Day Three In Mexico!

Wow! What a crazy couple of days we have had so far! I can't believe its only day three!

We have covered the story of the baby bunny, right? Well last night, a few of the most dedicated bunny sitters decided to take shifts waking up every few hours to feed baby Churchill. I, however, was most definitely not willing to sacrifice my precious sleep for a small bunny. (Yes, you may call me cruel) So I took my mattress out into the main room and had an incredible night's rest. Today followed a similar pattern as the previous days: Breakfast at 6:30, devotions at 7:00, work from 7:30 to 1, lunch at 1:30ish. (Wahoo!)

Monte, (our task master), was feeling quite sickly today, and was unable to work with us, but we continued on! The boys were set on a leveling job preparing for another driveway/cement job. They looked like they had it pretty hard, always hitting the same amount of ground with the pickaxes and sledgehammers. Though frequently when we looked over they were missing...I have no idea where they went during those times. The beginning of the day we had a few girls back on our previous leveling job, and the rest of the girls plus Farrell, finding and moving rocks to where the boys were preparing the driveway for cement. Phew! It was a lot of work. I personally prefer cement work. More taxing on the body, but much more entertaining and busy! There were two exciting things that happened today, the girls got stuck in a small sand storm, and the boys got stuck in a bigger one! It was quite the thrill of the day. I don't think it is reasonable for any place to be so windy; it's just not safe. It was like a tiny hurricane all day! (Minus everything that makes it a hurricane except for the wind) So the girls got their leveling job finished, with minor exceptions where we needed Monte's help, and the boys (I think) completed their task as well! Tomorrow we will begin the hectic cementing once again! Yahoo! =D

After lunch we had a relaxed day. Most of the group spent a large amount of time in the common room over in the girl’s dorm rooms. We all spent a large amount of time preparing the puppet skits, and some time practicing songs. By the time we were done, it was time for dinner!

We had a fantastic surprise for the rest of the evening in the form of a dinner guest! His name was Fito (sp?), and he is a Mexican missionary who just finished his four years here at Rancho Siloe. What an incredible time we had with him! He came to eat dinner with us (delicious tacos courtesy again of Kim and Mrs. H!), and share about his experiences. Sitting around the dinner table he shared with us about his life prior to NTM (through a translator). It was so interesting to hear about his life! Then he stopped his story short and told us that he would continue his story after the scheduled game of soccer. At first my thoughts were..."hmm, soccer after dinner, I think not." But my attitude quickly changed and I joined in on the game. =) The soccer game in my opinion was one of the best parts of the day! Nothing beats a great competitive game of soccer when you think you're ready for bed =) Turns out, I save up EXTRA energy just for such occasions! =D

My other favorite part of the day was after the soccer game when Fito continued his story. This time, however, he was encouraging us with our work and our relationship with God. It was incredible getting a new perspective on things. You know, I finally realized tonight listening to him speak to us, that God uses trips like this to spice up our relationship with Him. He didn't leave me out in the dessert for no good reason.. In fact, it just so happens to be for the best reason! How can I argue with God's plans for me, right? So yes, the evening with Fito was incredible =)

Did I happen to mention that the Brickyard was incredible??? No, I suppose I didn't. Well, once again I saw God's perfect plan for me! About 30 minutes prior to leaving for the Brickyard, I got my turn on the computer, yahoo! Right? Yes, it was very nice; I found that I had many emails from my dear ones at home.. But reading them made me miss everything much more. So, I decided to sob. And I did so through the reading and responding of every email until it was time to go to the Brickyard... I got in the van with my puffy red eyes slightly less than thrilled about getting in a van with everyone when I would probably start crying again. To my surprise though, I didn't cry any more! Once we got to the Brickyard, my homesickness left me and I was able to focus on where I was at the time. Wow! What an experience! How did God know exactly what I needed to help me through my hardest time? Well, He did, and it worked. =) I can now read my emails from home with anticipation and excitement, but no tears. I am perfectly content with being where God has me for the time He has me here. Thank you all for the prayers, they worked!

Also, to fill you in on the other prayer requests:

The few people that were pelted with water during the water fights are not sick! =)
I am content where I am but do so appreciate your prayers.
We all were able to work in harmony today and accomplished wonderful things.
And no body died! yayayayayayayay!

A few new prayer requests:
That...
-good health would continue to circulate around the ranch.
-we would continue to work and socialize in harmony.
-we would be productive and energetic for our work ahead.
-Monte would feel better for our long day of cementing tomorrow.
-we would shine Christ's love to the children at the Brickyard.
-Fito would be blessed while doing God's work in Mexico.

That's all I can think of for now, but we so appreciate all the prayer and love you continue to pour on us!

We love you all!

-Kate <3 (for the team =) )