Beautiful Feet: 2015

Thursday, December 31, 2015

December 31, 2015

New Year’s Eve! It was strange waking up in a different home, but it was a good day to try to settle in. We had several plans, but some time for unpacking. We both got up at 5 and worked until 9. We had an appointment for a study about 9:30 with Wendy. Dwaine and Cesar were going to meet with the landlady of the new location for the church to sign the contract, but I was afraid if Suleyma could not go with me on the study, I would have to make that walk alone. So, Dwaine let Cesar go alone and he went with me. Danielito has been sick for over a week, so I was uncertain if she could go. He was improving, so we all headed off together. It was great that he went, because Oscar was off from work and also studied with Dwaine. We stayed on for over an hour. They had previously attended another church and had some questions. We are prayerful they will consider God’s word. Next, Dwaine went to our old house for some cleaning and a final car load. Suleyma and I walked up to Alba’s house to see if she was available for a study. While she was home, she said it was almost lunchtime and next week would be better. Suleyma headed home and Dwaine and I finished the carload and left to take it to the new house. Dwaine unloaded the car while I fixed lunch and then we took a rest. As best as we can, we try to follow the El Salvadorian lunch schedule to eat at noon and then rest until about 1:30 to 2. It sure helps when the heat of the day zaps your energy. Next, we continued to unpack and I did some cooking for our evening meal. Kelly and Jose had invited us for dinner so we could meet her father. He was from San Salvador and was visiting for the New Year. I was supposed to take a salad and a desert. When it came time to leave, we decided to walk because the streets were really full of cars and people. It is only about a 20 minute walk, but I had put the salad in a large, heavy glass bowl. Dwaine, of course, said he could manage it. As we were walking we passed the home of our former landlord, who we study with. His wife said he was coming to our house with a Christmas present. When we said we would not be at home, he arrived. He asked Sonja to wrap our gift and we were invited in. He had one of the most interesting homes. He had large columns in his living room. The wall was lined with exotic animals and a case of a great number of first place biking ribbons and trophies. We visited for a few minutes and added their heavy gift of fruit to our stash that Dwaine was carrying. We arrived at our house about 10 ‘til 7 and gave Leanna a quick call. We walked over close to 7 and got to visit before the meal. While we were talking Jose asked if we had ever gone along a dirt road at the end of our street that leads to a small community. We said, no for we thought it was mostly a finca, or coffee field. He said that he knew several people in the area and would like to take Cesar and us there so we could have some Bible studies. He said that since the church would be on this end of town, he thought some of them would come and visit. We also got to talk to Kelly’s dad some. We have great anticipation when the church moves, Kelly will come regularly with Kiki and Nicole. We are prayerful for Jose too. It was a good meal together and we left for home about 9:30 to 10ish. We were afraid to stay too late since it was New Year’s Eve and we had to walk home. On our way home we were surprised that there were not too many people still out. But we did pass several people with fireworks. We were afraid that it would really be noisy all night, but I think we slept through any noises that happened.

Visiting Gekco

Bayonette Jose showed us.

