A Visit From Home...

Woody and Marla arrived on Christmas Day. Talk about an awesome present!! Since we don't have a ministry vehicle (it's quite broken), I hired Jairo and his taxi to pick up Woody and Marla. Jairo is a young man from the church and I thought it would be a great way to bless his business to hire him instead of just "any ol' taxi driver".

We left Enlaces at about 11:00am Christmas Day and made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. I was pretty amazed at some of the things Jairo and I were able to talk about on the hour-and-a-half drive to the airport. At the airport, I was like a little kid; I kept trying to look above and below the silly paint they have right at eye-level to see if I could catch a glimpse of Woody and Marla.

Ah, there they are! Once through Customs and beyond the paint-blocked glass partition, I waved them over to the exit. Hugs all around, of course!

I had already told Jairo that if they were hungry I'd like to stop for pupusas on the way home, and showed Jairo which place. He knew it well! Yes, we stopped for pupusas. The first thing that W&M did upon reaching the restaurant was to grab a carry-on bag and change into some lighter/cooler clothing. They both enjoyed the pupusas, as well! On the drive back to Comayagua, we stopped once or twice to take a few pictures.

The only hiccup in the journey back was a Christmas Day road block. Road blocks/stops are pretty common. Well, since Jairo was using his father's taxi (it's larger) instead of his and had photocopies of the necessary papers, the police decided that Jairo needed a ticket. So, instead of returning to pay the ticket later, Jairo was able to "pay the ticket now", directly to the police officer. (That probably sounds familiar to some of you from our Dec. '04 trip.) ~~ I hope that the police officer bought his wife or family something nice with the 100Lps ($5).

I had wanted to take W&M to El Torito for Christmas dinner, but when we got there, they were closed. So, we walked a bit further to Los Jarros. The food there is fine, but nothing spectacular for the price. I did introduce W&M to anafre, though.

Tuesday morning I got our rental car and we were off to downtown. We were even able to get a parking spot right on parque central. We went to la catedral (it was closed), then the museo arqueológico, then walked around the mercado. W&M were even able to get most of their souvenir shopping done that day.

Wednesday we had planned to head over to Taulabe, to go to the caves and see the mission where the Mustard Seed used to be involved. First, we were stopping in Siguatepeque to meet Luis and buy some of his awesome coffee and hopefully check out his coffee operation. We arrived in Siguat. and I called Luis and left a message that we were at Granja Delia. We ended up needing to go to a pharmacy nearby and that's where the day "got good". Woody went for a cup of coffee and Marla and I were in the pharmacy. There was a woman waiting for something and she turned to Marla and, in perfect English, asked her if she was cold. Well, that opened up an opportunity for conversation. Before long, she was telling us about her family, including her 23-year-old son who was diagnosed with MS when he was 19. So, we offered to pray for Norma and her son right there. She accepted and we prayed. Later, she introduced us to her husband and their driver, and Marla introduced Woody. Norma told us that it was too bad we didn't have time to come to her house to pray for Fernando in person. We told her that we had time. I called Luis and told him what was up and it was not a problem. We went to Norma's house, met Fernando, talked with him for a while, led him to salvation and then prayed for his healing. It was an incredible morning!

We met Luis and got our coffee, then went for lunch. After lunch we decided to ditch the caves, but still go to the mission house. Well, the mission has changed hands and there is now also a girls' orphanage on the grounds. As it turned out, there was a group from North Carolina there that week, and WE GOT TO GO INSIDE THE HOUSE!! I can't even begin to adequately explain what an awesome and overwhelming time that was for me. The picture of Andre and Yobanni is still hanging in the living room! Yobanni is still involved in the mission and I also found out about some of the other pastors I knew from all those years ago. I took a few pictures, and I'll share them with those of you who have been there when I return. Oh yeah, one of the guys on the team from NC was Brad Daugherty, who used to play basketball for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He had brought his family on the trip because he wanted their Christmas to be about more than themselves. What a cool guy!

Wednesday night was church service back at Enlaces. I was able to introduce W&M to several of my friends. Hermes translated for them during the service. I could translate the songs for them, but I can't do the teaching because I still need to concentrate on the language so that I can try to understand it. Sometimes that's easier than other times.

Thursday we went to las cataratas de Pulhapanzak (Pulhapanzak Falls). I had invited Theresa, another gringa missionary here, and her friend Jessica, who was also visiting from the US, to join us. The falls were pretty incredible. When we first got there, we were treated to a double rainbow over the falls. Yes, lots of pictures were snapped by all of us. We took the stairs down the falls and I showed them the path that I had used 11 years earlier to get to the bottom. Marla said something like, "You went down that way?" I told her that we hung onto the vines and such as we made our way down. The stairs that are in place now are much easier!

After the falls, we had lunch at a restaurant overlooking Lago de Yojoa. Woody and I had the pescado entero (whole fish) and the others opted for fajitas. They were all surprised when their fajitas were served with fresh-cooked tortilla chips, but not soft tortillas.

Friday was a relaxing day. We visited Soto Cano Airbase for a while. Then, we went to the pool at the Hotel Santa Maria. I had never been there before, but may make it over there another time or two before I leave, especially since it's getting quite hot again. (Today was over 90 degrees.)

Saturday we went back to the mercado one last time. We decided to walk down and take a taxi back. The cathedral was open so we went in and looked around. Then we asked a guy about going up into the clock tower. He got keys and we were able to go up and see the insides of the oldest working clock in the western hemisphere. He told me that they don't let the clock run a lot so that it keeps working, but that it would be running the next night, New Year's Eve. We also went another floor up where the bells are. It was quite cool to look out and see the entire Comayagua Valley. On our way back toward the mercado, I ducked into a bakery to try to buy a tres leches cake. We had been trying to get a piece of tres leches all week long, and none of the restaurants we ate at had any. The bakery had them. While they were boxing up our cake, I saw Siomara, the teacher from the mountains, standing right next to me. We recognized each other at exactly the same time. It was a nice reunion!

That night was church. Hermes wasn't there, so Yennsi, Gloria's daughter translated for W&M during the service. Afterwards, I introduced W&M to more people. Then, we invited a couple of families back to the house for some cake. Well, Woody decided that it was okay, but soggy cake wasn't really his thing. Postre de tres leches is basically a sponge cake, soaked with a mixture of three milks: whole, evaporated and sweetened condensed.

After church and cake, we went to La Casita for dinner. Woody and Marla like that place as much as I do.

Sunday morning, Marla and I spent some time worshipping with the guitar. We had planned to do more, but it seemed that time was always getting away from us. Soon, it was time to meet Jairo for our trip back to the airport. We got to the airport all too quickly. Check-in went smoother and quicker than I've ever seen at that airport. Then W&M paid their departure tax and we all walked across the street for a somewhat traditional Pizza Hut lunch. After lunch, and back at the airport, I went as far as security with Woody and Marla before having to say our good-byes. Where did the week go? Was it really time for them to leave?

When I went back downstairs, I didn't see Jairo so I walked to where he had parked the car. He was there, talking to a friend of his who drives one of the military buses for Soto Cano. Again, Jairo and I talked pretty much the whole way home.

After I got home, I rested for a bit, made a little something to eat and then got ready to go to Gloria's house for New Year's Eve. I had invited myself over to their house, to celebrate with them.