I am home.

I am sorry that I have not written in so long. But I am at my sister's house with my nephew and I am having a blast. I had a wonderful 10 months in Guatemala. It was hard to say goodbye but I am glad to be home. I will not be going back next year. If anyone would like to go and teach English to the kids let me know and I will get you the contact information for the Spaughs.

God bless and thank you all for your prayers and support.

My Final days in guatemala.

We are going to Antigua today to do some final shopping and get some things that I have not been able to get for family and friends at home.

I can hardly believe that this is basically my last day in Guatemala. We will be at the airport at 6:15 in the morning and I will leave at about 12:45 to go home.

Yesterday in Patzún it was a little hard to say good bye. I was not the only one crying. Please pray for the church and school. Pray for the children to continue to go to church and school. Pray for the leaders of the church and school that they will have wisdom and do what the Lord wants and not what they think is best.

Thank you for all of your support this year.

Dios bendiga a todos ustedes.

God bless all of you.

My final days in Patzún.

Yesterday we had a big party at church. I heard several different things that the party could be for but no one said that they knew what it was really. I heard that it was a birthday party for aunt Cindy or a party to welcome the new deacons and elders or a party to say good bye to me.

Boy was I surprised when the party was for all of the above.

We had a great time and I was able to get several family pictures with kids from the school and church. I will be very sad to leave Patzún for the last time tomorrow. Lord willing I will have the opportunity to come back and visit.

Thank you all for your prayers and I will see you soon. I will leave Guatemala city at 12:45 my time and fly to Atlanta about 8:48pm their time and then fly into the Huntsville Airport Thursday night around 8:44 Huntsville time. Please pray for a safe and uneventful flight.

God bless you all.

October 8, 2010

School ended today.

I am not sure if that makes me happy or sad. I am happy that I will be going home but sad that I will be leaving all of my friends and all of the children here. I will miss them all. I hope that I will be able to come back and visit sometime. My time here has been a learning experience and a blessing. I will not forget this time.

Thank you to the Spaughs for giving me this opportunity and to all of my friends and family that prayed for and supported me while I have been here.

I am going home on Thursday the 14th of October. I can hardly believe how fast my time here has gone by.

October 6, 2010

Final day of school is Friday.

That means that I have been giving test this week. Tuesday I gave four grades their tests in two hours. On a normal test day each class would have been given an hour each to complete the test. Preschool would have been given at least an hour because I do each child individually because they can not read. This week with the help of Aunt Cindy we did nine children in about 30 minutes. This week has been crazy and it is just beginning. Spaughs left just a few minutes ago to drive to the capital they have a couple staying at their house this week starting tomorrow and ending on Tuesday. Then on Thursday Lord willing they will be leaving for the states and so will I. Please pray for safety and health for all of us this week.

I look forward to seeing all of you again but I do not look forward to leaving all of my friends here. I told a family tonight that I am leaving in one week the first thing that they asked was when are you coming back? I will miss them all and I think and hope that they will miss me too.

October 3, 2010

We had a basketball game yesterday and We Won!!!!

It was a hard game but we won 18 to 6. No one was hurt and we all had fun. Praise the Lord we had three new players on our team and that helped a lot.

I will post a picture of the team when I get one.

September 29, 2010

I can hardly believe that the week went by so quickly. Mom and dad and Jonathan and Josiah flew in Tuesday the 21st and stayed until yesterday the 28th. We had a great time. We went to Panajachel and to Antigua. We went to the market here in Patzún on Sunday and bought some fruit. And last Thursday we went to the market in Antigua and did some shopping for souvenirs.

They are home safely!

Their first Guatemalan meal was at a Pollo Comperro (same family as KFC).

On Wednesday mom went to all of my classes and daddy and the boys went to some of them. They even played the review game with the kids.

This is the market in Panajachel.

I am not sure what Josiah was looking at but it must have been interesting.

Eating with Domingo and his family. The first real Guatemalan meal.

Beans and cheese a small piece of meat and coffee.

The radio station in Patzún.

There coming!!!!

Just 5 1/2 more days until my mom and dad and two brothers will be here for a whole week. I am so excited. We are going to have a lot of fun. Please be praying last time I talked to my dad mom still did not have a passport. Please pray that it will come today so that they do not have any problems.

The Game!

