teaching

This Sunday was my first time teaching any lesson in Spanish to a group of children. I'm used to teaching, and I'm used to speaking Spanish, but combining the two is another matter. On Sunday afternoon I taught the Bible story, taken out of the book of Ezra, in Huejotzingo. Other than the fact that two children fell asleep and one was about to fall asleep, it went okay (the two sleepers are about three years old). The attendance on Sunday afternoons has held at about ten, although which children attend is not consistent. Please continue to pray for these children and their parents.

In PCS, my students recently finished their literature books, so we began reading Number the Stars, a book set in World War II. Other than one student who has an avid interest in the World War II, the children knew nothing about the war, so I am having to try to tread the delicate balance between telling them too little and overwhelming them with the ugliness. So far they are enjoying the book and the discussions. In two weeks we have Easter break, and then shortly after that they will be taking the standardized tests that every child in the United States also has to take. We really have very little time left of the school year.

Abraham continues to have a mountain of homework from the seminary. He has to fit this in to the schedule of teaching PE at PCS four days a week, tutoring Spanish with four students (including my mom via Skype), leading the Huejotzingo mission, and working at the seminary to help pay his tuition. We also lead the pre-teen group at church on Wednesday night where Abraham leads the AWANA games beforehand, and I keep score. With this schedule, there are many times when he stays up very late at night. Please keep him in your prayers.

It's not all work, work, work. We spend time together goofing off, too. For example, my Korean student gave me chopsticks, and when I made stir-fry, I brought them out to use. I had also heated tortillas and told Abraham, "You can use chopsticks or you can eat the semi-Chinese food with chopsticks, but I don't think you can do both." He figured out a way to do both, so I had to try eating totopos with chopsticks.

Abraham will have two weeks off for Easter, starting next week. I have the week after Easter off, so we'll have that week to relax together. Wonderful blessing!

Market Day

Fresh-cut flowers in one market shop






Get your fresh fish!














Sausage, cheese, other processed products












A man transporting a slab of meat from one stall to another




















A very efficient tortilla-making machine

















Abraham and I do as much of our food shopping as possible in the market near his mother's house. We can buy fresh, well priced fruits, meats, and vegetables for ourselves and for Six and Ken as well. Today we went, and I remembered to take my camera to record some of the sights of the place. It's always colorful and generally well filled with people.

It never ceases to amaze me when we go how much color and variation there is, especially in the fruits and vegetables. One time it struck me: God could have created monochrome fruits and vegetables, but in his wonderful creativity, he lavished color, texture, and shape to make each unique and beautiful. There's nothing quite like the tempting market displays to make me pause and admire the creativity of our God.