3.20.2008

The One in Tesia...also in Mexico



Yep....cutest little boy ever!! This is Aron, he just turned 1 year old! It's Carla's nephew, and his mom calls him "toro" which means bull...you can see why above! So, I went to Tesia this past weekend to be the photographer for Aron's birthday party, and also to celebrate Carla's birthday on Sunday. It was a lot of fun! I was SO thankful that Ana and Dan let me have the weekend off to be able to go! I think I took about 300 pictures on Saturday night! From Navajoa, we had to take a bus to get to Tesia, which is just a small "pueblo" or "suburb" if you will, of Navajoa, and I don't think I've ever been stared at as much as I was on that bus ride!! I LOVE going to Tesia because almost all of Carla's family lives there in this 1 area. There are 3 "houses" all together, one house is her mom's where her youngest sister, her husband, and Aron live along with Carla's mom. The other house is Trini and Beto's who are in charge of the "Comida y Cristo" food program that this cool guy Frank (see below) from South Carolina started. They have 2 kids of their own and 2 little girls also live with them full time

They come from a family of 10 kids where the whole family only eats 1 meal a day and only showers about once every 2 weeks...and when i say shower, i mean they bathe in the nearby river. The 3rd house is Carla's oldest sister's house where she and her husband live with their 4 kids.

So, anyways, Carla's family is the SWEETEST family ever. They always cook me good food and have cereal and purified water waiting for me when i get there!! I had such a great time. We ate at the chinese restaurant in navajoa, Jo Wah, on Sunday and then headed back to the ranch Monday morning for a week of WORK!!

Today was the annual Retiro de Mujeres (women's retreat), so we've been cleanin our tails off working in and outside of the house making sure everything is set and ready. There were about 90 women who came, and it was such a blessing! Ana asked me to give my testimony and share how God has been faithful to me in my life, and I decided to do it all in Spanish! I was super nervous, but I did it and i think the Mexicans all understood me too!! Ana stood by me to help with random weird words i didnt know! It was really cool to see all the ladies and hear some of their testimonies. Abuela's sister whose about 73 becamea Christian today, something that the whole family has been praying for for a very long time. It was so sweet to see Grandma LaLa go up and put her hand on her sister and pray for her. It made me think of Molly and how much I miss her!

I am absolutely exhausted from all the work from this week and from all teh craziness thats been going on, but tomorrow we get to sleep in until 8, which is huge for us b/c we get up at 6:30 every morning! It's been a busy and great week though, and this Sunday morning we're having and Easter sunrise service on the top of a hill near the ranch at 5 am...i cant wait!!

I'm missing all of y'all like crazy and I hope y'all are having a great week and Happy Easter!

3.12.2008

The One in Mexico...


Well, I haven't updated this thing in a while and Becky Bird isn't happy about it, so here's a new entry! So, I had my first doctor's experience in Mexico 2 weeks ago. I woke up 1 night with a horrible ear ache, so the next day Ana took me to the doctor and they drugged me up! After about 2 days I was feeling better, but my ear was still clogged up, and I couldn't hear out of it. Normally this wouldn't be a huge deal, I mean the other ear worked perfectly, BUT I couldn't understand what the crap all the Mexicans were saying to me! Ana had asked me to translate at 1 of the bible studies for some gringos that were visiting, and I couldnt do it! Everytime Carla tried to ask me something from about 10 ft. away for further, I had NO clue what she said, so I would just say, "Mande?" really loud! (that means "what", by they way) So, we started counting how many times in 1 day I said "mande?" and we lost count! It was sad!
Well, in a week from tomorrow we are having a Women's Retreat here at the ranch for the women in the communities to come and invite friends who are new Christians or who aren't Christians at all to come and talk and learn more about God. I've been asked to give my testimony and share how God has been faithful to me in my life...in Spanish! HOLY CRAP!! If you know me at all you know how much I hate and suck at speaking in front of a crowd! I mean, I don't even like crowds period! I get all nervous and my hands get sweaty and I just wanna curl up in a ball and act like Julianne the voudu doll from BHS (Katie, D, Christine...you know what i'm talking about!) So, that should be interesting, and scary!!
This Sunday is Carla's birthday, she'll be 29 and she says she's gonna put on all black and have a day of mourning because she is officially old! I am probably going with her to Tesia this weekend to help celebrate-mourn the day of her birth! That should be fun, and a much needed break from the girls and the ranch!
I'm still loving it here and just trying to learn Spanish like crazy before I go back home. I miss home like crazy, sometimes I just don't even check my email even if I have time, because it just makes me miss you all even more! But I'm trying to be better about writing you all back!! That's all....