A few odds jobs around the house

And now for the update that I had hoped to post about a month ago.... I promise that I really had every intention of doing it, but what with internet issues at our house and the impossibility of uploading pictures on our slow connection it just got put off. So, let's see what I can get you all caught up on!

In the middle of March of this year when we arrived home from our furlough our house was not in the most beautiful shape it has ever been! We took the first three of four days to get settled in and then it was time to get to work. The first order of business after moving all of the stuff upstairs (sorry, all of us were so involved in moving stuff that we didn't get any pictures. Just try to imagine taking the fullest shelf in your house and dumping it's contents on the floor. That's pretty much what our house looked like) was the construct our new stairs. It was tricky business getting the design all set, but once my mom and dad had figured that part out it was "full steam ahead" for my dad. I think that all of us (the kids) were involved in some way in the process of making the stairs. I had the "opportunity" ;) to paint the stairs --both wood and metal -- and to help my dad install the steps. Needless to say, I now have a much better understanding of how to build a stairway!

This is the stair we had before building the permanent one. I grew to despise that stair after having gone up it more times that than I could count and tripping down it more than twice (that was definitely no fun). I was heartily glad to see it go!

Installing the stair!

I was a little bit overwhelmed at first and thought that we would never be able to get everything we needed to do done. That's one of my faults, I suppose. I have a hard time looking at a huge project at the start and not getting frustrated. Once I am into the work I don't notice... it's just the getting started that gets me! That's probably why I make a good team with my dad; he doesn't even seem to notice the present state of things, just the goal in mind!

Another large project that has been on hold for about a year is my mom's outdoor kitchen. Both my mother and I have been wanting to have a kitchen outside since the very first Summer we spent here. It just gets so hot here during the summertime that the last thing you want to do is heat up the house by cooking. The first step we took in that direction was to build our outdoor oven and now, a year later, my dad was finally able to add the counter, barbecue grill and "hornillo" (pronounced "orniyo" and meaning literally "little oven". Here we use it to cook things like Tamales or large pots of stew that wouldn't fit on the stove-top)!
Already we have used the kitchen to fry hotdogs, cook clams and oysters, make granola and bread and tomorrow we have planned to barbecue some meat we have in the freezer! God is so good in blessing us even in these small things!

Alright, next post I will post a bunch of pictures of our house in it's present state and then I am going to call myself "caught-up" and we are going to forget all the stuff I missed!
Blessings to you, friends! I hope that you are blessed this day to overflowing! Here's something that I have found to be challenging in my life recently. I suppose that I struggle quite often with worrying in different ways. Maybe I'm not worried about what I am going to eat, but perhaps I am worried or frustrated by all the things I have to do. Whatever it is, this verse covers it all...

Matthew 6:31-34
"Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Episode two: Unless the Lord builds the house

Delayed! I've been delayed! Seems to be the story of my life! Well, last time I wrote I promised to continue the story and so I will... though it be two months after the fact!! I know that someday I will be back to writing in the present tense!

New Year's day found my dad and me traveling up toward the US/MX border with our friends on our way to Tucson, AZ. The trip was long and mostly uneventful with only a couple of stops to change drivers and a little bit of delay at the border. Up until this point my dad had been working nearly non-stop on getting our upstairs ready to begin laying the roof (for any of you who might have missed when I said that we began construction on our house you can read about it HERE). The day we left the house looked about like this...

Anyway, my dad and I had headed up to Tucson in order to meet up with a team that was coming down to help us put the roof up for our second story. The team originated on a forum conected to a blog called THE REBELUTION. There were 8 people who ended up coming down on the team and every one of them -- well, except for the two who were father and son -- came from different states in the US. It was awesome seeing God pull together such a mixed group! The story of how God brought the whole thing together is amazing, and if you haven't heard it just drop me a note and I'd be more than happy to share!

We arrived in Tucson on the 2nd of Jan. in order to meet with up with the group on the 3rd. We did meet up with them and had a chance to pray together and go over some "dos and don'ts" for the bus ride ahead. At about 7:30pm we headed over to the bus station and we were off!

The bus ride was long, and I won't go into to detail about it. Suffice to say that we got off the bus in Guasave around 9:30am and my mom and the rest of my family were there waiting. The rest of that day went by quickly what with settling in and getting to know one another and, for the guys, working on construction.

