Viva Mexico!

Last Friday the 16th was Mexican Independence Day.  The celebrations actually start at 11PM on the night before, the 15th.  That's because at 11PM every Mexican turns on their TV and watch the President go out on the balcony of one of the parliament buildings, rings a bell a few times.  And then the President yells some things like ' Viva Mexico!' and everybody present and watching (aka all Mexicans) respond by yelling 'VIVA!'  And he goes through a progressing of maybe 10 different sentences, each one ended by yelling 'VIVA!'

The church in Tlalpan had a service that night, a time of preaching and prayer followed by lots of food.  The food included Pozole (the traditional food for Independence Day), tamales, quesadillas, and sopes.  All very, very good.  Then we turned on the TV, to watch the President and participate in the yelling.  Then we fellowshipped some more and brought out a couple pinatas. We had a lot of fun watching the kids take their shots at the pinata.

On Sunday (yesterday), we celebrated with the church in Coyoacan.  After the church service we went to the home of Rogerio and Cinthia and we all had more pozole and good times.

Here are some pictures....

Things I've made recently

Ok, this first picture is of a plant Don Jesus (our neighbour <--- yes, that's Canadian spelling) gave us.  The pot was a yogurt container that I spray painted brown and added a little fabric for style.  I like repurposing things.

Over the Mexican Independence Holiday's/Day's off from school, we varnished our table.  It took about three days because we had to wait so long in between coats.  It turned out nice.  The top coat isn't as nice as it could've been because our brush was pretty much shot by then, was rock solid from previous coats.  It is so hard to wash varnish out of brushes!!!!

This is a dress I made.  Its super comfy!  Even though at moments I wanted to pull out my hair (because I didn't have a pattern), I'm very happy with how it turned out.  The top is made from a T-shirt and then I used denim for the skirt part.  But it is actually attached together, its a dress.  I made it in an evening, on a whim.  And I love it, I'm sure I'll wear it a regularly.  

 

And another post- two in one day- what a record!!!!

I just thought I'd post some pics from last Sunday when Jason was preaching at the church in Coyoacan (aka Church in the bookstore, aka 'Wayne's church', etc).

Ya- it's crowded.  Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Things I've been up to.

I knitted this rug and I love it!  It's a simple basket weave stitch, double stranded. I had fun making it.  

I cut out the counter in the picture because it was full of dishes!!!! *oops* :)

This is a chili pot pie.  It was DELISH!  Yup, B for Boyle.  Cheesy, right?  Couldn't think of anything else.

This is a wreath I just finished making today.  I saw it at a friend's house and thought it was so cute, though her colours were very 90's-ish.   I picked blues to match the bathroom (where it now graces the wall).  Here's the process...

It's a foam wreath and I started out by using a glue gun, but, well, that got messy.  I found poking it with a pen MUCH easier.

But wait, there's more pictures!!!!

These are my fall decorations.  Put them up yesterday and I'm feeling 'fall-ish' now.  Since there are only 2 seasons in Mexico (rain and non-rain), its hard to feel 'fall-ish' and, come winter.... bring on the Christmas decorations, its the only way I can get in the mood, since the weather's not doing it for me!

So cute, I love it!

Ok, just one more picture!   My successful transplant of the seedlings!

They're growing like weeds!!!  (um, are they weeds?)...

Well, that's all folks.  I'm sure nobody is actually following this anymore....  But it's just as much a journal for me, as it is a way for you to feel apart of our lives.  :)  

Love you family!!!!

So- keeping up with posts is harder than I thought!

I have been trying to upload some pics of my latest knitting projects, etc.  But we have been having internet problems this last week and my computer in particular has been affected with the evil virus of SLOWNESS!  I think that computer has just about seen its days.

New update:  I had an ultrasound today.  Looks like I have a recurrence of kidney stones.  Apparently that is common, but let me tell you its certainly unwanted!  I have 2 kidney stones now, the bigger one is 7mm.  So I am more determined now to stay on top of my water intake and medicine.  I have to drink about 12 glasses of water a day!  So I filled up our jug (that's 4 glasses), so I need to consume 3 jugs full a day!  When I had my ultrasound in May I only had one kidney stone, today we found out its gotten bigger and there's another one. I am researching more now about getting rid of kidney stones (since this has lingered for months!) and how to keep them away.

I appreciate prayers.  I didn't think I'd be dealing with this for so long.  But trusting the Lord makes going through it easier.  Knowing that He always has the best plan for my life and that He brings me through any trial and temptation for a reason, so that I may be tested, so that I may learn some lesson, but all ultimately to give Him glory!

 I love you family!

Something to brighten the day.

School was hard today, some of those grammar concepts can be hard to grasp.  My teacher keeps on saying 'pan comido!' meaning 'piece of cake!'  And I think to myself 'um, no its not!'  So needless to say when I saw these pretty flowers, I bought them and they brightened my day!  And the wonderful thing about living in Mexico and shopping at markets is that the flowers are only $10 PESOS a bunch.  That's less than a dollar.  You can get a dozen roses for about $2 US, not bad eh?

I like to indulge just a little!  Aren't they beautiful?

Our One Year Update

Dear praying friends,

We can’t believe that its been a year since we first arrived in Mexico City!  We are very thrilled to see how God has led in this first year, and we are excited to see how He will lead in this coming year.

We are in the middle of another session of language classes.  This will be the last for Jason and Danielle is planning to take one more.  Danielle has begun the ‘Intermediate’ level and Jason just finishing it up. 

Last May we took 5,000 tracts home with us (we had heavy luggage!), and we have been handing them out since then.  We often give them to taxi drivers, because we have a good chance for conversation during the ride.  We gave one to a taxi driver a couple weeks ago who seemed particularly interested in a Bible study, please pray that he would give us a call.  We also gave a tract to our neighbor/land lord, pray that he would be interested in the gospel.  His name is Don Jesus, he and his wife are in their 70’s. 

Jason is preaching 3 Sundays a month, but, starting August, he will be preaching each Sunday of the month.  He has learned much and gotten comfortable preaching in Spanish during these months of guest preaching. 

We continue our Thursday evening Bible studies.  We have a few couples coming regularly.  We always have much discussion time because there are many questions!  One young man came a few weeks ago, he is the son of the family we originally started the Bible study for.  He is the first to come from that family so far.  Pray that, in God’s will, we will see the whole family come out and we will see more people attending and learning about our loving God. 

Jason has begun to translate ‘Separated Unto The Gospel,’ another tool we hope to utilize in the future.  As we finish up our studies in the next couple months, we will be focusing on tract distribution, the Bible study and ultimately starting regular Sunday services in our home.  Please pray for us as we end the first phase and start a new one.  We have much to look forward to here in the work of God.

We praise the Lord for supplying our needs before we ask them.  We are being given a van, it is in Canada, so we are planning to drive it down after the fall week of prayer.  We didn’t think we’d be able to get a car for a few years yet, but the we thank the Lord for seeing this need.   Pray for a safe trip for us in October, especially for when we cross the border into Mexico.

 Prayer Requests:

-Awareness of God’s leading

-Evangelistic opportunities and tract giving

-Continued cultural adaptation

-Language fluency

-Bible study and the relationships being made through it