Update

Hello Everyone-

Sorry for slacking on the posts. Most of you know that Joel and I are home right now. We arrived last Tuesday and will be staying until Tuesday the 3rd. So far we have had a busy time here catching up with everyone. Joel was also in a wedding over the weekend

(Joel and the groom...best friends since Jr. High)(Parents of the groom...boogying down!).

To update on the happenings right before we left, we took our "cool cash" grand prize winner and her sister to lunch at McDonald's. We had a great time. We also had to finally say "goodbye" to the kittens which was very sad. Joel is healing well from his surgery and is still feeling a little uncomfortable.
As mentioned in earlier posts, if the kids can memorize John 14:6 in English then they get to go to the water park. While we are home we are hoping to purchase 20 or so swimsuits for those kids that don't have one. We also hope to buy 6 backpacks, one for each child in our class.

That's about it for now. You can be praying for my interviews coming up at Mary Bridge and Tacoma General and that we have a good rest of our visit. We miss our kids a lot, but are enjoying catching up and visiting with everyone.

If you would like to donate for the backpack/swimsuit fund please give us a call. Otherwise. please be praying that we would be able to get what we need and bring it back into Mexico tax free!

Thanks for checking in!
The Kellners

::HEALING and VISITORS::

Hello everyone-
It was good to hear all the concern, We sometimes do not think anyone is reading this thing. The Hospital ticket will end up being $25,000 pesos... We paid $10,000 on our card when we left and then still owe $15,000 to the doctor on Friday which we can cover from our savings account.
The first day home, did not hurt much. I stayed in bed mostly playing the Nintendo DS and trying to recover. In the evening, I set up all my print files for work and then went to bed. Saturday morning hurt a little more. I practiced worship in the morning with Joy, and sent off files for work, since we do not have the internet at home. They also have Vonage phone service and I got to call my mom and grandma for an early Mothers Day present.
In the afternoon I tried relaxing on our balcony and we had visitors! Jan and Raul and Allison friends of Leslie's from Washington are down for a visit. Jan had been here before, about the same time the Kittens were born. They were sad to hear about my accident, and I was able to relax in the most comfortable chair as we all visited. It is so fun to get un expected visitors, it really lifts your spirits.
Since they saw the new kittens, Leslie wanted to show where Pancha had been hiding them on top of the hill. They were gone for a while as they climbed the hill. In about 20 minutes they had brought the kittens back down the hill to our balcony. After visiting with the kittens, they tried placing them out front where they were first born. This is the 2nd or 3rd time Leslie had tried this, and as usual, Pancha took them back to their mountain retreat.
Sunday we received a call at about 8 am from a couple Mike and Jennifer who had been reading our blog and wanted to visit with us and go to church. Raul, Jan's husband, plays percussion and we invited him to play the Jimbe Drum for worship. As weeks go on, I am realizing what a privilege it is to lead people into worship. These last few Sundays people have been lifting their hands and really singing along. Raul did a good job with the drum even though it is not the lively music he is used to.
After church, we all went to Freddy's Tucan for breakfast. Mike, Jennifer, Jan, Raul, Allison and Jose (Allisons mexican friend) and Leslie and I. It ends up we all have a common friend in Brett Latin who officiated our wedding. Mike and Jennifer got our blogspot address from Brett. And Jan and Raul are really good friends of Brett.
We visited for a long while then Mike and Jennifer came over to see the apartment and visit more. Mike is a wizzard at Flash and quickly showed me some tips to do what took me 4 hours on my own. You can check out his website at www.heatherandrain.com. It was good to share our experience with them because they hope to do short term mission work sometime in the future.
The pain level for Sunday was pretty intense. I do not understand how I can feel worse 3 days after my surgery than when I first left the hospital. Mornings are the worse. I find when I am still, everything is fine, standing or sitting. It is the moving between that hurts. Also you never realize how much you use that sensitive area: Stopping peeing for example or perhaps coughing.