On Tuesday everyone swung out of bed and hit the ground running. It might have been stressful, but, praise God, our focus was on Him, and rather than being stressful through the long hours of work it was just productive! Every morning we had the opportunity to start our day right by spending time in the Word. I think that that, more than anything, is what made the trip an absolute success.

So, Tuesday through Thursday was almost totally jam-packed with constuction...

And more construction...

And more construction...

And even a little bit of plumbing! In this picture Hillary and I had just finished changing the kitchen faucet. I had never done a project like this before, so it was a new experience!

On Thursday we -- the girls -- spent several hours packing gift bags for children a migrant worker camp we were going to be visiting later on that week. It was a lot of fun putting together the gifts and trying to decide what age each toy would be best for. In the end I know that God worked everything out just right!

Saturday we had the chance to participate in what was our second year of Operation Christmas Child. It was really great to be able to get the team involved in this and it was a big blessing to me as well. More than anything, though, it was neat to see the smiles on the children's faces!

Sunday after the church service we drove over to the camp where we had just recently started a church. Some of you may remember reading about it in my LAST POST but those of you who haven't might want to hop over there for a look-see. Anyway, we were able to share a short message from the Bible along with a drama that we had prepared for the children. After that we handed out the gift bags to the younger children -- didn't upload any pictures of that or of the drama, unfortunately ;). God really blessed our time with the people and since then has been working mightily in the lives of our new brothers there at the camp.

The team left on Monday the 11th. Right before we loaded up in the car to take them to the bus station we took some pictures of the finished result of their work...

Hurray! for the faithfulness of our God who CAN do all things!

Two days after they left, a cement truck came out to pour the roof. It was very loud and much faster than doing it by bucket -- which is how we did the roof on the bottom story. We were a far cry from being "done" with the upstairs, but we were well on our way to having our house finally finished!!

I know that anyone who was actually here for the week that I just finished summing up would call me on a thousand little details I missed, and I'll even admit that I didn't include even close to half. What with water fights and prayer walks on the beach and Bible studies together and walking around downtown Guasave and sharing meals together and laughing together and singing and seeing the steadfastness of God throughout it all, I could never write down everything that happened that week. It is enough to say that God did a work, and I don't think that anyone who went through it with us came out unchanged!

I am going to end this post with a verse that God seems to have given us as a promise during these past few months. It just serves as a reminder of how great God is and how worthy He is of EVERYTHING! May God richly bless and strengthen you in your faith for His name's sake!

Psalm 127:1
Unless the LORD builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the LORD guards the city,
The watchman keeps awake in vain.

Episode One: And Into the New Year

Greetings to all my faithful readers! After a wonderfully blessed and extremely full holiday season, I am back to tell it all! Since there is so much to share and I would like, finally, to be able to post pictures as well, I am going to try your patience a little and tell the whole story of these last weeks over a series of posts. You know, like those stories that you sometimes find in newspapers that make you wait till the next edition to find out whether or not the hero makes it out of the death trap… though, of course, I doubt my story will be so suspenseful nor quite so interesting, yet I will still attempt to render my tale pleasant to all those inclined to read it!
Anyhoo, let’s start at the beginning!!!!

The last time I wrote, Christmas was almost upon us and everyone was busily making presents, hiding finished presents and preparing for the arrival of our friends from Tucson, AZ. Well, I am extremely pleased to say that our friends arrived safely and without too many troubles along to way. I say not too many because they did end up making the 13 hour trip in 20 hours…. But that is not a story I am inclined to tell as of right now *winks and smiles*. Suffice to say that they got in around 2 o’clock the morning of the 24th.

The next day (or should I say later on that same day) being Christmas Eve was spent in a happy buzz of activity as everyone hurriedly finished wrapping and stashing presents and then sat down to spend time catching up with our friends. That evening we went over to our church for our somewhat-traditional, annual Christmas Eve dinner. We arrived at about 4pm with every intention of being back at our house by 10pm, but one thing after another happened…
We played games…

Worshipped together…

Broke bread together…
And we were so content just to be there and fellowship with the brethren that by the time we had a chance to look at a clock it was 12:30am and definitely past our hoped for time of departure!

