Exploring our country

One of the other assignments we have is to explore our area in Mexico. So a couple Saturdays ago we were taken by another missionary family to a favorite trout fishing spot that a lot of people visit on the weekends. It was about 30 minutes outside of Puebla, but the drive was breath taking with all the hills, mountains and volcanoes we saw on the way there. Once we arrived we felt like we were back at home in Missouri because there were a lot of trees and a babbling spring fed brook. There was a little playground for the girls and plenty of places for them to run and play. We all were able to catch one fish a piece. Yes even Evie hooked a pretty good sized one. Of course I (Gabrielle) reeled them in and took them off the hook, but they had to hook them first. We had a great time spending time as a family and teaching the girls a little bit about fishing, which is one of my (Gabrielle) favorite past times with my Dad!
We have experienced quite a few hail storms here in Puebla and the latest one covered our back yard. The girls played in it like it was snow. But with hail is usually rain and a lot of it. We have found the drainage here is lacking and have found quite a few detours around flooded streets. So I figured if that is the closest we get to snow I can handle it. But the majority of the time we have beautiful weather!

This next week we will be driving to Guadalajara for the Mexican Baptist Convention. We are hoping to attend some meetings and begin relationships that will soon turn into partnerships in reaching the city of Puebla for Jesus. Please pray for traveling mercies as we will be gone from July 4-15. See you in a couple weeks.

Below is the link to the fishing pictures and a few more.

Fishing Trip

Parque Loro

One of the requirements for our orientation is to visit a nature tourist attraction. So we went to Parque Loro for a day with the girls. This is a park/zoo with a lot of different animals but mostly monkeys. I just absolutely love this because I could sit and watch monkeys all day. But we had a great day as a family. We also had another missionary family with us and Sherry Bennett. It was a beautiful day for being outside in God's beautiful earth. Below is the link for this day along with a couple videos of some animals at the end. If you have kiddos around they will love some of these pics. Have a great week in the Lord.

Parque Loro

Funny Story

When I returned home last November for my Grandfather's funeral, I noticed my Grandmother had some crochet projects started with enough yarn to get a good head start on a blanket. So I asked her if I could take it back with me and finish it. I had figured out that I learn better while doing something with my hands which makes me a tactile learner. So in some of my language school classes I would sit and crochet, and this would help me to concentrate so much better. I was able to finish it before we left Costa Rica.

So here is the funny part. Before we left we sent some of the girls school work back to the states because we wanted to keep it but not necessarily travel with it. So Aaron took it and mailed them the day we moved out of our house. The next day we were visiting the Dewetts in their new house which was our old house and a guy on a moto rode up and asked for Aaron Woods and said the postmaster needed to talk with him about his package. Come to find out he had given Aaron the wrong price for the postage and the way they found us is because Aaron had put our Costa Rican address as the return address. So after he paid this I started thinking about something. About 2 weeks before I had mailed this blanket back to my Grandmother in one box and in another one my Dad's jeans and a duffle bag that belonged to my parents. We paid more to send the jeans than we did for the blanket because they weighed more. So now I am worried that my Grandmother was not going to receive the box because there was not enough postage. So I started praying. My dad received his jeans and the duffle bag but still my Grandmother waited. When we arrived in Mexico City I called my parents to let them know we were safe and my dad said "I need to tell you something." He proceeded to tell me that my Grandmother's box had arrived at their house in Independence, MO instead of Springfield, MO because I had put my parents address as the return address. And stamped all over the box was "Return to Sender. Insufficient postage." Doesn't God have a great sense of humor!!! Hope this brightened your day as it did mine that day a few weeks ago. The pattern in the blanket is an 'L' which stands for my Grandfather's name "Leroy" who passed away at the end of October. I love you Grandpa and Grandma Day!

Don't forget to read the post below if you haven't already!

