Una Carrera y Una Feria

Niños from Nueva León, where two of our preaching students conduct the worship service cada domingo

Well the ¨warm¨1. tiempo seems to have finally arrived in San Cristóbal, and we are trying to make the most of the last few semanas we have before the rainy season is upon us once again. But even on days when the highs reach nearly 80 degrees and the sun is so strong it burns me within minutes, I am still one of the few people of many running on the track who is not dressed in a heavy sweatshirt and hot pants—and certainly the only woman wearing shorts! Some of the the people even wear blue jeans to run. Even though most of my shorts are knee length, many Mexicans seem to think that a woman in a skirt or dress is normal, in pants is liberal, and in shorts is just plain immodest! But I refuse to wear 2. pantalones to run in the hot weather just to satisfy their outlandish ideas; it is one part of our culture that I just don´t feel necessary to sacrifice in order to avoid what they might say about me. (I bet you never realized that running attire had so much to do with cultura!)

Obviously the running boom hasn´t hit Mexico yet like it has the United States. I was super excited when the track got a total makeover (you may remember from one of my first blogs that it was previously not even worth running on), and even more excited when one of the local athletic clubs decided to host a mini track meet. Naturally I signed up to run (even though the highest distance offered for women was 1500 meters, which I hadn´t run since I was in 3. la preparatoria!) I´ve always wanted to race against Mexicans (just kidding!) But I was really disappointed that only one other woman showed up to run! As a result, we had to run alongside the long-legged hombres, and we both got a medal (even though most of the other winners got dinero!) The 4. medalla does not even have the correct date or 5. distancia on it; I´m pretty sure it was just a leftover from the last evento they had. Oh well, at least I´ll have a 6. recuerdo of my first race in a foreign país : )

Warmer weather also signalled the start of the annual fair here in San Cristobal—a much bigger deal than any of their 7. carreras! People come from all over el estado (including the indigenous communities), and sometimes it takes 20 minutes or more to walk about a fourth of a mile at the entrance/exit because of so many gente packed together. This particular 8. feria was very similar to American fairs; the main diferencia is that there is no entrance fee. On the other hand, you have a pay $2-$3 to go on any of the rides. One of the main 9. atraciones of the fair is the 1o. famoso singer that performs each night, especially since that part is also gratis. Chantel and I can´t understand why the government spends so much Mexican money to convince all the big hot shot performers to come, when instead they could charge a small fee for everyone wanting to listen to the 11. concierto, then use the proceeds for algo more worthy—like better roads. After all, we have to pay a pretty penny just to attend a concert of that magnitude—it´s just not fair! One night I went to the fair with some of the muchachas from church. I felt a little disappointed that the only ones who showed up are the same ones who always come, no one else, but we had a really good time. Actually I ended up spending a lot more money than I had planned on. We only went on three or four rides, but in addition to paying for myself I also paid for some of the girls to ride with me who hadn´t brought much money. But we enjoyed going on the rides juntos, so it was worth it. Unfortunately I can´t post fotos of my recent 12. aventuras because I lost my digital camera somewhere between San Cristobal and la ciudad de Pachuca : (

Some of las damas from church and I dressed as ¨brides¨at Chantel´s wedding shower

I have set a new goal for myself to hang out with a different girl from church every week. The group actividades sometimes don´t go over very well, since so many of the girls have other 13. conflictos or just can´t come, and I feel like I can get to know them all better and encourage them more by spending time with each of them 14. personalmente. Last week I watched a movie in my bedroom with four of the girls, who just happen to live in the same casa—two of them are hermanas, and the other two are friends of the family who help with the cooking and housekeeping in exchange for living there. Normally I would only invite one girl at a time, but since these girls all live together I made an 15. excepción. They barely opened their mouths the whole time, but when they left they told me they really enjoyed it, and that they would like to do it again.

