missionaryMAC

It's been a rainy, lazy, quiet day after Christmas, largely spent putting finishing touches on the preparations for my first house guests. Speaking of holidays spent in warmer climates , my parents and sister are leaving the "great frozen North" for two weeks with me starting tomorrow!  I can't wait for them to be able to contextualize the people and places that make up my world now. We're spending New Year's at a resort in Puerto Plata but will have plenty of time in Santiago, too. I'm even planning an overnight trip to the capital, which is why I'm excited that, as of last weekend, I can now say "been there, done that" to the Colonial Zone. Sort of. Four of us - including Natalie, who could practically write a travel book on Santo Domingo - drove down Saturday morning and returned Sunday after church in Las Américas. We didn't go in any of the historic sights, but thanks to Natalie, I know the lay of the land well enough to play to...

Growing up, one of my favorite Christmas CDs from my mom's extensive collection was called "Make a Wish for Christmas." The cover is green, and the 3rd track is "Havin' a Tropical Christmas" by the Bellamy Brothers: Well, it sure is nice down here this time of year The tourists are tanned and there's holiday cheer Here comes Santa Claus, havin' a tropical Christmas I'm mailin' out cards to the great frozen North Sweatin' from the energy I could force In jingle bells, havin' a tropical Christmas And when the Sun sets down in the ocean We'll decorate the palm tree We'll mingle ornaments with coconut lights Then we'll go caroling through paradise And thank Baby Jesus for this tropical silent night First we'll open our presents, then we'll lay on the beach Later we'll call, see what relatives we reach In their winter wonderland, havin' a tropical Christmas And when the Sun s...

Almost! I thought I'd be moving to the DR with Freddy in tow. Instead, it's been almost 5 months since I've seen my feline friend. After considering all my options , #3 was the least risky and most economical and straightforward for everyone involved. My parents and sister arrive a week from today; Kara drew the short straw and gets to have him as her personal item. He's at the vet as we speak.  Dr. Kolaz 's kindness has been a tremendous blessing; she's truly gone out of her way to make this move happen. Once he's been cleared, she'll fax his signed Certificate of Heath Examination for Small Animals form to the MO Department of Agriculture in Jefferson City to be sure  everything is in order before one of my family members makes the 2-hour trip there to obtain the necessary certification. And with that, he'll be ready! He has a ticket, a new, soft-sided carrier (his hard-sided one was 1/2 in. too tall to fit under the seats on American Airline...

Deep thought for the day: what does it mean to feel  like Christmas? That is the burning question that has been on my mind lately, especially since people keep asking me. If we go back to kindergarten, feeling is made up of the five senses.  ✅ Sight: Homes and business started decking their halls in October . My house got in on the action shortly after Thanksgiving.  ✅ Sound: Radio stations here play the occasional Christmas song, but I never did find one that inundates you with it 24/7. I've been doing an OK job between YouTube, Spotify, hoopla, and the old iPod with my abundant collection of Christmas CDs loaded onto it, though. Our churches also have seasonal songbooks for Advent (and Lent).  ❓  Taste: I spent way too much time decorating these for a cookie exchange tonight, but I have my doubts that Christmas Eve dinner will be my family's traditional lasagna. 🚫 Smell: You CANNOT replicate the scent of a live Christmas tree. Hard no. ...

📷Johanna Heidorn I feel like I've been missing a limb since Halloween.  I was holding then 7 1/2 month old Angela when she started tugging on my cross necklace. I figured she couldn't do any harm - and even said so aloud - so I let her be, only to watch the pendant fall into my lap seconds later. To be fair, the tiny metal loop from which the pendant dangled had worn down to the point that there was a minuscule gap in it; her chubby fingers were simply the straw that broke the camel's back.  It's not just any cross necklace. I've been wearing it, with few exceptions, for the past 14 years! That's almost half my life. Every attendee at the 2004 LCMS National Youth Gathering in Orlando got one. I remember putting mine on in my hotel room, with the chain doubled up, and it just feeling right . It's become my trademark. Video chatting with friends last night I was abruptly asked "What necklace are you wearing?" (For the past six weeks I...

I got the following WhatsApp message from Natalie on Friday at 12:35 pm: "Have you been on any visits in PN [Pueblo Nuevo]?" No, I had not. But less than an hour later, I was in the car with her, Rev. Joel Fritsche, Vicar Mario Sánchez , and Seminarian Elvis Carrera.  Most  every Friday, they visit a public school in the same neighborhood as the church, where they have the opportunity to lead a devotion in numerous classrooms. Yes, a PUBLIC school. The church's "in," over a year ago now,  was Mercedes Gil, director of Concordia Lutheran School in Palmar Arriba; it's all about who you know here. Getting back to Friday, I say most  because we showed up and, unbeknownst to us, it was tarde familiar.   'Tis the season for such fairs , as I learned a few weeks ago. While there were no afternoon classes...and thus no classroom devotions...we were spontaneously invited to participate in the event's opening, effectively reaching the entire student body...

I debated sharing this, lest you think my missionary experience is all fun and games (spoiler: it's not). Anything that takes up two full days of my life seems to merit a post, though, so here goes. Last Thursday and Friday, I accompanied Jamielynn (my friend and fellow missionary in charge of human care at the regional level) to Punta Cana to scout out three potential locations for LAC's regional conference this coming August. The conference is a critical piece of how the region cares for its workers, and selecting a venue that both meets our needs and allows us to be good stewards is critical to its success. I went along since I'll be coordinating the missionary kid childcare team and since Jamielynn and I worked well together planning the Venezuelan pastors' conference  in October. First up was the location of the 2018 conference, having undergone a complete overhaul in the four months since we were there. We felt it necessary to see the renovations with our ow...

Baseball reigns here. I love driving by the ruddy fields that dot the landscape and seeing pickup games going on, the area behind the backstop overflowing with spectators' motos . Handfuls of kids playing catch in the street or using sticks as bats and bottle caps as balls bring me unabashed joy. There's just something about the hopefulness of it: these are the major leaguers of tomorrow. Given that the sport has so infiltrated the culture, it only makes sense that the Church should meet the culture where it is. I was reminded of Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 last Wednesday, as I accompanied Revs. Idjon Fritz and David Preus and seminarians Nefta and Guillermo to the play (baseball field) near the church in Palmar: "For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law)...

Happy December! Before I start inundating you with the festivities that are sure to take place in the next month or so, let's back up to last weekend when I attended not one, but three celebratory events. 1. Lanzamiento de la promoción  for HS senior and missionary kid Enzo Fritzler. Enzo's mom, Lilian, invited all the DR missionaries via a WhatsApp message; she admitted in said message that she didn't really know what it was, only that it was Friday at 5:30 at Enzo's school. I decided to go in support of the Fritzler family and because I was curious. I should have known better than to show up at 5:30...I was one of the first people there! I was also totally shocked by the intensity of the setup. Turns out that the lanzamiento  was sort of the beginning of the countdown to graduation for the senior class, and it was a huge deal. Lots of the senior parents had matching shirts, and the highly anticipated climax of the event was a dance that the seniors had been rehearsi...