Slow/Busy Week

Hello Everyone-

We have begun the countdown for our bittersweet homecoming...7 nights to go. It’s sad leaving such a beautiful place with so many newly gained experiences...it hardly feels like it’s been 6 months already...it feels more like a couple days. We are excited to see our family and friends though, and know that our time here is coming to an end as the doors for opportunities to serve are closing.

Joel and I had a nice weekend last weekend. We went to Pan de Vida on Saturday morning to find out that there was no school. We went grocery shopping and took our neighbor, Leña to the beach. She had a great time boogie boarding with us. Sunday was Joel’s last time leading worship which he’s done a great job at, especially while Joy has been gone. We just relaxed on Sunday afternoon. We also had a fun time taking out Joel’s braids that he got at the beach last week...he was a fluff head by the time we were done!



Joel’s been working a lot for Fine Designs this week and we took our usual beach day on Tuesday. We went to a different beach than Sayulita...we went to a place called Destiladeros. The waves were awesome and we had a great time using our boogie boards. This Tuesday was our last “Tuesday at the beach,” as we will be helping with the mission team next week.


Wednesday we began packing (tear)...We took down all our decorations, sorted through our clothes, etc. We will be coming home with 5 bags and 1 box, and everything fits! We will be leaving behind a small guitar purchased in Guadalajara and a vase, and maybe a few other things. We will leave those things at Vera’s house and pick them up when we come again. We started packing so early because we will be busy with the mission team next week. We basically have enough clothes for a 9-day vacation...pretty much all the rest will be going to Vera’s in a box for the lady who will be starting to rent our apartment in September. One of Vera’s friends has asked to rent the apartment from September until March and has paid us to leave all our “supplies” behind...dishes, towels, etc...That works out really nice for us because we don’t have to worry about what to do with it and it gave us some extra spending money while in Guadalajara.

Thursday was spent packing some more while Joel went to help Lee Short with construction on his house in Mezcales. He was put to work painting boards with old car oil to become concrete forms. It’s sad that we don’t have any pictures of the construction progress. The only thing standing when we first started helping was the foundation. As the weeks have gone by, the wall panels are already up and it’s actually starting looking like a house!

This morning we went to Pan de Vida for a last “hurrah!.” There was a mission team there doing Bible Lessons and puppet shows. It was a very emotional “goodbye,” especially with Luis Miguel and Lupita. There are no words to describe the impact that the kids and the adults at Pan de Vida have had on our lives. Luis and Lupita gave us T-shirts that say “I serve Jesus Christ” in Spanish. They said that they have 3 different t-shirts...the first one they give when you first except Jesus in your life, the second one is when you learn about the Bible and Jesus, and the third one, which we got, is when you start serving for the Lord. It was such an emotional thing for me as I have been called for this experience since I was 13 years old, and though it’s sad that it’s coming to an end, I feel so incredibly blessed that God has been faithful to allow me to “live my dream.” I’m so grateful for this opportunity, and going to Pan de Vida this morning really re-affirmed that this was the right thing for us and it was powerful to look back over the past six months to see how we have been blessed....even more than the people we have been serving.

The thunder storms have been getting louder and louder and the rain, stronger. Last night was the loudest it’s been... As this week comes to a wrap up, Joel plans on working some more for Fine Designs and I plan on packing up whatever else I can, including gathering things that we’re not using anymore to give to Vera’s friend. The mission team comes in this Saturday and we have been assigned to drive Ric’s 12-passenger van all week next week while he drives our car around to the various sites where the teams will be working. We also found out that we will be hosting 3 members of the mission team while they are here...sounds pretty stressful, considering that we are working on moving out, but God will work everything out.

That’s all for now...please be praying for peace and comfort about leaving and for a smooth transition home. Please be praying also that we can get the most out of the time we have left and for safe travels back home. We appreciate you checking in!

Joel and Leslie

Tequlia :: Boat Fire :: Guyabitos

Hello Everyone-
It has been a relatively slow week in Vallarta as things wind down before coming home. Leslie counted and we only have 14 night left. Hard to believe we are almost done with obligations and life her in Mexico. It will truly be sad leaving our home here but we will be happy to see all of you.
This Sunday will be my last weekend leading worship at church. The group coming in from Colorado will be bringing their whole worship band, so it will be very lively on stage! Ric has purchased a sound system and they plan on doing a community outreach concert on Monday with the team.
The drive home from Guadalajara was a little bumpier than the way over there... I have a theory that everyone comes to Guadalajara empty and leave loaded up. This extra weight tears the road up under all the pressure. We were bobbing and weaving our way around the pot holes and luckily did not get any flat tires.

We stopped in Tequila, Jalisico Mexico. Mundo Cuervo was the fanciest of the tours and we decided to go there. For $100 pesos a piece we watched a video and got to go to the factory where they process the Blue Agave and make Tequila. The baked Agave with no alcohol tastes a little like molases and raw sugar cane.
(You gotta love the hairnets!)