Watching a movie at someone´s house may seem simple (especially considering that most American girls do it all the time), but for the girls here it is not a very 16. común occurrence. As you may have already guessed, the jovenes here really don´t go out much-- (possibly because they don´t have carros, and the only money they have is what their parents are able and willing to give them—very little). In fact, I think some of them don´t even know HOW to socialize. When I first told these four girls that I wanted to do something with them, they had all kinds of strange questions for me: ¨What are we going to do?¨ ¨Who else is going to be there?¨ ¨Can Josue come too?¨ ¨Why aren´t you inviting anyone else?¨ I´m not sure they ever did get it through their heads that I wanted to spend time with JUST them—no one else! When some of us first started talking about going to the fair together, one of the girls didn´t think Chantel and I would be able to go because ¨Adrian and José Luis wouldn´t give us permission.¨ (Adrian is Chantel´s esposo.) It was all we could do to keep from bursting out laughing! And forget asking them for input on what to do; José Luis and I mostly just have to pick something ourselves and hope they like it; otherwise, they just stay tight-mouthed with a blank look on their faces. One of these girls that I watched 17. la pelicula with, the oldest, recently came forward to ask for prayers and forgiveness. She was only the second person who has come forward for something since I´ve been here. I really think she can be a good 18. ejemplo for her brothers and sisters and the rest of the youth group if she stays consistent in her attendance.

Recently someone broke into the church building. The thieves broke all the locks and even burned a paper that told about the offering. But luckily there was not much of value in the edificio, so they got away with only the sound system. This was the second time someone broke into the building in just a few meses. Many of the miembros proposed that we build onto the walls surrounding the building and also cut down a tree in the back so that it won´t be so easy for 19. ladrones to jump the 20. paredes. But David thought it would be better to save our money for another 21. propósito and pray for the security of the building instead. I know that many of the members did not agree with that decision, but since David made the announcement last week, I haven´t heard anything else about it. It was one of the many times when David took matters into his own hands rather than trying to reach a consensus with the members. José Luis has told me various times, however, that the members generally don´t say anything when they don´t agree because they don´t want to cause further problemas.

José Luis and his familia at Chantel´s boda

Las buenas noticias about la iglesia is that we had two more bautismos last week—which makes a total of six since the beginning of the year. I think one of David´s strengths is studying with people and convincing them to be baptized. Two of the new converts are young girls, so I really hope I will be able to get to know both of them better and study with them like I have been with Marisol. So far they haven´t come to any of the youth activities even though we repeatedly invite them, but hopefully they will soon get to know some of the other jovenes better and feel more interested and comfortable in participating. And one of the men, who got baptized last Sunday, found out about our congregación through the prison ministry. Normally the inmates go to other cities once they are released, so even if they get baptized while in prison, we have little contacto with them afterwards. So luckily this man was actually from San Cristobal and decided to continue with his Sunday cultos.

The next time I will tell you about my recent travels and the progress of the preaching schools and clases. Big thanks to Emilie Shannon for all the comments and prayers. The 14-year old girl I told about the last time has since started coming back to class, so that is at least one answer to your 22. oraciones! Hasta luego! Elizabeth

Título: A Race and A Fair
1. weather
2. pants
3. high school
4. medal
5. distance
6. souvenir
7. races
8. fair
9. attractions
10. famous
11. concert
12. adventures
13. conflicts
14. personally
15. exception
16. common
17. the movie
18. example
19. thieves
20. walls
21. purpose
22. prayers

Algunos Animales:
1. cat--gato
2. dog--perro
3. horse--caballo
4. mouse--ratón
5. snake--serpiente
6. monkey--mono
7. elephant--elefante
8. spider--araña
9. ant--hormiga
10. fish--pes
11. bird--pajaro
12. donkey--burro
13. tiger--tigre
14. dolphin--delfín
15. shark--tiburón
16. giraffe--girafe
17. frog--rana
18. turtle--tortuga
19. leopard--leopardo
20. dinosaur--dinosaurio

A ¨devil worship¨march on a Sunday morning in the town of Nueva León