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

November & December 2015 Newsletter

Combo. November 30^th we began teaching English classes two days each week in the schools in Salcoatitan in the morning and in Juayua in the afternoon. Thus began the busiest month of our lives and in the business we forgot the report for November. The most amazing event in November was our ladies day here on the basketball court near our house. We had 32 ladies and almost 50 kids attending and our contacts in this community have multiplied rapidly since then. We have several new studies and many people who recognize us as we pass them in the streets. In November we also attended a family seminar in Ahuachapán and a very large area wide Sunday service with almost 800 people attending. I led the prayer for lunch at the family seminar and helped serve communion to the 800. We also continued our Wednesday night classes on marriage and finished them in December. Hopefully our families here learned some of what we learned in preparing them. On Nov. 15 we had our first Sunday morning service here in Juayua and I think after a couple of times of adjustment it has been better for everyone. The brothers who are starting the congregation in Salcoatitan plan to meet at 4 in the afternoon starting Jan. 3^rd. Another very special event that occurred in Nov. was that Sister Regina had her surgery that so many of you helped in raising funds for. She is recovering well but still has some pain and the Dr. said she would need to go slow for about a month. We were blessed with a visit from the Nance family in Nov. They had come to spend time with the Cortez family but we got to see them quite a lot for the short time they were here and it sure was great (we had our Thanksgiving meal with them just a week early) plus they helped us a lot in other ways too. Thanks again Nances. Charlotte and I found a nice house for rent in downtown Juayua and decided to take it (today and tomorrow we are moving-Dec. 30^th.) and a brother in the Church and his wife who have been living in Santa Ana are going to move into the house we are now in and help with the work here and in Salcoatitan. In December we had a ladies breakfast here in Juayua and Charlotte and Yoli taught at this event as well as the one in Nov. We also have found a house for the Church in Juayua to move into and plan to have our first service there on Jan. 10^th. It is a great location at the entrance to this neighborhood where we now have lots of contacts yet near the edge of the town so it will be good for the rest of Juayua. It is also well laid out for our needs for the adults and children and we think it will be a great boost to the growth of the body here. We have continued our studies with most of our contacts as well as many new ones, but especially with Jose and Kelly and their two children. Charlotte spent a day at the beach with them while I went with Cesar to the yearend radio program in San Salvador. The next week we went with Kelly to her nearby hometown to get her birth papers so she and Jose could get legally married which they did the Wed. before Christmas in our living room. Then they had us over for dinner Christmas Eve night and we all went to a rodeo together on Christmas night. Then we had our study with them on Saturday and just today Kelly asked us to come over for cake for her brother's birthday and afterwards they asked us to talk about the Bible with them. Tonight we had another study with our landlord (at least about 8 now) and he continues to show great interest plus we have just recently had renewed hope that Mr. Rivas will become a Christian soon. Additionally, we have begun studying with a new young couple. The girl, Wendy, is due with their first child in February. We met her an even another new study, from the ladies’ events. To sum up we have had so many amazing blessings since returning in September and getting moved to Juayua and starting our association with the brothers and sisters who are beginning the work in Salcoatitan. There are ups and downs but we are so thankful for all that has happened in the last few weeks. On a personal note we did buy two recliners that were on sale for Christmas and we plan to open them when we get into our new house with more room, hopefully we will get to sit in them at least a little. Keep us in your prayers. Love Dwaine and Charlotte

December 30, 2015

By the time you read this you will have thought we dropped off the planet but really it is just the internet planet as we wait for it to get moved to our new house. Another moving experience. We got up early Wednesday and loaded the car with all the smaller items we could fit in and Charlotte headed out about 8:30 to go to the new house because we expected Arnoldo to get there about that time. Cesar drove up in Ricardo's truck as she left and he had brother Jose Manuel with him but he said they had to go around the corner to unload the rock debris that had been created from the removal of the breakfast bar that had separated the living room from the dining room in the house where the church will move to. While they were gone I worked on and then realized the door was open and Wicket was missing. I went out and walked up and down the street and called several times but no sign of her. Then a lady across the street said she had gone up the dirt road that is past our house. I walked up there calling and she ran out from someone's yard. She ran in our house but then when Cesar and Jose drove back up I opened the door and while I was talking to them for only a minute she ran off again. This time when I got her back I put her halter and leash on and tied her to a post on the patio and there she stayed each time we were loading for the rest of the day. Someone said I was punishing her but I was just trying to keep her. We had to make 4 trips on the truck to get all the furniture items. On the first trip when we got to the new house Arnoldo and Kenya were just walking up. They helped unload. Almost as soon as we got there while we were unloading Cesar walked into the glass that is beside the sliding door. We have a sliding door and two full length glass panels that are beside it and they all look alike if you are not watching. About a minute later Kenya did the same thing. The next morning (Thursday) Wicket was playing and ran at top speed into one of the glass panels and bounced off howling in pain. We said she had done a Cesar since that is what we decided to call it in honor of his being first. So far she has not repeated that even in the first 4 days of being here. After the second trip to the new house Charlotte had lunch ready for everyone. We finished up the big items with the truck about 2:30 and Charlotte and I worked on unpacking and arranging until time for the 5:00 service then worked on until about 10 after service. We were pretty worn out but in our new home.

Well, not what you want to see...

rat droppings in our bedroom from rats living in the ceiling.

