Christmas!!!!

Wow, it has been a really long time since I have posted last...that is why I am doing it right now.

As most of you know...Christmas is just around the corner. And I am super ready for it because I will be able to visit PA!!!! I am so stoked to see my friends and family and just have a good time. It has been quite a while since I have been there and seen people. But all that will change in a few days, 2 to be exact. It will be a special time for me, it will be good for me to see people and just get away from things here and chill. Although I am not sure that I am ready for the cold weather as I am pretty used to the warm stuff every day of the week.

I would ask you all to please pray for me and my family as we have this time of break. It is something that we all need and have been waiting for. I have been waiting for this for so long. It is a break that I really need and have been longing for. I hope that it is a good time for me and that I will be able to see many of my friends and just...have an awesome time.

Thanks for reading!!!

Pretty much every Thursday

Well I am blogging again to inform you all that every Thursday I help our team leader out with his class that he has. A few kids come and play soccer for a little while then we read a part of scripture and talk about it. Most weeks the kids pay attention, sometimes not. But they are good kids and I think that they are understanding what we are reading.
I ask that you all pray for these kids that God would open their hearts so that they would receive Him.

Please pray for them...

Look back and catch up

So instead of having something new to say, I decided to remind you all that there are quite a few posts here. And I am pretty sure that you all did not read every one. People get busy and things happen which is ok so do not worry about it. So now I give you the chance to catch up and read the posts that you did not get to read yet. There are some pretty good ones that you totally should not miss.

So please go back through the list and read the ones that you did not read.
And keep up the prayer...

Utter darkness

We never realize how dark things are in other countries until we live there. I never would have thought about the darkness here in Mexico or worried about it, if I did not live here. The darkness here is so thick and suffocating.

God showed me something when my grandparents were here in August. We took them downtown and showed a few churches there. As we were walking around in one that I had never been in before, I saw it. Near the front of the one wing there is a casket that is see through, and inside is the body of a monk. They say he was the first monk here in Puebla and started the first church and made some roads. They also dug him up like fifty years after he died and they found that his skin was still soft and still there. Supposedly he did not decompose like normal bodies do. So they have him up front in the church and you can come up and put money in the little slot to supposedly get healed from something. As I was looking at it I saw this little lady come up with a few pesos in her hand and slowly make her way across the casket to the place where she could put her money in. All the while she was rubbing her stomach, for healing I guess. Think about it...This little old lady, that could barely walk without her cane, comes to this dead body and puts some money in the slot; that might of been all the money she had for food at the time, just because she thought she would be healed. This was a wake up call for me, and it also made me sad. To think that this poor old lady would spend her money on some dead guy just cause she was told he could heal her.

Mexico needs Christ, they need to hear of His love and life. For it is through Him that people can be saved and healed.
Please keep Mexico in your prayers for there is a lot of darkness here.

Please pray...

The sound of Music

Do any of you listen to music? Well I do, all the time.

Music is soothing and can be a booster. Now I know people can get obsessed to listening to music too. Sometimes I get a little too excited about it, and sometimes I get annoyed with it because some days I have a song in my head that I can not get out, and that is not cool. But sometimes I get a really sweet song in my head that I love, so that's not as bad. Music is so fun to listen to and to create. Some of you know that I play guitar and some don't. Well I love to play it and make music. And I hope that someday I can make a band and play guitar all the time.

Music is something you can listen to in every mood. No matter how you feel there is always some song you can listen too. Even when our feeling like nothing you can listen to something to make you feel like something.
Without music this world would be very quiet. The streets would be quieter, and the car would be also. That would not be cool because I need to hear something almost all the time. Maybe you think that is sad but I don't!! Especially when I'm in my room I always have music playing as loud as possible, so much fun. Whatever I am doing I always have something playing, yep yep. And of course I play as much guitar as possible which is super fun and exciting and amazing.

So if any of you do not like to listen to music, I think that you should. Because when you are stressed out you can sit listen to music and feel better, try it.

The thought of snow

Hello everybody!!! Wow I am doing a lot of blogging here, that's so not normal. I would like to inform you all that things for me here are a lot better. I guess things are just slowly falling into place. I am not wishing I was not here anymore, its more like I want to see friends and family. Not like it used to be where I hated it here and wanted to go home. One thing I have realized is that I am not ready to go home. All this time I was telling God that I was ready and wanted to go home, but I'm not. I am not ready to go home until God takes me there. He still has things here for me to do and learn and until then, here I am.

It looks like we will be coming home for Christmas this year. We do not have the tickets yet because my dad is still looking, but we are coming. I am so happy to come see friends and family, it will be amazing. I really hope that there is snow too because I have not seen snow for a while. I did not realize how much I loved snow until I did not see it for a long time. Now I know I need to see it every winter. I love it so much and can not wait to play in it, if there is snow this year. I hope that there is because it makes the season so much better!