The people who cut the Agave plant are called Jimadors (He-ma-doors). It is heavy work and you could often hear them grunt "He" while working. That is how they got their name. One Head of agave can weigh 60-80KG (130-175lbs)
One day this week, while visiting with Vera, we saw a cloud of black smoke rising from the ocean. We climbed to our balcony and saw the Yelapa Princess on fire! It is the 2nd boat tragedy Leslie saw first hand. We did not see anyone jumping into the water... but I am assuming there were no injuries.
Wednesday, Vera headed back home for 3 weeks. We drove her to the airport and went inside to ask the gate agent how we can bring back the TONOLA painting (see previous blog). She suggested trying to take it to the gate and if they have room to put it in the flight attendant closet. The policy has changed with paying passengers that they are only allowed one bag for free and the 2nd bag is $25 and the 3rd bag is $100... Luckily for us, the non revs are still allowed 2 bags before they charge. Next week we plan on packing a little and seeing how everything fits... I know it is all going to work out.

Yesterday we went to Guyabitos, a small beach north of Sayulita that we passed on the way to Guadalajara. It was a very nice white sand beach and there were alot of mexicans vacationing there... It is a much different feel than Puerto Vallarta of Sayulita where Canadians and Americans dominate the scene. I got my hair braided and Leslie thinks I look pretty foolish. I like it to have the hair out of my face for a change.

The weather has been nice in the day but stormy in the afternoons. After the beach we went to Costco for dinner and were found in the middle of a lightning storm! The Lightning and thunder were hitting at the exact same time... I do not know if the bolt hit the store or not but I was glad to be in the cover of a wharehouse vs the chevy.
Does anyone know if you are really safe inside a car? I heard that the rubber tires keep you safe from being struck by lightning.

Well, It is about time to head home to Leslie. I have been doing a lot of work for Fine Designs today and am ready to go home and eat some soup.

Thanks for checking in on us!

Joel and Leslie

PhotoBLOG of Guadalajara

Hello everyone-
Leslie and I have been busy seeing as much as we can see in Guadalajara and surrounding cities.
Our last few blogs have been very long so I will let the pictures speak on these ones.

This picture is in front of the fountain in the plaza East of the cathdral. There are 4 plazas that form a cross on all sides of the cathedral.

Here is a picture of the Fountain and the Cathedral.

Here is a Pig Headed Joel playing his new guitar that he got for $22 at the market San Juan de Dios. Leslie did a really great job on this picture. It really looks like my head!

Food is not marketed the same as in the USA... Yes, that is an animal Skull in with the meat that someone would eat. The lady whose stand it was did not like me taking this picture.
The far east part of the city has this Fountain and Institute Cultural Cabañas. It is currently used as an art school and gallery similar to PNCA, my old art school. There are 24 plazas woven in the building... Leslie said she has never seen any thing like this. I am reminded a little of Europe.
Here is the largest plaza in the Institute Cultural Cabañas.


We stopped into the Regional Museum of Guadalajara and saw some very interesting museum stuff that would just bore you if we posted it online.... However a detail on one of the horse drawn carriages in the museum was very interesting... Perhaps my mom will want to research this. But my last name KELLNER is on the Light of a horse drawn carriage from the 1800's.
We made side trips to two cities: Tlaquepaque (tah-LAK-eh-PAK-eh) and Tonala (Tone-ah-la). Both are known for handcrafts and Pottery. Of the two we both agree Tonala is much bigger and better. However Tlaquepaque did have some neat sculptures on the sidewalk.

Here is a closeup of some pottery in a museum in Tlaquepaque.
Leslie is listening to a Bronze Guitarist in Tlaquepaque


Tonola was Leslies favorite stop... She bought tons of souviniers for around $100 I have no idea how we are going to get it all home, but she did a great job bartering and finding sweet deals.

We finished the evening off going to the theater to see Ballet Folklorica... It was amazing to see the different costumes, music and dances of the regions of Mexico. Leslie really likes the way the legs swivel around in the Cowboy one... For anyone who has a chance to see this Ballet I would highly recommend it. There is live music and some amazing feats! Dancing with Machetes, Rope Twirling, and even dancing with glasses of water on their heads.

Mezcales::Guadalajara

Hello Everyone-

Sorry for the lengthy time in between blog posts. This past week has been a busy one that started off with Joel's birthday last Sunday. Below you can see a picture of some Pinata action from the big neighborhood party to celebrate our neighbor's first communion and Joel's birthday.


Monday and Tuesday started off normally with Joel working for Fine Designs on Monday and me cleaning the house and doing the laundry. Tuesday was our usual day in Sayulita. We brought our new friends Amy and Alisha with us. They actually just went home yesterday which was sad. The water there was flat, but that didn't stop Joel from renting a surf board and he caught a couple of waves.