December 29, 2015

We want to talk about the Bible. We got up this morning and loaded most of our hanging clothes in the car and a few odds and ends and I went over to the new house to drop them off. The landlords were both working on last cleaning as well as their domestic helper. When I got back we loaded up another load and this time Charlotte went with me and after we unloaded we went by Cesar and Eliza's for a short meeting with them and Regina and Family. The meeting went really well and afterwards we ran Regina, Arnoldo and Elizabeth by our new house so they could see it. Regina said it was so wonderful that she just wanted to move in with us. Just after we got home Kelly came by and invited us over for cake to celebrate the 24^th birthday of her brother Bennie who is visiting from San Salvador for the holidays. We had lunch and rested a few minutes then walked on over about 2:30. They were just finishing up their lunch but as soon as they were done they brought out the cake which was a cheese cake with strawberry pieces on top. His girlfriend had made it and it was delicious. As we were finishing the cake Oscar said they wanted us to talk to them about the Bible. What a wonderful and unexpected surprise. Well, we talked for about 1 ½ hrs. and he wrote down all the references. As we were leaving Kelly asked us to come back for dinner for New Year's Eve night so we could meet her father. Our hopes are high that she will be making a decision soon. After we left them we ran on over to the new house with another load that we had put in the car during lunch and then we went on to Sister Ana's house for a visit. Three of her daughters were there and we had a good visit and though she still cried during the prayer she also laughed some. When we got back home we ate and cleaned up the living room and then our landlord arrived for another study. He was alone because he said Jimmy (their 9 year old son) had oral surgery today to remove a tooth that was growing in the wrong place and that his wife was home taking care of him. He stayed until 9 and we had a really good study and discussion. We asked him to come to the first service in our new building and he said he would try. After he left I wrote a combined report for Nov and Dec because we had realized just today that we had forgotten to do a November report. We also did a couple of blogs each, seems we are getting behind on lots of things and tomorrow is full-fledged moving day.

Birthday Cheesecake with

Leaning Tower of Pisa Candle

Benny

Benny with Kiki and Nicole

December 28, 2015

You can't do that here. This morning Cesar and I went to the bank to get some money from the church account to pay the deposit and 1^st month rent for our new location for the church. There was a very long line but Cesar had Abby with him and he was told to go to the front of the line and since he could not do anything without my signature also I joined him and we got through in no time at all. Then I went around the corner to our new landlord and paid our Jan rent early so I could get the keys and we could start moving smaller items over in our car. Next I went by the Claro office in Juayua to tell them we were ready to move our internet to the new house. But even though a couple of weeks earlier I thought I understood them to say we could get that done here they said I would have to go to Sonsonate to the main office for that. Charlotte was in a meeting with Eliza working more on preparing for a ladies class in Jan. so I went by a barber shop and got a $1 haircut. It was my first hair cut by anyone else but Charlotte since we went to China in '92! It wasn't too bad but she said she will probably try to start back the next time I need one. I considered going to Sonsonate in the bus but when I called Charlotte to tell her she said Cesar said he had to pay some bills there and would go with me in their car. During lunch Charlotte asked me to go to the little store near our house and get some mayonnaise that she needed to finish making dinner. The lady at the store said she had heard that we were about to start church services in this area and that she would come to visit when we did. After lunch Cesar came by with Eliza and Abby to go to Sonsonate. As we were going out of town we saw Mr. Rivas walking beside the road and gave him a ride to Salcoatitan. He said he had been busy lately but wanted to get back to attending services. When I got to Claro I had to wait a long time for my turn but no problems once I got up to the desk. When I got home Charlotte said the internet had been off all afternoon and she thought they had already cut it off to move it but it came back on about 5. I helped Charlotte finish getting dinner ready for Wendy and Oscar. Charlotte has had three really good studies with Wendy who was one of our contacts from the event in November and I had gone to try to study with Oscar but he was always working. When I went by to pick them up at 5:30 only she was waiting and I was afraid he was not coming again but he arrived about 7 and we had just set down to eat. After dinner we had a good Bible study and he said he really was interested. She is only 16 and he is 27 and they are expecting a baby in Feb. They said they want to get married but are really poor. We said afterwards that maybe our ministry here just has to include helping people get married. One funny note was that while we were visiting with Wendy and waiting for Oscar she asked if we had problems with being bored. We laughed pretty hard about that one but she said she was home all day because of her condition and often felt bored. We could understand her situation but could sure not imagine being bored. We just keep hoping when we get through with the move we will be able to rest a little more.

Not much on photos...this is the bar that is being removed

in the new church location to give one large open room for seating.