Please continue to play for my grandmother as things are good and the surgery is over but there is more coming that will be difficult. Pray that she will find her strength in The Lord and that my grandfather will see her faith and want to have it for himself. So pray please...

And if you have not checked out the videos I have down below, you should. especially the one on the top.

PCS

For those of you who do not know where I went to school last year, I will tell you. Last year I went to a Christian school here in Puebla called Puebla Christian School. The school is located about 20 minuets from our house and is in a very small building. But even though they have a small building, they do very well with it and use every space of it the best they can. They do not have that many students, around like 60. I think last year they had the most kids they ever had which was 70. But even though they are not filled with students they are filled with Christ. I learned a lot from their chapels every Wednesday and from the Bible classes they have. I had a pretty cool teacher for Bible who made it fun and interesting. I learned a lot about the names of God and how we can apply them to our lives.

I made a lot of friends there that I am sure I will have for a long time. The people there are pretty cool and friendly. When we first got here I did not know any Spanish at all. So in school they have Spanish classes because we all live in Mexico. I learned a lot of Spanish there from their secretary who took time out of her day to help me because I was a beginner. I am grateful for what i learned there, I would not know as much Spanish as I do today if it were not for PCS.

They are also planning on moving into a new building next year if things go according to plan. So please pray for that, to see if it is God's will.


I also added a new video on my blog. If you go down towards the bottom you will see it. Its called Some will seek forgiveness others escape. You need to check it out along with the other videos I have below. The first time I saw this video I cried, its emotional. Clips from The Passion of the Christ and The song from Underoath in the background. Check it.

Keep up the prayer.

When everything falls

Have you ever had plans, or thought something would happen and then it never happened? I have many situations like this, and I'm sure that many of you had had this happen before too. We get all excited about something only to find out that it won't happen. Then we feel all sad because we did not get to do whatever we wanted to do. Most of the time we plan a little too far ahead and even get caught up in the thing we wanted to do, then when it does not happen we are super disappointed.

If any of you have ever felt like this, I understand how you feel. Over the years I have had many situations like the ones I'm talking about. And I have also had some recently. Anywho...

School here is still going well. I guess it is slowly getting better as we go along, which is always good. But it could get better. I have to take Algebra 2 this year which is really hard for me, but thank God that Daniel is a beast at math so he helps me a lot. Plus I have to take Chemistry, which makes no sense to me, but oh well I try. I just get so confused with all the rules and conversion things. Anyway...

I ask all of you to keep praying for my grandmother who is doing well and might be going home tomorrow from the the hospital. Also pray for all the missionaries that live here, as life is not easy. Please keep my parents in your prayers too as life is tough, and then they have me. And please Keep me in your prayers over the next few days and weeks as things are not the best right now. But getting better I think....

Prayer

I am posting this to let all of you know that right now, I need prayer. Things have been getting better here, but now they seem to be declining, if anything. Certain things have happened lately and things that have happened a long time ago have just...built up. Now things are not that great, and I do not know when they will get better. It seems like everything is about to break, and somethings already have. Right now I really wish I could just disappear, go somewhere for away from everyone, everything. I need a break. I need time to think, rest, cool off. Time to juts be alone with God and not have to think about anything else.

I ask all of you to keep me in your thoughts and prayers, please. I desperately need it.
I need prayer...

Back to the basics

It has been a while since I have actually told you all about things that are going on here. Lately I have been talking about other things. So now I will tell you all about other things. Different things than I have been talking about.

Puebla is pretty much the same. Not much has changed. Well I have changed a lot. God has shown me a lot living here and a lot of other things have changed. I don't know if you all will recognize me or not, who knows. I also have an update for all of you. My grandmother has cancer on her lung and had surgery today. So I ask all of you to pray for her as she now has one lung. Please pray.

School is going well, I think. I am being "home taught" this year, which is pretty cool. I like it better than the school I went to last year. Let's just say that I did not have a very good experience there, we will leave it at that. But I am happy with being home schooled, because it's cool. Plus just being able to say that you are home schooled is cool, well I think so. Anywho, things have been pretty normal around here. I do school in the morning at like 8:30 or so, and I usually end at like 1:00 or so. That is what I do in the mornings and then I do some chores around the house; then I play guitar, get on the computer, or go play soccer. That is what a normal day consists of, pretty cool I guess. Although sometimes things do not go as planned so I don't get done with school till like 5:00 or so. But that does not happen very much, good thing too. Cause all work and no play would make me a dull boy. And I try not to be, well most of you know that I am not a dull boy.