A Mexican Funeral

Part of our job here in Pubela in the beginning is completing a series of assignments in order for us to get to know our city better. One of the assignments is attending a funeral. So we heard about one that was taking place in a small town near by. It took place in a town where there are chickens, horses, goats, and dogs randomly walking about. A town where mexican music was blaring from big speakers and no noise ordanance to stop it. A town where everyone knows your name if you live there. A town where the simplicity of life gets it's name. A town where you walk in and you instantly feel like family. The day started off by waiting until we get the word that it was time to start. We walked down the street from the church were there was a huge tent with about 100 people sitting and eating together. There was also a Christian Mariachi Band playing songs and reading scripture. We were served a watermelon juice with flavored rice, tortillas and a very spicy shrimp, potato and tomato based soup with a very "different" taste. The girls and I ate the rice and Aaron ate the soup. I did taste it but that was all I could do. It was way too spicy for me. Next thing we know people are getting up as four men pick up the casket and start the procession to the burial site. We walked for about a mile in the hot sun and finally we see on the hill the cemetary surrounded by a brick wall. And then we watched it pass by as we continued on up the mountain side to another cemetary in the process of being built. The worst part was Sherry and I had worn shoes with heels. So the rugged mountain side wasn't so kind to us. No wonder people were looking at us so weird. We finally arrived and stood as the preacher said a few words and prayed. Then the men slowly lowered the casket into the ground and other men began filling the hole back in with the dirt. The put rocks around the loose dirt and then put the flowers in buckets of water on top. All of the supplies were carried up by different people. The whole process took about 2 hours. In the mean time the girls played in the dirt, sat next to other kids and asked lots of questions. Mylee had the most because this was the first time she has been to a funeral. In one of the videos loaded with the pictures you hear her say "this is so sad." All in all our experience was a good one and we were able to learn quite a few cultural lessons like don't wear heels to a mountain side burial. After we walked back down we were invited to the Pastor's house of the Rose of Sharon Baptist Church. They served us Coca cola, while the girls were out playing with the other kids. Mylee even caught a little chick and held it for awhile. We were able to start new relationships and know we would be welcomed with open arms when we return. Below is the link to these pictures and more. Have a great week.

Mexican Funeral

New House, Regional Baptist Convention & New Church Organization

Here are some pictures of our new house and some recent meetings that Aaron went to.

Happy Birthday to Evie

Evie's 3rd Birthday

We arrived in Puebla May 14, 2009 and Evie turned 3 May 15, 2009. I wasn't about to gip her again from having a birthday celebrated in a proper way. So we arrived in Puebla and quickly began to pull things together. We met some other missionaries on the 14th and invited them over and then we invited the 3 children that live next door to the guest house. It was really a spur-of-the-moment party but I think it turned out really well. I even made a cake for it and Sherry made homemade ice cream to go with it. We had a lot of fun that night!

I was telling my parents how different the Walmart experience is here. And they said take some pictures and show us. So I did. I was telling them you park underneath in a parking garage and then take escalators up to the store. The coolest thing however is how the basket wheels have a groove in them to where it sticks to the escalator and won't roll until the end of it. So inventive! Also pretty much everywhere you go you will also see parking attendants that like to help you back out of your parking spot for a peso tip. So that has been pretty hard getting used to. We now keep lots of small change on hand. I should've taken a pic of this, but one day Sherry and I were running errands and were sitting at a stop light in a line of traffic. There are guys who walk up and down the traffic with cleaning fluid to clean your windshield for a tip. So we were sitting there and Sherry was teaching me how to make the NO signal with your finger which is the pointer finger being waved back and forth. Well one of these guys came up and I told him no and he decided I wasn't telling the truth and I really did want it washed. So he started squirting my window and I told him no again. Then he hopped up onto my bumper to reach the rest of the window because our van sits pretty high. Keep in mind Sherry and I both are now telling him no and he is continuing. Then the light turned green and we were still sitting there because I couldn't drive with a guy standing on my bumper. Then of course the honking from other cars started. Finally he jumped down and even if I did want to give him a tip there was no time. Sometimes it could be helpful if you have a dirty windshield but this time it was just plain annoying. Oh well you have to give the guy credit for trying to make a living. Enjoy the pics!

The First Days in Mexico

Our first few days in Mexico were soooooo busy! We arrived in Mexico City (MC) and sat in traffic for about 2 hours and then finally made it to the guest house where we were staying. We unloaded our bags and then I (Gabrielle) couldn't decide if I was more hungry or tired. So I figured I would feel better after we ate. So we chose to go to Chili's! It was the best meal we have had in a long time. It was so good and tasted just like the states. After we ate I regained enough energy to attend a birthday party that night for another missionary family with another association. The girls had a really good time and we were able to have some cake and ice cream. The next morning was when we were scheduled to go to the immigration office to have our FM3s checked. We were so blessed to have a lawyer with us to guide our every step. Otherwise we would've been lost! That afternoon we had our office orientation while Scott and Sherry Bennett watched the girls for us. That night we took it easy and rested a bit. The next morning we left at 5:15am to drive the hour and a half to Puebla from Mexico City. It was dark most of the way but by the time we made it to Puebla we were greeted with snow capped volcanos. Sorry I couldn't get any pics for you, but it was really pretty. We arrived in Puebla around 7:30am and later in the day looked at our first house which is the one we are currently trying to get a contract on as I type. Pics to come later! Below are our pics from Mexico City and a few from the city of Puebla. Next blog will be Happy Birthday to Evie! Have a great weekend!

First days in Mexico