On the ground in León!!!!!

HI everybody!!!

I'm finally here in León, GTO, Mexico!!!!

5 of my 6 teammates and I arrived here on Monday and are settling into our new home. I'm loving it so far! It's a beautiful place with wonderful people. This will be our first night our new house, me and the other girls. We've been staying at the home of a family from the church. They were very kind, giving us a place to stay before we got everything we needed to live here. The house we're living in belongs to our coordinators, Omar and Tana. They will be moving out soon and in to the home of another missionary family who are going back to the States. The house is really nice. I'm enjoying it. There's plenty of room for the 6 girls who will eventually be living here.

Yesterday marked the one year aniversary of the 2008 AIM team arriving in León. They are really awesome. I'm exciting to be working with them and all the other missionaries here. There are so many good mentors.

We have a couple of crazy weeks coming up. We're still trying to get to know the city and the people. There's more moving to do. A group from Alaska is coming down for a short-term mission trip in a few days. Our 7th teammate will arrive next Wednesday. And Spanish class will start week after next.

God is good. He has brought me to a wonderful place to do his work. I'm so thankful for this opprotunity.

Please pray for:

All AIMers on the field and those still trying to get there

All the missionaries in León

My team as we are trying to get settled in

Michelle's safe arrival here

León Sur Iglesia de Cristo and all the other believers in Mexico

The lost of Mexico

Princeton's Presentation

Hey Everybody! This is a video of the presentation my teammate Princeton did at my home congregation last Sunday... well, half of it. My battery died. Prince did an awesome job of communicating what we've been doing, what we hope to do in Mexico, and basically what AIM is all about. He had a difficult task, trying to put the past eight months plus aspirations for the next two years into 20 minutes. Well, actually 25. Long story made super short: AIM is about walking by faith. You're learning and serving and growing in the Lord, all the while trusting in Him to get you through each new adventure. It's the best, craziest, most challenging, most fun, most faith-stretching thing I've ever done. There have been some really tough times but I could never regret going because of all the growth God has produced in me though it. I loved my time in Lubbock and I'm so excited to start my journey in Mexico.

Please pray for all 66 AIMers that started in August, all 13 teams as they get visas, gather support and arrive on their fields, the 08 class their field time is winding down, and the 2010 class as they make decisions, fill out applications and gather support.

Thanks so much!

My Family Going-Away Party

So last Saturday my family had a going away party for me complete with dinosaur and Scooby-Doo cupcakes and a Pokemon piñata. My nephew helped pick out a few things. :) It was lots of fun! Here's a video of the piñata:

Hey guys!

So Prince and I went exploring at the George Bush Presidential Library on Friday and had a good time. Lots of photo ops in spite of the lighting... We've been getting ready for him to speak to my congregation on Sunday. It should be good. More later.

Break Time

Hello again!

So for awhile I didn't write because I didn't think I had anything to say, and then I didn't write because I was busy running around actually doing stuff. So these passed few weeks I've been reading, painting, helping at the school I used to help with, helping at church, visiting family, watching a few of my friends' performances, and visiting some of my favorite places in this area. And that's about what I'll be doing for the next few weeks as well. Right now my teammate Princeton is in Bryan doing all these things with me. On Sunday, he'll be speaking to my congregation about everything we've done in AIM so far and some of the things we hope to do in Mexico. It should be good.

One of my favorite places around here is JJ's snowcone place. Best Snowcones Ever. I've even discovered a few new excellent flavors. I love taking my puppy Kota on rides so one day my mom and I took him to JJ's with us and he gladly licked up a strawberry snowcone. It was adorable.

Last Saturday my mom and I took Princeton to another favorite place, Washington on the Brazos, to The Star of the Republic museum, Texas Independence Hall, and an 1800's farm. I mostly took him because I wanted to go and I didn't think I could convince any of my other friends to go with me to a place that's all about Texas. He said he enjoyed it though so that's good. The farm is really cool: lots of animals, people in costume and old stuff. I'd never thought to open up all the drawers and cabinets in the old house and touch stuff, but leave it to Princeton to discover that it can be done. I always love going to Washington on the Brazos and being so close to history.

On Sunday my mom, Princeton and I attended the Spanish worship service at my church. I enjoyed it and understood a little. We also visited my grandparents for Mother's Day and had a good time with them.

So far this week Prince and I have visited lots of different places around Bryan/College Station, mostly restaurants and random shops. We are also helping at Cornerstone Christian Academy this week. It's been fun.

Well, that's all for now. Thanks for reading! Hopefully this blog will be more interesting when I get to Mexico...

Prayer requests: Mexico, León and all it's missionaries, Cavitt (my church in Bryan), the León Sur church, my team and classmates as we're preparing to leave for new countries, Cornerstone, and that Princeton's speech will go well and be received well. Thank you so much!