I am leaving for our first game in about 15 minutes. I was told last night that this game is a practice game and that next Saturday is the first real game. I hope that we do well and do not freeze.

First Game!

Saturday is our first Basketball game. We have to be at the court at 6:00am Saturday.

I am not sure if we are ready for a game or not. We will be short one player so pray for our team to do it's best and for all of us to have the right attitude no matter if we win or lose.

Basketball!

Some of you know that I was recruited by our church for the basketball team. Well I need your prayers in 3 days we have had 7 and a half hours of practice and I can hardly move. I am so sore that it is not funny. Please pray for our team that all of the hours of practice we are putting in will be worth it. God bless each of you.

Time is flying!

I can hardly believe that in just 21 short days my family will be here for one whole week.

I have to admit that I am not just sitting and waiting for them to get here. Yesterday was a very busy day. My Sunday started at 6:00am with Basketball practice. Then I taught an English class then I spent three hours helping decorate the church for the talent night at the church. Each of the youth demonstrated their talent some sang songs and others did other things. Then we had a man give his testimony I have never heard anything like it. His testimony made me think of how blessed I am to have the family that I have and that I grew up going to church and hearing that God loves me. After the service each of the girls in the youth group sold some kind of food that they had made. It was a great day. Today I taught English and I was even able to teach ALL of the grades. Between band and gymnastics I have not had all of the kids in all of the classes for several weeks. God bless you all.

August 18, 2010

Jayme and James are coming today. Uncle Ken and Aunt Cindy are are very excited. Jayme and James will be here for one month. I am glad that they are able to spend that much time here with Uncle Ken and Aunt Cindy.

Hope that they have fun while they are here.

August 18, 2010

Yesterday was a big day for me. I Went to the ladies meeting and was asked to lead the music and prayer time. I do not know how well I did but we sang some songs and had a prayer time and then a devotional by one of the other ladies. I hope that they all could understand my Spanish.

Please pray for the ladies. Only a few ladies come to the meetings and I think that they are getting discouraged. Pray that God will bring more ladies. Also pray for the health of everyone in the group most of the ladies have some kind of sickness. But they still keep on going. Pray for strength and encouragement.

The Countdown has started.

I have started the countdown. Mom dad and the boys will be here in 37 days. I can't wait. I am not sure what all we will do when they get here but I am sure that we will have fun simply because we are together. I wish that the rest of you could come visit also. I miss you all and will see you in November. God bless and keep you in his service.

Tickets.

We have purchased the tickets! My family really is coming to Guatemala. I never dreamed that they would actually get to come but they are and I am so excited.

Passports!!!!

Mom dad and the boys did the paper work for their passports on Friday and will be taking pictures to the passport office tomorrow. After that we wait for them to come back in the mail. We are having the passports expedited so that they will be back in time for the flight. Please pray that the passports can be processed quickly and without any problems.

Mom you can't see it very well but this is what your visa will look like when you get to Guatemala.

August 13, 2010

Last night I finished a bib for my nephew. I have started a blanket for a lady that is going to have a baby this month. I hope that I can get it finished quickly.

Aunt Cindy is going to teach me how to make temari balls.

August 11,2010

I am sorry that I have not written in so long. We have had a group here from Tennessee. They put in a water purification system. We are very grateful to them.

Today I got some really great news. My family is going to come and see me!!!!!

Dad and Mom and three of my brothers will be here next month for a visit. Please be in prayer as they get passports and prepare to come. They will fly in on September 21st and leave on September 28th. Please pray for safety and for God's provision. Thank you and God bless you all.

What have you been doing?

Did you ask what I have been doing? Well lets see..... Monday and Tuesday I taught English in the school. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I started helping prepare a building for a cement roof. I started work at 7:30am and worked until 10:30am had a 10 to 15 minute break for a snack and then went back to work until noon had an hour for lunch and then worked until 6:30pm or 7:00pm then cooked supper and went to bed. Friday we finished around 4:00pm. Today my day started at 5:15am. I got up washed some clothes (in the pila not in a machine) and then went strait to work carrying cement for the roof. Today we finished around 10:30. I learned a lot of new Spanish words this week. I hope that someday I will need them again.

The first picture is of the foam panel. The second is where it goes and the third is a closer picture of my work. I wired the panel to the rebar.