Lately things have been going a lot better than they ever have here. Most likely because I am doing good spiritually. I have never felt closer to God than I do right now. Of course there are those days when that is not so, but most of the time. God has broken me a lot while I have been here, but each time He has made me stronger. He has always been here for me through everything and has helped me to make it through. I have learned many, many things. One is that I need to rely on Him for everything, I can not make it through the day without Him. I have tried and it does not work, trust me. Especially here I need Him all the time. I feel that one reason that I am here is to get closer to God. In the States life was pretty easy, well you know what I mean. It was easier for me then living here is. That is one reason I have gotten closer to Him, because I need Him more, for I am nothing. I have gotten strength from Him and fell into His loving arms when I could not stand. He always picks me up when I fall and sets my feet back on the right path. I thank God for what He has done for me and for who He is making me into. I pray that someday I would be a man after God's own heart like David was. That is what I am striving for and one day, with the help of my Savior, I hope to achieve it.

Please keep up the prayer for everyone here and for my family, thanks!!

A Call to the Faithful

This is a call to the Faithful,
An outstretched arm to the Faithless...




There are a few words I never thought that I would say, "I'm a missionary." Well actually I am a missionary kid(Mk) but it's kinda the same thing. Even If I would of thought of ever saying them, I would not have wanted too. Over the years I have heard many missionaries speak at different churches, and I was never really that interested. I mean, I would listen and everything, but I never imagined that I would be one someday. But God had other plans.

Do any of you ever think of what Christ said in Matthew 28:19? "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Do these words ever pass through your minds? Usually when people hear these words they think they need to go to the other side of the world to do this. That may be true, but God does not want everyone to go all over the world. He may want some of you to stay where you are. You do not need to go Africa, Japan, or even Mexico to be a light for Christ. You can be a light and an example to those living around you. Be friendly to your neighbors, get a relationship going. Give someone a smile as you pass them by, say good morning to someone that you pass on the way to work even though you're not a morning person. It is a good way to be a light, and make people ask themselves why you are so happy all the time.
God has called some to the uttermost parts of the world, some to different states, and others to stay put. But no matter where you have been called or what you are doing; you can always shine Christ's love to people around you. Stop being so selfish, ask someone how they are doing instead of just worrying about your own problems. Do it for yourself, do it for someone else, do it for God.




This is a call to the Faithful,
An outstretched arm to the Faithless...

The meaning of sacrifice

Sacrifice is not a word that we toss around that often, at least I don't. Why is that? What does it mean? What things come into your mind when you do hear this word?

There are many words we can think of when hearing this word. Some we like, and some we don't. Sacrifice is not exactly at the top of our "To do list". Infact it is ususally at the bottom. Why is that? Why don't we like this idea of sacrifice? What is it about it that puts a sour taste in our mouth? If you think about it, there is no way you can go through life without sacrifice. It is something that has to happen. So might as well try to enjoy it.

As a follower of Jesus Christ it is necessary to make a lot of sacrifices, it just happens. God asks you to do something for Him, you know that it will cost you a lot, but you have to do it anyway. Out of obedience and respect you must obey. It may cost you something big, or something small. It may cause you to move away from home, friends, and family. But the thing you need to remember is, God will be with you. Through the hardship, through the sacrifice, He will always be there for you. Never forget that. I does not matter how much you have to sacrifice for God, it will be worth it. Trust me, I know.
My family and I have had to sacrifice a lot in the last year, starting with leaving everything behind to come to Mexico. Many things have been really hard for us here, and at times horrible for me. But God has not left us, He is right here helping us with every step we take. Guiding us through the darkness and showing us the way. Always there to catch us when we fall. But remember that sometimes we need to fall, but after you do your heavenly Father will pick you up, brush off the dust, and heal the scars.

Sacrifice, do it with joy and God will reward you.

Haste The Day

What do these three words mean to all of you when you see them? What is the first thing you all think of? To me these words are words of motivation. Words of strength, power, and encouragement. To me these words are a message. Take one day at a time, and do not waste what the Lord has given you. Take the day, don't let any opportunity pass you by. Always look for ways to do things for God. Don't waste your day thinking about yourself, or worrying about stupid things that do not really matter.

No, I am not saying that I am perfect at this, this is something I really need to work on. But I am challenging you all to Haste The Day. Don't worry about tomorrow or yesterday, only one day at a time. I have realized how important it is to do this. It is so easy to get caught up in all your problems that you can't think about anything else. Get over it. If you keep worrying about all these things then you will miss things in life. And missing out on things is not cool. I have experienced this many times. I was so caught up with my problems and was only thinking about myself that I missed stuff. Seriously, problems will not last forever. You need to look past the darkness and find the light in the situation. This is something I totally need to work on a lot more. Maybe one day I will get it, but for now I will have to struggle with it.

So keep in mind one thing, you are nothing. You can not do anything on your own, you can not get through one day with your own strength. Because you do not have any, it all comes from God. So before you do anything, give the day to The Lord. Give it all to Him and tell Him that you need Him to get through the day. Things will go a lot better, trust me. And keep in mind not to let any opportunity pass you by.

Seize The Moment, Haste The Day.