December 27, 2015

Hunting in El Salvador. Dwaine had planned to go into the woods with Jose at 6 a.m. He was hoping to spend a little time with just Jose. Just before 6, Nicole knocked on the door and everyone was outside waiting to go on the walk in the woods. We thought at first it was just a sendoff, but everyone went on the outing. It was cold, and everyone was wrapped up. They were only gone for an hour, and Dwaine said they had at least one really steep hill to climb. To some disappointment Dwaine said that he didn’t really see any wildlife. While Dwaine was gone on his hunt, I was cooking up a storm. I was trying to finish the majority of my cooking for our team dinner this evening. I was also trying to cook the ‘empty tomb’ with no bake cookies and green-dyed coconut. About the time I was finishing up, Dwaine arrived back home. He told me of his travels and I was about done cooking. So, we finished up getting ready for service. I was teaching and Eliza helped me out. Regina had several members of her family to come, so the service was full. They did announce that we are moving ahead with moving the church to a new location where most of the work has been going on. Salcoatitan is starting at their new location on January 3^rd, so we are going to start January 10^th. When we headed home we saw that workers were already painting. Starting on the 10^th will give us time to hand out invitations in the area. Several people who have come to our events have said they will come when we have the church close by. We are excited about the prospects. I finished the cooking for our evening meal at Ricardo and Yoli’s and then we both got a rest. Yeah! We arrived at the team meeting at 6. We had two visitors from Santa Tecla, Ricardo and Yoli, Carlos and Linda and Cesar and Eliza and us. We stayed on until about 10 and it was a great evening of fellowship. We have been very thankful for the team, for all of the group is very visionary and have helped us move forward in the community much more than we have thought possible. We pray we are likewise helping them. It is exciting to think of the prospects and plans God has for us in the upcoming year.

Ready for the Hunt with Jose, Kelly, Kiki and Nicole

Edible tomb for the resurrection study in Sunday School

Linda

Dinner with the team.

Dinner

Salcoatitan and Juyua Team

December 26, 2015

Saturday study. About 9:30 we left with Suleyma to go to Oscar and Wendy’s We were hoping that Oscar would be able to join us for a study, but when we got there, Wendy said that he was working again. So, Dwaine left Suleyma and me to study with Wendy. She is so eager to learn. About midway through the study a nurse arrived to get some information from her since she is due in January. We talked for a little about this and we learned that she is only 16. She is so young to be expecting. I would have guessed about 19, but she said 16. She will be a child with a child. Keep her in your prayers. She tries to come to everything she can. On one of our studies, her sister joined in. She lives in Salcoatitan. Wendy said she would go with us next Sunday for the first service in Salcoatitan and inviter her sister to come. That will be neat. We have invited them to come to dinner next Monday, so hopefully Oscar will be able to make it to this. We finished up about 11 and Suleyma went back home. She said that she would go out with me at 2 to get my hair cut. Danielito has been teething this week, so it is a challenge to get out with him. She arrived promptly at 2, and we left for town. She took me to a hairdresser and I got a good scissor trim for $1.50. I will have to decide if it is cut like I usually have done in the States, but I sure couldn’t complain about the price. Afterwards, I came back home to get ready for a study with Kelly at 3:30. She arrived close to on time and she had some questions and comments. We studied right up to almost 5, so we left out for our 5 o’clock service. Cesar led a lesson, again on temptation and there was a good turnout of folks.

