Hello! It has been a while since I have posted.

Our PACES have arrived! YAE! Athough I didn´t get any of my English PACES. So I am still trying to find out if maybe they got put with a different grade. If not we still have plenty to stay busy with and can send in an order quickly for my classes English PACES.

One of my students, Alejandro, (who has turned into one of my best kids!) was helping me to pass out the PACES to the students as I assigned them. He was handing the child the new PACE and saying "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Birthday". He came to me with a big smile on his face and said Miss this is sooo much fun! He was laughing and reallying enjoying this moment of "giving". It was precious!

I have a another student I would like to ask you to pray for. His name is Moises. I am really struggling with him. When you first meet him you would think what a cute kid, he has the biggest sweetest smile. And even as he says bad words or puts up his middle finger at a student, he does it with his smile! He doesn´t care when I give him demerits, or when I stand him in the corner, or even when I take him to the office. We have had a meeting with his mom...and are still having problems with him. He had been playing with some boys in his neighborhood who are older than him, and his mom thinks this is where he has learned the words and actions he is sharing at the school. One day he actually said in Spanish that he was going to rape one of the girls in his class. Luckily he said this in Spanish class and Merlynn heard him say this. We are all praying for him and keeping a close on him and what he does. I had seen him show his middle finger before and I thought he must not really mean that, to him it is just another finger on his hand. Not the case. I told Patty I have to stop thinking that these kids are so innocent. Friday Jasmin was taking a test and was sitting near Moises and she yells out Miss Moises is showing me this finger. So then I knew that they knew it was a bad sign. I took him to the office and Deanora taped his fingers together and wrote on the masking tape "Cristo Vive" (Christ Lives).

This weekend we were holding a fundraiser at the school to raise money to put an airconditioner in the Learning Center. So yesterday I helped with the food they were making. I learned a lot. I was cutting up this white stuff and at first I thought this must be chicken breasts. But then I picked up another piece to cut and it was about 3 feet long. I thought what is this that I am cutting. I continued cutting it into small squares and then one of the teachers who was helping me asked Anna what it was and then Katherine said oh we are cutting bacon. There was NO meat on this bacon though. It was just slabs of bacon fat. I also made holes in the pieces of beef that was stuffed with a mixture of tomatoes, onions, nutmeg, chili, other spices and this "bacon" . When cooked it is very tender and has a wonderful taste. Probably because of the bacon! We also made veggies that is cooked in juice from the meat, potatoes, potaste, cabbage and plantains. Along with rice. When we put it all together on the plates we topped it with a small piece of toast and a slice of boiled egg. It is a typical meal for Honduras and very good.

I did receive a compliment today. Anna, who is the lady who prepares the meals for our school and was heading up this event, she told Lisette today that "I was a real woman out there with them last night chopping and cooking and working hard" I felt honored to receive the compliment. I was just glad that I was a help and not in the way.

Today we also sold cake, brownies, cupcakes, and we had a lot left over. The kids were asking me and Patty what we should do with the left over items. I said what if I buy all the the cupcakes and brownies and we go out and give them away and bless people. The kids said really miss? You want to pay for them all? I said yes, but only if you will come with me to give them away. They thought it was a great idea! So we added it all up, and Yensi said oh miss it is 734 limperas, is that ok? (that is about $40) I said yea, that´s great lets go! We ended up going to a small little orphanage that is a couple of blocks from the school. OH MY! When we pulled up there were all these little faces looking through the bars on the windows waving to us, "HOla!" We went in with our goodies and got lots of hugs and chocolate icing kisses! I looked and Patty and we were both crying. It was heartbreaking! I can´t even describe the bad shape of the building and the small amount of furniture. And then there were these two babies, they are twins, and are 3 months old. But they look like newborns. Tiny. And at least one of them is very sick....probably both because they were both tiny, so so skinny! They really stole my heart! We have a young man from the U.S. who is helping out part time at the school, he is also working at this orphanage. The orphanage is what brought him to Honduras. Patty and I were talking about what other things we could possibly do there. It is really heartbreaking! I will see what I can find out fom Mr. Walter about the needs and such here. But itis a christian orphanage and while the kids have raggedy clothes and a small shabby home, no toys, and obvious illness, they seem happy, bright eyes, and smiling faces. They were all hugs and love with us!

I hope I will be able to log on to the internet at the school again, which will allow me to keep you all up to date better.

The weather here is HOT, HOT and HOT. We had rain one day last week and that day was cold...but the next day was back to HOT HOT and HOT. I even came home from school one and took a cold shower. I was so sweaty and dirty feeling when I got out of school I could wait to get to the house. And cold water was my friend!

Annette is going to the U.S. on Tuesday. Please pray for me as I hold down the house on my own, me and the dogs. I am also going to be looking for a place to move sometime during May. We have some teachers coming from the U.S. in May to help at the school, which will be great! We can use the extra hands!