Our house is a very very very fine house...

God has provided a wonderful little rental house for our time in America. It is wonderfully priced (cheaper than most apartments) and the inside is completely brand new! It has two bedrooms and one bath. It has a big fenced in back yard and is on a four acre horse ranch. The owner boards horses there and gives riding lessons during the week. It is a perfect fit for us. Our kids will really be able to ease into American life because they are used to having a lot of space and livestock roaming around. All of this less than a mile from the 10 freeway!

We are spoiled because our families are going to move all the stuff in before we arrive. My parents found some bunks for the kids at a yard sale and moved them in right away. My mom in law bought the kids all new bedding too!! We have washer hookups and my dad also found a washer for $20 at a yard sale. It will be the first time I've ever had a washer in America! Our friends wrote and they have a pay as you go cell phone they have for missionaries on furlough. They are mailing it to my mom so that we can have it right away. My sister got us car seats for the kids so we are completely and totally blessed. Faith Community is having a welcome home shower for us too!!

God is providing abundantly for us through family and friends! It's great to be in the position of having nothing and no way to get anything and being completely out of control (and knowing it) and then watch God provide so wonderfully. It is such a faith builder.

OK gotta go cook. I have to pull up some potatoes and lettuce and snap the green beans. I LOVE dinners like that. Get it out of the garden and throw it in the pot.

Packing Up

We have three weeks until we leave... 21 short days. We have been focusing on church planting, work, summer teams, but now it is time to focus on getting ready for America.

We need to pack up our house here and store some things in our friends' garage. This is such a big job, but I am trying to be upbeat about it by telling myself it is a good opportunity to get organized and get rid of unneeded stuff. I just typed up a list to help me think through each room. Now I can work on it little by little and hopefully not be overwhelmed all at once! We have brochures to write and get printed and pictures to organize and movies to make and a prayer card that need printing.

It is fun to think about being in America again. It's been two and a half years since we went for the birth of my niece and the funeral of Peter's grandma. Sierra has never been to America! Strange to think about.

It is hard to know what to expect, or even know what the US will be like now. The US changes so rapidly. Sometimes having the wrong expectations causes a lot of confusion and grief. But as humans we just naturally have expectations, it is hard to even know what they are until disappointment strikes. I know that I will get the hang of the States again easier than Mongolia, but I don't expect it to be without stress.
For example, I haven't been to a grocery store in a LONG time. I know that the joy and wonder of just pushing a cart down and isle of well stocked shelves will be great thing. But those well stocked shelves will also be a source of stress.... i mean how many toilet paper and toothpaste choices does one person really need? I am use to having one choice, getting toilet paper or not getting toilet paper. I haven't been to church in a LONG time either. My kids have NEVER been to Sunday school. How will that go? I drive a max of 35 mph here. Will I really be able to get back up to 80 mph without biting my fingernails; and the traffic..... traffic here consists of goats and a horse cart every now and then. I can just imagine my hands gripping onto the steering wheel and my palms sweating as I deal with FIVE lanes of crazy drivers!!!

But all of those fears pale in comparison to the hope and joy of seeing my kids with their grandparents and aunts and uncles and friends. Or how much fun it will watch my kids LOVE grass (no grass here) and be able to be barefoot, to go into a store and have clothes that fit me and a dressing room to try them on in private! To go to church and sing in English again and be encouraged again. The wonder of going out for a good meal, and the great comfort of a culture that I can understand and hopefully not second guess myself in all the time!!!! To watch Weston's awe of a "water toilet" each time he goes to the bathroom and the wonderful convenience of a hot shower ANYTIME I WANT! Or the health of a variety of veggies and fruit in the the winter. And finally to miss winter all together. I am so glad to miss a Mongolian winter and know that I will not need a parka or boots for another year!

Ah the wonder of America, the home of the free and the brave! See you soon!

Sunday Meetings

There is a meeting going on now to determine how we should structure Sunday church. It has been interesting to brainstorm ideas and plan how a church should look here. Please pray for these decisions, that they would be biblical and driven by the Spirit.

W. is so verbal now and is saying the most funny things. Last night he was singing loudly in his bed in the middle of the night. Today I asked him why he was singing and he said, "I think that I am turning into an owl!" After cracking up, I asked him if that is why he was up at night and he said, "Yes, that way I can be very loud and live outside!" I said, "Boy you are smart!" He said, "Yes I am very smart and I love making you laugh."

Kids are so funny.

August Garden

After months of planning, planting, watering and weeding, an August garden is a beauty to behold! OK, well at least a reward for hard work! This year I planted a very large garden and more flowers. I wanted to section the yard without building a fence so I planted a sunflower fence. This week it started blooming and it has been fun to find the new flowers each morning. I also planted pumpkins for the first time and they are growing nicely. I planted some nasturtiums and marigolds among the broccoli to keep away the caterpillars and it has worked well and looks pretty. I planted corn, green beans, cilantro, zucchini, yellow crooked neck squash, lots of lettuce, brocolli, peas, sugar snap peas, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, and lots of winter squash and flowers.

Here are some pictures.

A Scary Day

The other day S got into some of our guest's allergy pills and she decided to eat about 20 pills. That is about about 40 full day doses for her. Needless to say, I was freaking out. I called the Poison Control Center and followed all the directions, including making her throw up and feeding her charcoal to absorb the medicine from her system.
She thought it was a great time and she laughed the whole time I was making her throw up and then gobbled up the charcoal with glee, see the picture. She is perfectly fine, its been 72 hours since it happened!
Thanks for praying.... we so need His protection!

Breakthrough

Things are going great here with our summer team. They have wrapped up their first week of English classes and have done a great job. Their teaching is well planned and high quality. The students are really enjoying the classes. The last few mornings the team hosted an "American Breakfast" at the school, complete with pancakes, bacon and American flags. Through these activities they have had a great opportunity to make contacts with the Mongolian students.

Because of this two of their students came to Bible study on Friday night along with four other visitors!!! It was a night of breakthrough for us and our Mongolian friends. They have been witnessing to these people throughout the year and finally they all came to Bible study on the same night!!! During the study, Erdenstakth taught and did a great job and all the people heard the gospel from a Mongolian teacher!!! This started a train of events and now the believers here have decided to meet on Sunday mornings and begin a children's church time. This will start on the 17th. We are meeting Wednesday morning to clean up one classroom and organize it into a children's Sunday School room.

Yesterday was amazing and we are so happy to see God moving here in this way!!! Please pray the momentum continues as the Spirit leads!

Summer Team

We have a summer team here now and it has been a wonderful time together. Their trip began with a huge wind storm... imagine roofs ripped off, billboards falling, fences falling... AND of course power lines downed. We have power for the first time in 48 hours. I have been able to cook OK on our one burner camping stove. Then I store the cooked items in the oven and pile towels on top to keep them hot... kind of a reverse ice chest! Then I cook the rest of the meal one at a time. Then as soon as the last part is cooked I hurry everyone into the kitchen to eat before it all gets cold. Today when the power came on we all cheered. :)
Their classes are going great and we are really pleased with the turn out. They have seventeen teens and 20 adults. There classes, materials and prep are really high quality. They have songs, puppet shows and really nice curriculum. This group is really prepared and has traveled vastly so they are handling Mongolia with no power in stride!
This group brought has a ten year old, a twelve year old, a thirteen year old and a fifteen year old. W. and S. have been in heaven being played with, bounced, chased, sung to and all around spoiled! Weston has lots of new games and ideas! Here are some pictures of swing set time, fence repair ministry, and lunch with the staff at a Mongolian cafe.