missionaryMAC

Nothing earth-shaking to report, just my first week on the job for real now that I know a little bit more about what I'm doing as far as handling servant events. Krysia (the Outreach Director here who has been covering my job for the past couple of months) worked with me on Tuesday and Thursday, primarily helping me navigate the master schedule and get the hang of managing the cash flow of money coming in for registration fees and such and monies that need to be paid out to cover the costs of food and construction materials (P.S. I really hate the cash flow spreadsheet and as soon as I give myself a couple weeks to fully grast the technique I plan to come up with a way to organize it E-MAC style). A large part of what she did was forward me a gazillion and one e-mails, which may sound annoying but it really helps just to get a feel for the types of questions she gets asked ALL the time and how she typically responds. She told me she is really excited to turn this part of the job es...

My first week is under my belt now...I mainly worked with the group of 7 adults that was here from Grand Island, NE. They had a 2-hour VBS curriculum prepared that they performed at a different mission site in Mexico from Tuesday through Friday. Monday they spent the day getting their craft supplies and goodie bags and stuff ready and running through their program one last time, and then it was off to Santisima Trinidad on Tuesday, Cristo Rey on Wednesday, San Francisco on Thursday, and Anapra on Friday. Their theme was "Jesus is our Friend," and they had music (complete with a saxophone and a recorder), the Bible story about the friends of a paralyzed man lowering him through the roof so Jesus could heal him (Luke 5:17-26), a reenactment of the Bible story (they even brought costumes and they let one of the kids be the paralyzed man), crafts, snacks, and goodie bags at the end. Through it all they tried to get across the message of how Jesus is our friend and how we can ther...

Just wanted to let you all know that I got a report from LCMS today and I met my new goal! God really does provide...I found out about the almost $4000 increase exactly 2 weeks ago today and I'm back to being over!

So it's Sunday morning and I am in between church/Bible class at San Pablo (during which I was installed as a long-term missionary by Pastor Heimer along with the normal blessing service for the servant event that's here this week from NE) and lunch (and then we're going to church in Mexico), and I figured what better time to put up a few pictures of my house and desk. Enjoy! My house...note the palm trees in the front yard! Me in my temporary bedroom (a really nice couple named Dave and Paige from IA are rooming with me right now and I'll be moving into the bigger bedroom when they leave in a few weeks) The kitchen The living room The foyer room thingee...the plan is to set up my scrapbooking stuff on that table so I can work on it whenever without packing it all away in between. The laundry room, complete with a new washer as of yesterday (the old one broke down so Dave and Paige donated a new one because they didn't want to walk over to the dorms for the rest of ...

Well Dad and I finally got here yesterday around 1:30 pm. We drove to Abilene, TX (about 12 hours) on Wednesday, and then the rest of the way (about 6 hours) on Thursday. The road trip wasn't actually too bad; we just alternated shifts driving, listened to my iPod on this thing Dad got me that plugs into the cigarette lighter, and played the license plate game (we found 32 U.S. states, 3 Canadian provinces, 2 Mexican states, and I think Belize). I decided that Oklahoma is pretty boring and I dislike toll roads, but West Texas has a kind of beauty to it (although I might be biased plus we arrived at dusk so even Oklahoma might have been pretty then). I also really enjoyed the fact that the speed limit on both I-20 and I-10 is 80 :) The stars are incredible too because this drive completely redefined the middle of nowhere...we even pulled over to the side of the road on the last leg Wed. night just to stare up in awe. So I am mostly unpacked and settled by now, just working on gettin...

We went to the hospital to visit Enrique yesterday. He was re-admitted because of very high blood sugar levels and his doctor wanted to be safe as they figure out what was bringing it on. His medication has provoked diabetes . He looked much better than I expected and was in good spirits, joking as always. Pastor Hernandez and his wife arrived to visit while we were there and at the end of the visit Pr. Hernandez spoke beautifully pointing Enrique to his faith in Christ. There were some tears but also assurance of much love. He is losing hair, of course, from the chemo and it has turned his mustache/beard white. I think it looks good on him. He hasn't had nausea thus far but his legs are weak so he has a physical therapist come in periodically to help him walk for exercise. Please continue to keep him in your prayers. Today, if I understood correctly, they will treat the tumor in his lungs for the first time. So far they have only treated the brain tumor . Thanks, Chri...

So I'm leaving the day after tomorrow and I am about 95% packed now...I just have to add stuff I will use between now and then and my clothes that are still in the laundry and things like that. The car is going to be pretty loaded, especially since people giving me donated stuff (stuffed animals, Bibles, books, toys, backpacks, school supplies) to take down there...I keep joking with Dad that he is going to have to hold his bag on his lap ;) I'll write all about the road trip once I'm there and settled but as of right now the plan is to take off around 7 on Wed. morning and knock out about 2/3 of the almost 18 hr. drive the first day, which will put us somewhere in the middle of TX. We'll just alternate shifts driving, stop when we need gas (at least when I'm driving!), and break for the night someplace with a restaurant and a hotel--those were Dad's only qualifications anyhow! I'm going to keep fundraising while I'm there, especially since last week whe...

Hope you all had a wonderful New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. One of my friends from high school lives in Cuba, MO, so some friends and I spent the night down there and had a great time as always. The library was closed on the 31st and the 1st, but I was greeted today by absolute chaos...haven't seen the bookdrops that full or the place that busy in a long time. Speaking of work, I have less than a week left :) My 5-year mark will be Jan. 5 and I wanted to at least stick around that long, but my last day is Thursday (Jan. 8)! The countdown until I actually leave is dwindling too...less than 2 weeks. I haven't really started packing or anything yet but if you know me at all you know I have several lists in my head already. Right now I'm busy seeing all of my friends for the last time and doing stuff like getting my tires rotated, getting my hair cut, and making a dentist appointment. Support-raising wise it has been kind of quiet lately...LCMS was closed for Christ...