the littlest group was adorable when they all crowded under the parachute!

59 kids on the last day!

A Kodak moment--Pastor doing a closing prayer with a buddy on his shoulders.

We had giveaways (T-shirts, Arch books, stuffed animals, etc.) and treats (cookies, trail mix, lollipops, etc.) for the kids each day as they left.

Presents for the family: toys for the kids, pillows, curtains and curtain rods, and cross-shaped wall sconces.

All the kids under The Tree.

The July 2011 St. Paul's Ysleta mission team.

Mackenzie Christmas card picture taken at Andale on Friday night!

Until next time, blessings!

Does this make me a Texan?

2011-07-07T22:31:00.000-05:00

Until next time, blessings!

Detour

2011-07-04T22:56:00.002-05:00

Below are some photos of a quick detour we made on the way back from Sicachique to Chihuahua City, to las "Barrancas del Cobre" (Copper Canyon). If you've heard of it's because I understand it's a pretty popular vacation spot easily accessible by train, kind of Mexico's answer to the Grand Canyon. We were all tired of riding in the car, and tired in general, but what's another 88 km roundtrip + a maybe 15 min. stop when God's stunning creation awaits and you've got nothing pressing until dinnertime?

Looking straight down over the railing--that's my shadow snapping the photo.

Until next time, blessings!

The stars at night are big and bright...

2011-07-03T15:40:00.009-05:00

...deep in the heart of the Sierra Madre, where I spent a few days this past week visiting the remotest of YLM's mission churches, Iglesia Luterana Nueva Esperanza in Sicachique, Chihuahua, Mexico. Read at your own risk--I'll warn you now this is going to be a long one, but I'm going to make it more of a photojournal than anything.

Who: me, Chris, short-term volunteer Jeff Boone, and our chauffer, Jim Kunkle a YLM supporter from Albuquerque. Pastor Tovar and a teenaged boy who was born in the area but has lived in the city practically all his life joined us in Chihuahua City.

What: Sicachique (or Sikachique or Sikachike)!

Where: Not even Google knows! Around 10 hrs. total drive time from El Paso, the last 36 km. of which is on an extremely bumpy, dusty, unpaved road; elevation ~ 8,000 ft.

When: departed ELP last Sunday afternoon and returned Thursday afternoon, with an overnight in Chihuahua City on each end for a total of 2 nights in the mountains

Why: to familiarize ourselves with the area, meet the townspeople, bring supplies, and assess the needs

Smoke from one of several forest fires we spotted along the way.

This is what Jim's truck looked like about halfway through the 36 km. unpaved road on the way in; I thought it looked like snow.

Scenery en route. Note that we have left desert scrub vegetation behind and are surrounded by nothing but pine forests. It's a sudden change, as in I was reading and within about 2 pages the landscape shifted entirely.

Animals on the road--completely commonplace.

We have arrived in the heart of "town." The following photos depict most of the structures that are there. This first one is the church, Nueva Esperanza. It's been whitewashed when compared with the last photos I had seen of it. There are services once every 2 weeks, except for 3 months in the summer. The reasoning for such a schedule is that the pastor, Rev. Kari Haagen, runs a boardinghouse near San Juanito (larger town a couple of hours away) and can only make it to Sicachique every so often. He also helps run a similar program in Sicachique--more details to come--by coordinating and compensating the staff and stocking the kitchen. He and his wife are Norwegian but have been serving in the area for close to 30 years now; they spend the summers in their home at Seattle.

A disused clinic where we slept. The 2nd floor was one large room outfitted with 2 beds, so Chris slept on one of them, while Jeff and I took the balcony--he on the other mattress, I in a sleeping bag on top of a stack of blankets. It wasn't chilly until the wee hours of the morning, and I LOVED falling asleep looking at the stars. One night Jim (a retired astronomy professor) gave us a brief stargazing lesson. I even saw a shooting star!

The school in Sicachique, notable because it is bilingual: Tarahumara (language of the local Indian tribe) and Spanish. It boasts grades K-6th (and thus free, as all education in Mexico is through 6th grade) and is run by a staff of 3. Total attendance is 40-50, and only about 20 of the students commute (on foot) daily. The rest are housed in a boarding house during the week and go home to their families on weekends. The furthest commute for any given child is about 2 hours. School was still in session when we were there, but there were no classes because of teacher meetings. The kids returned to their studies on Thursday. Graduation festivities, which were touted to be quite the community event, will take place July 6-8.

