MMMMEEEEXXXXIIIICCCCOOOOOO!!!!

Brothers and Sisters in the faith,

I just want to thank you all again for your continued prayer for me. I know that it is a huge commitment to pray for me during these two years but please know

that I am so grateful. I have needed your prayers a lot lately. I didn’t expect this transition to be as hard as it has been but I know that there is a purpose in it. It seems that sometimes God allows me to struggle so that I can relate to the pain of those around me. This has been a lonely time - In Guatemala I was surrounded by other believers my age and I think I took that for granted. I now have a wonderful team here in Leon - they really are great and I am so blessed by them but at the same time I have a hunger for fellowship in the body with others my age, with others that share my desire for adventure. It is difficult for me to get out in this city everyday alone. The wonderful thing is that God really has been showing up even though it has been hard for me to show up. The guy that I met at the ice skating rink, M, has invited me to his house several times to eat with his family and his wife, B, and I have gone walking and gotten to know each other better. I found out that they only received Christ about 3 or 4 weeks ago so I am sure that this meeting was not an accident. I have asked them about reading the Bible and at this point they don’t really know how to go about it so pray that we can begin reading the Bible together and that this can become a Bible study. These people are definitely people of peace for me so please be in prayer for them. They have 3 children, M, J, & C.

Please also be in prayer for me this week as I am finding all of the Universities in the city and trying to find out which campuses I am allowed on. I went to one University last week and I talked with the director of languages about starting up conversation groups in English. She seemed very skeptical so please pray for her and also pray for me as I try to come up with ideas to present to her through email - please also pray that the email will be clear as I have to write it in Spanish.

I also want to share what has been going on here in Mexico for the last few weeks. There is a celebration/worship service tomorrow in a city called San Juan del Lagos. This specific day is for worshiping the Virgin of San Juan who they believe can give them miracles. People from all over Mexico have been walking to San Juan del lagos in order to receive more blessings - the further they walk the more blessing the receive. Me and another missionary here happened upon a parade of these “pilgrims” as they are called and we followed them to a camp site here in Leon. This was only one of many camp sites but we walked up and talked to a man there about the pilgrimage and their beliefs. This particular virgin is not Mary but they pray to her just as they do Mary in the Catholic church. We listened to a prayer and they believe that she can take away their sins and heal their infirmities. Please be in pray for all of these pilgrims - some that we met had been walking for 15 days from Mexico City. Please pray that God would bring down these idols and that the truth of Jesus would be presented to these people. Please also pray that these people would not be satisfied in their worship of this idol.

I am so grateful for all of your prayers and encouragement! The body of Christ is an incredibly beautiful gift. I am including a prayer calendar that I made for myself and for all of you to help you pray better for this city if you would like. It is only meant to be a reminder to pray and to hopefully give ideas of the needs in this city - I hope it is helpful. I am also attaching a link to more pictures that you can look at on Facebook. Thank you all for everything!

For more pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2653710&id=4922382

Proof of my skating classes....