We love having people in our home!!

We have the wonderful opportunity to have teams come and visit us through out the year, but it always increases during the summer months. We have had small work teams, large work teams, teams for the day and teams for the week!! We love meeting new people and sharing about our ministry. The Lord has blessed us with a house here on lake Atítlan that is big enough to host groups, and we really enjoy having them.

AECM Translators

Guatemala Team

January of 2008 we were asked to help out with the AECM (Academia, Educativa, Cultural, Maya) This is a new organization that was started by Mayans who see the need to translate the Bible into their mother tongue. They all have the New Testament and are yearning for the "whole" Book!! The team consists of 10 Language groups here in Guatemala who have the desire to complete the translation of the Bible. In January 08' the team came together from all over Guatemala to have workshops & Bible teaching. We met in San Miguel Chicaj, this is when Danny started teaching through Genesis. The end of October 08' we were able to have the AECM group at our house for the week-end. We had 27 people total and it was a fabulous time for all. Danny & I count it a privilege to be a part of this team. We have learned so much from them. As I sit through the meetings with these awesome men and women I can't help but think how easy we have it....We have had the Bible in English for so long. I just take it for granted that I can pick up my Bible and read it. I can't imagine NOT having the whole Bible in My heart language. Seeing the excitement, the desire and need for them to have the Translation makes me yearn for them to have it SOON. God has really put it on our hearts to help as much as we can. Each group wants to translate the Old Testament in their own language. Please pray God would give us wisdom and strength as we seek to help with this project.

Danny has had the awesome opportunity to begin teaching through Genesis. Then each translator will go back to their own town and work through the translation in their own language.

La Campesina

La Campesina is a small town on the west cost of Guatemala. The people there speak Tz'utujil. We had the privilege of going with a group from our church. Our church has started a daughter church there, and it was their 5 year anniversary.

The pastor of the church is Elias & his wife is named Rosa (Ana Samuc's sister) & they have 3 kids. They are from Santiago and moved to La Campesina to work there. I felt a real kindred spirit with Rosa, she was very loving and hospitable. She too has left her home town, family and church to minister to people she did not know. Hmmm missionaries from Alpha & Omega church in Santiago, I like that.

It is very HOT there and we got to go down to the river to cool off before lunch. It was very refreshing, Danny and the kids really enjoyed a nice swim with the men & children. While the ladies fixed some delicious Chicken vegetable soup & tortillas. Then we had the anniversary service. It was neat to see how the Lord has been working over the time they have been there.

We especially enjoyed getting to know the people who went to La Campesina with us from Santiago.

The Guatemalan ZOO!!

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Zoo. We went with Pedro & Ana Samuc and one of their daughters Heldi. We had a great time together. It was Naomi's first time to the Zoo. She loved seeing all the animals but was vary scared of the elephants. I guess because they were sooo big!!



We went in the late afternoon and a lot of the animals were up and running around. The monkeys were jumping and playing chase. The leopards were pacing back and forth, then started wrestling. It was neat to see so much activity at the Zoo.

Little did Naomi and I know we had some wild Tz'utujiles behind us!!


The last thing we did before we left the Zoo was get a snack, the kids went straight for the cotton candy. We also enjoyed grilled corn on the cob with lime and salt on it.




It was a good little Zoo, we all had fun and it was good to spend time with Pedro, Ana & Heldi Titus wanted to see was a Quetzal bird, but they did not have one in the Zoo. It is the national bird of Guatemala. Titus said "Seems to me if it was the national bird it would be in the Zoo, I guess I'll have to find it in the wild".

"Pablo's Fish Camp"

We have a neighbor who has a little restaurant/hostel in Santiago. He is from Colorado and spends the winters in Guatemala. We have enjoyed getting to know the English speakers in our town through his little restaurant. There is a small Hospital in town and they have volunteers from all over the world work there. It has been fun to meet the different people who have come to work here in Santiago. Pablo serves fish on Fridays and we all enjoyed it last Friday. He has a big Jocote tree in the patio and the kids really like to climb it.Another treat has been PIZZA with "real peperoni's".

Thanks Pablo for the good cuisine!

UH OH Chicken anyone!!

