Mexican Sunday

Saturday night there was a power outage in the middle of the night for a couple of hours. The middle of the night may not be a big deal where I live in Utah in summer, but down here, the fan stops turning, the air conditioner turns off,and I lay in a sweaty panic wondering if I stuck us down here in a place Jeff wouldn't be able to work. That's how we are able to be gone for so long, Jeff is supposed to be able engineer his software from wherever we go. However with no power.... you know how your mind goes to dark places when you are half asleep? I had moments where I had to focus on breathing the steamy air in and out. Just getting enough air.

However with the morning came new hope. The power had come back on at some point, and the room was nice and cool. I went to wake Ari and Kai up for church and all three lights were on in their room. Ari later told me she had woken up and kind of freaked out when the bathroom light didn't turn on. She must have tried every light! We quickly got dressed and hopped in our little car to go to church in town. 

You'd think I would have gotten at least one picture of us dressed up, or of the people at church, but no.Every picture is of us hanging around after church. We walked in as they were singing the opening hymn, and like Tia has said about Uruguayans, and what we noticed about Nicaraguans is also true about Mexicans: they are some enthusiastic singers! We are so reserved in the U.S. comparatively--too worried about looking cool I guess, but these guys sang with their whole heart. I love it. 

A young married girl gave a talk in church about eternal marriage, and it was just charming. She had been married a month, but still had been asked to speak, so did her best. Oftentimes in our church it is like the offering of the widow's mite: you don't have much to give but you give anyway. This was very sweet and idealistic, something all the old marrieds probably needed to hear. She even told the story about how they met -- a lot like my Grandma Hansen's story, where she heard a voice telling her that this was to be her husband. Scoff if you will, but my grandparents were married for decades so I'm hoping this girl has similar success with her marriage. 

The lessons were good too in our classes, we had some sharp people there teaching. Ari and Kai just stayed with Jeff and I for the whole thing. I let them read the New Era on my phone when they seemed to get bored. I wish I could teach Ari Spanish, but she seems to have quite a hard time with it. I have high hopes that Kai will learn in school like Tia did. I got the impression sitting there in church that this experience here -- all of it-- will be valuable for Kai later on. Maybe on his mission? I don't know, but it seemed like a spiritual prompting. 

We got back home and slept and hung out, just recovering from the day before. 

 I blobbed, and we all wrote letters to our Tia.

 Jeffy's ankle was better, but he is still trying to ice and baby it.

 Thanks Brenda and Monte for teaching us a great family game that was also small and light to pack. 

 I highly recommend Quixx. It ends just as you are ready for it to get done. Unlike some games I have played with my sister where suddenly I realize I am roped into three hours of play. I like my games short and sweet. 40 minutes or so?

Me and the kids walked down to the beach at sunset just to see how long it was going to take. 10 minutes. A little longer than we were expecting, but pleasant and shady along the river.

Tweet