Frustrated

Yesterday was probably one of the most frustrating days we have had in Mexico. I don’t often write about the frustrations, but sometimes you have to in order to get over it. Sorry this post is a little long.

We woke up to go to the early service at church, but when we arrived at 9 for the service, we were told that there was only one service this week, and it would begin at 10. So we decided to take a walk around the neighborhood for a while.

The service started at 10:20. It was an “installation” service for the new pastor (who they voted on last week), so it felt like a big show more than anything, with every special singing group singing, etc. We had our own problems during the service, because sitting still with Nathan is a difficult thing. Janell took him out about an hour and a half into the service time, but after about a half an hour outside, she realized that we had forgotten Nathan’s formula, so if he got hungry, we were in trouble. We finally left about half way through the service at 12:30 (you read that right…half way through the service).

I talked with some of the young people of the church to try to find out what’s going on with the youth ministry. They told me they would call me, but that Sunday evening at 6 pm there would be a meeting with the deacons to talk about a new project they wanted to work on. They asked me to be there, so I said no problem. I just asked them to call me in the afternoon to confirm the meeting.

They called me around 3 to say that there was a youth meeting at 5 and the other meeting at 6. I had received earlier in the week an email from one of the young people telling me that the youth meeting was at 6, so I didn’t go to the church until 5:30. Nobody was there when I arrived. That’s not strange. I’m always the first one there. I waited until 6:30, and nobody was there yet, so I went home frustrated. I don’t know what happened. The kid who sent me the email told me they cancelled the meeting (thanks for telling me.) Oh the joys!!!

Cafe Tacuba

Tacuba window A bunch of Mexico City missionaries decided to go to dinner for Valentine’s Day last night at a famous restaurant downtown called Cafe Tacuba. It’s a Mexico City landmark and even has a band named after it. There were about 20 of us, and we had a good time.

Amy and Cole watched Nathan for us, so we were able to have a real date. He did really well with them, and he stayed in bed late this morning. He must be getting over his sickness. I think overall, we all had a great night.

My day

So, today was a busy day with some interesting things. I went to the seminary to grade papers, and I got a few of them done.

After chapel, I spent the afternoon with Janell and Nathan, and I went back to the seminary in the late afternoon so I could have a meeting with the youth leadership of PIB Satelite. That’s the church that is hosting the group that is coming in March from Boca Raton. The meeting was great, and I’m looking forward to the group coming. The church here in Mexico has asked me to “consult” their youth ministry, so I’m putting together a plan for that. It should be interesting.

Soccer in the States

andrewsoccer
We just got this picture from Janell’s sister Kelle. Our nephew Andrew plays soccer back in Florida, and his team got runner-up in a tournament recently. I sure wish we could have been there to see them play. They tell us that he scored 5 goals in one game. Amazing! The picture reminds me of when I coached YMCA soccer and basketball in college.

Congratulations, Andrew!!!!

Pobrecitos

We took Nathan to the doctor today, and he said that he has bronchitis, laryngitis, and an ear infection. He gave us some antibiotics and other medicine to give him so that he will get better soon. Right now, he’s sleeping like a baby.

Because we had to go to the doctor, we had a very non-romantic Valentine’s Day dinner of rotisserie chicken and macaroni and cheese. It’s a good thing we’re celebrating Valentine’s Week at our house.