"I've never seen a chicken in a grocery store!"

"I've never seen a chicken in a grocery store!" I said in amazement. My friend quickly followed it up with "Well, not alive!" I'm not sure why yet, but there were probably about 25-30 chicks in a cage above the eggs. You'll notice all the red, white, and green in the photo also--Independence Day is quickly approaching, so I'll be learning about how Mexicans celebrate September 15th.

Tuna...Fruit?

You may have seen this "Prickly Pear" Cactus fruit at the grocery store before. Here in Mexico, it is called "tuna". I have about 20 lbs of it in my fridge right now, waiting to be frozen whole and in juice. There are many different things you can do with tuna, from jelly, to juice, to salad dressing! I'm looking forwards to trying it in salad dressing! :-)

SUMMER FUN

Here's a glimpse of my summer:

Make a Smilebox slideshow

New Verb Tenses

"He" and "They" in Subjunctive

This week I began doing verb drills to learn a new verb tense, present subjunctive. This week I was learning how to say "I want (you, him, them, us) to (subjunctive verb)." For example, in the picture above, "He" and "They" were doing what I wanted: sweeping, saying "hi", singing, holding hands, buying things, and many more actions. You may be able to tell, that by the end of the activity "They" had turned into the Three Blind Mice and were also firefighters!

Subjunctive is easy to form in Spanish, but there are over 15 ways to use it in natural speech! So the drills are to learn when to use it and to recognize it when I hear it. Please pray for me as I practice this new verb tense.

Translations

Rous and I work together almost every day during the week, and I've missed her so much the past two weeks! Two weeks ago was VBS, and last week she got to go to youth camp with the youth from our church. I'm excited to hear about camp and what she learned.

A few weeks ago now, during the English half of our classes, I was quizzing Rous on the nouns she knows and a new topic: rooms in her house. We had a map, and if the noun on the card was in her house, she put the card in that room and said where it was.

"Do you have a piano?"

Table. Up. Highway.

Sometimes I wonder what I sound like in Spanish to a native listener, and I think this day I got my answer. The message gets across ("In the upstairs hallway on the table") but it's not proper, and a native would never say it that way. It was a reminder to hit all my vowels, get my tone right, and most importantly STRESS! Now that I've officially added four tenses, my stress on the word is very important. It can change the word I was to say from "I did it" to "I want him to do it"...Confusing? Yea, I get confused, too!

Thank you for your persistent prayers as I learn Spanish!

VBS in Chihuahua

Please take a few moments to watch these pictures of our week at VBS!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

And To Top It All Off...

Tonight we had "Family Night" for VBS, and it went very well. Each class did a presentation and all the kids sang their songs. VBS was a success!

You know that one kid in VBS that you just can't imagine is hearing because he is so distracted? Here's ours from the 4-5 year olds. As I was helping with "crowd control Friday night, this little boy was rolling around on the floor. I'd seen him in action throughout the week and decided the best thing to do was to keep the other kids' attentions on the teacher...just when this one answered a question correctly! Yes, he continued rolling around, but I realized that my idea of "paying attention" may not be his--and God still was working in this little boy's heart.

Here are more boys from 4-5 year olds...trying to sneak out!

When I got home, this little fellow was waiting to surprise me in the bathroom! He was in the shower, and a friend found him. We thought he was dead because he wasn't moving. He proved us wrong as he was thrown over the wall--he began swimming in mid-air! I have no clue how he entered the house, but I'm on the lookout for lizards and geckos now!

Cooper Has Arrived!

Many of you know my brother, Tim, as well as me, so I wanted to share his news with you. Cooper David was born on July 21st. He is Tim and Britney's first baby. Everyone is back home now, and Tim is enjoying feeding him and changing diapers. Britney has been able to rest up for when Tim returns to Virginia to finish his last two months in the Navy.

7lbs9oz, 19 1/2 inches

Tim, Britney, and Cooper

VBS Days 2 & 3

VBS is going well and strong!

