missionaryMAC

This popped up on Google when I was actually searching for something else...the title of the post is the title of the poem: On the eve of All Saints Day, Jack-O-lanterns light the way. God's children need no longer fear the ghosts and goblins gathered here. For evil ghouls with icy breath must bow to Him who conquered death. Until next time, blessings!

After 6 months of living in the dorms, I finally have a space to call my own for the next TWO YEARS! That's right, I don't have to pack up my stuff until, God-willing, I move to Dallas in January 2012 to start my training with LBT! After moving to and from Springfield, MO, for school a bunch of times, to Granada, Spain, for a semester and back, and then THREE TIMES since I've been at the mission, I'm a little excited about that!!! The outside of my apartment...it's a duplex and Pastor Astorga lives in the other half. Genaro and Damian installed my stove and they told me that the next time I bake cookies I have to give them some! Until next time, blessings!

Our first servant event since August was here last week, from St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Barrington, IL. They normally bring 20-25 people and do a medical clinic at one of Pastor Hernandez's (Pepe's) mission sites, but this year, they opted not to cross the border which reduced their team to just 5--all guys. We planned a project in Horizon City for them--Olga Reyes's roof/electric--but they still sent a check down so that Pepe's doctor friend who normally helps them out with their clinic could run one in their stead, the same week even. I thought that was a very cool idea, and I don't remember the exact numbers that Pepe's wife Blanca told me, but he saw somewhere in the neighborhood of 350 people in 5 days. Barrington's week started off by crossing the border for church at Santisima on Sunday so that they could be there to celebrate Pepe's 20th anniversary as a Lutheran pastor--their church has been working with Pepe for several years now and they ...

I thought it was so cool the first time around when I received a document entitled, "Solemn Appointment" in the mail from LCMS--it was so formal and official sounding. Now that I chose to extend my term, I got another one! Here's the first paragraph: To Erin Mackenzie of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Des Peres, MO Having called on the Lord, our God, for guidance and in the exercise of the authority with which He has vested His church on earth, we, the members of the Board for Mission Services of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, in lawful meeting on September 28, 2009, have appointed you to the office of Globally Engaged Outreach Missionary and herewith extend to you this formal notification of your solemn appointment. I guess that means I'm off to the races here pretty soon... ;) Until next time, blessings!

Chris and I got back from our third trip to Colorado on Thursday evening. This was without a doubt my favorite one, mainly because the purpose of our trip was because we had tickets to the ENTIRE Cardinals-Rockies weekend series! Before I get to the baseball, though, check out the cool looking storm we drove through on the way there! It really didn't rain very much on the highway but you could tell the mountains were getting slammed. We also went to the U.S. Mint on Friday afternoon before the games. They don't allow photography, though...or a whole list of other stuff--pretty much you can bring your wallet and car keys...so I don't have any pictures, but we learned lots of cool tidbits about coins (paper money doesn't actually fall under the jurisdiction of the Mint, that's the Bureau of Engraving and Printing's job). It was interesting but I'm still not quite sure why it's apparently Denver's most popular tourist attraction though...it was CRAZY ha...

I hadn't been to Chuck E Cheese since I was like 9...until last week. One of the best things about my job is the relationships I get to build with the people we work with. Like, a lot of the times I think about how cool it is that when groups have to say goodbye to the families whose homes they worked on or the kids who attended their VBS at the end of the week, I will probably see them again in a few days or weeks. The family that exemplifies this to a T is the Moraleses, whose trailer in Sparks we have worked on extensively--you might even recognize the name because I write about them on here ALL the time ;) Anyways, both 3 year old Alejandra and 13 year old Joana had birthdays in September, so Chris and I took them and the Viramonteses (YLM's office manager Elvira and her family who also live in Sparks; their daughter Camila is the same age as Alejandra) to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate. Chris promised Alejandra that we would go not very long after we first befriended them, a...

Many of you have asked me before if there is anything specific that I/the mission need, and most of the time I can't really think of anything other than the usual list of things we ALWAYS need to fill our warehouses. Now, however, I am writing because I can think of at least 5 specific needs we presently have. Basically, the scoop is that I have been living in the dorm building since mid-April and the plan is to move me into 13b (the back half of the building between the dorm and the office), along with some other rearranging, like moving Pastor Astorga out of the Heimers' house and into 13a. The dorm has been a fine temporary solution, but it can be creepy sometimes by myself and will not be very cost-effective to heat for just me once colder temperatures set in, plus it will be nice to have someplace I can call mine now that I'm going to be here for 2 more years. BUT...my new home needs a few things before it will be liveable: 1. a stove (pretty sure it has to be an elect...