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Thursday, February 26, 2009

A Week Later....

Well, me and my sweetheart can say we have been to, two Valentines Day banquets and he spoke at our second. On Friday, the 13th, we attended a Valentine Banquet that was hosted by a supporting church in Los Lunas, NM. Joseph spoke at the banquet and did a good job. It was a fun evening where we played many games, one of which was the Newlywed game and we did not win; but it was close, I think we lost by 3! We had different opinions of the most romantic thing he has ever done for me, repair jobs and if he hears me when I ask him a question! Ha!
On Saturday we joined the church for visitation. I went with the Pastor’s wife and Joseph went with Pastor, it was a good day-with one saved! Okay, it was good until visitation was coming to an end and we were all sharing the results. While sitting there, just minding my own business, Pastor informed me that I would be singing a special on Sunday, while playing the piano! I immediately started to laugh and was like, yeah right-I can’t sing! Apparently, Joseph told Pastor that I can sing beautiful-totally not true; but Pastor would not let me out of it. So, on Sunday I sang, “Little is Much”-one of my favorite songs and a pretty one to, well at least it was until last Sunday! I received compliments, I don’t know if the people were just being nice or if they really meant it!
Sunday services were very good-we enjoyed our time with Pastor and his wife! They took us to lunch and it was so much fun watching a couple who has been married for 52 years interact together! Pastor and his wife were so sweet to us, the Pastor’s wife gave me a gift card to purchase a new purse because she could see the current purse I have with me is not really a good ‘travel’ purse!
Monday, it was on to El Paso-the day I have been waiting for since last August when we scheduled the meeting! And, I must admit my time in El Paso was worth the wait-I had a wonderful time! While there I spent most of the week with a close friend from college-it was great to be able to spend that personal time with her and talk in person and not over the phone for once! It was also neat to see her and her husband in the ministry God has called them to, as her husband is the assistant pastor at the church we were in the mission’s conference for. The church treated us so well, they gave us a generous love offering, visa gift cards for both Joseph and I, a gift bag full of goodies and petty cash! The church has a large membership; but I felt that we still were able to get to know many people personally through fellowship and dinner. Each night a family from the church took us to dinner and for the most part the food was delicious! However, we did have one interesting experience…a spinach/raspberry/seaweed salad! Can I emphasize the word, “GROSS,” with each bite I had to swallow it down with a swig of Sprite. Never again, on my own accord, will I ever put that in my own mouth again!
We are now in Sante Fe, New Mexico once again. We were here a few weeks ago and the Pastor invited us back for a formal meeting. In a past blog if you recall, I asked that you keep this meeting on Sunday in prayer, as there is a strong possibility that they will take us on for support!
Once we leave here we will be off to Colorado for a home mission’s conference! I have never been to Colorado so this will be fun! What I am hoping for is that between now and then we get some good love offerings, so that maybe, just maybe we can afford to stop in Steamboat Springs, Colorado for a night after the home mission’s conference! I have wanted to visit Steamboat Springs for years, if we get to go we will probably only be able to afford one night as the cheapest hotel room we can find available there is $90!
Hopefully, my next blog will be more on time unlike this one! Thanks for reading and for your interest in our lives!

Friday, February 20, 2009

Will be late!

Sorry friends...we are currently in El Paso for a missions conference and I am behind in getting this updated! Please forgive me and be patient! I will update it as soon as I can with photos and a complete update!
But, for those that voted no, that I would not use my birthday money to buy a Wii-you are wrong! I bought a Wii this past Wednesday and we love it-so much fun!!!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Sweetheart....its almost Valentines Day!

After leaving Es Panola, New Mexico we went to Grants, NM! It was kind of nice having such a short drive, 2 ½ hours between destinations! (It was also nice, because after learning some information about drivers in NM-I don’t think I want to be on the roads here more than I need to. They say 4 out of every 10 drivers on the interstate is driving under the influence in NM-no wonder I have seen so many roadside memorials.) We were in a church that was planted by an Indian missionary that we met during our last go around on the road. The church put us up in hotel that was within walking distance of Wal-Mart, the place we go to waste a lot of time while on the road! We really enjoyed our time there, especially the fellowship we had with the Pastor and his wife. During our time with them, he took us to Sky City which is the oldest, still inhabited city which is on an Indian reservation-it is said that it existed even before Saint Augustine. The people who live in this city, have no electricity and no working bathrooms. This town is a little money maker for the Indians, as you cannot even enter the city without paying to tour it and if you want to take pictures –with your own camera-you have to pay $10! Needless, to say, we just drove by the city and didn’t do the tour.
Upon leaving Grants on Monday, we stopped in Albuquerque and put ourselves up in a nice hotel for only $36! We had been trying to get a hold of a Pastor in town with a prophet’s chamber; but we never could and he never called us back.
From Albuquerque to Rio Rancho on Tuesday. The church that we were to present our ministry in on Wednesday hosted a Valentines Banquet on Tuesday evening and invited us to join them. It was our 1st sweetheart banquet-which is sweet for me; but Joseph doesn’t get why I think it’s so sweet that we get to go as a married couple-men! Ha! We had a nice time and enjoyed getting to know people from church more personally. On Wednesday we presented our ministry and Joseph preached-it was very evident that God used Joseph, many decisions were made for the Lord. After the services a couple from the church took us to dinner-we had so much fun with them and it was so sweet to meet them. Joseph was at the church a couple years ago single and was put up in the home of a single man at the church well since that time Joseph and that man have both gotten married and that who is we went to dinner with-its neat to see how God works in lives.
So, I still want a Wii; but my practical, growing up side is speaking up and telling me I have better things I could be spending my birthday money on. Sometimes, growing up is hard to do! So, does anyone want to donate a Wii to me, then I won’t have to decide if I should buy one or not! Lol!
Pray for Joseph tomorrow night, February 13th. Joseph will be speaking at a sweetheart banquet for one of our supporting churches. He is kind of nervous about this, as he says, we have only been married a little over a year now and the group he will be speaking to you are older and have been married for many years! The pastor and his wife will be married 52 years this summer-wow! I am sure he will do fine; but if you could just pray for him, that God will give him the right words.
So, if you guessed Texas in my poll you guessed correctly! We will be heading to El Paso on Monday! I am very excited about this trip-I’ve been telling everyone that our trip to Texas will probably be the highlight of my trip as I get to spend a week with one of my very good friends! We are not going to Texas just so I can spend time with my friend-we will be in a mission’s conference as well! Pray that our time at the conference goes well!

