Immigration Trip

We headed to the immigration office after my morning meeting with the Hilo, Aguja and Biblia leaders.  We were working on the schedule for the rest of the year.

It was just after noon when we got there--usually lunch time is not the best time, but it was the time we had.  We were close and it just didn't make sense to go all the way home and then go back.  Of course, we were short a couple of copies.  From year to year, you never know what they're going to want copied.  Unfortunately, when you need copies you have to get out of line, get the copies made and then get back in line.  We finally got our "number" about 1:00 p.m. and it was time to settle into the chairs and wait.  We hoped it wouldn't be too long.  They were on #5 and we were #8.  After an hour or so, we realized that there was only one person taking "our" type of number.  Anyway, we were called to the desk about 2:30 and it took him only a matter of 10 minutes to verify that we had all of the correct paperwork.

New this year--you don't wait for them to verify the paperwork.  Instead he gave us an appointment on Tuesday when they are supposed to have confirmed/verified that everything is in order so we can move to the next step in the process.  IF all goes well on Tuesday, we should be able to pay the fees for the next year and have our pictures taken for our temporary cards.  I may, however, be getting a little ahead of myself, so I'll just report back on Tuesday afternoon.

All in all, not a bad day--in and out in just a little over 2 hours.  Thanks for praying for us . . . . next prayer date is this Tuesday afternoon!

Last Day of May

Hard to believe, but here it is, the last day of May.  Not quite half way through 2013, but getting close.

Today we start the process to renew our residency for the next 12 months.  As always, I'm sure this will be an adventure!   We have a trip planned to Kansas City from June 20 to July 4, and, while we are there, our residency cards will expire.  As a result, we really need the process to go smoothly (I say that every year, but this year it's especially true.) So, we are planning to go to Immigration today with "all" (we'll see) of the correct paperwork.  If they accept everything, we'll be asking them to provide us with a temporary card before we leave the country in 20 days.

Please pray that we have everything we need (I know that this seems obvious because there is a list; however, it seems that every immigration official has their own, unwritten "list.")  Please pray that everything will be accepted and that the only thing we have to wait on is the printing of our new temporary cards.

Happy 39 Years

We had a wonderful anniversary celebration that started yesterday with lunch at Restaurant 168 and ended tonight with an excellent dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.  No, in case you're wondering, we are NOT in the states.  In between we saw the new Star Trek movie in 3-D!  As we were driving home from dinner tonight, there were fireworks--for us?  Probably not, but fun to see!

As I wrote on Facebook this morning:  if on May 25, 1974, you had told me that we would be celebrating our 39th anniversary in El Salvador, I wouldn't have believed it.  Thanks to all of you who pray for us and support us in our ministry here.

Here are a couple of pictures from the evening.

 On our table when we arrived at the restaurant!

 Complimentary dessert--YUM

168

We started our two-day anniversary celebration with lunch at Restaurant 168.  It is our favorite Chinese restaurant here in San Salvador.  We didn't know about it for the first two and a half years we lived here so now we are making up for lost time.  We are trying to decide what movie to see tonight.  The choice is between IronMan3 and the new Star Trek.

Tomorrow is actually our anniversary!  Can you believe it has been 39 years?  I can't. More about the rest of our weekend later.

Back at Church

It was great to be back at church today.  The music was especially great today and Stephen didn't even play.  In addition to the regular worship band, we had the pleasure of hearing Kike Pavon, a 26-year old contemporary Christian musician from Spain.  He was in town for a concert last night so he sang in each of our four services. The three songs he did were excellent; I really enjoyed his song called, Dame Un Nuevo Corazon," which translates as "Give Me a New Heart."  If you're really adventurous and would like to listen to the song (in Spanish), click here.

Also, although it is not as easy to listen to a sermon in Spanish, I do love Pastor Julio's messages.  He is doing a series on the names of God.  The first message in the series was on Jehovah; today's message was on Adonai from Daniel 9.

Not just another prom

If you have a chance, please click on this link to read an article about our niece, Elizabeth, who is waiting on a kidney transplant.  It's from the Children's Mercy Hospital website:  Elizabeth

Saying Good Night

It was hard to say good night to the kids last night.  As she got ready for bed each night Maleia would come to say good night like this, "Good night, see you in the morning  light."  We would respond, "good night, sleep tight, see you in the morning light."  Last night, however, since she knew we were leaving she said, "Good night, sorry I won't see you in the morning light."  She was right--when the morning light rose we were at 39000 feet over Mexico!

I know that red-eye flights serve a worthwhile purpose, but they make me absolutely miserable!  We departed SFO at 1:30 a.m. and landed in San Salvador at 8:00 a.m.  As hard as a tried, I don't think I slept more than a few minutes the whole flight.  Stephen didn't even try--he watched two movies.  The lines at immigration were short and our luggage came out quick, so we were in the truck and on the way home by 8:45.  Of course, we both crashed when we got home.  We finally ventured out to the grocery store about 5:00 p.m.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a more normal day!

My little truck boy

I just can't believe Josiah's vocabulary . . . . this morning while reading the Richard Scary, "Cars, Trucks and Things That Go" book, he pointed out one type of car, truck and big vehicle after another.  The list includes:  excavator, bulldozer, cement mixer, dump truck, pickup truck, fire truck, ambulance, bus, van, sports car, front end loader, bookmobile, hatchback, limousine, tractor, train, school bus, just to name a few.  When playing with his garage he says, "Where's the blue car?", "Where's the ambulance?", "This car is getting stuck", "This is a fast car" and "He's going backwards."  I'm so amazed that a 22 1/2 month old knows so many words and that I can understand what he says.

Being a grandma is so much fun!

 Caught him off guard with the camera!

Lineup of his favorite vehicles!

DIS-E-NEYLAND

Yep, that's the way Maleia says it!  It was a great day yesterday.  The kids did so well--we were gone from 9:45 am to 7:45 pm.  Fun, fun, fun at the happiest place on earth!

 About ready to leave the hotel yesterday.

 It's a Small, Small World--what a feast for the eyes (and ears.)

 Josiah and his Papa O'Neil

 Cinderella's Castle in the background

Maleia and her baby, Lily, watch the parade from daddy's shoulder.

Packed and almost ready

We're heading to the LA area tomorrow and on Thursday morning we'll be standing in line for "It's a Small, Small World" at Disneyland.  Maleia is so excited she can hardly get to sleep tonight.  The kids will have lot's of adults around to watch them because the O'Neil grandparents are going with us, too.  The weather is supposed to be a perfect 70 degrees.  Here's a couple of pictures from yesterday.

 Stephen and Josiah drawing pickup trucks on the patio.

Our future gymnast climbing the tree!

Fun with the grandkids

Grandkids!  Need I say more!

May Day

Labor Day is celebrated on May 1 here in El Salvador.  So, all of the schools, government offices and many other places of business were closed today.   The team went door to door this morning in the neighborhood where we are having a campaign tomorrow night.

Tonight's family festival was in a closed, private neighborhood near the Crown Plaza Hotel where the team is staying and where we have two services every Sunday morning.  It was the first time we've been able to visit/share in this neighborhood.  It so exciting to see how God is opening "gates" in this type of neighborhood.

We've had a great week so far with over 350 professions of faith.  It's hard to believe that tomorrow is our last day, but it is.  The team flies out on Friday morning and our flight to California is at 3:00 p.m.  We're looking forward to hugging our kids and grandkids!

A couple of pictures from the last few days.

 Last minute instructions before heading out to visit in Apopa last night.

 Stephen made a new, shy friend last night.

Teaching the lesson on honesty at a school in Apopa.