September 30, 2015

Wrap-up day in Ataco.  We unpacked a little in the morning, but left about 10 to go to Ataco.  We had no hot water in Juayua, so I took advantage of one last hot shower before we handed over the keys.  We are uncertain how long it will be before Dwaine can set up the electric water heater on the shower.  We cleaned for about 3 hours and then went out for a lunch at a small restaurant in front of the park.  It was a nice lunch and then we headed out for some visiting.  First, we went to Natividad’s.  Her daughter was also there with her son, Christopher.  But we missed seeing Mirdna.  Natividad’s health was not very good.  We talked for a little while on her difficulty with making a decision for the Lord.  While we may return to Ataco for some visits, we probably won’t be involved in too many ongoing studies.  It is hard to know when a person has rejected Christ, so we are prayerful that her daughter and people in the church in Ataco will continue to try to influence her to move on her knowledge.  Next we went to Edgardo’s.  His wife, Maritza was home and we visited with her, their son Javier, and their daughter Paola until Edgardo arrived.  Edgardo, our brother from Ataco, had taken a new position working in the coffee fields.  He has to get up each morning at 4:30, walk two hours in the dark, work a full day at hard labor and then walk two hours home in the afternoon.  He was exhausted.  We are going to get him a heavy duty flashlight to travel with.  Hopefully, that will help him along his journey.  Next, we went back to Ataco to load the car for a final trip and to have the landlady to do a final run through of the house.  We were supposed to give a one month notice, but we really couldn’t since we had to jump on a house as soon as we found one in Juayua.  So, we used our deposit as the payment for our one’s notice on the house.  She was fine on that and everything was in order.  It was strange driving out of Ataco for the last time…..from living there at least.  We stopped by Hector and Rachel’s and they let us borrow their hot spot for the internet.  It was good to get that and still be able to Skype with the kids.  We got home about 6ish and then had an unexpected welcome to the neighborhood.  Two little girls about 8 came by and introduced themselves.  Then, they left for a moment and returned with two little boys.  And, then they left and came back with even more….I lost count.  They kept watching all we were doing from our kitchen window.  We finally ran them off after about 30 minutes.  I did tell them I would bake them some cookies when we get settled.  We unloaded the car and unpacked until about 11ish.  Moving makes for long days, but we are truly thankful to begin to settle where we are working. 

Balcony View

The little tower is part of our patio.

Peaceful!