Short and Sweet

I wanted to do this quick post to let everyone know that I am going on vacation tomorrow with my family. Which means, that I will not be able to post until I get back. But you can all still comment and read up on the posts that you have missed, that is fine with me.
I am so pumped to go because I will be able to see my sisters and my brother in law, for it has been a while. I have waited for this for a long time. I totally need this break. Please pray that we all have a good time together and we can all rest.

*Chow

English Camps

Hola everyone. I hope that every one's summer was good and that they could rest up for the beginning of school or whatever. It has been a few weeks since I posted, because the past post was from my dad, I don't think that it counts. So I am posting now.

Not too much has been going on over this week, nothing too big. A team from my church came down last weekend to teach English camps in the development. A lot of the missionaries here have been helping with that and so have I. I am not really a "teacher" but more of a "helper" or you could also call me, "the white board holder". I don't really hate the English camps, but I do not really like them very much. Just kinda boring and old. If you all know what I mean, probably not but oh well. Although I did get over the fact that I had to help and try to have fun, even though it was kinda hard.

Things have been average, I have been alright, and on a scale from 1-10; I would say life right now is a 6. But is it a lot better than it was a few weeks ago, a lot. I am so glad that my parents made me go to that village to help with the medical caravan; it was one of the best things, if not the best thing, I did so far this summer. I met so many people and met so many more really cool people. I made some really close friends that I can keep in touch with and still stay close. I was helped so much while I was there too. God also taught me something really cool there: if you take your thoughts of yourself and your problems, and put all your energy and thoughts on others and their problems; you will be helped. I learned this very important lesson while I was there, and I do not think I will easily forget it. God blessed me so much there with help, lessons, and friends that I will never forget. I will probably not do another blog for a while because I am going on vacation next week with my family. I can not wait, it is going to be so awesome. I will be able to see my sisters and my brother in law too. I have not seen them since Christmas so it is going to be intense. Please keep up the prayer for everyone serving here and for me, I desperately need it. Also pray for my sister, because she had surgery today on her finger. I think it was last week she was at work and cut her finger really bad in a glass. Please keep her in your prayers as well as my family and everyone here.

I also want to say thank you to my youth group for what they sent down for me, it means a lot.

Where is Tyler?

I am sure allot of you are asking this question. I am going to provide you with some answers, but first allow me to identify myself. I am a 'guest poster' and actually Tyler's dad. Due to the fact that he has no www access right now and barely any phone reception either, I have decided to post a little message to bridge the gap till his return, this weekend. Ok, fist of all we don't know exactly where he is, other than he is about 3.5 hours north of us ( still in the state of Puebla ) and he is serving with a ministry called Time for Christ . We 'required' him to go for the first week and prayed that he would survive.... God surprised us and he actually thrived, so much so, that he asked if he could stay the second week. Thus he is still there. He even decided to sacrifice his soccer training and possible participation in another tournament coming up in about a month. Speaking of tournaments, many of you know that his team won their age bracket in Acapulco recently. Well, we now have pictures AND a video that I put together of some highlights. I will include the links here and expect that once Tyler gets back and has opportunity to work on this page that he will embed the video maybe even replacing one of the scream-o ones............... well, maybe not. Thanks for reading and for commenting as well !!
Link 1 to pictures: http://lifebytheword.com/332224.ihtml ( about 30 pictures)
Link 2 to pictures: http://lifebytheword.com/332292.ihtml ( about 70 pictures)
Link to 10 minute video: http://video.yahoo.com/watch/3181547/9009517

enjoy!

Hey Yall

What's going on everyone? How are you all doing? Is everyone's summer going well? Well I hope that y'all are good and having fun this summer. Summer is like the coolest thing ever. I love it so much, do you? One of the reasons I love summer so much is because you don't have school, so you don't have to get up early. Another thing is because you have so much more time to hang with friends and just do sweet stuff. The sad thing is that since I am going to be homeschooled this year my mom thought that I should start school a little early. So Istarted on Monday, bummer I know. It's not that bad, but not that great. You all know what I mean, school is school.

Well anyway, things have been pretty good lately. Nothing much has happened, I guess. Soccer continues on, but training is not nearly as hard as it was before the tournament. There is another tournament here in Puebla that we are going to start training for; although I don't really know when it is, I can't wait to play in another one.

Another great thing is that we got tons of pictures from the tournament and hopefully soon they will be on the blog. There are some pretty sweet pics that I think you all will enjoy. I also want to remind you all to keep up the prayer, and say thanks for all the prayer you do. Without it we would not survive here, or anywhere.

I have also made some sweet changes to my blog that you should take notice of, enjoy.