Today is the first day I am actually beginning to feel better. I walked our trash down the hill to the trash pile and that was probably a little much to begin the day. After the exercize, I spent most of the day resting reading a book "90 minutes in Heaven by Don Piper". I finished the whole thing!
Jan and Allison came up for a short visit in the morning and around 2 we went to "COMIDA CORRIDA". We had 6 people with Vera and Jan, Raul, Allison and Veras friend. Lunch was very good. There is too much to talk about this time.

I think part of getting better is pretending to feel better than you do and actually going out of the house.

After lunch, we went up and got the Police report for the Camera... Hopefully that will be all the Insurance company needs.

Leslie has been doing an awesome job of taking care of me. I am lucky to be married to a nurse. Besides caring for me, today she did the laundry, cleaned the apartment, changed the sheets and swept and mopped the floor. Our apartment looks very nice.

With so much bad news in the past blog entries, I am sure people want to hear how I was recovering and I want to let everyone know that God is good, and things are looking up =)

God Bless!

Joel and Leslie



PS... I almost for got to say that sometime last night Pancha brought all three kittens down to our balcony to take up permanent residence. It looks like Leslie won the battle in the end! They are almost old enough to give away... anybody want a kitten?

The Break-In :: Emergency Surgery

Hello Everyone-

What an exciting week this has turned out to be! Let me first just say that after this weeks happenings we will feel lucky to be alive by the time we get home.

The week started out like a normal week...Joel worked all day Monday while I cleaned the house, we had Tuesday off and went to the beach, etc. On Tues. when we came home from the beach we noticed something wasn't quit right. As we came in, we saw that Joel's desk had been turned over with the drawers open, and there was a mess on the floor all around it. Our first thought was, "was there an earthquake?"...naive us...we had the earthquake theory because there were no windows or doors broken...we actually had to unlock the door to get inside...our windows are always open, but we have bars on them. After that, we started to realize what had really happened. As we looked around, we noticed that the video camera was missing, but nothing else. That was strange...why didn't they take the computer, and the printer, and the guitar, etc? As our investigation went on, we started to think creatively about how the robber might have gotten in. We have two balconies, one on the roof which is the full balcony, and one downstairs at the level of our apartment that wraps around. We went out to the wrap-around balcony to see what we could see...sure enough, all the evidence was there. The suspect left a long piece of re bar with a hook on the end to "fish" things out of the window. That's why he didn't get the computer, or the guitar, or the printer, etc...because they had nothing for the "hook" to grab onto....Yes, they tried to get the computer (it was laying on the ground damaged, as was the printer).


Our neighbors were SO helpful to us! They came over and saw what had happened and had mentioned a strange character running up and down the hill several times that day. One of our neighbors called the police right away for us. Four police officers showed up within 5 American minutes of calling and said they would beef up the hill patrols. Our neighbors also told the officers what they had seen.

So, fortunate for us, we have insurance on the camera and computer, so hopefully we can get them replaced. To file the police report, we were told to go to the police station that's clear out by the dump where we go to school. We thought we could just "stop by" and take care of it "really quick" on the way to school...again, naive us. In our defense, we did show up an hour before school...seemingly enough time to allow the difference between Mexican and American time. Anyway, we were there for 2 1/2 hours waiting, and waiting, and waiting some more. It wasn't that there was a lot of people or anything...it was more like there were five employees at their desks and only helping 2 people at a time while their counterparts talked on their cell phones, surfed the net, gossiped with their co-workers, etc. Needless to say, we missed school on Wednesday and are due to go pick up the report this afternoon...we couldn't take it home on Wednesday as they had to verify the story with the local police dept. (long lengthy Mexican story)...please pray for a speedy trip.

In other news...our health seems to be further declining. The cold that I developed last Saturday turned into a sinus infection on the right side of my face. I don't ever remember a sinus infection hurting that bad and I have never blown such bright yellow snot out of my nose either! That was a quick fix...I went to the pharmacy for some antibiotics and decongestant, and finally, today, Friday, I have woken up without the right side of my face and jaw throbbing...Praise the Lord!

