missionaryMAC

I love events like this that drive home the DR team's family ideal - and not just because the picadera  that followed gave me a chance to try a new cookie recipe .  Missionary wife Becca Krey stays busy by, among MANY other things, teaching music and music theory to seminarians, seminary wives & kids, missionary kids (MKs), and church members, all of which figured into an evening of celebrating their achievements last week (evidently there was a concierto de primavera [spring concert], too, but I must have been hosting volunteers, out of the country, or otherwise indisposed because I most certainly was not there). Here's a sampling of the set list:  Alondra Cepeda Tatis (church member - Buen Pastor) | La banda del medio tiempo, N. & R. Faber Azariah Krey (MK) | King of the Land, N. & R. Faber Esther Krey (MK) | Gigue from the Sonata in D. Minor, F. M. Veracini Edith Chiri Coronado (seminary wife - Bolivia) | Primavera, A. Vivaldi  ,Matthias (MK), Leandro (seminary k

In addition to solving the piddliest of debates by asking ChatGPT , another thread that emerged throughout my week with LuHi was "spirit questions."  Perhaps you've heard of spirit animals, but one of the chaperones took it a step further, asking students their spirit _______ each day: Disney character, candy, cereal, vacation destination, Bible character (yes, Noah asked ChatGPT for a list of ideas on one occasion). The point is not to pick your favorite item in each category, but one which best embodies your personality - all in good fun, Native American animistic roots notwithstanding. My spirit candy, for example, might be Nerds, for obvious reasons. The ensuing discussions made for a mostly lighthearted way to make our many guagua  rides go by more quickly.  Monday's spirit question, on the way to the airport, was students' spirit moment from the trip . Answers spanned from seemingly insignificant but poignant moments, to mountaintop highlights that elicited

Prior to hosting Lutheran High School from Parker, CO, in the DR, I could not have articulated exactly what ChatGPT is or how one might go about consulting it. One of the "LuHi" chaperones happily clued me in, consulting it multiple times throughout the week out of curiosity or to settle friendly debates. If he were to enter the title command, I imagine the first part of the response might be something like this: Eight Spanish students and three teachers started their week in Santiago, arriving late on a Monday night. For their first three days, beginning right away on Tuesday morning, they'd spend 30 min. reading in small groups with the 52 students from Concordia Lutheran School in Palmar Arriba to reinforce the school's emphasis on literacy.  They got to spend the rest of Tuesday recovering from their travel weariness on the beach, alongside the Good Shepherd Lutheran Homes group home crew. It was a hot one and most people were in the water a majority of the day, b

The thread running through my past week or so has been...high schoolers.  The Tuesday after I got back from my sister's wedding, I ate and ran at a DR all-team potluck in order to attend Santiago Christian School's graduation. Micah, the oldest son of a family I've grown close with through being members at the same church, graduated as the valedictorian AND won the school's highest character award. Dad Owen gave an outstanding Director's address, too. Pictured L to R are Owen, Jesse, me, Micah, mom Val, Abigail, and Val's parents Mary and Donald.  That weekend, I had planned on stopping in La Vega Saturday morning to support the DRLM's 2nd annual youth retreat on my way home from a few days in the capital. My trip there fell through, but I already had it in my head that I'd be on hand to support, so I rode the ~40 min. from Santiago with Tirzah even though I didn't have a particular role. I tried to take high quality photos for posterity, looked for