Thanksgiving Memories

Today is Thanksgiving and through the years I have had many Thanksgiving memories. I remember the time that my family drove to Colorado to celebrate in the snow with my cousins, aunt, uncle, and great aunt and uncle. I remember the time our family wasn't invited to the beach by my great aunt and uncle, even though the rest of the family always was(which was the case every year for Thanksgiving) but went anyway to celebrate, and ended up sitting in the living room by ourselves because there was not "enough room" in the dinning room with the rest of the family. I remember the year that we rented a cabin in Big Bear and had a great time with family. I remember in Kindergarten when we got to have our feast and make Indian and Pilgrim costumes.

I love being able to bring traditions from my younger years into my adulthood. I LOVED being able to influence the memories of my students the two years I taught. Here is a picture of my first class, in 2007, on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
Notice the copycat Pilgrims on the wall? The pattern I used to guide the students is the same pattern I used when I was in school!

I also think about my Thanksgiving last year. I was on outreach for my DTS in a town called Tecpan. We all celebrated, with our newly found family. We ate carne asada, black beans, and tortillas but I managed to keep the turkey tradition through some good old homemade decorations and a few decorations that my mama sent from home.

Thanksgiving 2009 with my DTS family

The reason I am so nostalgic is because this year is VERY different. It is my first year to really be away from home- sure last year I was away, but it was more of an adventure than a real life situation. It is also different because the SST school, and most of our staff are not here at the base, which means I am pretty much alone. No turkey. No apple pie. No Thanksgiving Day Parade. No family.

I am trying to keep positive, though, and remember all the times God has been faithful in the past. I know that this nostalgia is just a feeling, and that it too will pass when I start to create my own new traditions and memories here in Guatemala. So basically what I want to say to you is... Enjoy your Thanksgiving and remember all those great memories and the times that God has been faithful... Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Life lately...

So I haven't updated in a while and I know that if I don't put something up soon people will start to wonder what is going on with me (that is for the few of you that read this) and that my mom will start to hassle me until I update, so here is a little bit of what has been going on in Guatemala the past few days...

It is graduation season here, which is weird for me. They start their school year in January and finish in October so those who graduate have their ceremonies at the end of October and the beginning of November. I have been to two graduations in the past two weeks. They were different from each other, but they were both, well, graduations. It is always exciting to see the person you came to watch walk across the stage and have their moment of fame, but the rest of the time is pretty much just for the graduates themselves and the people in the audience are to wait patiently until the end so they can take pictures and celebrate. Rosa, my friend that had her baby about 4 months ago, was one of the graduates. This was a special thing for her because even though she is a teen mom, she finished the year. The other graduate was a good friend from the base, Sammy Chavez. He did awesome in school and was amongst the top of his class. Here is a picture of Rosa, unfortunately I didn't bring my camera to Sammy's graduation so I don't have photos from that night.

Also, last Monday was the first official day of the SST here at the base. It is a school for Guatemalan youth, kind of like a DTS which is what I did last September, but shorter. It is one and a half weeks in the classroom and then one and a half weeks on outreach. There are 15 students here who are all crazy and God is moving in their lives. Even though I am not a part of the actual staff, I am in charge of the kitchen so I get to interact with them which is good. It is hard being the only staff member who lives here at the base who is not involved directly with the school. It is also hard that Mario is a part of the staff of the school which means that we only get to see each other at meals, but God is working a lot in my life and I know in Mario's life a lot during this time. It will be even harder when they leave for almost two weeks so I am enjoying the time I do get with Mario right now.

Another cool thing about the SST is that Mario's younger brother, Junior (or Edward) is doing the school. Mario is the only Christian in his family, but when he was living at home his brother told him that he wanted to do a school like the one Mario had done. When Mario found out about the SST it was the perfect opportunity for Junior. Junior is a clown and has been making us all laugh since the day he got here. He has been letting God in little by little, but today at church during the alter call he decided it was time to give his life up to God and accept Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior!!! What a blessing this is for the whole family, especially Mario. Unfortunately I haven't gotten any good pictures of Junior yet, but I will post some later when I can.

So that is a basic update of Youth with a Mission Guatemala, Susan style. I thank you, my faithful followers! God bless you.

Baby Time!

Gladis, my 15 year old friend who was pregnant, just had her baby! Her beautiful little girl was born at the end of October and has the cutest, most petite little face. Here is a bit of the story...

On Thursday, about 3 weeks ago, we decided that we would take Gladis to go shopping for some baby clothes at a wonderful second hand store we have here called Mega Paca. I was happy to be able to bless her with not only new clothes for the baby, but a few good after pregnancy clothes and even a few pairs of shoes, all for under $70. It was a great day, where I got to talk to Gladis a little bit more and most importantly for our relationship, I got to build trust. After shopping we invited her and her little sister to come to the base for lunch. We ate some lunch and hung out a little bit more and then we took the girls home. Here are a few pictures I took that day...

I look like a giant next to her even though she is around 8 months pregnant!

side view of the baby belly

So Friday, the next day, we got a phone call and were told that Gladis had given birth!!! We were all very excited for her and after we found out both mama and baby were healthy we were even more excited. We waited about a week to go visit. We couldn't wait to see the precious little girl, but Gladis didn't want us to take too many pictures, so I just snapped a few.
Gladis told us that she went into labor late Thursday night and gave birth at home with a midwife around 3 am Friday morning. What a champ!!! She seems to be very happy, even though she never really shows much emotion. She also seems to be a good mom and to have good family support, which is all a blessing. Here are some things that we still need to be praying for:

-A name for the baby. Gladis has not chosen a name yet so we have been trying to help her. I told her that Susan is a beautiful name, but I don't think she is buying it.

-Inner healing for Gladis. She has been through so much at such a young age, but she is making progress. Please keep praying for God to work in her life.

-A bed for Gladis and the baby

Thanks to everyone who reads these posts and prays along with me. I appreciate all of you and your encouragements!

Dental Clinic

Last week we spent everyday, except Wednesday, helping out at a dental clinic in a town about 45 minutes away from Guatemala City. It was a great time, but really long days. We had to leave the base by 6:45 each morning and didn't get back until around 8 each night. The dental team was made up of dental students and doctors from the University of Florida. It was fun working with them and making new friends. It was also good to be able to help out the Guatemalan patients with the dental work they needed (of course I did not actually DO any dental work, I just translated for the dentists). They also gave us free check ups and ended up with a few extra patients.

Mario getting a filling- his FIRST one EVER!!!

We had an evangelistic team presenting dramas and praying with the patients as they waited for their turn. They were able to pray with 7 people who received Christ as their Savior for the first time! What a great week it was!! Here are some photos... Enjoy!

The whole group

The YWAM team