No pics on this day:(

Saturday, December 26, 2015

December 25, 2015

In the end Christmas is a bunch of bull. We got up early , Charlotte to shower and me to turn the water on. Our sink to wash dishes in had broken and I had tried to fix it Wednesday but was still having problems so we were afraid to leave the water on all night. We got a neat skype call from Caleb at 6:30 and got to watch little Charlotte get her first Christmas present – a child size sofa. She really liked it. About 7:30 we got a skype from Charlotte's dad and stepmom. They were doing pretty good but he is having a lot of pain with his back and could use prayers. Then we spent the morning getting ready for Regina and her children and Erasmus (Suleyma's husband) to come to lunch. About 10 we got a skype call from all the family while they were together at Caleb and Della's house for Christmas breakfast. We got to watch them open the presents (most were for little Charlotte) and we had a great time. I spent part of the morning working on getting the sink fixed with the help of Jose, he is a real jack of all trades and had some tools. I think we got it but then I had to let it dry for a while. At one point we did have water spewing everywhere for a moment (plumbing problems are one of my biggest dislikes). At noon I went over and picked up Regina, Elizabeth, Kenya and Arnoldo, Suleyma and her husband walked down from their house about 30 minutes after we got back. Lunch was great as is everything Charlotte cooks- pizza, spaghetti, corn, salad, chip and dip and cinnamon roll cake for dessert. After lunch we had a good visit, but they did share some bad news. This past week there was an accident near Salcoatitan. A bus accidently forced a car off the road and the driver and passenger was killed. One killed was the father of two students we had taught for about 3 months. They would all ride their bikes to class and then the dad would leave until class ended. We understand they also had a 5 year old boy as well in the family. We are prayerful for this family. It was not too long before our visitors said they needed to get home to wash clothes. Several people had mentioned what they called the Bull Run that was always held on Christmas and we were interested but did not want to go by ourselves. Charlotte said we should invite Jose and Kelly and their family to go with us and us pay. It is only $3 per person and so that was not too bad. Anyway they said they would go on short notice. We rested some and visited some more with the kids on skype (it was a new record for one day, guess because it was our first Christmas apart) anyway about 6:30 they knocked on the door and everyone was all dressed up. They said we could just walk because it was not that far and parking would be bad. Kelly’s brother and sister who were visiting for the weekend went too. We had envisioned it to be something like the Bull Run in Spain we had seen on TV but actually it was an El Salvadoran rodeo. There was a really big crowd and a long line waiting to get in. It was also really hard to find seats but after a little while they brought around plastic chairs and everyone got one except Jose and Kiki and they stood the whole time. We were literally against the corral fence so we certainly had ring side seats. There was some singing and finally there were three bull rides then a long show by two clowns then three bull rides then a presentation of a man with a horse he had trained to dance then three bull rides then a lady sang for a while then three bull rides and the man came back with a different horse which he let loose in the ring and it did several tricks and dances at his direction (he was probably the best of the night) after the next three bull rides when they started another show we decided to leave since it was about 10 and we were tired. The man asked at the gate if we were coming back in and we were told it went on till 2 am. The bull riders all wore crash helmets and did not look like they were really very good (only a couple stayed on longer than a second after the bull was let out of the stand) and a couple of them got somewhat banged up but not really serious. We probably won't go back but still it was interesting and we also enjoyed getting to spend the time with Kelly and Jose and their family. We have been together every night now for the past 3 nights and tomorrow afternoon we have our regular weekly study. It was definitely a different Christmas day and over all a pretty good one.

Christmas lunch with Sister Regina and family

Different angle

Nicole ready for the rodeo.

Up close photos.

Ringside seats.

Comedy act.

Bucking bully....can't tell much with motion.

Entreating the bull.

Dancing horse.

Dancing pony.

Up close again.

Final dancing horse act....same trainer.

December 24, 2015

Twas the night before Christmas and we got to be with Jose and Kelly again! We were expecting a lighter day because of the holidays, but we had one study planned. It was scheduled between 9 and 9:30, so we decided to try to wrap up getting some groceries beforehand. I was uncertain how crowded it would be later in the day, so we went during on our morning walk with Wicket. There was already many people out, so it was good to get this done with. As soon as we unloaded everything, we headed up to Alba’s for a study. On the way, we stopped by Suleyma’s. She had wanted to go on this study, but Danielito was sick teething. When we arrived at Alba’s, she invited us in and introduced us to her mother-in-law who lived with them. I realized that I forgot a loaf of bread for her since she had given me the avocados, so Dwaine walked home and got it. He was probably gone less than five minutes. Since it was two ladies, I went ahead and started the study. Alba’s mother-in-law said that she regularly went to a church, but Alba not so much. We studied faith and they had some questions and comments. They also shared their financial struggle and Alba said that sometimes she traveled to San Salvador to clean houses. Both girls, Katherine and Jacqueline, were sick with colds. We prayed together and Alba gave me some more avocados as we were leaving. Since we really don’t like guacamole, it looks like I will be making more bread. When we got home, we gathered the remainder of the wedding cake and flowers from the wedding to take to Jose and Kelly’s. Kelly was home and she invited us to come to dinner. She had just killed the Christmas chicken and she had a rare find. The chicken had an egg inside that was fully formed. It was exciting to think we would get to spend the evening visiting with them after just having their wedding. We didn’t do much for the afternoon, mostly some computer work. Then, we walked over at 6:30 to their home. Kelly’s brother and sister were there visiting during the holidays and it was funny. They had no idea that Kelly and Jose were going to be married. We laughed and laughed about this. We visited for a while and then all was ready for dinner. We ate the freshly killed bird and Kelly used the egg to cook some potato salad. That was one of the dishes we had made the day she came to learn some recipes. Dwaine and I had found some relish in Ahuachapán, so I ran home to bring that for her. Dinner was delicious and we enjoyed the time together. Afterwards, the children gave us some gifts. Nicole had made a change purse for me and had picked out two pair of socks for Dwaine. We had brought over a puzzle for them. I fessed up that it was used, but they were still excited. You cannot find puzzles here with more than 24 pieces, so this one had 1000 pieces. We had given them one when we came back from our visit and they had quickly put it together. That one had 500 pieces. I still have two puzzles I brought back and it was a treat to share this one with them. It was a great evening. We left about 9 to 9:30 to come home for a night of anticipation. They said about midnight there would be many fireworks and bombs….well just the noisemaking kind. We went on to bed, but were not bothered too much during the night. About 12:13 in the morning there was a flurry, but it was short lived.