We got Roxy as a puppy last January hoping one day she would grow up to be a great guard dog. She has grown up a lot and is a good dog and obeys for the most part. She is vicious looking and it keeps people from wanting to come into our yard and our house for that matter.
She also likes to bring us gifts like possum and little birds, or the neighbors shoes. Sunday we came home from church and there were feathers all over the yard. Danny and I just looked at each other. Danny said "Oh no we are going to have to replace a chicken. We were walking around the yard wishing she would not have done this. We could not believe it!! Then we rounded the corner of the house and we found it!!!!

THE FEATHER DUSTER!!!!!!

I guess all we have to replace is a feather duster. If we can find the owner! It was a good laugh for us...

Thanksgiving Pics

Our Yummy meal, it made us all think of home:)

Enjoying time with friends & a good meal Playing in the Garden

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?

A Day in the Life of Daphne

My day usually starts around 6:30 a.m. It is a gorgeous time here on lake Atitlan. It is sunny and the lake is calm, I enjoy seeing fishermen going to work.

As I sip my coffee that is grown here locally I can really appreciate the hard work the coffee farmers do so I can drink an awesome cup of coffee. I had a stack of papers to grade but I was doing a puzzle instead.

I have to hurry and wash my clothes and get them on the line because this is rainy season and usually by 2:00p.m It starts raining. If I get an early start I can get 2 loads of laundry done. I am so thankful that I have a washing machine. The locals either go to the lake to wash or they have a pila(a large outside sink made for washing clothes and other things). You know as many of you may think "I would die if I had to hang up all my clothes" but you get used to it and I actually enjoy now, and the kids and Danny help too.

I do not have a grocery store here, I have what you call a tienda(a small store which carries all your basics). I can get sugar, noodles, mayo, milk ect... I also get an early start to go to Market. The early bird gets the worm here!! You have to go early to get the good veggies or you get the picked over ones. I have been able to build a friendship with the lady I buy my chicken from and another lady I buy my vegetables from and a sweet little man who goes to our church sells me dried beans. Poor thing he can't ever remember my name he calls me Mrs. Daniel:)

Speaking of my name... nobody can remember it or pronounce it!! I was at a ladies meeting and they said what does you name mean anyway?? I told them that Daphne is a flower like a laurel tree. They said OOHHH "hermana Flor". Needless to say, now I have a new name. My name is Flor!

I have a house helper her name is Ana. This is her with Chloe Ann and her school uniform. She comes in a couple times a week to help me with some of the cleaning. It has been a real culture shock for both her and me.The first day she came I was trying to find out what she knew how to do. Needless to say this is pretty much in sign language because she only speaks about 10 words of Spanish. I asked a friend to tell me how to say a few words in Tz’utujil for example help me, come, clean, like this and of course Thank you very much. It has been interesting. I asked her to sweep and mop but I didn’t know the word for mop the first time so she said “no need” I was like oh well O.K. I asked her to hang some clothes on hangers. I gave her a box of clothes and a box of hangers. She said “Utz ka” Which means that’s good in Tz’utujil, she came to me and said xuban (shuban) it means no more. She did a great job for someone who had never used a hanger. Some shirts were through the arm, a few dresses were just wrapped around and around the hanger. It was great all I could say was Utz ka!! I also asked if she knew how to iron she said she had never seen an iron! She felt very bad about not knowing how to iron so I decided to show her how. That was umm hmm, can I just say I will do our ironing. Then I showed her the Vacuum and how to use it. She used it twice then came to me and said “could I please just sweep it’s not as scary and it’s calmer”. Of course I said yes, Poor thing she was scared to death of the vacuum. She has made life so much easier for me. She has cooked for us a few times which has been neat to eat typical food of Santiago. Ana wanted to know what we eat, She said she makes tortillas in the morning, at noon and at night. She said if they are not hot her husband is not happy. She asked “If you don’t eat tortillas what do you eat?” She has made tortillas for us several times, I got in there and tried to make a couple but she just laughed and laughed. She said you really don’t know how to make them. She took my tortillas and fixed them then cooked them. I have a tortilla press that a dear friend gave me and Chloe Ann and I can make great tortillas with it. Maybe I won’t be the laughing stock of Santiago.

Today for lunch we had chuchitos, it is like a tamale but different(it is corn meal wrapped around a piece of chicken with yummy tomato sauce around it then wrapped in a corn husk). A lady comes to our door and sells them. I buy them for 2 Q each (approx. 27 cents). We all like them and it is a quick meal for me. Living here in Santiago we only have a few restaurants. No fast food here:) This is a delicious treat for us when I don't feel like cooking.