Post-Acapulco

I am very happy to inform all of you who are reading this that we are the champions of division 92. We had about 30 players and divided into 2 teams. One team played in the division 91 and the other was in the division 92. The age of all the guys on my team is between 13-16. The 16 year old guys played for the 93 team and all the other younger guys played for the 92 team. But the cool thing is that the younger guys can play with the older team too. The 92 team won the two first two games and tied the second game 0-0. The 92 team qualified for the quarterfinals and so did the 91 team even though they lost the first two games and won the third. I played mostly for the 92 team but also played for the 91 team. We won the quarterfinal game in penalty kicks, but sadly the 91 team was eliminated in their game and that was the end for them. Even though the 91 team was done playing they were still in it because we are all one team. There are many players and many ages but we are all one team. So they could still cheer us on even though they could not play themselves. In the semifinal game we tied 0-0 and won in penalty kicks again. The next day we played the final game at 9 in the morning. I was very excited to play in this game and be a part of this team. We did not start the game as well as others but we did play very well. The field was wet and muddy, but a lot better than the day before. We played a team from Costa Rica who was a good team, but not good enough. They scored two goals in the first 15 minuets but by the half we were tied 2-2; and I assisted the second goal. I had a shot in the second half that hit the crossbar and played well but we tied 2-2. So we went to penalty kicks again. We won them and everyone was screaming and hollering. We are the champions!!!

I want to thank all of you who prayed for me and my family and for the team as well. It was an amazing time and I hope that maybe I can go back next year. I will get some pictures up in the next few days of soccer and other random stuff. Keep up the prayer.

Pre-Acapulco

Today is the day that we set of for Acapulco. We leave tonight at 11:30 and won't get there till the morning. I am so excited to get there and start playing games. We have worked and trained very hard for this and we hope all that will pay off. We have games Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. And depending on how we do with those games we may play more.

I ask all of you to pray for my team and all the teams that will be competing. Pray for protection for all the guys playing and that no one gets seriously injured. And pray that my family and I can be witnesses to everyone there.

The Blinding Light

There is a light that no man can stand up too. No man can hide from. And one day every man, no matter how great, will fall face down on the ground and confess, he is nothing...That light is our LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST. The light that blinded Paul, and the light that struck fear and awe in people's hearts when they saw it. Now I do not think that many of us have seen this but there are different examples in the Bible of people seeing it. And I don't think many people realize how powerful it is. But a day is coming when turning your back, won't be an option. So for all of you who don't really take God or spiritual things seriously, just remember, "Nothing stands between a man and his maker"(ABR)


Over the last few weeks I have realized how amazing and powerful this light is. I have learned to depend on this light with everything I am, to be able to make it through the darkness. Without it there is no way I could keep pressing on, for I am nothing.


I have seen glimpses of this light over the last few weeks, more than once. The last few weeks have been very hard and dark. But God helped me get through them and now I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I know right now my life is hard, and my spiritual life is not where I want it; but I also know that God is helping me every step of the way and there is light in the darkness. Sometimes when we are going through struggle and hurt it is hard to see the light, and it is hard to find hope. But just take time to talk to God, pour out your heart to God and tell Him everything that is going on. He already knows what your going through but He wants you to pour out your heart to Him. He wants you to come to Him broken and hurt, because He will heal you. Just put all your trust in Him and He will guide you and make your paths straight. When I lay on my bed and just pour out my heart to Him, I feel so comforted. He hears me through all the tears and hurt; and I know that He will never leave me or forsake me. Although I still miss my home in Pennsylvania and all my friends and living here is very hard for me; I know that God wants me here. He has a special plan for me and wants to bless me. I just need to give it all to Him and follow Him no matter how hard things get. I need God because I am nothing without Him. I still am not quite sure why I'm here but I trust God because He knows what is best for me.

So the next time your going through struggle and you can't seem to see through all the hurt and darkness; turn to God and He will show you the light at the end of the tunnel.

Don't ever give up, run to your Savior and He will give you strength.
Keep up the prayer and never give up hope. Look to Jesus Christ, The Blinding Light...

Once again I take no credit for this title, it is the title of a song.

Through Struggle

When I first heard about the fact that we were going to move to Mexico and live there for a number of years, I thought my life was over. I could not understand why we were going to do this; I was angry at my parents, at GOD, and at the world. Everything that I had known, everyone I knew, everything was going to change. I did not see how this could be a good thing, all I saw and felt was hurt, pain, and anger. My attitude was not very good at all over the months before we left. I was blinded by the pain and sorrow that I could not see anything good. It would make me feel worse every time someone from church or somewhere told how this was a great opportunity and that God had big plans for me. I hated when people told me that. When I went places I would act like everything was just great and that I was super excited to leave. I guess most people thought I was happy to go. But deep inside were the feelings that I kept hidden from the world, and only a very few good friends knew how I really felt. But there were a few times when my true feelings would come forth. Mostly these times happened when I was alone in my room or writing music. I find that music helps me to pour out my feelings and is a good way to express myself.

Please keep me in your prayers, I desperately need it. Even though we have been here for about 10 months I still have feelings of hate, pain, and sorrow. I know God has a plan for me and knows what is best, but I tend to forget that a lot. I don't see the big picture most of the time, but I do tend to see the pain and suffering. Please pray that God would open my eyes to see the big picture and not just the little things.