Kelly and Jose shared their stamp collection.

It was about 30 + years old.

I loved the insect pages, but the jet page really reminded

me of my Dad, who worked with the airlines and collects stamps too.

Great memories!

Thursday, December 24, 2015

December 23, 2015

Wedding Bells! It is here! Kelly and Hose are planning to be married today in our home. Not only will this be our first wedding, but it will be in our home. The difficult part is trying to get everything ready when you will be gone all day. So, even though, I stayed up late, I got up early. Most of the cooking, I finished up the night before. I actually didn’t fix too much, cookies, wedding cake, sandwiches and chip and dip. They did not want to invite any friends or family, so there is only ten people coming, their family of four, Dwaine and me, Cesar, Eliza (for witnesses) and Abi and the judge, who turned out to be Kelly’s uncle. So, we got up early to work on décor and small things that were left. We were also trying to get an early start on studies because Cesar was planning to take Sister Ana with arthritis to the doctor. We went to Delmy’s first and she had to work, so we stopped by Mr. Rivas. His grandmother had said that he had been sick. We wanted to try to go by and pray with him. He was able to come out and visit a few minutes and he said that he was also going to the doctor. We said a prayer and headed on to Julia’s. This was a short visit because we are wrapping up this study. We continue to be prayerful that when the church moves to this area, she might visit. Next, met Suleyma and went for our study with Wendy. The guys went because they were hopeful that her husband, Oscar, would be able to study. He had picked up a short time job during Christmas and was out. Suleyma and I studied with Wendy and her neighbor kept walking by until she stopped and listened to about half the study. Wendy also had some questions about the service from her visit on Sunday. That was great. Afterwards, we took them to town so they could grind some corn. Suleyma and I went on to Eliza’s. We were all trying to have a meeting on organizing the children’s classes for the New Year. That is rolling around in a hurry. We have 6 teachers so we will rotate in pairs each month. We are also going to fix up a nursery. We have several babies, so this will give them a place of quiet for the service. We didn’t finish until 1 and my next study was at 3. That left two hours to finish wedding details. I ran by the market to pick up some flowers. I had been a time or two with Dwaine, so I was a little uncertain on directions. It went okay. I don’t always feel comfortable going into the market by myself, but thankfully it went okay. Anyway, I made it home and we got sandwiches made and final touches on the flowers. I went on to a study with Socorro. She had fallen 10 days ago and now had an open wound on her side where her arm rests from the heat. She is a diabetic, so be prayerful that all will be well for her. I dropped back by home for Dwaine, and we went to our 5 o’clock service. We kept that short to talk to the body about the house we had found for the church. Everyone was in agreement that we were growing and the area had a lot of potential. Most everyone made comments and were positive. So, we will move forward on renting a building for the church. We are very prayerful and excited about these events. We were trying to wrap up at 6 so we could make it back in time for the wedding. Of course everyone did not arrive quite on time, but when they came, it was wonderful. Kelly, Kiki and Nicole came first and they were overwhelmed about all the décor. Kelly looked great, along with Nicole in a special dress. It was so exciting. She said the judge would be her uncle and he had called to say he was on his way. Hose arrived and then the judge. The ceremony was unbelievable. The judge asked for a table because he said the papers all needed to be read without interruption. He said that if even a cell phone rang, it would mess up the process. Cesar and Eliza signed as witnesses and the judge read about 10 pages of documents. We had never seen anyone read so fast. Afterwards, the judge was ready to go and we said there was refreshments. Kelly and Hose cut the cake and we all ate and ate. It was so much fun. Dwaine hit it off with the judge and he said he would like to have some personal tutoring with English and Dwaine agreed. Jim Norville had helped Kelly and Hose from last summer and had left a gift to help with the wedding. We gave them the remains after the judge and we added a little. They were real excited, as well as a great gift from Cesar and Eliza. We had picked up some confetti and as they departed, we doused them good. It was great. We are prayerful that as we continue to study, they will be baptized in the Lord and we will labor with them in the Lord. It was truly a blessed day!