The building was all locked up, but I snapped the following shots through broken/missing windows...

I don't know if you can tell or not, but there were posters in this room illustrating primary colors and lunar eclipses.

The boardinghouse/mess hall.

Planned addition to the building, which should get underway very shortly. All the materials are there, but the holdup is water for mixing concrete...aka there is none (more on that later on).

The comisaria--kind of like a community clinic--open a few days each month.

Me atop a fish hatchery that is currently not being used. There is a rabbit hutch in town with a similar fate. Both were built by servant events, but no long-term plan was in place to provide funding for food, so eventually all the fish and rabbits were eaten by the people.

This pipe brings water down from the closest mountaintop (the same one where you have to go for cell phone service), when there is any to flow down. It is then stored in reserve tanks for people to use as they have need. Two of the private residences in town have some semblance of plumbing, at least in the kitchen, but other than that the community is entirely dependent on rainwater. The story on electricity is that there is none apart from solar panels. Several of the buildings were wired with ceiling fixtures, which I'm told would stay lit for about 3 hours after dark.

One of only a handful of private residences in town. This one belongs to Antonio, a lively widower who serves as the sheriff.

A mama cat and her 5 kittens lived in his yard, along with a Chihuahua that always thought I wanted to rub its belly when I was trying to play with the cats.

Antonio's brother Gustavo's house, which he shares with his wife Rosario and their daughter Josefina.

Gustavo, Rosario, and Josefina. We quickly learned that their house was the best place to eat in town. I have decided that my favorite Mexican food is homemade flour tortillas, especially when they're still warm. Josefina kept us supplied with as many as we could eat, made on a wood-burning stove no less. The corn variety, made from homegrown corn ground by hand, were also plentiful. Speaking of tortillas, Josefina and Rosario made us breakfast on the morning we left. As we were finishing, Rosario began a conversation with us that went something like this:

R: Should I make you some burritos to take with you on the road?
Us: No, thanks, we've got lots of stops to make that include lunch plans.
R: OK, I'll make you some burritos!

Typical Mexican grandmother figure! One other comment I want to make about this photo is that Josefina is about 41 yrs. old. I'm not trying to be rude--rather to illustrate a point--but she looks like she could be far older. Pastor Tovar has a daughter-in-law around the same age, and in comparing the two, it's obvious that life is just plain hard in Sicachique.

Farming (corn and/or cattle) is one of two main forms of livelihood in Sicachique, with the other being logging. Cattle and horses seemingly roamed freely through the streets. In that sense it kind of reminded me of Gimmelwald, Switzerland, a tiny town I visited in the Swiss Alps with more cows than people!

Good morning Sicachique!

I mentioned farming--the people use corn husks to feed their cattle, storing them high in the pines so that they can ration them for daily consumption.

The morning of our only full day in town we went on a short walk to a nearby "ranchito" (cluster of 1-2 homes usually owned by relatives, "homestead" is the best translation I can think of) in Sicachique. Here is a view of the main part of town from a hill we climbed.

Jim, Jeff, Juana, and I. Juana illustrates typical Tarahumaran women's dress. School uniforms for girls look like this too; I happen to think they are absolutely beautiful.

Gustavo's cornfields...this is what most everyone's looked like. It's definitely not going to be knee-high by the 4th of July. Please join me in praying for rain, for the sake of the water supply mentioned above as well as for the sake of the corn harvest.

I enjoyed the solitude and disconnectedness of Sicachique, but to be completely honest I was a little bored after being there less than 24 hours. Our only real tasks for the day were to carry this metal beam from one roundhouse to another and to fix a door, which took a combined total of maybe 30 minutes.

I amused myself during part of the afternoon by sitting on the balcony reading and watching 2 horses. This one figured out how to reach a pile of cornhusks by sticking its head through the fence, and stayed there like that for seemingly hours on end.

This one was a little slower on the uptake. I'm not much of a horse person, but I felt bad for it so I snatched it some husks. Later on, it came up alongside the lighter colored one to share the pile, but after a short time the lighter colored one snorted and stormed off down the path.

The day went a little faster after we came into contact with some kids. Three siblings and I started a game of volleyball in Antonio's yard with a donated playground ball we had brought with us, which quickly morphed into a full-on basketball game with 8ish players per team. I'm not much of a basketball player, but there were a couple of girls who ran circles around Jeff and Chris. I was struck by their love of basketball since the Mexico I know is all about futbol (soccer). After the game we gave out candy! Normally we encourage more nutritious handouts, but Pastor Tovar had told us that the lack of glucose in these children's diets could cause liver problems. I'm not sure if that's made up or not...