I have come a long way since we left in August and have changed a lot also. I feel in some ways that I am a completely different person; hopefully you all will remember me when I visit.
Just so all of you know, I did not come up with the title all by myself. I stole it from a song title, well, borrowed it. You can look up the song if you want to but I do not think most of will like it because it's pretty hard stuff. But I love that song and I thought the title was good for a blog title. There is one line in the song that I love which says, "Only THROUGH STRUGGLE have I found rest." To me this means that even through all the struggle and pain, there will be rest in the end. I feel that I am still going through the struggle, but eventually I know things will get better and rest will be possible. But for know, I must get through the storms and through this struggle. GOD help me get through this pain and suffering, GOD help me because I can not do it on my own...I am nothing on my own. Oh that this storm would pass quickly and I would make it out of the darkness into the light. Please, I implore you all to pray that GOD would give me strength and I would see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Remember to tell all your friends about my blog.
Also pray for my parents and all the missionaries here, GOD is working.

Dots, and All The Colors of The Rainbow

Does anyone else like dots? I think they are the coolest things ever. I love them so much and think that everyone should love them too. And that is why I changed my blog to a whole new look. It's so sweet.

What do you all think? Well anyway, soccer is going really good. I think the team is really starting to play like a unit and we will do very well in Acapulco. Please pray that the tournament goes well and that no one gets hurt. Things at the canchas are still good although I do not get to play there as much. I still try to go when I can to see the guys and just hang with them. I do love to play there though because playing there helps with speed and ball handling. Has anyone been keeping up with the soccer games? You can watch country against country struggle for victory in the best sport ever, which is so sweet to watch.
Wow, Mexico has some amazing food to offer. There are so many great things to eat and drink. You all need to come visit sometime and I will take to the best places to eat. I do not really know how to describe the food, it's just so amazing. But, even with sweet food here and all the tacos I could want, I do really want some Taco Bell. Taco Bell is so amazing and I really wish they had it here. But they do not, so I will have to wait till I come and visit.
Speaking of coming back up to visit, It looks like I will not be able to come visit this summer. But I think I will be able to come up for Christmas. Yes, that is a long way away, I have thought of that. But that seems like when it will happen. I long to see you all so much and pray that the day will be sooner. I miss you all so much!!! You have no idea, all the nights I have cried myself to sleep wishing I could come home for a visit. But I know that God knows when the best time will be and I trust Him because He knows what is best for me and this life He has given me.

A few prayer requests for you all to keep in your prayers are: For all the missionaries serving here. That they would not give up no matter how hard it gets. For all the people we have met and those we have yet to meet. That we could be an example to them and that they would see Christ in us. Pray fro my parents as they are trying to learn the language and put up with me at the same time. Also, please pray for me to not give up but to keep going no matter what happens. There are many times when i just felt like giving up; and thought it would be better to just die than have to keep going on. I need strength, I need to trust God, and I need to have faith that God is in control.

It's Raining Rain

It has rained the last few days very, very hard. I got caught in the rain again on my way back from training and when I got home, I was totally soaked. But it was OK because I like the rain. It is so fun to just go out in the rain and jump in puddles or whatever you want to do.

Some of you might know and some might not know that Thursday was my Father's birthday. We had some people come over at night and had some time to talk and eat cake. It was cool because some of my friends came over. So we went out to the nearby cancha and played some futbol for a while. You can pray for them, their names are Diego and Oscar. Pray that Daniel and I would be able to be good witnesses to them and lead them to Christ. Also pray for them because their parents are divorced.

Did anyone watch the Mexico and Argentina game? I did. It was a very good game, and so exciting. I got to see my favorite player score a sweet goal, Go Messi!!! But sadly, Mexico lost the game 4-1. They do play good, but sometimes not good enough. Things with soccer are still sweet, and time is ticking down to when we go to Acapulco. I can not wait to go and play! Only three more weeks I think till we set off.

Keep up the prayer.
I also wanted to thank the people who comment on my blog, I really appreciate it when you do. Although it would not hurt for people to comment some more, there are a few people who comment a lot and others who do every month or so. I ask that people would do that more because it makes me feel good, and helps me know that you are there reading what I say. Please comment on my blogs!

Go Dance In The Rain

Hey everyone!!! Wow I am doing another blog, I am getting really good at this. Just in case you all did not know, rainy season has started. That means that it rains pretty much everyday. Today would be a good example because as I would walking back from training to get a bus, it started to pour. But it is was OK because I did not get completely wet and it was kinda fun, like an adventure.

