Hello,
It has been a while since I have posted. A lot has been happening.
My sister was here for a few weeks. It was wonderful to have her here. John and I were eager to share all of our favorite places and people with someone from home. She met all of the pastors we work with, went to mission with us, played with kids at the orphanage, and hung out with the youth kids. She got to participate in all the things we do. Our lives don't intersect enough. It is good to have recent fun memories with her. I miss her now that she is back in California.
John and I also got to go home for a couple weeks. A close friend got married, and I was in the wedding. We also sold my car and bought a 4-runner a few months back. We needed to drive that back to Mexico too. It was great to spend time with family and close friends. Even though I love Mexico dearly, and missed it while we were away, you just can't replace that feeling of home. We celebrated a wedding, helped with my mom's surprise 50th birthday party, and were able to do things like bonfires with John's brother's family and a 14 mile bike ride with John's dad. John also got to do his favorite things that he can't do in Mexico, namely shooting and climbing a mountain. We were able to have a meeting with our friends and sponsors, showing pictures and telling stories about what has been going on in the last 9 months. Thank you to everyone who was able to come and watch our presentation. We are amazed and grateful for the people who love us, pray for us, and support us financially.
Bike riding with John's dad
Shooting
Me and our niece, Ellie
Hiking Brokoff Mountain
Everyone took a nap on the summit except one
We drove back last week, crossing at Nogales which is the safest and easiest way to get to the coast. We stopped a few places on the way, visiting a friend in LA, camping and doing a short hike in the Grand Canyon, and having a visit with my grandma in Arizona. It was the first time she had met John Mark and it was really good to see her. We had no problems at the border and minimal delays due to standard border paperwork and traffic. We made the trip from the border to Bucerias in 2 days, which is really great time. After 5 days total in the car, I was thrilled to pull into town.
This is what we saw for 5 days - desert
At the Grand Canyon
Hiking in the Grand Canyon
Last week, we got back in to the swing of things, going to mission and the regular church services. I had missed those things while we were away. We also started packing up our apartment. We also met up with two friends, Roanna Farley and Leslie Greenetz, who were vacationing here. We were able to drive them around and show them the area where we live and work. It was fun spending time with them.
We are scheduled to begin language school on June 25th in Guadalajara. We are cleaning and packing up our apartment this week, getting everything ready for the temporary move. We will go to language school for 4-6 months, and then return to Bucerias to continue working with the church here. Our church in Bucerias has a sister church in Guadalajara. We have met the pastors a few times. It is really nice having a church to plug into right away there. Almost no one speaks English, which will help us to learn Spanish. When we left the US, we still has no idea where we were going to live, but Pastor Keith may have found us a place with the pastor's family from the church. We haven't seen the room, but the situation sounds better than we had hoped for. Please pray that we get a great place to stay for the few months we will be there.
John and I have mixed feeling about leaving the work that we are doing in Bucerias. We are really attached to the kids that we work with at the mission and in the youth group. We are sad to be leaving them, but we know that we need the language to be more effective and to help carry the load of teaching and organizing events. We know that it is important to put our whole focus on the language to learn a lot in a short time. We took a diagnostic test as part of our application to language school. I have learned a lot in the past year and was able to complete several of the test questions. The language school director emailed me back and said that the class will cover everything I have learned the past year in only three weeks! It is going to be an intensive course and we will need to study a lot just to keep up. I am looking forward to the challenge. We leave for school next Friday or Saturday.
Excited for the things ahead,
Moorea
Prayer
Smooth adjustment to living in a new, very big city
that our living situation will be a good fit
that we will learn Spanish quickly
safety
For Mexico - the cartel activity is increasing.
Bike riding with John's dad
Shooting
Me and our niece, Ellie
Hiking Brokoff Mountain
Everyone took a nap on the summit except one
We drove back last week, crossing at Nogales which is the safest and easiest way to get to the coast. We stopped a few places on the way, visiting a friend in LA, camping and doing a short hike in the Grand Canyon, and having a visit with my grandma in Arizona. It was the first time she had met John Mark and it was really good to see her. We had no problems at the border and minimal delays due to standard border paperwork and traffic. We made the trip from the border to Bucerias in 2 days, which is really great time. After 5 days total in the car, I was thrilled to pull into town.
This is what we saw for 5 days - desert
At the Grand Canyon
Hiking in the Grand Canyon
Last week, we got back in to the swing of things, going to mission and the regular church services. I had missed those things while we were away. We also started packing up our apartment. We also met up with two friends, Roanna Farley and Leslie Greenetz, who were vacationing here. We were able to drive them around and show them the area where we live and work. It was fun spending time with them.
We are scheduled to begin language school on June 25th in Guadalajara. We are cleaning and packing up our apartment this week, getting everything ready for the temporary move. We will go to language school for 4-6 months, and then return to Bucerias to continue working with the church here. Our church in Bucerias has a sister church in Guadalajara. We have met the pastors a few times. It is really nice having a church to plug into right away there. Almost no one speaks English, which will help us to learn Spanish. When we left the US, we still has no idea where we were going to live, but Pastor Keith may have found us a place with the pastor's family from the church. We haven't seen the room, but the situation sounds better than we had hoped for. Please pray that we get a great place to stay for the few months we will be there.
John and I have mixed feeling about leaving the work that we are doing in Bucerias. We are really attached to the kids that we work with at the mission and in the youth group. We are sad to be leaving them, but we know that we need the language to be more effective and to help carry the load of teaching and organizing events. We know that it is important to put our whole focus on the language to learn a lot in a short time. We took a diagnostic test as part of our application to language school. I have learned a lot in the past year and was able to complete several of the test questions. The language school director emailed me back and said that the class will cover everything I have learned the past year in only three weeks! It is going to be an intensive course and we will need to study a lot just to keep up. I am looking forward to the challenge. We leave for school next Friday or Saturday.
Excited for the things ahead,
Moorea
Prayer
Smooth adjustment to living in a new, very big city
that our living situation will be a good fit
that we will learn Spanish quickly
safety
For Mexico - the cartel activity is increasing.
