Messages from Monte

A lot has happened since last I blogged about the happenings here in La Palma. I mentioned in a post last week that I had been asked to speak in one of the local schools. It is quite a different feeling to basically give a Bible lesson on parenting at a public school function. I guess coming from Webb City I am more used to biblical foundations in the public schools than some, but it is still a strange concept to go into a school and give a lesson on what God wants from parents. I gave my only credentials for being qualified to teach on the subject to start, "Hi. I'm Monte. I've been married for eighteen years and have a teenage daughter and a son who is almost ten. I am a parent, but not a perfect one. What I am going to talk you about is some of the same things I'm still trying to get right." It was met with a very good reception. Two teachers who also were to speak and the school director during her speech all referred back to what I had said. The director ...

In my last post, I told you that I had something exciting to talk about. Well, I do. We are a little more than 5 years into the work here in La Palma. I'd like to say I was part of it from the start, but I was not. The children in the Sponsoship and Scholarship programs have started graduating from high school. I believe there was one last year and there will be two this next year. This is truly exciting in an environment where as soon as you are old enough to do some kind of money earning work, you are encouraged by your family to help with the family income. We have children in the program that display a dip in their grades, and we find they are putting off study for work as early as third grade. This is a problem, for sure, but these programs are truly having an amazing impact on the lives of many children. These programs would not be possible if not for the generosity of many of you! Now we are discovering a new and exciting opportunity to help these children. Of the two gr...

Unbelievable. We actually had the Claro people here today to install the TV service. They call it cable, but it is a variant of Direct TV. They installed a huge bright red dish on the roof of the church building. Nathan was watching it for the first time after lunch and it suddenly lost signal as it started to rain. Right now I find it amusing, but it wasn't me watching a show I have any interest in. I am reclining with my leg up at the moment. The pain is mostly gone, but the discoloration and hardened spots have not changed. I have completed my medicines as instructed. I am to follow up with the doctor in Nueva a week from today. We'll see. I have walked a little each day this week, with only a little noticeable pain afterward. Sunday was a really long day. I preached the Sunday morning service, with Jose as interpreter. It went well according to the family. Jose and I are not perfectly in synch just yet, but it with practice it will be better. I hope to be able to formul...

It has been a while since I last blogged - this you already know. Since last I blogged, much has taken place. Some I have missed out on and some I was part of. I have been forced to do a whole lot of sitting/reclining lately due to my leg. First, let's talk about the elephant in the room. My leg seems to be improving. The pain is generally less, and the original spot of concern looks much closer to normal than it has in quite a while. Monday, however, I was thinking self-amputation was not entirely out of the question. Wow, it hurt a lot. I've been an excellent patient: taking my meds regularly; resting with the leg up; wrapping both legs; sleeping with the foot of the bed elevated 20 cm; and so forth. Tomorrow I go see if it is paying off, as I will follow up with Dr. Rico at the hospital in Nueva. Please say a special prayer for healing for me as you read this post and tomorrow morning. We will leave here at 7:00 AM to go to the hospital (about an hour away). That is 8:00 ...

Today was a good day. First of all, I must say Happy Birthday to my Mother who turns plenty-nine today. Actually, I do not remember her age, but it isn't any of our business anyway.  Love you, Mom! Second, let me apologize for the lack of real La Palma news in this post. So, eight days ago I noticed what looked like a small bruise on my right leg. It was hard and thick, just below my knee on my right leg. It hurt, but I figured it was nothing. The area around it began to swell and get hard, and the pain kept increasing right along with it. Eventually, it made walking quite painful. Did I mention we have no vehicle and we walk everywhere? So, I thought I should consult with my sister-in-law the nurse (Lana) when I noticed it was spreading up my inner thigh. This made me nervous. She chastised me for not being seen yet (rightfully so), and told me I should have it looked at by a doctor. So, Tuesday, I went to the clinic. (Which, by the way, is a huge argument against Obamacar...

