Los derrumbres y la felicidad (Mudslides and happiness)

Good morning!

Well, I haven't posted in my blog for quite some time...almost two weeks. Sorry! Honestly, last week I didn't post on purpose because I had absolutely nothing to say. We didn't do anything! This week has been a little more eventful, in fact I haven't had internet until yesterday afternoon. So here is a little of what I've been doing the past week.

So on Monday we woke up around 4:30am so we could drive to Totonicapan and drop me off there and Efrain would meet the bus driver that was going to take him to the capital. Efrain was going to pick up 3 men from our church in Enid - they were coming to visit Guatemala for a few days to make plans for future mission teams from Emmanuel. Anyway, I stayed in Totonicapan with my friend Esdras. (This was my birthday, by the way). I slept for a couple more hours when I got to Toto and then Esdras and I went to eat breakfast. After breakfast I don't quite remember what we did. It wasn't much. OH!! We walked around the city a little, got some fruit to eat, and just talked and caught up on each others' lives. We ate lunch a little later and it started raining. It rained from about 11:00am until we went to bed...All Day. Around 5:00pm we decided to go to Tierra Blanca, a little community about 5 mins outside of Toto, to visit my friends Luis and Samuel!! Two of the boys that I really wanted to see again. We stayed at their house about an hour and a half. It was really great!! I'll have to tell you more in person about what we did there. Around 8:30pm, or so, Efrain returned with the men from Enid and we went back to the hotel and went to sleep.

This picture was taken on Tuesday. On Tuesday, Efrain, the men from the church, Esdras, Lupe, and I went around to places in Guatemala to see in order to plan for the coming teams from Emmanuel. While at one of the places, we stopped by the boys' house again and got to take pics with them (because I forgot my camera the night before when Esdras and I went.) It was really good to see them again. I took them Junior Mints, which they loved this year and last year, too! On Tuesday, we basically went to three places in Toto and then to Huehue for about an hour, then came back to Toto at the end of the day. A big day of traveling and seeing sights. Not much happened.

This was Tuesday night when we got back to the Hotel. This is a picture of Efrain's son Joel, his girlfriend, and I. Joel let me sleep in his room with him a couple times and we became good friends this trip. He really helps me a lot with my Spanish and Guatemala life.

This was during the day on Tuesday when we went by a house of a pastor. This is my friend Esdras and I. I spent time with him all day Monday for my birthday. He tried to get me to run...but he runs about 12 miles a day....So I didn't fall for that one. I might have actually died like you all thought I had from the no posting on here for two weeks (Grandma Joy, I'm sorry that I haven't posted on here enough! :)

This is a picture of Efrain, Lupe, and I - My Guatemalan parents!

This is Wednesday - Efrain and I took the men from Enid back to the capital on Wednesday because their flight out was on Thursday. It was a long day. We woke up at 5:30am, drove about 2.5 hours to this place and ate breakfast. This is a town called Panajachel, it is next to a big lake with volcanoes around it. It was raining the entire time, so I don't have good pics of the lake for you. This is a picture of the place where we ate breakfast.

Since it was raining the entire trip to the capital in the morning, this is what happened to the roads. This is called a derrumbre, a mudslide. There were a lot of these on the way to the city.

This is Efrain and I nearing the end of our 9 hour drive, round-trip, to the capital and back. We were tired. It looks like I'm laughing and Efrain is about to yawn. haha!

Well, that is all of the pics that I have right now. Today, Friday, is my last day in Huehuetenango. Today I will be packing, giving gifts, and preparing for tonight. Tonight I planned an event for the youth in the church. If there is no rain, we are going to have a campfire, worship, s'mores, and spend time with God outside around the campfire. It will be really great!! Tomorrow I will be waking up early, going back to the capital and meeting people from Hope of Life ministries to take me back to Zacapa where I was the first month. I will be there living with a family for 6 or 7 days. After that...I'll be back in the US!!! So...I have absolutely no idea if I will have internet after today. So don't expect another blog update from me until after the 10th when I get back to the US. If I have internet, I will try to update, but my feeling is that I won't have it at all the rest of the time I'm in Guatemala.