So when does everyone get out of school? I finished last Friday, I am so happy. It was a very interesting year. I enjoyed it and did not enjoy it. The school I went to was different. It is called Puebla Christian School and was in English, but pretty much everyone there knows English and Spanish; except me. But I am learning, little by little. Someday I will be able to speak Spanish like no ones business, but until then I will just try my best. OK well I will talk to you all later and I hope that you are all well over there in The States. I must go because right now I am watching a soccer game between Argentina and Mexico.

A Long Time Ago

A long time ago I posted a blog, and I have not done one since then. But I am changing that right now. But I feel that i need to say sorry to all of you for not blogging in a while. I was thinking about it and if I do not blog then how will any of you know what is going on or how I am. Please forgive me, I will try to blog more often.

Anyway, it has been an interesting few weeks since I last blogged and there is a lot to say. So I will try to say everything but I might leave some things out that are not as important. I think the first thing i want to say is that I rededicated my life to Christ about 2 weeks ago. That is the most important thing to say, totally. So i ask all of you to pray for me to continue to trust in God and to grow closer to Him. Because without Him I would not be able to make it down here and would just give up. I would have given up a long time ago from all the pain, hurt, and stress. But thank God that He is always here for me and that I can trust in Him to give me strength and energy to keep going. With Him all things are possible.

The next thing that I am going to talk about is soccer. Most of you know that i think soccer is the best sport in the world and that everyone should play this sport. But sadly the country I was born in does not take soccer as seriously as every other country. Normally I would have practice like 3-4 times a week. But now I have practice pretty much every day of the week. And at least 2 of those days we all go to this mountain and run for about an hour. We do a lot of physical stuff at practice too. I love the training that we do because if you ever watch soccer on TV and they show some clips of big club teams training, most of the things they do are what we do. Our head trainer Freddi is so sweet. Because he knows what he is doing with all the stuff and is an amazing player too. But he also makes training fun because he makes jokes and is just fun to be around. Training is very intense right now because we are training for a tournament in Acapulco. The tournament is in July and is for a week. I hear that is is very big because teams from other countries are coming down to play too.
Also, because a few weeks ago we won the championship in our league, we are going to play in the top division. I am so sicked to go and play, it sounds so awesome.

Not much else has been going on, I already mentioned the main things.
I would also like to remind you all to keep up the prayer and the support. We all need the prayer and the support very much. thank you all for reading this and for even caring to read it. I will try to do this more often. Peace out y'all.

Summer come quick

I am happy to say that summer is right around the corner and that school will end soon. It has been a very long year for me. Making a big move in August and having all the changes here. Different people, language, and place. I have gotten used to it here, well, more than when I first came. But there are still things that I need to get used to and adjust to. It is not easy to just get up and move from where you lived for your whole life to another country. I lived in Pennsylvania for 14 almost 15 years and had many friends there and had grown comfortable to my environment. I was so used to my life their that when I heard I was moving to Mexico I was infuriated. I thought to myself, "My life is over. " But really, it had just begun.

Spring Break

I was so happy when I found out that we were off this week. I so needed a break from school that I was not sure I could make it through another week. But with this week off I could get some rest and a break from my school work. It felt so good to sleep in and do nothing concerning school the whole day, so good. It was also really cool because one of my friends from my old soccer team came down and stayed with us for about a week. We played soccer, had amazing food, and just hung out. I'm glad that he could come down because it was good to see someone from the States. We took him to all the sweet places to eat and showed him some real Mexican food. I think he liked being here but I am not sure. No, he liked it. He really liked when Daniel and I took him to the cancha and showed him some awesome futbol.

Things with my soccer team continue to be good. We have a very strong team and I am very glad that Daniel and I joined. It was be a great learning experience for us. The team has a really good trainer who is fun to be around. Even though playing at the cancha is a lot of fun and is good. It is better to be with a team to learn to play as a team. Although at the cancha you learn more about touch and skill with the ball. That is why Daniel and I do both. When we don't have a practice we go play at the cancha.

Please continue to pray for our family and for all the missionaries here. We need the prayer and support from all of you. Until I write again, goodbye.

Camp 2008

Last week I had the privilege of going with my school to a camp near where we live. It was so amazing. But not only was our school there, there was also a few other christian schools there too. It was so fun to go and I learned a lot from the speaker. The theme of the whole week was being rooted in Christ. I was about five days at this camp that was near this big lake, it was not gorgeous but fairly pretty. I enjoyed meeting new people and totally having fun with the people I already knew. We played football, soccer, and just talked about stupid things. At first I was not sure that I wanted to go, but by the end of the first day I knew that this sweet. It's funny how God will take something that you think will be horrible and He makes it so fun.



There was also a talent show thing that they had there which was sweet. People could go to the front of the chapel and do whatever talent they had. Of course they had to tell one of the leaders what they were going to do, but it was a lot of fun. There was some interesting things that people did. Some were like cool and some were totally funny. So when i heard that there was a talent show i thought that it would be fun to do something. So I talked to one of my friends who plays drums, and told him about it. So then we decided to do a little instrumental thing with his drums and my guitar. It was actually pretty good I think, even thought we did not have that much time to practice.

please continue to pray for my family and I, we need all the prayer we can get. And spring break is just around the corner so that should be totally awesome because one of my friends from my old soccer team is coming down.