Joel actually gets the credit for the most interesting health story for the week. On Wednesday night headed into Thursday morning I had reached over to touch him and noticed he was burning up. I took his temp when we woke up the next morning and it was 103...adults aren't supposed to run fevers that high. Anyway, the only other symptom he had was that "My butt hurts"...sorry, there was just no other way to put it. Needless to say, you shouldn't have 103 fever and only your butt be hurting. We thought we would wait for other "normal" symptoms to develop before treatment. I just gave him some Tylenol and he slept the fever off and woke up fine. He insisted on going to school and as we were driving there, another fever developed with the full on chills and shakes. He was a mess by the time we got to Pan de Vida and was escorted to the doctor's office by Dennis and Pastor Luis Miguel. I stayed behind to work with the kids, not feeling too well myself and really worrying about Joel. Dennis came back without Joel and I was told that he was now in the proctologist's office for the "pain in his butt." It turns out that he had a badly infected, grade 4, thrombosed hemorrhoid. I followed Dennis back to the Dr's. office (yes, I actually drove) where I met Joel. The Dr. shut down the rest of his day's schedule to admit Joel to the hospital and do emergency surgery. At first, we were told that it would cost 2,000 pesos for the dr's. fee, and 600 pesos for the hospital stay.....It turns out that this whole thing is costing more like $2,500 US Dollars, $750 for the overnight stay and $1500 for the surgery...boy did we feel deceived. It was an error in communication, and we were actually aware of the actual cost before going in for surgery...it was an emergency though and needed to be done. The proctologist so strongly suggested the procedure that he even gave up his $500 portion because he thought it was so necessary and could see that we were going to go home because it was too much money...so instead of $3000, it's going to be $2500.

So, here we are, Friday morning, at Cornerstone Hospital in Puerto Vallarta. Joel is feeling fine, he's eating breakfast right now. The Dr. said that everything went well and the Joel should be fine. He had to stay at the hospital because the infection was so bad and he needed to be monitored. Luckily the kids don't have school today in celebration of Dia de Mamas (Mother's Day). We are hoping to take it easy and rest.

Now for some good news...I have submitted three resumes/applications for three different positions at Mary Bridge/Tacoma General for residencies. One in the PICU (Pediatric ICU), one in the NICU (Neonatal ICU), and one in the Mary Bridge ER. So far, I have an interview set up in the NICU that I'm really excited about! That will be on the Monday before we return back here to PV. I would also love to interview in the PICU as well. All the positions start in the beginning of September.

Please be praying for us as we prepare to come home for our visit. We really feel like the enemy is attacking us and trying to distract from God's purposes. We don't feel like doors are necessarily closing yet as the kids are doing great and the clinic in Quimixto has been going much better. We appreciate you checking in and praying for us!

Joel and Leslie

::From Bad to Good::

Hello Everyone-
This week started out pretty rough. We lost the internet connection at the house, Leslie lost her sunglasses, I lost my iPod and the bank took back the “Customer Satisfaction Credit.” We were feeling pretty lousy and questioning why we are even down here. As the week progressed, things got a little better. We put everything in perspective by realizing all the blessings God has given us by living here. When we first moved here we did not have an internet connection, then for 2 months we picked up a wireless signal but now it is gone. It was a blessing to have the internet while we did and we should not complain now that it’s gone. We should have known the credit from the bank was “too good to be true”. We felt deceived by the language “Customer Satisfaction Credit” and the fact that it stayed in our account for 10 days. We did not understand it was never ours in the first place.
With the money out of our account, we were feeling very restricted, so we decided to take $500 from our “no-touch” savings so we could breathe. Again having savings is another blessing from God.
There was no school on Wednesday, so both Leslie and I went to Quimixto. It was Dia de los niños, “children's day,” and Randy and Sandra brought candy for the kids. The majority of the people for the clinic had traveled to Yelapa to get a free vaccination from the Red Cross. Leslie had 2 patients and after treating them, they treated us to some fresh coconut milk at their house. One patient, Carlos is one of the original people in Quimixto. He was born and raised there and has 4 kids still living there. His sister is currently staying with him too. The reason Carlos went to the clinic was because of his Left foot. He has had swelling and pain since last July. Leslie looked at it and recommended he see a doctor immediately. Besides his Left foot, he has a bad right hip and uses crutches. This did not stop him from getting his machete and whacking off the top of the coconut for us. The people here are very hospitable.

