Land purchase

We bought land!  After waiting six months, the owner's stepdad finally agreed to sell us a strip of his land to give us access for our car to get to the quarter-acre piece of land we wanted to buy.  Otherwise the land was completely landlocked from the road, as is most of the land in this area. 

The property was previously a cornfield,
so it is full of ridges.

Michael made a lot of calculations.
Here he is by our neighbor's chicken coop.

This is a view from the land down to
the road, where our car is parked.

Dorado

We are pleased to announce the arrival of the newest member of our family:  a dog!  A fellow missionary who is leaving Guatemala this summer asked us if we wanted to keep her six-year-old dog.  We said YES!

We call him Dorado, which means "Golden."  He is very sweet and doesn't bark much.  It is good to have a guard dog around the house.

Visit from Puerto Ricans

We were blessed to have a visit a couple of weeks ago from 4 Puerto Rican men and one Guatemalan man.  We went to church with one of the men, Luis (on the right in the back), at Iglesia Cristiana Carismática de Caguas when we lived in Puerto Rico.  They came to Guatemala City for a conference of the Full Gospel Business Men's fellowship, and one of their fellow participants, a Guatemalan named Pedro, drove them 3 hours in his car to Chichicastenango to come visit us.  It was a nice visit, and we appreciate their effort!  Thank you!

Intermissions Conference

Two weeks ago we went to Panajachel for our third Intermissions Conference.  Seeing all the "gringos" in the photo below might not seem unusual to most of you, but here in Guatemala it is amazing.

This was the 77th year that the English-speaking missionaries in Guatemala have gotten together for an annual conference, lasting from Friday afternoon until Sunday afternoon.  Our family had a good time attending various classes, eating, swimming, and chatting with other missionaries.

Measuring land

We are still in the process of looking for land to buy, and we are hoping to purchase a property that we have mentioned looking at before.  We went out to measure the land with a really long tape measure, and then we went to the owner's house to "platicar," or chat, about the price.

Measuring from the rock in one corner
to the rock in the other corner.

Sebastián, the owner and our car mechanic,
showing Michael the edge of the property.

Pine needles

In Chichicastenango, whenever there is a celebration or important church service, they spread pine needles on the floor.  This is our church, with a visiting worship band.

Cemetery

This is our local cemetery in Chichicastenango.  The graves are houses that are brightly painted to honor the spirits of dead ancestors that some of the people believe still reside there.