If not, I'll talk to you from Oklahoma next!! Adios from Guatemala my friends and family!!

Devin

More time = More Pictures!

Hey all!! Here are some more pictures for you!

So yesterday, Friday, Efrain, Lupe (My Guatemalan parents), and I went to this village in the afternoon. It is a village that has people and a church, but no pastor. So....Efrain is their pastor. He travels there every Friday to preach to them. It is about 30-45 minutes away in the boondocks. While Efrain preached the Word of God to the adults, Lupe and I got to play with the kids and teach them about Abraham. These are some of the kids when they were coloring. The boy in the yellow shirt is Claven. He had the best smile I havce seen in Guatemala. And the cutest laugh!!

This was a view from the place we were at while we were coloring. It was beautiful. The afternoon rain was rolling in as you can see.

So....these people there grow coffee. Most of you probably know, but I don't get tired of saying it - I love coffee!! SO....I took a picture with a coffee plant itself!!!!!!!!! How often do you get to do THAT?!?! (Those of you who drink a lot of coffee - Grandpa John, Grandma Joyce, Grandma Joy.... Are you jealous? ;)

The coffee is ready to harvest around December-January so the beans on the plants themselves were still green and not near ready yet, although you could see them. I did get to hold in my hands, coffee beans before they are roasted. How many of you knew that coffee beans were white before they are roasted? I actually did. ;) It doesn't have an aroma, either, and they are dry.

The road up to the church was crazy! As you can tell the picture is blurry and I'm hanging on so I don't fall down the mountain. It was ROCK CITY on that road/path/walking trail. (You probably can't call it a road)

Here are my friends that I made while we were there. They kept asking me if I would come back and I was very happy to tell them, "Yes! Next Friday!!"

So this is today now, Saturday. We went to this village that had been affected by a recent flood in Guatemala. The flood affected a lot of houses and their school. We went to take los alimentos (food items and clothing items used for nourishment in time of perish.) Right here is a picture of the rubble after the river washed away a house and a store.

This is a bridge that the people use to cross the river that flooded. It was a little scary walking across it...you'll see why in the next pictures.

Gilbert and I standing on the bridge...he wanted to take pictures with the river in the background.

This is how they repaired rotten boards in the bridge; with a tree limb and some nails...See what I mean?

Gilbert was scared when we crossed this part in the bridge...he wouldn't cross it for fear of falling into the swift water below. Do you blame him? He doesn't have a very big leg span.

This is a lizard that I saw in the rocks while there. They are everywhere.

So...after we walked across the bridge, las vacas (the cattle) walked across it. I was afraid that I, an American who is much bigger than the Guatemalans, could be too heavy for the bridge...yet the COWS walked across it after I did. :S

This is the group of men that met us to accept the alimentos.

The area we were in was so remote that this man was plowing with his cattle. (Grandpa John, we should try this sometime! Let me know when you're ready! I'll be back July 10th)

This is a scenery shot of the area we were in. Beautiful?

Another scenery shot.

That's all folks!

Tonight is the youth service at the church. I really hope to meet some guys that can get me out of the house!!

Love you all!

Devin & Gilbert

Las photos para ustedes!!!! (Photos for you all!!)

Well, guess what!! I am able to post pictures on the computer that I'm using! How great is that!! Since my computer died, I wasn't sure if I would be able to post pictures. But here they are! They are a combination of when I was still in Llano Verde in the HOT country and some of Huehuetenango where I am now. Enjoy!!

So this was last Saturday...It was a free day for us and we went to the waterfall. I think I told you about it in my last post. I just wanted to lay down in the river...so I did.

