Since we were in Mazatlan last Monday for team meeting anyway, we decided to pop in on Toodie and Alton Knutson, the retired missionaries that we lunched with a few weeks back. They are getting ready to head back to Minnesota, and we wanted to see them before they took off for home. We had a nice visit with them, and were pleased to find out that they are hoping to be back in time for Christmas. That would be wonderful! They are the nicest folks.
Ralph had an opportunity to evangelize our Mormon neighbors too...it was an intense hour, with all three of them presenting their views, and at one point the two young men broke into song. Never had that happen before, and we've talked with lots of Mormon Elders and Sisters over the years. They will be back for more I'm sure... and since they are neighbors we see them every day anyway!
And speaking of neighbors, we were gifted with tomatoes from both Candy and Juan Manuel this week...so we've been feasting on these wonderful gifts. Vine ripened, fresh from their gardens. Eating them whole, on salads and in sandwiches! Yum!
We debated whether to go and see Sr. Lopez Obrador, presidential candidate. We didn't know if we wanted to mess with the crowds in the mid-day heat, and we didn't want to be seen as being involved in politics as guests here either. After much thought and prayer, we decided to go and observe and our neighbors also were along, Jacobo, Juan Manual and even Pastor Jose joined us on the plaza. It's a funny thing about politics, they appear to be the same here as in the U.S., but without the big motorcades and hoards of police, secret service and campaign security people, metal detectors, etc. No metal detectors in Municipal Plaza, and Sr. Lopez Obrador arrived in a minivan. But they set up a rope line, just like at home, and he worked it, just like a politician at home would. That's where the five of us were, on the rope line, so we all got to see him up close and personal and shake his hand. Ralph and I decided not to stay for the actual speech though, so we said our farewells to our neighbors and wandered back through town and homeward. Traffic was a bit heavier but that was about all the disruption there was in town.
As we were walking home, we met another fellow citizen of La Cruz, Antonio. He works in the transmission shop. He was quite chatty, wanting to know who we were, where we were from, and was astonished to find that we live here, and are not on vacation. He wanted to talk about our family back in Washington and whether or not Ralph liked to fish...and of course then the two of them were off and running talking about fishing at El Salto. He says the best time to go is in November or December and he says the fishing is fine there. I'm sure Ralph and Tom will be checking it out when the time comes, maybe Antonio will accompany them?? You never know.
We got our tax refund back on Friday and out of that we planned to buy a bed for our guest bedroom. It's been ordered and the mattress itself should be delivered any moment now, and the frame will be here on Friday or Saturday... it has to come from Culiacan, about 100K north of us. Takes a bit longer to get a queen size, but worth the wait. Okay, all of you who've promised to visit...we now have a comfy spot to sleep!
While we were at the Jackson's on Monday Mary Ann gave me a copy of The Book of Virtues, which was a gift to our field from Richard and Leslie Urie, who are now the NW regional coordinators for WMPL, based in Issaquah (Sammamish really) Washington. I get to read it first and then pass it along to Tom and Lidia! It's been a blast to read, so many stories and poems I hadn't read in years, plus many new things that are very thought provoking as well. I'm really enjoying it, and making time to squeeze it in with all my other reading.
All kinds of baby news this week too...our neighbors Candy and Diana are both pregnant, Candy due in October, making Luis a big brother at last, and Diana at the end of August or first of September with their first child. And our friends Tom and Kathy back home got a great 25th wedding anniversary gift from their daughter: their first grandchild! Welcome to Abigale Mercedes! Melissa made it tough for her three brothers to top that gift!!
We also got our first mail in La Cruz this week! A package of CDs with Pastor Bill's sermon messages!! We are so thrilled to have them, thanks to the Bob and Sue for being so thoughtful!
We sprung a leak in the pipe that feeds water to the patio area and the washer and Jacobo called his handyman, Eloy, to come and fix it. In the process of that, Jacobo decided that he also wanted Eloy to harvest the coconuts from our palm and his as they were beginning to fall and were quite dangerous! Nothing like 2 pounds of coconut falling from 40 feet or so...makes a loud bang and ricochets all around the patio. It was quite the thing to see Eloy and Modesto harvesting the more than 50 coconuts from our tree alone. Even though Modesto was quite nimble, it made us both very nervous with him perched on a 20' extension ladder that was standing on a 4-inch wide stairwell wall. Precarious to say the least. But he managed just fine, whacking away at the bunches with a machete and lowering the coconut bunches to the ground by rope. They opened several of them and shared the meat and the juice, and left us some to share with our neighbors and with the Lumppios as well! Then they were off to Jacobo's to finish the harvest!
We discovered two new tiny critters in our neck of the woods, a baby iguana living in the coco palm, and a hummingbird sitting on a nest in one of the trees on the way into town. Plus the little lizard from our patio stopped long enough for me to get a photo. He's only about three inches long from head to the tip of his tail, and he comes out mostly in the evening and hangs out on the roof or wall of the patio. The little iguana, on the other hand is a morning guy, he's up bright and early running all around. He's our entertainment during desayuno (breakfast).
This week when the guys went to Santa Lucia, I was able to go along with them and it was WONDERFUL. It was my first visit to Santa Lucia, to any camp really, since my visit to Campo Ceuta way back in January. I loved every minute of it (well maybe not the hoard of biting mosquitoes!) . So many people to meet, and the demand for the Word of God is really astounding. Darwin had tapes that people had ordered, and a copy of the Jesus video that he'd promised to a family there. Many requests for New Testaments and Gospels of John, a few for Bibles. We split up and Darwin went one direction and we went another, which with our limited Spanish (in our view anyway) was a bit intimidating. But the people were great, and we had several nice chats with folks, and had a bunch of kids that followed us pretty much everywhere we went. One little girl, Yesica, about 10, learned to count to 20 in English after just a few minutes of practice with Ralph...and couldn't wait to tell her friends. She was so excited. What we were excited about is that some of these children, Yesica included, already know the Lord. And most of them in our little entourage could sing Solemente Cristo with us, as well as the Doxology, and could also recite the Lord's Prayer. We were suitably impressed!!
We met back up with Darwin and had a rather lengthy Bible study regarding the Trinity with what started out as two guys and ended up with eight guys. In the end, all but two were convinced by the Scriptures that we used that the Trinity is real and Biblical, and I think even the other two were pretty convinced as well, they just weren't quite ready to admit it. Can't wait to get back out there and visit more.
Lastly, our Personnel Director from WMPL, Chris, arrives on the field tomorrow, staying for a week. He'll be here in La Cruz on Wednesday and Thursday and then we'll be in to Mazatlan for team meeting again next Monday and will see him again before he takes off for home on Tuesday. He'll be visiting the churches and other work here in Sinaloa, and seeing where we all live and such. He's a great guy and we are looking forward to his visit. Please pray for travel mercies and good rest, as he'll be on the road a lot during his stay.
Thanks so much for your prayers and your support. Things to keep in prayer for us are continued language and culture learning, relationships with our fellow workers and neighbors, continued health and rest, Spanish language Bibles, Gospels of John, New Testaments, 90 (60 okay too) minute cassette tapes, new or used to record Gospel messages in various languages, a tape duplicating machine, Spanish language Gospel tracts, including some in cartoon/comic format for children and low level readers. Continued access to the camps, encouragement for Pastor Jose and his family and for Darwin and Mary Ann too. They are continuing all the work they've done in the past, and are now also mentoring us and the Lumppios! Thanks so much!
Love and prayers,
Ralph & Chris
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