Here are three boys from the older group. If you click on the picture, it will load a larger copy--you can see the Mexican Mordecai's better! Left to right we have: Mordecai with bling, Mordecai with a mustache, and Mordecai with chest hair escaping his robe. Don't know if that's Kosher...

This is my favorite picture of Day 3. Yep, chewing on the table--but watching me in the reflection of his crown!

The game for Day 3 was to give a "gift" to the world. They each painted their thumbs and marked it on the continent of the team they were on. I enjoyed watching as the kids "ran" with a rock on a spoon in their mouths and a lime between their legs. They didn't get far fast. :-)

My mouth is healing well, and we have not had anymore problems from the person who threw the rock. Please keep praying for the neighborhood the church is in, the church is a mission church and only a few years old--but growing in size and in the Lord! It would be great to hear that someone from the neighborhood who was strongly opposed to the location of the church came to know the Lord as a result of the ministry of the church.

Keep praying for these kids as they study through Esther.

VBS: DAY 1--check

Day one for VBS went very well here in Chihuahua. We had a "growing group" throughout the evening, and ended up with around 25 kids. As many of you know, Monday is only the beginning, and we will continue to grow throughout the week!

Here are some of the kids learning the first song "Nunca Olvidaremos" (We Will Never Forget) This year's curriculum is from Esther.

Here are some of our middle group--probaby from 7-8 or 9 years old--making Mordecai's and Esther dolls. Last night the task was to paint the head and the top half of the bottle and glue on little hands. Some of the kids ended up painting half of themselves, too!

And what would VBS be without a little "event". A not-so-happy citizen threw this rock over the wall into our open air room. I managed to catch it with my lips! I have all my teeth, nothing broken, just two fat lips and a little soreness.

Please keep praying for these kids. One class had three Mormon girls in it. When describing Mordecai, one boy asked, "Is he Catholic?" There is quite a diverse group, and many of these kids are unsaved. Please pray specifically that the Holy Spirit will work in their hearts, and that these precious children will see a need for God in their lives!

I Freckle in the Paint

I forgot to take a picture yesterday before cleaning up, but I was completely freckled in yellow paint! I'll be moving next month into a new house, and yesterday I saw my landlady painting. I told her I liked to paint, and asked if I could help when I got back from the store. She finally let me help after warning me that my clothes would get paint on them. :-) I did my best to explain that I painted for two years while I was in the training...I think I got most of the message across! After painting the ceiling and three walls a light yellow, she let me pick out the color for the fourth wall. She had about 10 cans of paint to chose from, and I chose a bright green. When we got it open, we discovered that at some point someone had added black to it and it was dark green! She declared the color "triste" (sad), so we found some other small amounts of greens and concocted our own green. The color turned out well, and we scheduled next Saturday for painting together again! God provided a great opportunity to spend three hours with a Spanish speaker on an otherwise empty Saturday!

This week we start VBS at church. I'll be helping Monday and Tuesday with the craft: we're making Mordecai and Esther out of Coke bottles, material, yarn, paint, and googley eyes! I'll be sure to put a picture up later. Thanks in advance for your prayers about VBS!

Walking in Forgiveness

"God didn’t make you with the capacity to carry all the negative residue from your past. He doesn’t expect you to store it or ignore it. We call it emotional baggage, but parts of our past are really more like toxic trash or radioactive waste. Forgiveness is what God gives to free us and others from the weight of relational failure. If we want the kind of life that God promises us, forgiveness is God’s solution. Pastor James tells us today how to become experts at forgiveness."

Forgiveness is something that God regular reminds me of its necessity. I hope you'll listen to this message and see the application for your life.

Click here or you can download the free podcast on iTunes. The message will only be available for a few more days. I encourage you to listen to the series on forgiveness.

A Little Confusion

It's July, and what does July always mean?

Vacation Bible School.