NAVIDAD (Christmas Day)

Christmas morning was exceedingly nice. I have so many fond memories of that time in the morning… the younger kids’ eyes gleaming excitedly, having, of course been up for at least an hour waiting for the clock to strike 7 to be able to sing the good morning song to Mom and Dad, they themselves looking happy but a little disheveled still rubbing the sleep from their eyes. I for many years now, though just as excited as my siblings, in an attempt to appear mature, sit passively by, smiling on. This Christmas brought back all the same pictures, though adding to them something more in the joy that everyone had in such abundance. I have seen before – having fallen into the trap numerous times – how discontented one can be when the main focus of the holiday is to receive…yet when all that becomes insignificant, the true joy of giving and of receiving comes.

These were my gifts to my siblings. I think that they had fun with them… aside from the fact that they were continually setting them down and getting them hopelessly tangled!

This year, amongst the comings and goings of friends and family and the brotherly discussions over our traditional Christmas brunch I felt truly blessed beyond compare! Praise God!

The rest of the week passed very quickly. With our friends we had an excursion to downtown Guasave... that was a long day, but fun!
We organized and put on our annual New Year’s Eve couples’ dinner for the village…


This was neat in that it gave our friends a chance to really get to sit down and talk to some of the people from our village. The younger people on the team (myself included) had the chance to serve at the party. It was a little bit stressful, as all things of the like are want to be, but all in all I believe that it served as a blessing to the people, believer and unbeliever alike, of Boca del Rio.

We went to a migrant worker camp which ended up being a real blessing to us and to the people…

I appears that we (well, God through us) might have planted our first church… it was pretty amazing the way the gospel was received there. Please keep us in your prayers!

At the end of the week, on Friday January 1, 2010 to be precise, our friends left and along with them my Dad and… I! And that, dear readers, is where I will leave off!

Week nine

Good morning (or whatever time this is that you are reading my post)! I hope that you have had great week and an awesome Thanksgiving. We haven't really celebrated Thanksgiving yet, but the plan is the have a big meal today. I am excited for many reasons, but ranking high on the list is that my family is going to be coming! I wasn't looking forward to spending Thanksgiving without them, and now I won't have to!

This past week has been quite nice. With the team that came from the States, there has been a little less stress and we are definitely able to accomplish more in a day. There are two girls who are staying here at the house and helping out with the kids, and then there are eight guys who are staying out at the school and building what will soon be the new house. It's exciting to see all of the progress they have made. Their goal is the get the house finished enough to move into by Christmas. That's so cool!!! God truly is amazing and it's great to see how He meets needs!

As far as my class goes, this week has brought some different changes and new challenges. My class has been moved back out into the open room because of all the construction. I wasn't sure how I would like it at first, but I moved to a different place than where I was before and I haven't had to deal with too much distraction.

My students are all making progress in their strong suits, but all of them still have things to work on. Estefania is improving by leaps and bounds in her reading and Juan Jesus (J.J.) is get ever so much better in Math. Mishelle is doing great in her cursive and I think that I can finally move her on to the next book. Andres is improving on his reading aloud -- it's so fun to listen to him trying to put the accent on the right place in the sentence! Juanito is doing great. I can't even believe that he is the same kid that I started the year with. It's so encouraging to see the improvement that he has made in the last few weeks! God is so good! Cinthya I am still struggling with to find a system of learning that is suited to her. She has improved, but not as much as I would like to see. I really just need some more time with her. Please pray that God would continue giving me wisdom as I teach His children!

Thursday was youth group and I had the chance of attending after... wow... three weeks of not going! It was really great to see all of my friends again and I felt like I learned a lot from the study. We are still working in the study "One True God". The thing I like most about the study is that it's kind of like proving Theorems. If you have ever done Geometry you'll know what I am talking about. In the study you are presented with a truth and then given verses that prove the truth, but you have write out how they prove the truth. I like this way much better than most other forms of study I have seen over the years. It really makes you think about what you are reading!

Yesterday we had our first serious "school accident" involving kids of the year. Mishelle (my student, though she does have the same name as Michelle, co-director of the school) fell while playing tug-a-war and got a nice cut on her head. It wasn't anything really serious, but her parents came and got her and took her to get some stitches. I am hoping that they don't see it necessary to keep her home from school this Monday.

Well, other than that it has been a pretty average week. I feel absolutely and wonderfully blessed by all the women I work alongside and God has truly been giving me the strength necessary to face every new day! I pray that you have a blessed week!