A couple of us took pictures lounging on this tree limb...I couldn't resist

This was on a party night again...like the Fiesta we had a couple weeks ago where we got all dressed up. This was actually on Friday night before the waterfall. We had the party to celebrate the team from Florida and our professor Dr. Towles because they were both leaving for the US the next day. I danced much better this night. These are two of my good friends Eva and Leti. They served our team food every other day and I became good friends with them.

This is a pic of me with my friends Nikki and Re'necia. We three ran together in the mornings. (BTW, how do you like my hair and mustache? :) My friend Jacob talked all of us guys on the team into growing out mustaches...mine's getting pretty long.

This is a pic of me with my sixth graders from the high school in Llano Verde. This was the class that I spend Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays mornings with for a month. I miss them!!

So this is the start of a new series of pictures called "The Adventures of Devin and Gilbert in Guatemala." This series was inspired by Mary Elizabeth Jones of Fletcher, OK. (All Rights Reserved) Contact Mary Elizabeth Jones at (555) 555-5555

This is our debut. Here Gilbert and I are drinking our Agua Pura (Pure Water) that no one else needs to drink in Guatemala because Gilbert and I's stomachs are not accustomed to the water in Guatemala.

Here, Gilbert and I are going to sleep after a long day of....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

These next few pictures are of my house in Huehuetenango. This is our bathroom. I am basically standing in the doorway. There is a toilet and shower...no sink.

Here is "la pila" or the sink. It is outside the house and it is where you can brush your teeth, wash your face, do the dishes....many things. The middle compartment is always filled with water for washing dishes. The two outside compartments are where you put the dishes and wash them and then you use that green tub there in the left compartment to get water from the middle compartment and pour it on the dishes. The two outside compartments of the "pila" have drains in them so it doesn't over flow.

This is a bedroom that they don't use to sleep in. It is mainly a storage room...with a bed if someone needed it. But it is where I talk to you all on the computer!!! It is where I am right now as I am typing.

This is the kitchen and dining room. We cook on that stove - it's a gas stove- and eat at that table. This kitchen is better than a lot of the kitchens in the houses in Guatemala. Especially the stove - most houses have a wood-burning stove with pots on top where they cook and make tortillas and everything.

This is my bedroom! It's really nice. As you can see, my water jug is there as well.

This was in one of the villages that Efrain and I went to a few days ago. We went around to churches in the Huehuetenango area to pick up food that will be given to people who were affected by the recent flood. I think we are going to hand them out tomorrow (Saturday the 19th). These boys saw my camera and REALLY wanted me to take a picture of them. Mostly the boy on the right - he looks SO HAPPY!! It's ver common here in Guatemala for kids to want you to take their picture and then they really want to see it on the camera. I wish I could've stayed there longer to play with them, but we didn't stay long. I don't even know their names.

So...there are some pictures! Hope you like them! Efrain and I have been going around the past couple days to visit sick people in Huehuetenango (Huehue). Efrain usually reads to them from the Bible to encourage them, he introduces me and tells why I'm in Guatemala. Sometimes they serve us coffee or something to drink. Then we pray with them and go to the next place. Yesterday we visited a husband and wife who had just adopted a little baby boy. His name is Marco David. He was so small - about 1 month old. We prayed for his health and for his familys' also. In the house, Efrain and I usually hang out and watch soccer games of the World Cup (La Copa Mundial in Spanish). Efrain and Lupe have 4 kids who are all grown. Misael lives in Virginia with his American wife. Miguel or Michael in English, lives here in Huehue and comes over to the house at least once a day to hang out - his son Owen and wife Marlene come over, too. They usually eat at least one meal a day with us. Their only daughter - Melina and her daughter Rachael come over some, too. Her husband has to work a lot so I actually just met him yesterday - his name is Joni. The 4th son is closer to my age...21 or 22 I think. His name is Joel. He lives about 2 hours away in a town called Totonicapan - that is where I went last year while in Guatemala.

The two babies that come over - Owen and Rachael - are funny. I spend a lot of time watching them do various things in the house. They are so cute. I will post pictures of everyone soon.