The ladies at my church here in Chihuahua have asked me to help with VBS at the end of the summer. I agreed, yet simultaneously wondering how I could fit in. I'm used to teaching or helping to teach--and I am definitely not ready for that yet! So the lady in charge of the music asked if I would come and learn the music and the motions. I thought--yes! I can do motions in any language!

So yesterday I went to practice, and watched the professional children do all the hand motions, steps (yes, their feet were moving, too!), and, generally, just dance around the stage. The kids looked great, and the other helpers did a great job also--this was not their first practice. I couldn't really understand most of the words, and finally asked to borrow the lyrics. There was this one song that really confused me, the chorus certainly couldn't be saying what I thought it was saying:

Tú gracia es mi Oxxo

Tú gracia es muy cerca

Translation of what I heard:

Your grace is my Oxxo (the local Circle K)

Your grace is very close

After getting the lyrics, I discovered the true meaning:

Tú gracia es me alcanza

Tú gracia es me salvo

Translation of true lyrics:

Your grace reaches to me

Your grace saves me

It was pretty difficult to even understand the motions for the songs, as I don't really know what the lyrics are! Please pray with me for our upcoming VBS at La Mision Dios Con Nosotros (God With Us Mission Church) at the end of July. Please also pray that we will find a way that I can fit in using what Spanish I know!

A USA Weekend

This past weekend I went to El Paso for some final visa paperwork. There were no problems with the visa, and I made it back into Chihuahua on Sunday evening. Friday I spent the day shopping, and on Saturday I went to McNeal, AZ to visit a friend of a friend. McNeal is where NTM has an aviation training center, and it is the base for all the planes NTM flies in countries around the world. Major repairs are done to the planes here, and pilots are trained how to take off and land on incredibly short air strips.

I had flown in a small plane in Brasil in 2004, but this weekend I got to fly in a Super Cub. It was made in the 1950s, and is still in great condition.

Would you please pray for the NTM missionaries who maintain and train our pilots around the world? Without the aviation program, there are many tribes that could not be reached in countries like Indonesia, the Philippines, Senegal, and Papua New Guinea.

Discada

This week an American work group is at my Mexican church for a construction work trip. They arrived last night, and we welcomed them with a traditional "discada". It's named this for the disk that the meal is cooked on. The disk is a tractor disk, with a few extra pieces welded on.

This is Judit and Sarai's mom getting the onions started.

My Mexican father (Judit and Sarai's dad) cooking up the onions.

They gave me the tools for the photo, and since the guy before me had been stirring, I started stirring. I was scolded! "No! Just for the picture!"

As the meat is cooked, more things are added: ham, cilantro, tomato...

And the most important step, warming the tortillas! All Mexican stoves have a center-piece which is used for warming up the tortillas.

Me with my first plate of discada

Rous is helping me with my Spanish, and I help her with her English. We're having a lot of fun together, and enjoying our mistakes!

La Fruteria

On Friday, my language helper Claudia and I went to a fruteria to take pictures for class--and by some fresh fruits and vegetables. It's more common to buy from a vender near your house than to go to a larger store, like Walmart (yes, we have 2 Walmarts in town!)

The purpose of the pictures is to get "action verbs", so here I am "squatting". I'll find out Monday how to say that in Spanish.

Most of the produce was outside the store. This picture will give me the term they use here in Mexico for checking a cantaloupe (or hopefully any produce!)

The owner was really great, and even posed for us when I paid too quickly for the picture. He was slightly confused at first when I tried to give him more money! He's definitely honest--he was so confused about the extra peso, which is why we're laughing.

So what did I buy?

4 Roma tomatoes

2 potatoes

2 avocados

4 bananas

What did it cost?

25 pesos

...or...

$1.87

Rain, Rain

So what does my guard dog do last night during the electrical storm?

She gets scared and has to cuddle!

Today she just waited at the door about 30 minutes before she finally stepped outside.

