UP IN THE SKY (storms, fireworks, butterflies)

This was Christmas week so, in addition to walking through the events of the week, we will include some photos of the signs of the holiday season here.

Monday morning at staff devotions, we found out that, on Saturday, Liliana had 3 broken ribs as a result of a handyman falling from a ladder in her home, on top of her! She came into the office late, wearing a brace to hold her together as she heals, and she is very sore. Since it’s the last week of this working year, though, she must be here; lots of accounting and year-end payroll to accomplish! We’ll pray daily for her swift recovery, but we know it will take time.

Christmas Letter 2011

Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends! We pray that in this season you will understand and know more of the ‘Reason for the Season’ – Jesus Christ!

This has been a DIFFERENT year for us in several ways!

Pre-Holiday activities

Sunday, December 18, 2011

This week, we were not looking forward to an-even-quieter compound. Carlos & Robin Radi and their 3 girls left on Monday for their 3-month Home Assignment. And Sarah, on Tuesday, started to distribute the things she would not be taking home; she’s going back to Ohio to stay. While we wish she was sticking around, we benefited greatly with additional baking dishes and foodstuffs. Wednesday, she added more things for us to use and some to store for the next missionary… She has been here for 4 years, this stint, and has been a wealth of information about living here in Pilar! It will be so strange not having her next door and available to ask advice… she’s nuts about Argentina!

Tech Team week

Sunday, December 11, 2011
Monday, Dan headed off for the bus before I started out for the Regional Office. He spent the day with the “techies”. I collected time cards and tried to enter stamped times in a spreadsheet I made for more accurate record-keeping. The ribbon in the machine is totally worn out, so I had to read the indentations!  I hope I asked the right person about getting a replacement; this has been going on for some time!  At home, we skyped with Erica (missionary candidate) and then with Erica (daughter)!  This was a long and full day!  It’s great to see the missionary candidates’ progress as they work through the process of God’s call and getting ‘ready to go’!  And it was great to catch up with our youngest, who is keeping everything in order at the house and screening mail and bills for us. She’s got a busy life too with work and friends and church.

New Friends and more...

Sunday, 4 December, 2011

It’s almost impossible to conceive, for a girl who’s lived most of her life in Illinois, that this can be December, wearing tees and capris and fighting off mosquitos…

Monday was an Argentine holiday, so we didn’t go to work and we had scheduled an online language lesson, recommended by some missionary friends who know Spanish well, Joel and Pam Tooley! We’re working with people at the Nazarene Seminary in Costa Rica to experience CALL (computer-assisted language learning) by Skype. We spent almost 2 hours with a neat lady named Gaby, getting to know each other so she can know at what levels we are in our Spanish comprehension. It was a answer to prayer. A little later, we Skyped with our Missions Coaching leader, Hal, and caught up with him.

The Rojas Family

That evening, we walked down to see Wilmar and Jessica Rojas and their 2 boys. They’ll be leaving in a few days for Home Assignment, based in Austin, Texas. I had asked Jessica when she could teach me how to make corn tortillas and she offered to have us over! We hope that our Missouri District friends will get to know them too; they are fun, generous and dedicated!