Prayer requests:

1) Lupe, my Guatemalan mother, her mom is very sick. She is about 80 years old and could die very soon.

2) I am pretty bored in this house. I want to get out and meet people but I have no one to go with. I would LOVE to find a guy my age or a few guys in high school that can take me out and show me the city. I want to get out and DO SOMETHING!!! I'm getting a little stir crazy if you can't tell. ;)

3) My friends Connor and Heath who are in India right now. They need strength to keep going and they desire a big fire for the Lord to ignite in the Christian Hospital where they're working. It is a Christian Hospital, but everyone struggles with complacency.

Thank you all so much for your prayers!!!! I miss you all!!

¡Buenas Tardes! (Good afternoon!!)

Bueno Pues! (A salutation in Huehue)

P.S. Stay tuned for more of "The Adventures of Devin and Gilbert in Guatemala!"

Estoy en Huehuetenango!!

Hola mi familia y mis amigos!

I made it to Huehuetenango, Guatemala! I arrived here yesterday night around 10pm. It was a long day! I will be living here for a month with my friends Efrain and Lupe!

Last week in Llano Verde was a pretty good one. On Tuesday we went back to Gualan to help the people who had been affected by the flood. We moved a lot more mud out of one house. It was a good day! I have pics, but you've already seen me all muddy in the last pictures. :)

On Wednesday, I got sick. I did everything like normal, but when I was leaving the Orphanage in the afternoon I felt tired and sluggish - just like you do when you're coming down with a fever. Well....around 9:00pm that night, that's exactly what I had. I was EXHAUSTED and had about 101 degree fever. I felt like there were bricks on top my my body that made it really hard to move. So, on Thursday when my team went to El Durazno...I had to stay behind and get better. That night I ended up feeling a lot better and was pretty much back to normal the next day - Praise the Lord!

Friday was our final exam for the class that we had been taking the first month. It was pretty easy if I might say so. I went to the school for the last time and said my goodbyes. It was sad. but i told them all that I would be back to visit them in July when I return to Llano Verde for 8 days.

Saturday was a complete free day! It was nice and relaxing. A group of us went to a waterfall and jumped off of it into the pool of water down below. It was about a 20-30 ft. drop. It was so much fun and the water was cool - which felt really nice.

On Sunday our group made a long drive to a historical city in Guatemala named Antigua. There is a lot of coffee exported from there, so you coffee drinkers might have heard of Antigua. You can google it and see the main touristy pictures of the town. We shopped and ate lunch and had fun.

Yesterday was a LONG day!! I woke up at 3:30am so I could ride with some of the leaders for Hope of Life. They were taking me to the capital city to meet Efrain where I would go with him to Huehuetenango. So, after about 2 and a half hours we were in the capital. We waited while some of the leaders did something at the US embassy, and then I met Efrain and his son Joel! It was so good to see them again!! I met them last year when I came to Guatemala with Emmanuel. We stayed in the capital for a couple hours...went to a really big mall to eat lunch, and then started the 5 hour trek back to Huehuetenango! We got to the house at about 10:00 last night and I slept great!! I have my own bedroom and bed - didn't know what to expect. I passed out right as we got to the house.

Today I was woken up by the roosters ALL OVER THE CITY!! At about 5:30am. It was glorious! I was able to go back to sleep until about 7:30. I then took my first legit Guatemalan shower ever. At this house, they have this shower head that is above you and you turn on the water and it comes out hot. They have a special shower head here...it is connected to electricity and heats the water as it passes through. So...there's no cold water. It was interesting to figure out. And the water was about as strong as someone pouring a bottle of water on top of your head, but only tipping it slightly so there's a constant stream. If you turned the bottle all the way upside down, that would've been too much pressure. I had fun figuring it all out! And don't think I'm complaining one bit, I loved taking a shower that was very different than I was used to. ADVENTURE!!! I then had breakfast - eggs, beans, tortillas, fried plantains, and coffee. It was delicious! We then went to the Market in Huehuetenango. (This is a really big city by the way). The market was fun! There are a TON of people buying things and selling things in the middle of the streets everywhere! I joined in and bought some apples. :) I had been craving apples for quite some time. We basically bought lunch at the market - and a little more. For lunch we had potatoes, carrots, wiskil? (a guatemalan vegetable, like a potato consistency but green), guacamole, tortillas, and corn. No meat! I am a big meat eater, but I want to be Guatemalan this month! (I might loose some weight...which I don't mind)

After lunch, we watched Brazil and North Korea play in the World Cup. It was good. Now we are going somewhere...I was told but forgot.