What good is a scaredy-cat guard dog? She has adjusted well to her temporary home, but seems to be very afraid of the thunder and lightning. It's been about 5 years since I lived full-time with a dog, so I'd forgotten they don't usually like storms!

Girls Night Out

Tonight was my last visit with Dr. Paquot, the doctor who removed my tonsils. He is very nice, and released me to "lead a normal life." I'll do what I can!

I asked my friend Becky to take me to the appointment, and afterwards we went out to eat and grocery shopping. It was a fun night out on the town, just the two of us!

Here I am at "Super Salads": a BBQ Salad and Steak Pitas

Becky had an amazing Hawaiian Salad and Steak Pitas

Here's a better view of the food: It was amazing!

House Sitting, Dog Sitting

This summer, I not only get to house sit, but I have a few opportunities to dog sit, too! As fellow missionaries take brief furloughs and vacations, they often leave behind empty houses and dogs needing food and especially water! I am getting to house sit, and today I got the first of three dogs for the summer.

This is me with my pit bull for two weeks, Sophie. She's very sweet, and seems to be exhausted--she's fast asleep on the floor right now! The first day in a new place is always the hardest. :-)

A Week for Directions

This week the lesson focus is "directions". So after we got to class, we got directions from our teacher to a lookout point in town. It's a pretty large mountain in the center of town. We started in the north part of town at the school, and headed down a familiar road. We had directions to turn left at a statue of a woman. When we turned, we ended up on a dead-end road. After asking a traffic cop how to get there, we arrived without any problems!

A small part of Chihuahua...yes, it's so sprawling it fades in the distance!

This man is halfway up the mountain, and he is huge!

A Healing and A Visit

Thirteen days later, my throat feels much better.  The scabs are practically all gone now, and there is very little pain.  Thank you so much for your prayers throughout the tonsillectomy and healing process!  I have one last doctor's visit in one week to check on the healed tissue.I'm grateful for all the visitors I had--Judit and her sister Sarai came to visit me on Tuesday to check on me and make sure I was eating enough popsicles!

My mom came on Saturday to visit me for a week.  What a blessing to have her come and experience where I live and what I do here in Mexico!  We went for two days to Creel, Mexico to see Copper Canyon, Cusarare Falls, and Basaseachi Falls.

Mom and I at Copper Canyon

Jason and Mom crossing the suspension bridge over a part of the canyon

A Tarahumara house near Cusarare Falls

We had a great time visiting, eating "mom food", and just being together!  Thanks for visiting, Mom!

Still Healing

This picture was pre-surgery...nothing post-surgery on Monday is worth sharing!  I'm healing well, and shockingly fast!  Yesterday, Thursday, was supposed to be the worst day of pain, and I felt really good!  Today there is still pain, but I'm doing well.  Thank you for all your prayers!

At Home

I'm back home from the operation.  I came home Monday around noon, and spent the next few hours sleeping off the anesthesia.  Today I'm doing better--lots of liquids, and even had a little bit of solid food.  Thanks so much for your prayers!

It's Time!

It's 9PM Sunday night, and in 12 hours I will be having my tonsillectomy!  Please pray that the surgery will go well, and that the healing process will be quick!  I'll try to update shortly after the surgery, but can't make any promises yet. :-)  Maybe Tuesday I'll get an update on here.  Thanks ahead of time for your prayers!

Goodbye, Tonsils!

Well, there's the proof: there's a living room inside my head.

Okay, so not really! :-)  Monday, May 25th, I'll be having a tonsillectomy and I was required to go have blood work and an x-ray of my head.  Between the two, I spent less than $50 at the lab!  Hard to believe when compared to the cost difference in the States!  

Please pray for this surgery, that it will go well, and that the doctor will be successful at taking out the tonsils.  I have met with the doctor twice now, and he is very fluent in English.  This has helped a lot in reassuring me about the surgery!  My roommate Tanya will be with me to help with any necessary translation on Monday, and she plans to stay with me for a few days until I am better.  