Thursday we had school, as usual, only 3 of our 6 students showed up (because of dia de los niños) so we could not do all that we planned. We reviewed the Bedroom and Kitchen, and worked on verbs, then played their favorite game “Bingo”. On our way home I took Leslie to a movie. She likes surprises, and the movie was a good morale boost for both of us. We saw “P.S. I love you”. It was a good story of love, it made both of us cry at certain parts.
Friday, everyone was there at Pan de Vida . Leslie took over the class and I played barber to cut one of the kids’ hair. I ended up cutting two kids’ hair! I talked with Pastor Luis Miguel and plan on painting the Pan de Vida logo on the front of the building... I will have to show the final piece if it works out.
Leslie said the prizes for the cool cash auction went well. The kids originally did not understand how the auction process worked, but with help from one of the parents they caught on by the end. The kids bought all of the prizes and the big winner of dinner at McDonalds is Cecilia. She gets to bring a friend and chooses to take her older sister Brenda. Next week is Mothers day, so we plan on taking them Saturday the 17th before coming up to Washington for the visit.
After school Friday, we hosted dinner for Vera and a guest. Vera has had a new visitor every day since coming home. They all ride in on a bus from the neighborhoods around the dump. It is great for us because we can meet these new people and hear their stories. Anyone who would generalize that the people here are poor because they are lazy, are wrong. Every one we meet wakes up very early in the morning and works long hours to bring home money for the family. The problem with living in a tourist area like Vallarta is they are not paid much, and once the slow season starts they cut workers quickly. We visited with Vera’s friends until 9pm and then gave them a ride to their house in our car so they would not have to take the bus for an hour. When we arrived, the family was waiting and we shook hands with all of their 4 kids.
Saturday I helped Ric pour the cement floor we were going to make when my dad was here. They brought in dirt and we laid the best floor yet. The husband, along with leveling the floor with dirt, placed blocks at key locations to indicate the desired level of cement... This made us use more cement than I think we needed but it will make a very nice surface in the end. We had a long steel beam and using the blocks as pivot points were able to make a smooth and level floor.
Leslie taught class by herself, which ended up being very crazy. The church had made boxes for “dia de los niños” and given them out with balloons. There was a lot of extra noise and the kids could not focus as Leslie tried to teach them the “Fruit of the Spirit” from Galatians 5. Next week we will have to review the same topic.

Today at church, Pastor Ric surprised us with an award for all we have been doing at church and in the community. He gave us a paper certificate and some money to go treat ourselves. In light of loosing the “customer service credit” at the bank, it is great to see new ways of God providing.

Please be praying for Leslie. She did not sleep at all last night due to extreme sinus pressure and pain. It is from her upper jaw to her head. She is uncomfortable and is tired of being so sick. It seems that she has not been completely healthy since March. She has had everything from a sore throat, to swollen glands, to back/hip pain and now these sinuses. She has been handling this very well but we really would like for her to be all better.

Monday and Tuesday of next week we have been invited to two dinners. One is at Dennis and Faye’s to show them the video I have been working on. The other is at Ric and Joy’s with Randy and Sandra. Yeah! Leslie is glad she doesn’t have to cook.

Sorry for such a long entry and no pictures, but this has been a very long week and I had a lot to cover.

God Bless!

Joel and Leslie

No Internet, Bobs Visit, Quimixto CLINIC

Something happened this last weekend and we no longer have the internet. This means we can not update the blog from home and I can’t work from home anymore. It was on and available from the end of February till now. We have to start hiking down the hill to a cafe so we can do what we used to do from our guest room.