Happy kid pictures are easy to come by in Juarez, but these children were much warier of cameras. Even when Jeff offered them his camera to take pictures instead of posing for them, they weren't interested. They did love looking at themselves afterward though, and were amazed at how fast the images appeared.

Not sure how, but this kid scored big time during the candy distribution. He was emptying his pockets as I snapped this shot, and look where his hand is AGAIN!

The distributions continued back in Antonio's yard, with hygiene kits, medications, bags of fabric scraps, and flip-flops.

Antonio and I. Gotta love his gigantic hat; he walked into the room the first time he met all of us wearing it!

Our excursion accomplished precisely what it set out to accomplish. I feel like I know the people of Sicachique and understand a little bit of their situation, although my city-girl self could never empathize with them completely. Most of them were born in Sicachique or a similar village, have never left, and probably never will. Everything about their lives is there, in what I would normally call Godforsaken nowhere, but God has definitely not forsaken them. Their hospitality was a reflection of their love for the Lord, and they verbally communicated to us their trust in Him and His ability to send rain from His heavenly storehouses. I won't forget them for a long time, especially as together Chris and I will try anew to drum up financial and material support.

Here are some of the immediate needs we recognized:

1. playground equipment (~$200 if purchased from the Mennonites who have settled along the route up to Sicachique)
2. basketballs
3. food (especially canned meats--sardines, tuna, chicken)
4. medications (especially anti-diarrheals, Acetaminophen, and pre-natal vitamins)

You made it to the bottom! I told you it'd be long, but hopefully you found it compelling and are perhaps even motivated to prayerfully consider how you can help these beautiful people. Have a safe and blessed Independence Day, and stay tuned for some photos of a 1 1/2 hr. detour we took on the way back to Chihuahua City!

Until next time, blessings!

Look what Erin did!

2011-07-02T00:11:00.007-05:00

There is this magnet on the refrigerator at my house that's a rainbow I think, and it says "Look what Erin did!" It's meant for pictures scribbled in crayon and that sort of thing I think, but I felt like squealing the phrase to everyone that after working with University Lutheran Church from West Lafayette, IN, last week because I sewed something--2 things actually! Let me explain...

The 6 group members divided along gender lines: the men tiled a trailer in Sparks and the women taught sewing lessons/performed health checks in 3 locations: the Sparks Community Center, the Kennedy Bros. apartment complex, and San Pablo. I love how this group intrinsically values each member for what he or she brings to the table, and encourages them to use their skills in furthering God's kingdom. Anyhow, at least they tried to offer their services in the Kennedys, but it turned out to be a big flop. I feel responsible as the Coordinator, but no harm was done. Basically it's just hard to advertise properly there since my contact works at some central office instead of on-site, but I learned some hints for the future (I think I need to start recording details like this in some kind of manual for whoever assumes my job when I'm gone...) and after Tuesday the group spent the Kennedys' time slot helping Elvira wade through donated clothing in the thrift store. Ashley, the nursing student, did get to consult with 3 people there; one of them most likely had advanced diabetes, so if we saved him from any future trauma the little time we spent before deciding to put the afternoons to better use was worth it. Here are some pictures from my camera for now...note that a very hot and windy Sunday afternoon was spent touring White Sands Missile Range, White Sands National Monument, and Old Mesilla, NM.

Gee thanks!

Missile Park with the Organ Mountains (as in organ pipes) in the background. In the 3 times I had previously been to White Sands National Monument, I'd never stopped at the Missile Range.

Matilda the camel at White Sands. Her owners, married Christian family therapists who own a cherry orchard about 30 minutes away, bring her to the park every Sunday afternoon as an evangelistic tool. They have raised her since she was just a few days old, and the wife rode her to their wedding. Seriously, Google it!

It was WINDY so we didn't stay very long!

"Eating" the world's largest green chile cheeseburger at the Double Eagle restaurant in Mesilla!

Impromptu English/Spanish lessons in addition to sewing lessons on Monday! This picture is especially apt since part of ULu's plan for next year is to offer English classes, per a couple of requests from people in line for Saturday food basket distributions at San Pablo.

