A very "Happy" Thanksgiving

Last year Thanksgiving was a hard day for me. I shed more tears than was Thankful. I tried to hide it from my little family. Then I just broke down and had to admit I was lonely and missed "HOME". I had comforted my kids during their times of missing home, and I felt like I was letting them down by being sad. Danny reminded us that we were all in this together, They all hugged me and loved me. It was just what I needed. All in all I have to say it was a hard day.

This year as Thanksgiving got closer I was excited, but wanted it to be much happier than last year. We invited some friends from Tectitan. We met them through our sending church in LA. We had not seen them since we had been in the states. It was great to get to know them more and meet their sweet kids.

I've never had to cook Thanksgiving dinner. I was a bit nervous about actually having to cook the WHOLE meal!! I called my Mom for a couple of recipes and my mother in law for a couple others. You have to keep in mind I don't have a grocery store within an hour and a half of me. Even then there is no guarantee that they are going to have what I need. So I went to market and got potatoes, and fresh green beans, a chicken and ran by the tienda(you walk in the door and tell them what you want then if they have it they go in the back to get it) to get Maseca(corn meal they make tortillas with) for my corn bread.

We had Turkey, Corn bread dressing, green beans, mashed potatoes with gravy, celery with cream cheese, I even found a can of cranberries when we were in the capitol last time!! Kathy made sweet potatoes and a delicious pumpkin pie. I managed to snap this picture before we all dug in. We had quite a feast and everyone was very pleased with the meal. Danny said the dressing may be better than his Mama's (it was her recipe). It was great to have friends here with us in our new HOME. It was a very Happy Thanksgiving.

After Dinner we went out in the garden and down by the lake. The kids enjoyed playing with the coco the rabbit next door. We were thankful for friends, family and for the opportunity God has given us to come work with the people of Santiago. I thank the Lord for loving me and carrying me when I need to be, and for rejoicing with me in times of joy. All in all this year was filled with joy, laughter and especially thankfulness.
Well, I cannot download the pics, I will have to owe them to you.

Foote Notes November 2008

Greetings to all,

We want to thank you for your continued prayer. We have been here in Santiago for three months and have felt the Lord leading in so many ways. Thank you for praying for our transition and adjustment, Praise the Lord it is going well.

Danny and the kids are working more and more on their Spanish as we continue to learn about the culture and the people. Sometime the beginning of next year we plan to start formerly learning Tz’utujil. We would like to find a tutor who is a good teacher, someone who can read and write. Up until now we have been learning words and phrases. It is exciting to be able to use and understand words in the market or in church but we have a long way to go. The locals love it when we use the few words that we already know; it really motivates us to learn more.

We are so excited to be able to go ‘home’ for Christmas. We are going to split the time between both families. We will be in New Orleans with my family and in Pell City with Danny’s family. Regretfully we cannot see all of you during this short visit but we do hope to see a lot of you. We ask that you keep us in your prayers as we travel this holiday season.

We are thankful to those of you who came down this year. You were a great encouragement and help to us. We look forward to seeing who the Lord is going to send our way this coming year. Our calendar for 2009 is already getting filled up, Praise the Lord!

As our Pastor Gary says in Luling, We have a perfect Savior but we do not have a perfect church. Our church Alpha & Omega is going through some turmoil. We ask that you keep Pastor Abraham and the Elders in your prayers. Pray that they would let the Lord lead them to make wise Godly decisions. We do not know all the ins and outs of each situation but we too are fervently praying.

Praise the Lord!

The Lord answered our prayers.

We got our truck fixed and are finally home. We had a great time with Glen & Judy, but we are all excited to be home.

Last night Danny picked up the part from the Airport at 4:45, dropped it off at the mechanics at 5:15 and around 10:15 last night. He called to say it was finished.

We are thankful to the Lord the total cost was no more than $200.00.

Thank you for your prayers, and for everyone who was involved an extra thank you!!

Daphne

Check it out

I haven't taken the time to blog but Judy has, She took some cute pictures of my kiddos while we were in our meeting.

Click on this link to go to it. http://judyfrommoody.blogspot.com/

I'll blog soon I promise:)

We just think we have a schedule!!

Danny and I had a meeting in the capital yesterday. So we came in on Tuesday to do a few errands. We had come through the mountains, on isolated roads, It's about a three hour trip to the city. Danny had dropped me off at Price Smart (our Sams) and was going to run to the Seminary to check out the bookstore. He had just passed Tikal Futura on the main road through Guatemala when the truck stopped. He could barely steer it over to the side of the road and when he got out it was leaking water, a lot of water. We are praising the Lord we did not break down on the way here, as Glen said we are glad it was here and not out in the boonies!! Thank goodness for friends. We called Glen S. He came to the rescue with a mechanic, picked me up from price smart and then we went to check on Danny. It turned out to be the water pump and a belt!! We could not find the parts to the truck here in Guatemala but Praise the Lord one of our missionaries is in the states and coming back Friday afternoon and is bringing the part. Thank you so much Bob. We are also thankful to Ken S. who has loaned us his van while we are without it has given us the freedom to get around while we are here. We are ESPECIALLY thankful to the Stewarts for opening their home to all of us(they thought for one night but has turned into at least four). Judy has been an excellent hostess with delicious meals, babysitting the kids and we just had some hot brownies with milk. The Lord is in control and we are enjoying a small break from lake living and deepening friendships here. Last night the Stewarts invited the Connors for dinner, it was great fellowship for the adults and kids too.
We just got word that another missionary Dave Ekstrom is going to stay here at the "Stewart Inn" tonight. Actually we have been wanting to meet with Dave to discuss our ministry and glean from his experience with indigenous groups. Wow God cleared our schedules so we could meet:) Isn't it neat how the Lord works?