This last weekend Thursday through Monday, my dad (Bob) came for a visit. He helped us move down here in February but did not get to see much because he was only here one full day. This time he saw it all.

Thursday after he arrived, we ate at El Arrayan, which is supposedly voted the Best Mexican restaurant in Puerto Vallarta for 3 years in a row. I think they must have someone stuff the ballot box because it was not anything head and shoulders over other restaurants we eat at and it was way over-priced. I had a steak, Leslie had some shrimp and my dad got fish. It tasted ok, but for the price we could have had 3 meals somewhere else.

Friday, while I was practicing music for church, my dad drove the car for Vera and fed the people working on top of the garbage mound. He brought my video camera and got some good shots I can use in Dennis and Faye’s Video. On the way home, he drove Vera to pick up some chicken which we ate for lunch, then we went to school to teach kids at Pan de Vida.

The first part of class, we had the kids go out back and work on the garden. This garden was planted by Patty and Ray while they were here. It’s about a 5ft x 5ft square behind the school building. They harvested the radishes, weeded, and watered the plants. They tried the radishes but didn’t like them.
We continued working on vocabulary for the rooms of the house. This week was the bedroom and the closet. I drew a big picture of a bedroom and Leslie wrote a list of vocabulary words. The kids would stick the words onto my drawing in the appropriate place. They seem to like the way we are teaching class but I fear they are not learning these words as well as they did in the kitchen last week. This Wednesday there is no school because of “Kids Day”. Thursday we plan on doing review and Friday we will have the big “Auction” for all the cool cash. This will be the first of 3 auctions we have planned.



After class on Friday, we stopped by the beach for about an hour, then Leslie cooked an awesome meal. She made Lasagna from scratch, Salad, Bread, and fresh fruit. Vera came over and we had sunset dinner on the Balcony.

Saturdays plan was to make a concrete floor, but the people whose house we were supposed to pour had not done any preparation. Pastor Ric stopped by on Thursday and said the floor had 1.5 foot holes all over. Instead of physical labor, my dad and I went to help Leslie teach our Sunday school class. We taught them the verses in Romans that exemplifies God’s plan for salvation...aka “Roman’s Road.” They seemed to get it and were able to reiterate the gist of each of the verses. After school we went to Sayulita. It was a “beautiful sunny day” but small waves. For dinner we ate Tacos al Pastor. We were there early and got to see them put on the huge mound of meat. It takes about 20 minutes for it to cook the outside enough for tacos.

Sunday, we went to church, then to Breakfast, then to Misamaloya (a beach south of the city). There is supposed to be good snorkeling there. We layed in the sun for a while and then my dad and I chartered a boat to “los Arcos”. We got to see some fish as Barauch our boat driver threw bread in the water. Unfortunately, when we got in the water, we could not see past our hands. We swam around for about 20 minutes. Barauch swam with us and brought up some Star Fish and even a puffer fish! It blew up to the size of a small balloon with spikes exposed. He was holding it with his bare hands and passed it over to my dad. I on the other hand did not volunteer to feel the spikes. My dad said it felt like a bunch of needles. After Misamaloya, we went to the Grocery store for Vera and then to Costco for Pizza. We had another nice sunset dinner. Below are some pictures from the evening

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All in All it was a good visit for my dad. He saw the dump, and the north and south parts of Vallarta. He ate at the “Best” restaurants and the cheapest. He got some sun and warmed his bones from the cool Northwest weather.