BUAP

Most of you are most likely wondering what "BUAP" means. Well, I will explain it to you. BUAP is the name of one of the futbol organizations here. It is like a soccer club in the states, but a lot cheaper. It is a very good orginization though, they have trained boys who are now professionals. We heard about this from one of our neighbors. So we talked to my friend Daniel and his family and decided that we would go to one of the practices and check it out. So we did, and we liked it a lot. We have since joined the club and are excited to see what we can learn. It is interesting that you do not have to try out to be on the team. Everyone who pays to be on the team can play. I think that is because everyone who is on the team is very serious about soccer, so anyone who is not that serious will not come.

I recently got a cold, which is kinda funny because you would not think that I could get a cold here. Because it is hot, maybe instead I should get a hot. But wait, there is no such thing as a hot, but I think that there should be such a thing as a hot. Well anyway, I am feeling better now and am almost to normal; as close to normal as I can get.

I know that I say this all the time, but I would like you all to comtinue to pray. For me, my family, and all the missionaries here. I say this every time I do a blog, but that is because there is a good reason for it. Prayer is the thing that gets us by. Without prayer and talking to our Heavenly Father, we can do nothing. We are nothing without God, so why would we not talk to Him and pray for others. It is very important that we pray, for others and ourselves. We need to ask God to help us everyday to make it through, because we can not do it on our own. So please continue to pray, and thank you for your support.

Beautiful

As usually I find myself thinking back to where I used to live. I go to school, play soccer, and do homework. But not a day goes by without me thinking of PA. I can usually think of it without having tears rolling down my face. But every once in a while, I can not help but cry. I go to my room after school, and try to do my school, but my mind always wonders. Back to the days that I used to know. I am continuing to adjust to living here, but I am not sure if I will ever truly get used to it. Only with God will I be able to. I just need to give it all to Him.

Today, my family, Daniel, and I, went on a little trip. We went really close to two of the volcanoes that are here. It was a great view, and we got some pretty awesome pictures. I am amazed at how amazing they look. The one, called Popo, is active. So people can not go to the top anymore. But you can still get pretty close, and see how beautiful it is. I was glad that we went, although I was not happy that I forgot a coat. The wind was extremely cold up there, cause we were so high up. I think that we were about 12, ooo feet, but I am not sure. When we were eating lunch, i wrapped a huge, white blanket around me. So Daniel called me, "Chief white blanket." I was honored to have that name. Ha ha.

Please continue to pray, we all need it. And lately I have been feeling very, very homesick.

Um...

I hear that the weather up in the States is quite, chilly. Is this true? Well, i can honestly say that the cold weather is something that I do not miss at all. It is so nice here. Sunny everyday, with some wind occasionally. Although, Christmas was not exactly the same because it was very warm here. But I got over it, and had a wonderful holiday season.

Well anyway, i would like to talk to you all a little bit about, my life. Lately, i have been feeling really homesick, and miss the people that I know back home. I am still getting used to living here, i might never get used to it. But you know what they say, "Never say never."

God has been teaching me allot. Mostly to trust in him only, and no one else. He has been showing me that His plan for my life, is way better than anything that i could ever imagine. He wants to bless me, and use me for so many things. I just need to trust Him that He knows what He is doing. Because His plan for us, is the best thing we could ever ask for, we just need to give our life to him. In total submission, trust Him fro everything. I have found out that I can not make ti through one day, without Him. I need to give every day to Him, because with Him, i can do all things.

Please keep up the prayer, and the support.

Wow...that was sweet.

It is amazing the things that one can do with a soccer ball, and two feet. All you need is your legs, feet, chest, knees, and a soccer ball. The possibilities are absolutely endless. I have seen some pretty amazing things here, and i am very impressed. I thought that Americans were good(which some are) but they are nothing compared to Mexicans.
In the States, people play soccer as a sport, for fun, or just cause, they think they will look cool if they do. But here, Mexicans play soccer, cause it is life. They play for not only fun, but because that is just what they do. They live, breathe, and eat soccer. Which is called futbol here.

I think that the States should get more into soccer, and not only worry about football, or baseball. Although, that is only my opinion, but it is a very good at that. Anyway.

I have been doing well, i guess. Not as good as I could be, but anyway. I suppose I well get better. School has been going on, and I have been trying to keep up. It has been allot of work, and I am very tired, waiting for the next break. Ha ha.

Please keep up the prayer, especially for me. I am still getting used to living here, and being away from all my friends is not fun. I also ask that when you read this blog, that you would please leave me a comment. It would be very nice if you did, and I would appreciate it very much. Please keep my in your mind, and in your prayers.