Matthew 6:31-34

³¹"Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' ³²"For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ³⁴"So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Week four

Week four here at the school has come and gone. I can't believe that I have already been here a month... but it's true! The time has gone so quickly and I have come to love each and every one of these kids God has placed here. I enjoy so much seeing their joy over the smallest things and I have even become used to being called "Maestra" 24/7.

School wasn't canceled even one day last week. I was surprised, but we didn't get a drop of rain after Sunday. Just big, dark, menacing clouds in the distance. With the "storm" also came the cooler weather!! Yeah! I am feeling ever so much better now that I can do most of the work in the house and not feel like I am melting... sigh... such a relief!

This past week I was able to move my class room into the garage. Up to this point it had been too hot to even think about moving inside, but since it had cooled off considerably, I thought it would be a good idea. It isn't the ideal place for a classroom, but I like the seclusion and quiet since it really helps the kids concentrate. I have had to deal with a lot less problems as far as distractions go... my slowest student has actually been able to finish most of his work in class rather than having to bring it home! Quite exciting!

As far as outside of class, this week has been... interesting? ... crazy? ... or maybe something in between. At the beginning of the week one of the kids ran away from his home and David ended up spending most of Monday looking for him. While that was going on, another one of the kids was taken into the doctor to have his foot lanced because he had been walking barefoot in dirty water and a cut on his foot had gotten a bad infection. The doctor ended up coming out to the house in the afternoon and doing it here. Juanito (the one with the infection) was not happy about what was happening... I don't know what the neighbors thought hearing his muffled screams coming through the window...
Later on in the week the splinter that caused all of the trouble finally worked it's way out and now he is on the mend.

On Wednesday we got the results back from a scan that was done on Jesus Melecio's (one of the younger kids) brain. It turns out that he had parasites on his brain. Supposedly it is from eating bad pork. From what I understand it isn't life threatening right now, but they are treating it. Keep this little boy in your prayers!

Lastly, on Friday one of the older kids, Marcos, fell down the stairs and broke his nose... needless to say, he isn't going to be in school tomorrow.

Now that I write it all down it seems like a lot less than what actually happened... but I guess that is really all of it. Wait! I do remember one more thing -- only this one doesn't have anything to do with the school. About four months ago, a friend of mine and myself began thinking about the possiblity of bringing a team of youth from all over the US down on a 9 day mission trip. At first it was just an idea, then it became a "perhaps someday", and shortly after that it became a "what about this January?" and now it has become a reality! It's amazing how it happened -- and I know it was all God. Slowly but surely we were able to get over all of the obstacles -- plus I really began to understand all of the work my parents put into these mission teams that come down ;^) -- and through God's grace everything just seems to have been brought together! As of right now we have about 7 people who are confirmed and coming on the trip. The scheduled day of arrival for the team is Jan. 3rd. I am so excited to see how God can move when you just take the step!
It is a little late, but if anyone is interested in coming down on this trip or in helping out by filling a duffel bag with toys for children to send down with the team, please let me know and I can send more info. I would love to see more people get involved!

Alright, I need to go. The kids are about ready to get up from their nap and I really should be done! Blessings upon you guys! Let me just close with a verse that really got my attention this Sunday.

1 Peter 3:13-15
13Who is there to harm you if you prove
zealous for what is good? 14But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed
AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED,
15but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;

I remember sitting in the car that very morning when one of the kids came up to me with his Sunday school book in hand and asked me, "Why do you praise God?". What a question! I answered him that it was because I was freed from my sins through the blood of Jesus Christ. As I sat it church later that day and remembered what the little boy had said I realized just how important it is to know, and I mean really know, why it is that I live the way I do. For, if I am going to live in such a way that I desire to glorify God no matter what the cost, I had better know what it is I might have to lay my life down for.
Consider these following questions:

What is your defense for the hope that is in you?
Do you live as though you hoped in something bigger than yourself, your dreams and even your family?
If I were to ask you why you lived for God right now, would you be able to give me a firm answer without any shadow of doubt?

Just a challenge for you this week.

Week three

I have returned with tales from week the third of my stay in Los Mochis. I really haven't done anything extremely out of the ordinary... I know that some of you might think some of what I do as part of my "normal" is actually quite extraordinary -- or maybe just weird, you pick ;) . Anyway, I hope to shed just a little bit of light onto what was my third week as teacher at "Escuela Cristiana Magdelena Rincon" -- try saying that five times fast!