Valentines Day is Saturday-don't forget to tell your sweetheart that you love them! This will be our 2nd Valentines Day together and I am hoping that it is better than our first. Our first Valentines Day we were traveling and I was VERY sick with a 103 degree temperature. Joseph and I are hoping that, that didn't set the tone for the Valentine's Days of the future! We will be in Los Lunas, NM on this special day and not really sure if we will be able to do anything special as we will be at the disposal of the Pastor and church of our next meeting!
Once again, God has been so good to us on this trip-we can see God’s hand on so many things in this trip and we pray that His hand will be right there to guide us-which it will if we continue to let Him guide us. I cannot express this enough, please pray for our safety on the road and for increased support-we anxiously await the day we gain 100% of our support and can leave for Norway!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Welcome...

Welcome to my blog! I hope that you enjoy visiting my page-I enjoyed creating my page! So, thank you for stopping by!
Every Thursday, is when I plan on updating my blog! But, please understand that while I am on the road I do not always have internet access and may not always have the time to update on the scheduled Thursdays; but I will do my best and I encourage you to check my blog often!Updates will include our adventures of the week, pictures if I took any that week and a new poll! I encourage everyone to participate in my polls and I will post all results every Thursday!
Happy reading!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Our New Mexican Travels

Well, this is my first ‘blog’ since I have turned 27-can you already sense the new maturity?! My birthday was okay for being on the road-Joseph took me to Olive Garden for lunch and he gave me a box set of Lovely perfume! I received many phone calls and text messages wishing me a happy day and I appreciated so many people remembering me.
When I last wrote we were staying in a Motel 6 in Lehi, Utah. After we left there we stayed a night in Moab, Utah-where we realized that our pillows and my favorite Christmas blanket were left behind-sad. While in Moab, we were trying to figure out -where to travel, Farmington or Sante Fe, NM? We decided wherever had the cheapest hotel that we could afford-we really couldn’t afford any hotel; but needed a place to stay. We found a cheap hotel in Sante Fe and called the Pastor in Es Panola to see if we could arrive on Sunday night rather than Monday so we could at least save one night of hotel expense. He agreed!
Sunday we decided to take in services at a church in Sante Fe. The church we stopped in was really a blessing from the Lord. We met the Pastor in between services and he asked if we wanted to present our ministry to his church that evening-of course we wanted to! After the morning service Pastor and his wife took us to lunch at a New Mexican restaurant, where I tried the red chile-which is supposed to be mild; but it still put fire on my tongue-apparently, I have weak taste buds! After lunch the church allowed us to use their prophets chamber for the afternoon, where we took our much needed Sunday afternoon nap! That evening we presented our ministry and received a very generous love offering which basically paid us back for all those hotel stays and gave us a little more! The little more is what allowed us to go to Olive Garden for my birthday-the Lord knew I needed that! Afterwards, Pastor talked to Joseph and invited us to come back on March 1st to be in the services all day, because any missionary that they are going to consider taking on for support they want there on a Sunday-all day! So, pray that God works on March 1st and that this church will take us on for support! The Pastors assistant and wife took us to dinner Sunday night and recapped the Pastor’s sentiments-that it will be in our favor to be there all day on Sunday! It looks very promising-so please, please pray!
We are currently in Es Panola, NM-staying in a prophet’s chamber. The prophet’s chamber is in a church members home, however it has its own private entrance and it is very nice. When Joseph first started deputation he stayed here and presented his ministry to the church here in Es Panola. So, we decided to take in services, so that I could meet the Pastor and church family. God was so good to us once again and blessed us, the church gave us a generous gift of money and the Pastor took us out to breakfast the following morning! And we didn’t even have an official meeting with them! God is so good!
This trip has started out wonderfully, it’s almost like we can feel God working something great in our lives. He keeps answering prayer and His provisions are plenteous. I really believe that God is at work and that our support is going to increase during these next few months! Please continue praying for us, that God will continue to give us good meetings, for safety on the road and for our support to increase!