Wednesday, we were able to go see one of the kids from Pan de Vida perform at a kindergarten graduation at her school. The kids were so cute and did great job remembering their lines and the words to their songs. The kids here graduate kindergarten at what would be equivalent to about 2nd grade there. The little girl who we were watching doesn't graduate for another year or two.

Thursday we both went back out to Mezcales to help Lee Short continue building his new home and ministry base. As Lee is building, he is inscribing Bible Verses into the still moist concrete...Joel and I put "Proverbs 3:5-6" into the footer that we placed last week. We then cut 17 pieces of rebar into 3 ft.-long pieces which ended up being a pretty big pile of rebar. Since Pastor Luis Miguel and Lupita from Pan de Vida live by where we are building, Lee keeps all the materials at their house so it doesn't get stolen and we ended up working most of the day over there. Lupita made us a delicious lunch and after that, we went back to the work site to scrape and dust off some of the dirt that had settled on the block foundation so we can later pour the concrete forms. Meanwhile Lee was buying wood to build the forms. When he returned, not only did he have the wood, but also a huge bucket of used motor oil to paint the wood with to help make the concrete pouring easier. (All of this is over my head, so I apologize for any mis-explinations). Joel and I were done around 6PM and he and Luis Miguel were able to fix the passenger side window to our car which hasn't been able to be rolled down for a couple months. Since they live around a bunch of mango trees, we were also able to take quite a few mangos home with us. Joel had fun using the "mango picker" which was a pop bottle cut in half that was tied to the end of a 12 foot tree branch. There's a picture of the contraption below. In all, we had a really great time hanging out with Luis Miguel and Lupita outside of Pan de Vida and feel like we were able to get to know them a little better.





On Friday, we picked up Amy and Alisha and they and myself were dropped off at Casa Hogar. Joel went back to Mezcales to help Lee again. We ended up staying at Casa Hogar until almost 4PM which made for a long day. It really is like "Little Orphan Annie"...The kids are wild with no structure and as little as they are, they have learned to look out for each other. It was a really hot day and so after playing for a little while, a lot of the kids fell asleep on the cool tile floor. It was Amy and Alisha's last day and so we took some extra time so they could say "goodbye" to the kids. On our way home from there, we stopped at Comida Corrida to eat, which they enjoyed.

To our surprise, Pastor Luis Miguel and Lupita asked us why we haven't been coming to Pan de Vida on Saturdays while we were helping Lee on Thursday. We didn't know the program was still running on Saturdays, so this past Saturday, we went to Pan de Vida. We only had two kids in our class out of our usual 6. Two of our kids (sisters) were with their aunt, our boy was with his dad, and we don't know where the other on was. We did a worksheet about Joseph in prison and how he became second to Pharoah. They did a good job finding the Bible verses and understanding the story.

(JOEL WRITING)
Sunday was Ric's first day back at church and it was really good to see him. Randy and Sandra and Dennis and Faye are back in the states so I had expected around 10 people to show up at church. Suprizingly we had about 20! Carol sang worship with me again she has such a great voice and ear for harmony. After church Leslie spent the afternoon with the girls by a hotel pool. I went home and drew 2 pictures. One was a portrait of Leslie and I, the other was the completion of our balcony view. I had drawn 2 sections when we first arrived, this was the first drawing I had done since then. I really should make more time to do that because it is something I really enjoy. Sunday night It was raining really hard. Leslie took a video that we have posted on the bottom of this page. The girls came over and we had spaghetti dinner spending time with them was nice because we rarely see people our own age.

Monday we headed off to Guadalajara. It rained most of the night and the streets were like rivers as we left Vallarta. We drove the Sayulita road until and had passed several Mudslides before getting to the High speed toll road. We passed several agave fields and lush green mountainsides. Leslie and I were commenting that this image is not what I used to think Mexico was. So much of what you see in movies etc is the dusty dry desert. This looks like it could be in Ireland it is so green.
After about 5 hours of driving, we finally saw the sign " Welcome to Guadalajara" Like every traveling experience, it is not what you have in your head. I had imagined more colonial feel and there were parts that looked just like Seattle. We finally did made it to the Historical district which is more of what I imagined, but it still is not exact.
We are stying in Hotel Francis. It was built in 1610 the view below is from the 1st floor down into the lobby where 3 mariachi singers entertained a small crowd. Our room is on the 2nd floor and we have wireless internet access. This hotel is right in the center of all the attractions. We are next door to the Governors Palace and a few blocks away from the Cathedral, Theater, Liberty Plaza etc.
We walked around for a while and ended up getting caught in a rain storm. It looks like we can not escape the rain in any city. Leslie got a Pancho I went for an umbrella. We both got about the same amount wet although I could take a picture and Leslie could not.

Well That is all for now!

Joel and Leslie