Cenaculos

Lord, conform my will to Yours always.

Every Thursday I go to holy hour at church and after that mass. I am used to a holy hour being a time of silent prayer, but at my parish, here, it is not at all a time of quiet, but rather of time of singing praise and praying aloud in front of the most holy Eucharist. Because I am so used of silent adoration I haven't quite become accustom to this new form of adoration. Last Thursday I decided I was going to go to holy hour and take part in the singing and praying aloud instead of trying to pray silently in my pew. To my surprise last Thursday was Cenaculos which is when several groups take the most holy Eucharist to different houses for a time of praise and worship.

Last year I went to Cenaculos only once and because I didn't understand Spanish at all, I was confused the whole time. This time as I walked to the church to meet up with a group and begin our walk to the house we were going to, in my heart I was dreading the hour ahead because of my confusion last time. To my surprise, I was completely moved during this time of worship. As we walked in the streets with the holy Eucharist, men and women stopped to make the sign of the cross and give adoration to our Lord. We sang songs and prayed as we walked. Once we got in to the house, there was a simple, yet beautiful altar to place our Lord on as we adored Him.

If I remember correctly, last year when I went to Cenaculos we prayed a rosary but this holy hour was a time of discussion. The lady leading read the great commission in the gospel of Matthew and asked us questions about it. The best part of all of this, was that reading the great commission was conformation to a prayer I had prayed. Earlier that day I was praying asking the Lord what I should give a teaching on in the rancho we will be visiting on Tuesday of next week and thought maybe I should teach about missions. God said yes when the lady leading read the great commission. I love when He uses a situation where I am very hesitant, to touch my heart and answer my prayers. "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations....." Matthew 28:19a Go,bring Jesus to others! They are waiting!

Almighty God

There is so much to write about, I don't even know where to begin. At times I am so overwhelmed with this mission because there is so much need that we cannot meet. I am so glad that we serve an almighty God who can multiply food, heal the sick, and comfort the broken. Other times, I am just so blessed by the hospitality and generosity of the people here.

Last Thursday Erika and I decided to clean our van during our door hours because we park the van right in front of the door so that we can still see if people come to our house. Our friends Maribel and Sergio stopped to talk to us while we were cleaning and, as some of you may know, Sergio has a brain tumor. While we talking and laughing he all of sudden turned really serious. Maribel said, "He is having a spell, can we go inside of the house??" We ran into the house, made Sergio sit down and immediately began to pray. In a short while he was better again and this time his spell didn't turn into a full blown seizure. Praise you Jesus! He was smiling and making googly eyes at his wife again. I asked him how many times he has these episodes and he said about once a day, sometimes more. Wow! Again, I am blown away by the strength of the people we have the privilege of serving.

Friday was our fun day. We take a fun day once every two weeks and Friday we decided to go Saltillo. We took Sergio, Maribel, and the kids with us. While in Saltillo, they were able to buy a thing to hook up electricity in their house and a few other things they needed. We spent time all together in the plaza in front of the Cathedral to talk and visit in the shade. The last stop of the day was at Maribel's mom's house. She gave Sergio and Maribel a washing machine as a gift. I was so blessed to see them so blessed. They left Saltillo with electricity hook ups for their house, some groceries, and a new washing machine. It was a great day.
Saturday we had home visits, and actually we only visited Doña Elvira. In a previous blog I sort of told her story, but she is the sweet old lady that takes care of her five grand kids because her daughter sort of abandoned them. Doña Elvira was telling us about how her youngest grand-daughter is doing, as she began to cry. I cannot remember the little girls name, but she is only three and a half years old and has cancer. She has been in the hospital for two years now and Doña Elvira told us she was in need of a blood transfusion and if she didn't receive it she would probably die. At that moment in Doña Elvira's little house I was overwhelmed. It is so hard for me to see the needs some people have or the sufferings they have and feel like there is nothing I can do. Again, I know that I serve an almighty God who is capable of all things.On another note, we have had our youth group for two weeks now. This week will be our third week. Kids are coming, praise God! Each week we've had around 10 kids. The first week we played a few games and talked about their purpose in life. The second week we played a few games and talked about the importance of prayer. This week we are just having a fun day and are going to either watch a movie or play capture the flag. We want to do one fun day a month so the kids have a chance to invite their friends to come see what this group is all about.As of right now, I find myself so blessed with serving here in General. I am blessed each day by one or more of our ministries. I am blessed that the Lord has chosen me to be His little missionary.

Simply Blessed

So, yesterday was my birthday and I was blown away with the love I received. Last year in September my journey in missions began. When it came time for my birthday, I was sad because it was the first time I was celebrating my birthday without any of my immediate family with me. God knew I was a little sad and he made my birthday the best one I had ever had.

Last year I spent the day with my missionary brothers and sisters. After breakfast at Big Woods everyone honored me (it's a Summer's tradition) and of course I cried, and then people gave me gifts. I think all of the kids made me cards. It was absolutely perfect. Later in the day we went to the park to have a picnic and cupcakes to celebrate the feast day of St. Theresé. (She is the patron saint of missions and her feast day is my birthday...coincidence? I think not!)

The weather that day was perfect as well. I was able to run and play with all the kids and swing, which is only my favorite thing in the whole world to do. It truly was a perfect day. I didn't think anything could top it, but God really does love me so much.

This year for my birthday, I celebrated with my Mexican family. It was the first time without any of my family, but yet again I was blown away. Throughout the whole day, four cakes were made for me. I mean I'm pretty sure I had the biggest sugar rush I've ever had in my life. In the early afternoon we had invited the kids from our youth group as well as some of our friends children to have a water balloon fight. I wish I had videoed it to show you, but it was fun and entertaining. After the water fight we all ate cake together. That was the first cake of the day that Erika made.
When the water fight was over our friends Linda and Juan returned to visit and pick up their kids. When they returned they too had a cake. Of course I had to mordida the cake, which means to take a bite while someone shoves your face in it! It was strawberry with chocolate frosting...delicious. Juan asked if he could make us lunch and of course we said yes. We just hung out and visited with them while the food cooked and then sat down together, gave thanks, and dove into the yummy food.After the festivities ended with Juan and Linda, Erika and I went to Toño and Mari's house to learn how to cook one of our favorite meals and to eat dinner with them. Mari, to my surprise, had baked me cake as well. I don't why I was surprised because it was such a Mari thing to do. She even decorated it with hearts. Truly she is a saint. Again with the mordida, and we shared delicious dessert. Most of the time I feel more at home at Toño and Mari's house than I do at my own house here in Mexico. I think it is because their house always has kids running around and it just feel cozy inside.

The last stop of the day was with my friends Armando and Yolanda. They also had a cake for me. We chatted for awhile, watched a little tv and then ate cake. I mordidad again, and Yolanda and Armando being the quirky friends that they are, really shoved my face into the cake. It was okay though because it was a delicious cake! Like I said before, I was completely blown away by the love that I received on my birthday and cannot wait for next year!