My Spanish is going very well! Efrain commented on it and said I am doing very well. It was good to hear that.

Prayer requests:

-There is a slight pain on the right side of my body underneath my ribs. It has been for for about 6 days and I don't know what it is.

-My family here has been cooking with the Guatemalan water - pray that I do not get sick from it.

-I would love to find some guys that live nearby to invest some time in and learn Spanish that way, too. I might find some at church. We'll see tomorrow!

Thank you for all your prayers!! I miss you all!!

Vavpues!!

(Guatemalan slang for "Bye!)

La Tercera Semana

Hola mis amigos y familia!



Here is my group on Thursday!! This was after we finished - obviously we are MUDDY!!!!!


Here is all of our team during lunch break - we had peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches!



This is me on Tuesday carrying food into a church. I wasn't upset, just focused. :)













The third week has gone by pretty darn fast! I have some bad news...you might know already if you have talked to my parents, but my computer decided to crash last week right after I posted my last blog. It will turn on, but absolutely nothing will show up on the screen. SO, I am not posting any pictures with this post because I am using my friend's computer.....WAIT!! This just in! I will try to post pictures from my friend's photo album. We'll see if this works..... So last week, the school was closed on Monday and Tuesday because of the flooding from Tropical Storm Agatha. There was a lot of flooding in Guatemala as well as the water combining with the ash from the Volcano created some problems! Monday school was cancelled, so I went to the hospital to do construction with my friends Jacob and Matt. It was fun, we didn't do that much work...but we talked some with the Guatemaltecos (Guatemalans). The Orphanage was good on Monday; I spent some time with my friend Julio. I will try to get you a piture, but I might just have to wait and show it to you when I get back...we'll see.




On Tuesday our group went to Gualan...it is a city that was affected by the flooding and the Storm Agatha. Many houses were wiped away and more of them flooded with knee-deep lodo (mud). It was some THICK mud, too!! We took food, water, blankets, and pillows for people who had lost their houses. It was the first hands-on experience that we absolutely desired!! Later that night, we had sports night for the youth in Llano Verde. I arranged for some of the older boys form the Orphanage to come down and play soccer with us! It was great! They had a lot of fun. They really want to come this week, too.




On Wednesday, I got to go to school! The kids were taking a test, but I just stayed outside and handed out candy haha! I need to get a picture of my 6th graders for you, too! Later Wednesday afternoon, I went to the Orphanage and my Guatemala friend JuanJose taught me some soccer skills - being taught soccer by a Guatemalan...what's better!? I got pretty hot and probably overdid it, but it was worth it. I was basically out for the rest of the day.









Thursday was a BIG day!!! We were all fired up from what we did Tuesday; helping the people in Gualan...so we got to help them ALL DAY on Thursday! WE cleaned out three houses! The ones with KNEE-DEEP mud I told you about. It was great! My team got to help an elderly couple who, without our help, would have never cleaned out their house. It was great, but so very tiring. We worked from about 9:00 to 3:30. We are going this week, too, because we had so much fun! I hope to find some pics for you.









Friday was a pretty relaxed day - we didn't do much so we could recover from the day before.




