We had five letters this week, which was pretty nice. Sometimes I wish that I'll check the mailbox and there will be a big stack of letters inside, but sometimes I also think it would be nice to just open it every day and fine one inside. Like political ads before a local election. Except more exciting. :)
The first letter came from Sandier in Honduras.
Sandier's letter was about his Christian learning, which is the same form letter we received from Anahi about a month ago. Sandier's favorite Bible story is about baby Moses escaping the pharaoh's decree that all the boy babies should be killed. His favorite song at the center is "crocodile rhythm," which makes me think of the Elton John song "Crocodile Rock!" Sandier also wrote that he likes the letters I send because they're "funny." Sandier's tutor says he has started 1st grade and he knows about pumpkins because there is a Honduran tradition of eating pumpkins with honey.
Next, we heard from Said in Tanzania!
I hadn't heard from Said in several months, but even though I miss hearing from him, I'm never mad or frustrated because not only is he a teenager who is preparing for a future outside secondary school, but he is the man of the house. So I'm patient and don't take it personally when I don't get a letter for a while.
Said said he and his family are doing fine, and he hoped we were too. He shared that he got new clothes for Christmas and wore them to church, and then he came back home and ate a great meal prepared by his mom! We also got a progress report about his work at the project and the school. Said has great dreams of being a doctor when he grows up- please join me in praying for his studies. I did some research on his school and they are not so well equipped and have some struggles.
We also heard from Elisha in Tanzania!
Elisha's letter was a form letter about his medical checkup. Apparently he had one a few months ago, and he went with his mom and a social worker. Elisha's letter also included a progress report, and he's doing pretty great! He has several A's and he's covering lots of interesting things at the project!
Later in the week, we got a letter from Eduardo in Honduras!
Eduardo wrote about church. He goes to church on Saturdays, and on Sundays he practices soccer with his brother. He also asked about our church. Eduardo wrote to say that he was going to be having surgery soon (in a previous letter he mentioned sinus surgery) but not to worry, because it was no big deal. The translator added a note at the end of the letter saying that his surgery was February 3, and that the doctors removed a small, benign tumor. Praise God that his surgery went well and that it wasn't anything more serious!
Lastly, we finally received a first letter from Juan in Bolivia!
We were assigned Juan as a correspondent in November, so it was really good to finally hear from him. Juan shared a little about his school schedule, and he wrote quite a bit about the picture of my grandma's mule that I sent to him! Mammaw made a Christmas blanket for Wilbur, her mule, and put a Santa hat on him. She sent out his picture as Christmas cards! So I sent a picture to all the kids. Juan was so impressed, and asked a ton of questions about Wilbur, and asked me to send more pictures! I will have to take some more pictures of Wilbur when I go out to Mammaw's for Derby dinner. : )
I'm so glad Eduardo is ok!! It's so sweet that he didn't want to worry. I loved reading Juan's reaction to your grandma's mule too!! What a great letter week :)
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