Before my dad’s visit, Leslie had her first day at Quimixto doing the clinic. As all first days go, this one did not go as smoothly as planned. She had a crowd of people who wanted her service. Unfortunately they were asking about things that do not necessarily have treatments or concrete answers such as arthritis, back pain, random other symptoms. As you can imagine, she also had a really hard time with the language barrier and trying to get across treatment strategies, collecting all the information, and trying to communicate home and/or medicinal remedies. Leslie brought her stethoscope, but did not have her blood pressure cuff. Some people wanted their blood pressure taken so she’ll have to do that this week. It was very discouraging for her to not be able to give them the answers they wanted, she feels like she doesn't have the ability to “diagnose” all they are asking and feels tremendous pressure to give answers and a “magic cure.” It would be really good to have a local there to translate. She is not looking forward to going back as she is so discouraged about the first time...you could be praying for courage and wisdom for her. This Wednesday I will be going with Leslie to see first hand what the clinic is like. I will be an UCNA (Un-Certified Nurses Assistant).

Well, that's all the news to report for now. We will try to keep our blog updated as much as possible, but may not be able to write as often given the current internet situation. We love you all very much and appreciate you checking in!

The Kellners

ALOT Has Happened

(Our Team of painters)

Whew! Let me just take a breath as I sit down to write this. We have had a very busy end to one week and a busy beginning to another!

The kids did really well last week, studying about the kitchen! The "cool cash" idea has worked awesome as well! Sometimes there's nothing like a little bribery! Anyway, like I said, they did a great job learning about the kitchen. To review their new words, we played a couple good games of pictionary where Joel would tell the artist the word in English, and their team mates would have to give the answer in English. We also started trying to put simple sentences together, using ther verb "to have" ("tener" in Spanish). Apparently they were writing whole sentences on the board before the big semana santa vacation. As it goes, they had forgotten how to do that by the time they got back. We practiced sentences using some of their new vocab words..."I HAVE the spoon"..."she HAS the fork"...etc. This week we will be learning about items in the bedroom and in the closet. We will also be working on more sentences and verbs too.

(We're making progress downstairs)

We spent the whole afternoon on Saturday going to get the rest of the supplies for painting the rest of Vera's house, and getting all the medical supplies I will need to start the clinic. God has been SOOOO faithful to provide for us. We were really worried about how we were going to pay for all the rest of the paint supplies and all the medicines and supplies I would need for the clinic. As you know, God sometimes provides for us in ways we don't expect. Jeanne (Joel's mom) had deposited his last paycheck right before last weekend. The amount of the check still hadn't shown up on our account online...not even in the "pending" section...hmmm... We called Jeanne to see what was going on, and she in turn called our bank only to find out that the wrong bank account number had been entered, meaning that the check was deposited into someone else's account. After a little investigation, they found that all the numbers on the original deposit slip that Jeanne had filled out were correct and that whoever deposited the check was the one who entered the numbers wrong. To make a long story short, our bank put the paycheck back into our account along with a customer satisfaction credit for the same amount as the check itself...in other words, we doubled our money! Praise God...we then, because of the Lord's provision, had more than enough to buy the supplies! (Just a side note...we have seen God's provision over and over in our marriage as we've been on one income for most of the time, allowing me to go to nursing school. He always provides right when we need it, and we are always amazed!)

Between school and medical/paint supplies shopping, we worked really hard at Vera's house, painting, fixing the sink, and cleaning. She actually came home today, so we felt a big pressure to finish the whole project by the time she came home. By Sunday after church, we had finished the downstairs, minus the bathroom and a little part in the kitchen. We had the whole upstairs to complete. There was a team of us working to paint and clean...the pastor's son, Tucker, a missionary couple from our church, and a neighbor named Eric. Eric is a true Mexican worker...the word...HARDCORE! We've never seen anyone work so fast and efficiently. We started painting around noon, and the paint job was complete by about 4:00. Joel and I were there until about 8:00. We had to move all her things back, finish fixing the bathroom sink, and clean....there was SO MUCH DUST EVERYWHERE...my mother's worst nightmare! By God's grace, we got it done!

(Finished upstairs)

Mitcha also had her babies last week on Thursday morning. We actually got to see her give birth. She had four kittens...one white, one black, and two dark tabby. They are adorable! To update on Pancha, her babies opened their eyes last week also. As I type this, they are actually stepping out from the nest and taking a look around. Momma cat is trying to keep them in order.

