Learning to Juggle on Thanksgiving :)
Busy eating yummy food
I ate some sugar cane with some great friends...delicious
Christmas with one of my best friends
My mom's visit to Mexico!
So I just want to update you guys after a couple of busy months. I went home for Thanksgiving and it was LOVELY. I got to see lots of great friends and eat some good food and spend time with my family. Home looks totally different, by the way, after a years time. Then I headed back to Mexico and jumped straight into working in the university and in Bible studies. In fact, my first night back in Mexico I had a Bible study to go to - and God immediately put joy in my heart when I saw the sweet faces of my Mexican friends, just in case I might have been a little homesick ;)
In December I really thought my work load would slow down because of the holidays but that didn't seem to be the case at all. I was running all over the place :) to my great delight. My roommate went home for three weeks during Christmas so I was here alone, but busy. I think God had me work to keep me from being lonely - blessings. I got to spend Christmas with my Pastor's family which was really great because his daughter is one of my very best friends. It was very similar to Christmas at home - we went to church and then we went to a relative's house for dinner...I think we ate around 11:30 ;) Most of the food had nuts in it so I couldn't eat it (story of my life) but overall it was a fantastic night. I left them at about 2:30 in the morning and they had just started watching a movie - They LOVE to stay up late. I woke up in the morning with another family that is here...great friends! I got to watch their kids open presents and I got a few presents of my own :) We ate puerto rican food for lunch which was delicious and definitely made my Christmas away from home complete.
Then my mom came to visit for a week! She was here after Christmas but during new years. We did a lot of sight seeing around León and also in a nearby city. It was not just great to see my mom but also great to show her where I live and let her meet my friends. I think she communicated pretty well for not knowing any Spanish :)
So now I feel like I am starting over. I have about 7 months left here in León and part of me is wondering what I can do here in 7 months that will have real eternal impact. Pray with me as I continue sharing the Bible in the universities. Pray for my friend R who is working with me to reach the students. We want to really share the gospel message so that if these students don't come back they will at least have heard the good news: "repent for the kingdom of God is near."
Please also pray for Colonia M (which basically means neighborhood or a colony of houses). I am teaching English in this area and I am not sure where to go with my lessons now. The center I am teaching in is going to open again this coming week and I am not sure if I should start over with my lessons to try to encourage new students to come or if I should continue building on what I have already taught - please pray that it will become clear what I should do. Also please pray for a real open door in this center. I have asked if I can start a Bible class and the Director of the center told me that I can but that it just depends on interest in the community - please pray that many would be interested. Also I would like to really reach out to the youth that live in this community that aren't in school and are also not really working. I want to share the truth with them on their level - pray that I could begin building relationships with them and really just meet them...pray that God will give me guidance and wisdom about how to start.
Also, there is a new area of town that I scouted one day as I was looking for other community centers. My roommate also scouted this same area on a completely separate occasion and also feels led to begin working there. God is very good in how he has been working out our callings and making clear his desires for us. Please pray for this area - it is extremely large so I am not sure how to name it but I am just going to call it Comfort for right now. So please pray for Colonia Comfort and what God would have us do there.
I want to again thank you all for keeping up with my life here in Mx. I am so grateful for your prayers and notes! please let me know how I can also be praying for you all...I do not want this to be a one way street. We all need to be lifted up to the father - we are the BODY of Christ and he calls us to pray together. please let me know how I can be lifting you up!