The beginning of the week started out like any other. After a weekend that seemed a lot shorter than it should have been I was ready to face the new day! Monday came and we all headed out to the school for a day of classes. My class went very well. I have begun reading "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" for about half an hour every other day. I think that the kids enjoy it -- though I haven't yet gotten a good system of getting them to not both one another while I am reading... I'll get there!
As far as the other subjects go, two of my students who were struggling a lot with Math finally seem to have gotten the hang of simple addition and subtraction. I think that I am more excited than they are!! My youngest student who is still at kindergarten level is starting to be able to recognize and write the numbers 1-20. That is going fairly well. He isn't much for doing worksheets, but I do feel like he is beginning to understand. Reading for most of my students is comingslowly but surely. Two of my students are already reading and two others are well on their way. The only one that I am struggling with is 10 years old and doesn't yet know all of her letters and their sounds. I have my work cut out for me with her... keep me in your prayers as I will not only need wisdom in teaching, but also patience and understanding.

On Friday I was able to go home for the weekend to visit my family. I had a great time, though it did seem like it was over before it had begun. I rested, though I didn't really sleep. I guess what I mean is that even though I didn't really spend much time sleeping, I was able to relax and I feel all the better for it. This morning -- Sunday -- I was able to play worship with my family before I had to leave. I enjoyed it ever so much! I had missed playing with them. When we got home we ate lunch and then my Dad, Jessee and I played a game of Scrabble. I was winning almost the whole time, but then at the end my Dad got a super nice word and left me in the dust... that always happens! Ah, well, it's a game! ;) Besides, what are games for but to create good memories?! Well, Mom and Dad, if you are reading this, I love you!!!! (((HUGS)))

I am not sure what to expect this week. Only one day of school was canceled last week due to the rain, but we are thinking that school might have to be canceled this week because of huricane Rick. It appears that we are going to be getting a bit of rain from this one!

I do have something that I would like all of your prayers on. For the past few months I along with one of my friends have been putting together a mission team of youth and from all over the US to come down to Mexico in January of 2010. By God's grace, things seem to be starting to fall into place and we have about three people as of now who seem fairly interested in coming. I don't know how this is going to work out, but I know that God does and I trust Him to be in control! If you would like to get more info just send me an email and I will get back to you! Thank you in advance for your prayers!

Alright, my battery is going to run out -- both literally and figuratively. Prayers that you have a blessed week! Let God COMPLETE a work in your life this week!

Phil. 1:6
"I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in
you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ."

Back in Mexico just in time for a new adventure!

Hello all my dear friends and family! I pray that this post finds you all well and blessed! I know that it has been ever so long since I have stopped by to drop a note... but you can't really blame me since I have been quite busy... well, maybe you can blame me a little because I am sure that if I would have tried harder I might have been able to at least write something. But, no matter! it is over and I am here now!

We arrived in Las Glorias safe and sound a little over a week ago. The heat was and is beastly, but I think that after the first three days we all got over the worst of it. I actually begin the think that it wasn't that it was hotter, simply that we had gotten spoiled while in the States. Anyway, the day after we arrived was spent cleaning and unpacking and all the other assundry chores one can find to do around the house. While we were in the States a friend of ours blessed us with the complete set of Little House on the Prarie (friends: if you are reading this, know that your gift has been put to good use) so when we were all sweaty and ready for a break we would retire to my parents' room and watch an episode or two... great times! And what laughs!

This last week I had the chance to help our one of the sisters in the church who just had surgery by cleaning and washing and then by taking her kids during the day for a few days! I had such a wonderful time doing it. I really love her children and I don't think that I would ever consider watching them anything but enjoyable! I pray that God would continue His work in her life and that He would be speeding the healing.

Now that a week and some has past I (on my own this time... though never alone!!) have set out on a new journey. God has opened the doors for me to be able to volunteer for three months at the deaf school in Los Mochis. As some of you may recall, I spent two weeks here about two months ago. It was amazing and I loved every --well, nearly every ;) -- minute of it!