(Mitcha and her new babies)(Family photo of Pancha and her babies)

Today, Joel worked for Fine Designs, and I worked hard at cleaning our apartment. We went and picked up Vera from the airport, and have spent time preparing for our class.

Please be praying for us this week. I am sick again....I have had a sore throat for the last two weeks, and a swollen gland in my neck (unrelated to the sore throat...it's not sore). Please be praying for the clinic and for our kids. We really want to show them God's love, and especially for Joel as he's one of the only good male influences in their lives. Joel's dad, Bob, is also coming this week on Thursday. Please pray for safe travels and a good visit.

We are off tomorrow..hopefully to the beach for a little rest!

We love you guys and are thinking about you!

Joel and Leslie

Accident Update :: Cool Cash :: HOT WEATHER

Sunset on the Patio Tuesday Night

Hello everyone-
Thank you for your prayers. I am feeling much better. Last night I slept without a coughing episode. Leslie has been sleeping a little better too.

Since the accident at Vera's house, we have not been able to do any Laundry because the water was turned off. The plumber ended up not being reliable. Our upstairs neighbor Jorge said he could help me fix it. If you knew Jorge you would think he would not be able to do any manual labor. He is a homosexual and very feminine. Just goes to show you that you can't judge by appearance. He knew exactly what was needed for the project. We went to Home Depot and purchased a sink, plumbing kit, Torch, Gas, sodder, PVC joints, PVC Glue, copper pipe and a copper pipe cutter. Everything ended up being around $80. I went over Sunday after church and started the project, preparing the wall and cutting off the top of the pipe. Jorge and his boyfriend came down and took over as I left to help Pastor Ric pour a cement floor out at the dump.

Joel working under the sink

When I came back, they had soddered one piece, and assembled the sink and attached it to the wall. However none of the plumbing was done. After further consideration, I decided to change the way the plumbing connected. Instead of hard wiring/soddering the plumbing to the sink, I decided to add a Valve shut-off at the wall and put a flexible tube from the wall to the sink. It worked flawlessly with no leaks. The next issue was making the plumbing drain from the sink back into the wall... With some Silicone I was able to connect that with no leaks too. I am not a plumber and have no practical experience doing any of this. I thank God for guiding me through the steps and giving inspiration how to do this right. Needless to say, the water is back on and Sylvia our neighbor and Leslie can start washing clothes again.

Mitcha is still VERY PREGNANT

This week we take over Patti and Rays class. We are continuing their education and teaching items in the Kitchen. I drew some simple objects in Illustrator. Today they wrote English words below the pictures I drew. We also made a list of Rules on how to obey and began a reward system called "COOL CASH." The "cool cash" allows them to buy prizes when we bring them to school. The rules are simple : 1 Respect each other 2 Listen to who is speaking 3 Share nicely 4 Don't grab for things, wait your turn and 5 Do your your best at every task. They seemed to like the idea of Cool Cash and really were learning the 16 new kitchen items we did today.

I played Hang Man with the kitchen words and they really liked it!

(Leslie Typing) I went to Quimixto today with Randy and passed out flyers in the community letting them know the dates and times of the "clinic." I think it went well. I gave a small stack to two guys named Jose Luis and Rodrigo to hand out. The clinic will be at Rodrigo's house, and Jose Luis is one of the prominent people in Quimixto. God is good because there was a parent's meeting going on at school when we got there so I was able to distribute flyers to them and also to all the students. Between now and next week, I will be buying supplies and medicines. Please be praying that God would give me wisdom to know the right thing to do for every person that comes by!

Tomorrow we are going to teach how to set a table with the words we just learned.

The temperature has been rising little by little every day. While walking the street we really notice a difference. Luckily our car has Air Conditioning. Our car, when the air conditioning is on, does not over heat at all... In fact the temperature does better with AC than without it.

We hope everyone is doing well-

Joel and Leslie in Mexico.