Algunas Buenas Noticias

2 of the main cathedrals in San Cristobal

Well it´s raining (1a.) gatos and (2a.) perros here in San Cristobal! The rain helps me sleep really well algunas noches, but I am really missing Tennessee sunshine--and a dryer. It seems that anytime I hang (1.) la ropa on el techo to dry, that´s an automatic signal for the rain to come blasting down with a vengeance. I´m going to keep this blog short since it seems that not many people are reading it now anyway. (Has everyone really already forgotten about me??)

Last week Chantel and I went to Ococingo to visit with Antonio (the director of the Sat. School there) and set up a bank account. Now Global Missions will be able to deposit dinero directly into that account instead of us having to travel to Ococingo each month to personally give it to Antonio. Each of the escuelas de los sabados continues to average about 15 estudiantes cada semana, including the newest one in Cacahoatan (close to the Guatemala border). Here is a picture of some of the students from the Ococingo school (on the left are the two girls who got baptized recently. They don´t speak any Spanish):

The members of the church in Ococingo are in the process of constructing a new (3a.) edificio. As you can probably see in the pictures, their current facility (where they also have the school), is quite small, with only two rooms, all dirt floors, and very little light.

In San Cristobal, members gave extra to pay for an addition, as well. The men are hoping to start construction this week to create more class space in the back of the building and finish by the end of the year. But when they finish really depends on how much help they have each week, since they are having to do everything entirely on their own. Currently there is only one classroom (for los niños), and for our Sunday morning clases de muchachas y muchachos, I teach in the hallway, while José Luis teaches the guys in the tiny kitchen. So while I´m teaching, our class faces multiple interruptions, from the booming guys´voices just a few feet away, the screaming babies, the latecomers who must walk right past us, the parents who bring their kids to class, and anyone who has to go to the (2.) baño (which is also in the kitchen). The classes are going really well and we have mostly adjusted to the surroundings, but nonetheless, we are very excited about the extra (3.) espacio.

On Thursday mornings a group of us has still been meeting to go door-knocking , as well. David told me he wants to do a lot of evangelizing so that the church can grow, and thus, the school can grow. Last week one of the ladies and I studied with a girl about 17 years old who lives by herself all week and goes to a different area to be with her family on the weekends. She was very interested in (4.) todo we shared with her. Unfortunately, since she goes to school at night and isn´t here on the weekends, she will not be able to come to church or the reuniones de jovenes.

Left: It´s not unusual to see dogs perched on the roof here (sometimes they stay up there all day). So you don´t have to worry about them chasing after you so much while you´re running or walking, but you do still have to listen to them bark ferociously at intruders.

Right: This is the road we drove on to visit the lady in Guatemala(which I wrote about in an earlier blog). She lives on top of a mountain, and this part of the road was still at the beginning of the drive--before it really got dangerous and scary.

By the way, we had another reunion de jovenes this past Saturday, and about twice as many came this time. Some of the girls preferred walking around and talking about boys than playing (5.) basquetbol o (6.) futbol, but at least they came : ) Then afterwards we went to surprise-visit one of the girls in our group who recently had (7.) cirugia and has not been able to come back to church yet. I don´t know if José Luis and I have anything to do with it or not, but I do feel like the group is growing and getting stronger. (8.) ¡Eso me hace muy feliz! More good news for the church here in San Cristobal is that el domingo some of our miembros witnessed tres (9.) bautismos at a nearby prison. Two of the men (one of them José Luis´(10.) padre) preach at the prison cada domingo en la manaña.

Ani (the preacher´s (11.) esposa) asked me last week if I would be able to start teaching the clase de niños on Wednesday nights. I agreed, so I am teaching every day now but Friday. But I love teaching and don´t feel too stressed out yet. Plus, each of my classes offers something unique. I know that if I were a first-year (12.) maestra in the U.S. right now, I would probably be working a lot more and sleeping a lot less. So other than a few students who really act like they´re only in mi clase because they have to be, my ¨fist year¨has really been quite satisfactory so far. The clase de niños might be a challenge, simply because there are so many niños of so many different (13.) edades (one two year-old, one three year-old, one four-year-old, etc., all the way up to age ten). Plus, like in El Salvador, there´s really no set tiempo for teaching; the class begins when the preacher starts the sermon and ends when most of the song service is over. So depending on how long the sermon is, the class could last anywhere from una hora a dos horas. But so far I have not had any major problemas. My English class has been more frustrating lately, but since I promised to keep this blog (14.) corto, I will wait and tell more about that (15.) la proxima vez...stay tuned...

Thanks so much for taking the time to read about the works taking place here. Please let me know if there´s anything else you would like to know that I have not mentioned or anything I can do to make the blog better.

Elizabeth

Title: Some Good News

1a. cats

2a. dogs

1. clothes

2. bathroom

3a. building

3. space

4. all/everything

5. basketball

6. soccer

7. surgery

8. ¨That makes me very happy!¨

9. baptisms

10. dad/father

11. wife

12. teacher

13. ages

14. short

15. the next time

Las partes del cuerpo (the parts of the body):

cabeza (head)

orejas (ears)

ojos (eyes)

nariz (nose)

boca (mouth)

cuello (neck)

hombros (shoulders)

codos (elbows)

brazos (arms)

manos (hands)

estómago (stomach)

cadena (hip)

piernas (legs)

rodillas (knees)

pies (feet)