My family brought me today and left me here at the school. I am looking forward to see what God is going to do in this time. I know that in many ways it will be a test of faith, but I am excited to see God give me opportunities to put all that I have learned into practice. It's going to be awesome!!
My duties officially start on Monday. From what I understand, I will be teaching a class for 1st grade and possibly second as well. I think that there will be 6 kids in my class -- though I could be off on the numbers. The kids that I will be teaching are hearing. Most of them either come from baad situations or are siblings of one of the deaf children in the school. About 25 kids stay here at the Bonsells' house and about that many more attend the school alongside these. The larger portion of the work is not in teaching at the school, but rather in feeding, watching and loving the 25 kids that live here. Keep me in your prayers! I know that the hardest thing for me is going to be the getting up early... I am not an early morning person. Once I am up I am up, but I have a hard time dealing with less than 9 hours of sleep. Oh well, I know that these next few weeks will cure me of that!

Here's a passage that I found to be very encouraging:

1O LORD, You are my God;
I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name;
For You have worked wonders,
Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.
2For You have made a city into a heap,
A fortified city into a ruin;
A palace of strangers is a city no more,
It will never be rebuilt.
3Therefore a strong people will glorify You;
Cities of ruthless nations will revere You.
4For You have been a defense for the helpless,
A defense for the needy in his distress,
A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat;
For the breath of the ruthless
Is like a rain storm against a wall.
5Like heat in drought, You subdue the uproar of aliens;
Like heat by the shadow of a cloud, the song of the ruthless is silenced.
6The LORD of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain;
A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow,
And refined, aged wine.
7And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples,
Even the veil which is stretched over all nations.
8He will swallow up death for all time,
And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces,
And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth;
For the LORD has spoken.
9And it will be said in that day,
"Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us
This is the LORD for whom we have waited;
Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation."
10For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain,
And Moab will be trodden down in his place
As straw is trodden down in the water of a manure pile.
11And he will spread out his hands in the middle of it
As a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim,
But the Lord will lay low his pride together with the trickery of his hands.
12The unassailable fortifications of your walls He will bring down,
Lay low and cast to the ground, even to the dust.

Aren't the promises that our Lord gives us wonderful and beyond all compare! Blessed be His name!

Alright, I would like to go to bed now. It's been a long day and morning comes quickly! I will try and be around again soon!
Until such a time as I am able, I remain forever in His arms of grace!
Blessings to you all!

Pictures from deaf school

Hello everyone!! I hope that this finds you all quite well and strong in the Lord. I know that it has taken me forever to get back on here to update you all... but it really couldn't be helped. Since I have been gone for awhile it is going to take me a few posts to get caught up to the present, but I am hoping for an uneventful week ahead in which to write several posts. Let's hope and pray that it works out!

This first post is going to be mostly just pictures with captions, but as they (don't ask me who "they" is; I have no clue) say, "a picture is worth a thousand words". So, every time you see a picture just imagine that I wrote a thousand words!

HERE WE GO!!

Aren't they all the sweetest looking kids! They really are! This is on the way to church in the Bonsels' SUV. I think that they have us beat on the number of kids that they fit in that vehicle. I think that the final count on Sunday was 20. That's the kids and adults all added together.

Ahh... the boys playing with their tops. They did this every opportunity that they could get. Every afternoon one of us (the girls volunteering at the school) would take the kids out the park to play and burn off excess energy. It didn't always work, but it did help!

This is Jenna (blue dress and bangs), Teresa (red shirt) and Petra. Petra has been working at the school for three years. Teresa has been working there for 8 months and Jenna arrived the day after I did-- she stayed until the first week of July. Christy is the other girl who was volunteering at the school. She had been there for three months.

Estefania and Brian! Aren't they so cute!

Tops again!

This was at a birthday party we went to for a friends mom. We had a great time hanging out with everyone. Christy (the girl who I said was working at the school) is the one in the red dress.

Everyone looks so tired in this picture! We were on our way back to the school after the party.

Sergio!

Proof that I was there!



Making lunch. We had BLTs. Very yummy!


The school itself is set up in two buildings. One is the actual school and the other is the home of the Bonsells and about 20 other children. The main job of the staff working at the school is to take care of the children before and after classes. My job was to help out in the school in the mornings and then in the afternoons Christy, Jenna and I rotated the rest of the jobs amongst ourselves (bathing the kids in the evening, supervising naptime, taking the kids out to the park, preparing meals, etc.).

In conclusion, I must say that I had a great two weeks at the deaf school. It was a dificult schedule, but I think that I benefited from it. I enjoyed working with the kids and the ladies that I had the priviledge of working alongside were a wonderful encouragement to me. I already miss everyone I met there and am hoping to be able to return soon, Lord willing. I am praying about it!

Alright, now I need to go. God bless you all!