Becky (left) started with darning socks, hemming, and making glasses cases, then moved on to embellishing plain white T-shirts, which really took off and basically occupied the rest of the week. Everyone had such creative and unique ideas; this woman put elastic on either side to create rouching. She plans to sport her handiwork on the 4th of July!

Zayra's mom used her T-shirt to make her a dress!

The glasses case I made, with some help from Becky since I didn't quite go through both layers of fabric in a few spots. Honestly I would just go to Lenscrafters and get one for free if I needed a new one, but I did feel pretty accomplished that I had sewed something. I also made a sock puppet named Petunia ;)

Petunia and I getting to know each other ;)

Zayra and I with our sock puppets! I later nixed the lips and stitched her a mouth since everyone said she looked like a donkey! She also sports a dress and a necklace now.

Mariachi San Pablo held its first of 3 summer dinner concert fundraisers on Tuesday night while the group was there. They are mostly just for fun and to generate a little income for the mission, but also to celebrate the band's 10th anniversary! It happened to be Nancy's birthday the day of the concert, hence her canine dance partner...

Time out for tile--the boys did the entire trailer except for 1 room; it looks SO much cleaner, more cohesive, and even bigger now! Before there were mismatched, chipped tiles in some spots, and raw OSB in the rest. There are 5 people living in the space: Nadia, her daughter, and her daughter's 3 teenage children. Nadia's daughter is a kidney transplant recipient, and during the course of the week the group learned that her donor was, not coincidentally I'm sure, also from IN.

Friday afternoon featured a fiesta for the kids in Sparks instead of ULu's usual weeklong VBS. Freddy was not making it easy for me to design a poster for the entrance!

Sewing ladies in Sparks!

Nancy (the group leader) had the genius idea of inviting Mariachi San Pablo to play at the fiesta! There was also not very good pizza and 5 game booths, which the kids played using tickets that earned them either prizes, candy, or both. I handled registration and then transitioned to prize/candy distribution. With stuff like this, it always starts off under control and then becomes a free-for-all, but in the end it doesn't really matter as long as everyone's having a good time! We figure about 80 people showed up.

Dinner out at Cattleman's Steakhouse on Friday night. I like the silhouette effect of the peacocks...

...and the ocotillo cactus.

Almost the whole group sporting their YLM gear before leaving for the airport on Saturday morning!

A better title would most definitely be "Look what God did!" The week was full of God sightings: in the kidney donor story, in how Becky used her moderate Spanish to bond with the women and girls who came to her classes, in Ashley's health checks. I didn't think it would be appropriate to be taking pictures, but I wanted to share that she prayed with almost every one of her patients. How cool is that?!? She also received a note from one that said, "Thanks be to God that angels like you exist." I think I'll end on that note! Next up: Sicachique!

Until next time, blessings!

El Paso Bucket List

2011-06-21T21:45:00.000-05:00

My time in El Paso is dwindling...I'm down to just over 6 mos. Lately I've found myself saying, "Sometime before I leave, I want to _____________," so I'm thinking I should probably write them all down before I forget them. And what better place than on my blog! Maybe posting them for all to see will mean more of them will actually happen. I know for a fact that a couple will for sure, starting on Sunday when I leave for Sicachique!

1. climb Mt. Cristo Rey
2. go to the El Paso Museum of Art
3. visit friends in Roswell, NM, Riverside, CA, and Houston
4. eat at SuperTortas
5. witness the bat flight program at Carlsbad Caverns
6. sit in on an English class or two at Iglesia Luterana Sin Paredes
7. see the YLM mission sites in San Lorenzo and/or Sicachique, Chihuahua, Mexico
8. book a servant event in every month of a given year
9. figure out why there is a pot on top of one of the walls of the church
10. take a day trip to one of the pistachio orchards in southern NM

And probably some more that I am forgetting!

Until next time, blessings!

You wouldn't even recognize it!

2011-06-21T00:30:00.003-05:00

That's what I want to tell the people who worked early on at the Hinojosa compound about how it looks after Our Father Lutheran Church (OFLC) got their hands on it last week. It just looks so...finished! Dora stopped by to see the progress while I was working with some of the youth on the roof, but I wish I could have seen her face. I'm told she was overcome with awe, gratitude, and excitement over getting to sweep her floors without knowing they'll be covered in another layer of dust within a couple of hours! Besides building the 3rd and final addition for the family, the OFLC gang also worked to connect all the structures on site internally and externally--roofing, sheetrocking, installing extra electrical boxes and running extra Romex, and switching exterior doors for interior ones to create functional "hallways." There are still many tasks that remain out there, but hopefully a group later this summer can go put the final set of finishing touches on it so that the family of 9 can leave their trailer behind for good! Funding is in place for most, if not all, of their utilities by now, so I think they're just waiting for a green light from us.