We were asked to finish the English classes at the Alpha & Omega High school. The previous teacher is on maternity leave. They had about six weeks left. Danny taught the first few classes then I ended up finishing up teaching. The classes are Monday & Friday 1:20-5:40. There are 5 classes, each class has about 40 students. The kids are mostly from the church. It is neat to be able to build friendships with these kids. I have been very busy with classes, projects to grade and now exams to give and grade. Thank goodness this is the last week. Here are a few of my students.

Some days we go down to the lake for a swim. Most of the time we don't even stay in for an hour. It's a little on the cold side this time of year. Naomi and I are the life guards for the other kids. This afternoon the kids and I planted flowers. My mom sent us a whole envelope of flower seeds. We had a great time planting together. Isaac & Chloe Ann liked digging in the dirt, Titus was our official sign maker. Naomi just toddled around. It was a lot of fun reading about each flower and deciding where it needs to be planted. As I am sitting here writing it is pouring down rain. I hope the seeds are not washed into the lake:) I will let you know if we actually have any come up.

Tonight Danny went visiting with the men and the kids and I hung out here at the house. I sauteed some vegetables and made a pasta salad. As I am Blogging Naomi is sitting right beside me holding her nena and the older kids are all upstairs playing Lego's but I think they are playing hide and go seek now it is getting louder and louder. Maybe I should go check on them!!

Pictures promised in last post

This was one year ago on our way down here to Guatemala. As you can tell the kids have grown, here we are in our front yard over looking the lake. We still can't believe we are finally here.

One year Anniversary!!

On September 17th we celebrated one year of being on the mission field. WOOHOOO we made it this long!! It has been an awesome year. We have been able to meet so many new friends, see new places and learn so much. In one sense it seems like we have been here for sooo long. Then I talk to the Missionaries who have been here for 15, 20, and 30 years and think wow I’m just beginning.

As I think back through the year I can see how much we have learned, and grown. Danny and the kids have learned Spanish and we all have learned a new culture, and moved into our third culture. We are in the very beginning of our Tz’utujil (soo too heel) learning. We are excited and nervous at the same time. The Tz’utujil language seems to be very hard, but with the Lords help it is our goal to master Tz’utujil. I have grown spiritually as I have learned to depend on the Lord in so many new situations. I praise the Lord for His faithfulness this past year, especially for good health, and safe keeping.

We have had the awesome opportunity to meet so many new friends, some who are living here in Guatemala and others who were just passing through. For those of you who are not living here in Guatemala we would love for you to come back some time, and for those of you who do live here we would love to have you out for a visit. Now for some of you (You know who you are, hee hee) you guys just need to plan a trip and “come on down”.

Sorry I can’t get the pictures to download I’ll try again later!!

A little shook up but we are fine!!

Since we got here to Guatemala we have had several trimmers. We would look at each other as the ground below us shook. It was a very eary feeling but would not even last long enough to think about it too long.

Last night as we were saying good night to the kids in bed. We felt a good shake and it kept going and going. Then the house really started to move we decided to very quickly move outside as it would not stop. You know 20 seconds is a long time for a trimmer. (later we found out it was 6.1 on the richter scale!!!) After we ran outside it was amazing to see everything shaking and moving. Chloe Ann said "my heart is really bumping mama". I told her mine was too. The boys did not really say anything. We just all stood there looking at each other in awe.

Thank goodness there was no major damage anywhere. Cell phone towers and electricity went out in some parts of the country for a few minutes but we are just fine. Praise the Lord.

It was the talk of town this morning as I dropped the kids off at school. Everyone was asking us (the new comers) how we felt about the "temblor".

I have this feeling this morning that no matter how much I think I am in control of my life. The Lord is in complete control of my life, and especially this world. I have such a peace about being here in Guatemala because I know this is exactly where the Lord wants me to be. Doing His will.

Black Sand Beach

Last week Danny's teacher said he needed some time to rest his brain. So he took off school Friday and we headed to the beach. WHOOOHOOO I think we all needed a break. We have heard a lot of things about the beach. We were exccited to find out for ourselves. We left Friday morning and we were there in 2 hours. I could not believe we live so close to the beach! As you can see from the pictures it is not like Gulf Shores. It was absolutely beautiful! The sand it very black, it is volcanic crushed rock. Believe it or not the sand was actually softer than the white sand we were used to, but VERY HOT. The waves were incredible you can hear it as soon as you step out of the car. The surf is so strong we could only get in knee deep. It would crash on the shore and literally knock you down even when you were knee deep.
Naomi did not like the noise of the crashing waves. You can see her frowning as I put her down to at least get ONE picture of her on the beach.