Thank you ahead of time for lifting this surgery up to the Lord!

Resting in Him,

Carrie

PS--Don't be alarmed, there are not weird objects in my head, just furniture in the living room on the other side of the x-ray! :-)

Mother's Day

Me, Silvia, and Dorothy

For Mother's Day, the girls at church presented the mothers with potted flowers.  Judit was trying to explain to me which mom was mine to give my flower to.

The boys and husbands sang a song to the moms in church.

I was told that Mother's Day was a big holiday here, but I didn't realize just how big it is!  Traditionally, sons go around in groups Saturday night and sing to their moms.  I knew they tried to get a "head start" on the holiday and basically celebrate all day long.  I was going to bed at 12 Saturday night and heard the music start up!  One groups started in the neighborhood behind my house.  So I was serenaded to sleep as the party was starting.  

Then at church Sunday, the boys sang a song and the girls gave the moms flowers.  Afterwards the church had a taco restaurant cater lunch.  We had tacos, salad, and a large cake.  The moms at the church were treated and pampered all day!

Butterflies and Caterpillars

This morning in class, we were talking about who we are in Christ.  This may be the biggest thing that has stuck with me from Bible school.  I love to look at Ephesians 1 and see who I am in Christ: blessed with every spiritual blessing (v.3), chosen (v.4), holy and blameless before him (v.4), adopted (v. 5), in the Beloved (v.6), redeemed (v.7), forgiven (v.7), co-inheritors with Christ (v.11), and we are the praise of His glory! (v.12)  These are only a few of the qualities we as Christians have now that we are hidden in the life of Christ.  I love to think of these things, and know without a doubt that these things are my Truth!  This is who I am, my past, and my future.

We often think of "transformation" in the picture of a butterfly.  We all know that caterpillars go into a cocoon, and reveal themselves as butterflies.  I learned something new about butterflies today, that I want you to really think about (even if this is not new to you!)  A caterpillar does not merely sprout wings to become a butterfly.  While in his cocoon, he melts down completely and is truly transformed from one being to another.  He has aspects of his old caterpillar-being, but he is now a new being.  So much so that he receives a new name--butterfly!  

Consider the spiritual application here--before Christ we were separated from God (Eph. 2:12) and condemned by works of the flesh (Rom. 8:3).  Now that we are IN CHRIST, we are together with Christ: co-inheritors in fact! (Eph. 1: 11)  In contrast to our "before Christ" days, we are also created in Christ Jesus for good works (Eph. 2:10).  In these two ways, we see how being in Christ has drastically transformed us from one being to another--once separated, now together; one condemned by works of the flesh, now created for good works!  

Feel like you're in "melt-down" mode lately?  Maybe you're right where God wants you!  Consider who you are in Him, read Ephesians, or check to see where you can find "in Him" or "in Christ" in your Bible.  I promise, you'll be encouraged at what you find! 

Remember Memory?

This week I was thinking about how I could "liven up" my language learning.  In many of my classes, I point to an object, ask what it is, and my language helper says the name.  This gets tiring after a few days--let alone months or years of study!  I realized I needed a change of pace.  I started thinking about when I was little, and what we do with little kids when they are learning English.  I remembered the game "Memory"!  Do you remember it?  I remember playing it, and memorizing which card had the corner torn, or which card was folded and was creased--had to find someway to remember the cards!  So this week I made my own "Memory" game.  I took 14 nouns, drew them twice, colored them, and pasted them on cardstock.  Now my teachers and roommates get to play Memory with me! :-)  The picture is the first night the game was ready: Nazareth and Silvia played a half deck with me.  The rules in this Memory game require me to speak the nouns each time the card is turned over, then to say whether or not they cards are the same.  This gets me saying the gender of the noun (nouns have gender in Spanish) and pluralizing them when they are the same.  This is a great activity.  Any other ideas out there for ways to liven up language learning?