The back door. St. Paul, Mt. Prospect's addition is in the foreground, and OFLC's is in the background.

Hallway between St. Paul, Mt. Prospect's addition and OFLC's.

Hallway between Trinity, Lincoln's addition and OFLC's.

Whole compound from the backside, facing the road.

This week I'm with University Lutheran Church from West Lafayette, IN. Yesterday we toured White Sands Missile Range, White Sands National Monument, and Old Mesilla, NM, and today they launched into their slate of projects, which includes flooring a trailer in Sparks, and providing health checks & teaching sewing lessons at 3 different sites. All we did in the Kennedy Bros. apartment complex (the 2nd of the 3 sites) was 3 health checks, but it's possible that one man will be diagnosed with diabetes because of what the nursing student was able to glean. His blood sugar was 339, so he's coming back tomorrow for a packet of information and a fasting glucose test. I promise a full blog on their activities highlighting my involvement, but it might be delayed by a few days because I have the opportunity to travel to Sicachique, the location of one of YLM's mission churches deep in the Sierra Madre Mountains, immediately after this week's groups leave. We're leaving on Sunday and will return Thursday morning I think!

Until next time, blessings!

Blessed in/by the Word

2011-06-14T18:02:00.004-05:00

This week I am working with a group from Chris's home church, Our Father Lutheran Church in Centennial, CO. We're out at the Hinojosa compound (again) building one last addition and then connecting everything we've done so far so it's all one cohesive house. It's hot! Yesterday I drank almost 2 gallons of water and/or Gatorade throughout the day and still felt like I didn't have enough energy to sleep when I got home, but today was significantly better. Maybe it was just getting my body conditioned back into construction mode, and it didn't help that I got sunscreen in my eyes so they were watering all day. Anyways, the group's theme for the week is "Blessed in/by the Word." Each day, their devotions revolve around a single word that we are blessed by. Being a language person, I find this extremely cool. For example, Sunday, Pentecost, was "spirit," yesterday was "grace," and today is "faith." There are so many directions a discussion on faith could go, but I wanted to share an experience from today that ties into one aspect of faith.

Hammer, Hanna, and I were assigned the task of building a short wall (45 inches) connecting an addition built in April with the one we're building. Sounds simple, but it definitely wasn't as straightforward as it sounds, or looks in the photo below, for a variety of reasons (trying to frame on the sand instead of a concrete floor, the overhang on the April addition, water pipes running through the studs, odd nailing angles). So this wall wound up taking like 3 hours, but at one point Hammer was struggling with a finicky nail, and Hanna said, "I have faith in you!" Immediately we all realized that she had used the word of the day, in a context meaning "trust" or "confidence." That became a catchphrase as we fought through until the bitter end and finished "our" wall! I'm sure others could have done it faster and probably better, but we all had more fun and came away with far more pride and dignity after battling every element, knowing all along that the other two members of our small but mighty team had faith in us!

Until next time, blessings!

Clan Mackenzie

2011-06-08T21:06:00.002-05:00

Clan Mackenzie grew by 1 on Saturday, June 4 when my cousin Ian married the newest Mrs. Mackenzie, Maria! Their wedding was a great excuse to get most of the Mackenzies together at one time, and to capture all of us looking our best!

The ceremony took place at a Catholic church in Brentwood, and I realized almost as soon as I walked in that I knew one of the bridesmaids from highschool! I double-checked my suspicion in the bulletin, and said hi to her at the reception. Small world! My favorite part was the end, not because it was over, but because the recessional was accompanied by a bagpiper!

I guess it's a Catholic tradition to have a couple of hours between the ceremony and the reception, so we had time to go home, change clothes, and watch the Cardinals game. It still wasn't over when we showed up at the reception though--extra innings! If it had been MY wedding, there would have been a big screen with the game on, but thankfully one of my cousins kept us all updated on his phone. The reception took place downtown at the Randall Gallery, which I adored! It's an art gallery with pieces everywhere for sale, but one that's no longer functional outside of hosting special events. I thought it was a fantastic venue and could think of so many creative wedding picture ideas that would incorporate some of the paintings and sculptures. The other standout for me was the cake with its super-yummy icing!