Chloe Ann made many sand castles just like Grandsir(my dad) taught her. She said he is "the best" at making sand castles.

Titus & Isaac loved sitting on the sand waiting for the wave to come and throw them around. They were also able to find a few crabs, They loved that. They liked the beach even though they couldn't really get in.

We stayed at a great hotel and I loved the pool, mainly because when we were at the beach Naomi wanted to be held the whole time. It got a bit tiring.

We stayed at the beach or pool the whole time. It was a much needed break. We all had a very fun time.

The hotel we stayed in was outside Montericco so we drove in town to eat some good local seafood. We had garlic shrimp with french fries, fried fish(whole even with the eye balls!!) with salad and Danny got the typical Marisco Soup (seafood soup). They have yummy fresh fruit drinks out of any kind of fruit you want.. It was delicious!! Isaac said peeling the shrimp reminded him of crawfish. We all said AWWW we are missing crawfish season!!! But this is good too!

As I was sitting on the beach early one morning before 7:00 watching the kids play I was completely overwhemled with how Amazingly beautful, and unbelievably strong the ocean is. I just broke out in song. "How great is our God, sing with me how great is our God..." Even though there were people around they could not hear me because the waves were so loud. I knew God could hear me even if I would have been whispering. As the kids came up to me they too started to sing. After we finished the song we talked about Gods power, strength, and love. And how He made this for us to enjoy. It was a neat experience to share with the kids.

Some how Danny escaped my camera the entire week-end, but I did get a cute video of him with Naomi after her bath. Its a bit dark but I like just listening to it anyway.

I will publicly admit that I went against my husbands words of wisdom and took my camera to the beach around my neck (not in the Bag) YIKES!!!! And got it wet so to my detrement I do not have a working camera. I took it to a camera shop today so please pray with me, maybe they can fix it!!! Until then No more pictures.

Guatemala Living

We have been here in Guatemala for just over one month now. We are all adjusting well. It has taken some time for it to sink in that we are not going back home in a few days! Danny and I both have felt like we were on a long vacation or a short term Missions trip. As time goes by reality is setting in that we will be here for a while. We love the people, the food and the scenery. There is no other place we would rather be than right here. If only we could have all our friends & family here too!! The other day Chloe Ann said "Mama do you still remember all our other friends in the other world we used to live in and do they remember me?" I scooped her up and said I do and of course they do too.

We have all had a little culture shock but the funniest (not at the time) was bucks. They shoot fireworks off at all hours of the day & night. Needless to say Buck does not like the noise, he got a little nervous and decided to chew on the garage door!!!

Last week-end we were able to go to Santiago for a visit. It was great to take the kids back, they did not really remember much about last time they were there. As we caught the boat to cross the lake Isaac did remember that Chloe Ann had dropped her passy in the lake, and wondered if it might still be at the bottom.

We went by the Church and the pastor was finishing up a Wedding. It was nice to see him and personally tell him we were here. we stayed the night in Santiago and went to Market the next morning. We all have to get used to people staring. Danny & I can pretty much ignore the stares but it is hard for the kids. Titus gets more frustrated than the rest, but he does fine. Everyone loves babies here. Poor Naomi has to put up with the cheek pinching, hair rubbing, leg squeezing ect... I try to remind the kids some of these people may have never seen a family like ours before.

The kids loved the hammock at the hotel in Santiago.

While we were at Market we saw some really cool things. There was a man selling fresh water crabs from the lake. He had tied them up on sticks with leaves!

We also saw a man building furniture right there in the middle of everything. All the other men just stood around and watched. Notice the men in their typical wear.

We loved the boat ride to and from Santiago. It is so amazing to see the Beautiful Mountains, the view is gorgeous everywhere you look. I felt so small in the middle of the lake in a tiny boat with the mountains all around us. To think out of this whole world this is where the lord wants us to be. I feel honored and humbled at the same time that God has lead us to this wonderful place. My prayer is that we would be Salt & Light to the T'zutujil people.