Saturday we went to Chiquimula! It is a bigger city with an AIR CONDITIONED mall! We stayed for a bit and then went to the outside market where you can find anything you would ever want, even shoes made from old tires.... (My friend Robert got a pair). After that we went to a restaurant and ate a really good meal and came back. Today we have been relaxing...3 friends and I got to ride horses this afternoon! It was fun! WE had three horses and they were each very very different. One was a normal quarter horse, but lazy - so his name was Pere (Perezoso means lazy in spanish)...the next was a skinny mid-sized horse with a hurt foot - his name was Nova, and the third was a pony about as tall as my waist who was old and pregnant - Her name was Sheila.









It's been a great week and this upcoming one is our last in Llano Verde! Then I'm off to Huehuetenango to stay with Efrain and Lupe! I'll probably be there next saturday or sunday.









Prayer requests:




1) Juan Jose - I feel like God is using me in his life...he taught me how to play soccer last week and had fun doing it! It was a great feeling having a 14 yr old teaching me how to play soccer.









2) Our last week here - that our team would be united and have an impact in this community.









3)Health - about 3 or 4 people got sick this week on our team.









Con el amor de Dios, (With the love of God)









Devin

Hay Mucha Lluvia! (There is ALOT of RAIN!)

So here is the SCORPION that I found in our bathroom!!!! I think this was before I killed the thing. :)

Last Friday night we had a Fiesta with the Cubans! It was fun; we had a lot of food and dancing. I tried to dance, anyway... :) This is a pose that we do in one of our dramas for churches, we just decided to do it here, too. :) I'll post a video of the whole drama sometime soon.

This was the guys dressed up for the party with the Cubans!

We just finished packing all of these bags of food for people in the villages that we will go visit. Probably tomorrow and Thursday. 300 bags there.

Two of my friends: Re'Necia on the left and Bethany on the right

This is Sarah and I at the Orphanage with some of the boys. This is the Orphanage that is on the same mountain that we live on - it is the "Hope of Life" Orphanage. I am there every Mon, Wed, Fri afternoon. The boy in the orange shirt, his name is Francis...he is one of my buddies. Then the boy in the dark blue shirt in Sarah's arms in the back is Josue - he is such a character!! If you put a camera up and take a picture of him, he will do all sorts of things!

This was last Tuesday - a week ago - where we went to an Orphanage in Chiquimula. We are playing duck-duck-goose or pato-pato-ganso in Spanish.

My friend Alex and I...there are palm trees here and someone got a coconut for Alex. She was drinking the "coconut milk"

And lastly, but CERTAINLY not least...The TORTILLA making!!!! It was so much fun!! The guy beside me is Robert, he and I are the only ones on the team that do not go to Liberty University. The girl beside him is Nikki - she's on the team and we've become good friends; beside Nikki is our Guatemala friend Susie!! She is so nice and she taught us how to make tortillas! You can see the tortillas on the grill and the fire underneath it. It was so much fun!!

The past week has been pretty good! On Monday when I was at school, the boys in my 6th grade class tried to trick me into eating this lemon-salt that makes your mouth pucker-up pretty good...but little did they know I knew what it was, but I took it anyway to make them laugh. BUT to get back at them, I brought Warheads for them to eat!! If you haven't eaten one before, it is THE MOST sour thing you could eat! It was great! We laughed and cried (because of the sourness, of course) and had a great time!

On Tuesday we went to the orphanage in the picture above, a school for the deaf and mute, and the central square in Zacapa to do our presentations. It was fun to go other places! On Thursday we stayed here on the compound and presented our dramas and songs for the school here and we also compiled all those bags in the picture above. Friday was the party with the Cubans!! It was a lot of fun! I tried to dance...but it didn't work out that well. ;) On Saturday we had a total free day - it was great! I rested and played some games.

The top of one of the volcanoes blew and there was ash in Guatemala city from it and also there was a storm close to Guatemala that created LOTS of RAIN!!! So the airport in Guatemala City is closed for about a week - the team from Emmanuel Baptist Church in Enid had to cancel their trip because they were supposed to fly out yesterday. Also, the school here in Hope of Life cancelled school this whole week, so I am going to do construction work on a Hospital for Hope of Life in the mornings! It will be a change of scenery, but I will miss my sixth graders. I've got some more Warheads for them next week. :)

I need to go to dinner now! Hope you all love the pictures!