All in all it was a wonderful evening spent with my wonderful family!

Until next time, blessings!

Summertime in St. Louis

2011-06-07T22:37:00.004-05:00

Ahhhhh...humidity...cicadas...Ted Drewes...home... :)

I got back to El Paso this afternoon around 4 after spending the past week in my hometown, the first time I had been there in the summer for a couple years. I gave up my seat on my original flight and took a later one in exchange for a Southwest voucher...woo hoo!

I knew it was going to be humid--whatever, I grew up with it, I'm used to it. But I didn't realize it was the Year of the Cicadas until the way home from the airport! Cicadas are these weird insects that come up out of the ground and invade the Midwest every 13 and 17 years. The last time this happened was 1998, when the 13 and 17-year varieties coincided, and I happened to be Girl Scout camping! Just the 13-year ones are out in 2011 and they're slightly more manageable now that I am not 11 yrs. old, but they're still EVERYWHERE, they enjoy dive-bombing into you, and they're loud! Outside during the hottest part of the day, I'd have to yell so someone a few feet away could hear what I was saying! The phenomenon is pretty indescribable, but here are some pictures for those of you who have never had to experience the wonders of cicadas. I'm adding them to my list of things to ask God about when I get to heaven!

The holes they emerge from.

What one looks like up close...creepy red eyes!

After sweeping the porch off in the evening, it looked like this by morning!

Exoskeletons piled up at the base of the sweet gum tree in our front yard!

More exoskeletons.

This one hung out on our front window for awhile...

I was in town for my cousin's wedding (more on that later), more specifically because my other cousin from CT that I haven't seen in 12 years was also in town, and my parents were generous and bought me a ticket! When I wasn't dodging an invasion of kamikaze insects, I enjoyed some laid-back days with family and friends:

--riding my bike to the library I worked at, realizing I hardly know anyone there anymore, and randomly watching a historic steam engine come through downtown Kirkwood on the way home
--visiting my godmother, who is in a nursing home
--watching lots of Cardinals baseball!
--catching up with my grandpa
--baking a cheesecake to celebrate my parents' anniversary
--shopping with my mom and sister
--burgers, brats, and washers with all the Mackenzies not involved in the rehearsal dinner
--"our usual" Steak n' Shake and board games 'til midnight with part of my high school crowd

And Ted Drewes frozen custard, a St. Louis tradition! My CT cousin had never been!

YES we waited in that line for frozen custard, and YES it's worth it!

Cousins eating custard in the back of my brother's new pick-up! He recently started Mackenzie Landscaping, so his old Buick, Betty, wasn't going to cut it.

Until next time, blessings!

Gettin' Sauced!

2011-05-29T15:53:00.002-05:00

Quick update, since I haven't posted in a few days, and I did something of cultural noteworthiness yesterday: learned how to make enchiladas the authentic way! The Women of San Pablo held their 2nd of 3 fundraisers, an enchilada sale. For $5, people could get dine-in or carry-out plates of 3 enchiladas, rice, and beans. After much debate at our last meeting, we decided to make the enchiladas the messier and more time-consuming, but more authentic (and tastier) way. Instead of rolling shredded cheese up in corn tortillas, lining them up on a sheet tray, ladling sauce over the top, sprinkling them with more cheese, and baking them, we first dipped each tortilla in the sauce, then fried them, THEN rolled them, topped them with more cheese, and popped them in the oven to keep warm.

After helping peel garlic--the homemade sauce consisted of red chiles, water, garlic, and salt--my job was to roll the enchiladas. I had lots of fun learning a new technique and chit-chatting with the ladies in the kitchen, and I didn't even mind my fingers getting all oily, saucy, and cheesy; my one complaint is that the tortillas were HOT when they came directly out of the pan and to my station! I had to let them cool off for a few minutes before I rolled them, unlike my partner in crime--she had long fake nails so she couldn't feel anything as long as she was careful!

It was a slow afternoon, probably due to the holiday weekend, although I don't think we did horribly, especially since some of Pastor Heimer's family from NM was in town so we had a BIG to-go order right near the end of the sale.

Time to get ready for church in Juarez now...I look forward to seeing many of you soon as I'll be in St. Louis from this Wednesday through the 7th!

Until next time, blessings!