Today was a good day. This morning was spent, primarily, on laundry and organization. With so much rain and being busy outside of the house the last few days, laundry piled up in various stages of completeness. We also acquired some other furniture to help with the organization and these were being set into place and utilized. Which brings me back to Saturday. Saturday morning was pretty uneventful until just about after breakfast. I was still working on my lesson for Sunday, but we had some more shopping to do and we were heading out the door as Sister Reina and Amanda came in. Amanda had been asking when she could come play with Erin in the playground since we got here. We kept telling Reina to call us to find out if we were here and then send over Amanda. That hadn't happened yet. So, she brought Amanda over and asked if she could play with Erin and Nathan. We were okay with that, but that meant she'd have to go shopping with us first. It is a very interesting experien...

Today was another good day. First, I made scrambled eggs to go with the leftover chuletas from a few days ago. They were very good according to the family. Breakfast is the only meal I've cooked since we've been here, which I haven't minded at all. Some of you know the way I cook, using so many different ingredients and adding things that I happen to think of at the last minute - can't do that here. Lori is adapting quite well to the very different cooking circumstances of La Palma. After breakfast we participated in the "Children's Program" event. The children in the program came with at least parts of their family. Jesus and Jose both spoke to them as a group. As not all of the participants in the program attend services, this was a chance at a captive audience. They also sang songs that I believe that consider to be children worship songs (think Blue Skies and Rainbows ). Then when their number was called (each child is given a number when they ente...

Today was a good day. And, yes, I do like alliteration. Today I couldn't believe it, but when I opened my eyes and checked my watch it was late. I had actually slept until almost 7:30! I haven't slept that late in many weeks. It felt good, but for some reason I felt guilty. We had a big day planned today. We were going to go to the Fernando Llort museum here in La Palma. This is the only picture we have from there: Notice the sign just above Erin's head. Which explains why we have no more pictures of the museum. We did some more touristy things after the museum. The building Fernando Llort once worked out of has expanded quite a bit. We visited the store where there are muchas cosas to ooh and ahh over. Then we got to go behind the scenes and see it from rough hewn log: to finished product: It was really pretty neat. This actually is part of Nathan's schooling as we are trying to find entertaining and interesting adventures that are also educational. If yo...

Today was a good day. We woke early and got around. Well, we being Lori and me. Erin got up a little late, but I had to go get Nate out of bed at 8:56. No wonder I was able to get a lot of typing done this morning. We went shopping this morning in absolutely beautiful weather. This week is some sort of holy week and as such, vacation for schools and most people. Many booths were set up in the central park with many beautiful craft items. We perused the booths, but we were not out for that kind of shopping. We got some things we needed for the house and some groceries.  Then we went to the ATM which was not working because of the high traffic of vacationers. Oh well. We got the contract signed for our Claro "Triple Play" (phone/cable/internet). Costs less than we expected by a few bucks per month, but that is offset by the length of the contract - we will have to buy out the contract when we leave with an early cancellation fee. We got to worship with the family tonigh...

Today was fun and interesting. We were waiting for the cable guy (internet/phone/TV) who was to be here between 9 & 10. However, he never came. While we were waiting, though, Sister Reina and Amanda came to the church grounds to collect banana leaves. That was a little adventure by itself. Go look at Lori's Facebook photo album titled " August 2010 " for some neat pics, and be sure to read the captions. I'm sure many of you have seen the beautiful pictures of the mountains and scenery Lori and Erin have been posting. We do have an incredible view out some of our windows. Lest you think we live in a resort, I felt I should post some pictures from views from my bedroom. This first picture to the right is a view towards the street out the window just over our bed. Note the lovely shade of brick and mortar accented by the elegant razor wire. This particular razor wire can also be seen around most of the church property. We happen to love this razor wire as it help...

Whoa, now. This has nothing to do with race. Tonight we watched a movie with Jose y Norma, Marlon (Norma's brother) and Teresa. We watched The Princess Bride - in Spanish. Our family has watched that movie so many times we can quote it. So, we thought what better movie to show while having friends over? We can watch it in Spanish and try to pick up some language, and they can enjoy a hilarious and oft quoted movie. We laughed at all the right parts, but we also laughed at some of the other parts we normally hadn't laughed at. For instance, Inigo and Fezzik are talking about needing someone to plan their raid on the castle. Of course they think of the man in black. Not funny in English, but hilarious when you watch it and find it translated as the Black Horseman (Caballero Negro) in the Spanish voice-over. "No more rhyming and I mean it." "Anybody want a peanut?" Doesn't rhyme in Spanish. Too funny. Today was a good day. We woke this morning and got a...