Devin

The First Week!

Hello Friends and Family!!

These past few days have been really great!! I last updated you on Monday...a lot has happened since then! We have a schedule for every week now. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays we have class from 8:00-10:00am. After that, our team splits up into groups and each group goes to a different place. I go with the group who goes to the Christian School. At the school we split up into different classes and listen/help in the class. We can help the teacher, students, or just listen to their spanish! I am in a class with 6th graders. It is a lot of fun! On Wednesday, the kids had English Grammar and Math class; yesterday they had Science and Spanish class. We stay there from about 10-12am. When I went to the school on Wednesday and yesterday, the kids basically rule the classroom. The kids were all moving seats all the time, going to the hallway and making car horn noises with their desks as their cars...etc. On Friday in class I got to write on the board for their Spanish class and read from the book out loud to the class. I am very excited to get to know them much better over the next 3 weeks. After lunch (Mon, Wed, Fri), we go back to our group places - but I go to the Orphanage in the afternoon from 1:30-4:00. The kids there are so nice and just want to love on you SO MUCH! and they want you to love on them even more. A lot of the kids that go to school in the morning are at the Orphanage in the afternoon, so I get to spend even more time with them!

On Tuesdays and Thursdays we go as a team to different places to present our dramas and songs for the people. On Tuesday we went to El Jute. It was a couple hours away and on the very very top of a mountain - it was a smaller village. We walked up and down the mountain to the houses and evangelized to people. We also had a medical clinic, a Bible School, and a church service for the people - and then the people that came to the service were given food for their family. On Thursday we went to a local school- once in the morning and once in the afternoon; they were different students because all the students only go to school for a half-day here. They don't really focus on education here; they focus on relationships. Also on Thursday we went to the Asilo de Ancianos (Nursing Home) in Llano Verde. We presented our dramas and songs there as well. The end of the night was the best!! Our team split up into groups and we all went to a different house. We call it visitación. Basically, we each go to a different house 3 days a week, one house per night, and talk with them about everything! The main reason is to form relationships with them and get them connected with the Esperanza de Vida (Hope of Life) ministries here in Llano Verde. My group went to a house and it was so much fun! We talked for about an hour or hour and a half. We just walk up to people's houses and visit them around 8:00pm in the evening. The Guatemalan villages are like that - they have at least 5 visitors a day that just come by to talk and spend time with them.

Today was a more relaxing day! It was a planned one, though. We went to a Waterpark! It was really weird and unexpected, but fun! I got burnt a little bit. The ministry here in Guatemala that we are working with payed for us to go. It was a little like White Water, but Guatemala style! I have some pics I will show you. My friend Nikki and I were supposed to go to this Guatemalan lady's house today to learn how to make tortillas in the afternoon!!! ME + tortillas = excitement!!! BUT, we were late and she had church in 30 mins when we got there so we are going tomorrow. I am so excited!

I miss you all! Talk to you soon!

Devin

This is where we sit and have devotions every night

This is where we eat all of our meals every day

This is the hammock room that we have

This is the water park we went to today

This is what happens when the gringos (white people) go to the schools - we get swarmed!

These little "kissing lizards" are EVERYWHERE here!! They make a kissing-like sound all the time!

A spider was in our bathroom! Tarantula!

This is the medical clinic we had in El Jute on Tuesday

This is the Bible School we did at El Jute on Tuesday

This is the front of the missionary house where we live!

This is a close-up shot of our rooms and outside hallway we walk every day

Prayer requests:

I really desire to get close to the 6th grade students that I spend time with at the school three days a week!! Please pray that God will make that happen and tell me what to do. Also, we are always SOOO busy that I don't really have much time for my relationship with God. It seems like we are going so much doing God's work, but we don't have time for personal relationships with him - pray that we can make time for that. Thank you!!