I have a lot to update you on....

Dog Zapper
Let me start with the dog zapper. One of the missionaries who is here, Alyshia, her grandmother is a dog breeder. She felt so bad for me getting bit by a dog, that she sent me a dog zapper. She also sent one for the Turner Casa to "zap" Redman when he barks to help train him not to bark constantly. It is a little handheld thingy and you push a button and it emits a high-pitched sound that is irritating to a dog. It can be used for training purposes as well as for safety from stray dogs. I used it last week. I was walking from my house up to Annette's for Bible study. I was armed with a stick, my bag of chocolate peanut butter cookes (these were not for the dog but for all of us at Bible study) and my dog zapper. There was a dog (not the biter) that began to follow me as I was walking. I turned around and pointed the zapper at him and hit the button - he turned around and walked back to his front porch. I was very excited!

Kids Went to Camp
Last week some of our kids went to camp for the week. It was for 2nd grade through 6th grade. The kids had a great time! Today my boys were telling me about riding the go-carts through the mud. I think they had fun! They also had chapel and teaching each evening. I heard about some of my 2nd graders who went forward to accept Jesus! YAE! One of the boys was Anthony, who has really touched my heart. His parents are divorced, dad has remarried, and he is dealing with a lot of anger. His mom and I have cried together on several occasions trying to figure out how to help him personally and with his school work. This was great to hear when Alyshia and Daniela were excited to tell me that Anthony had gone forward to accept Jesus!

You just fall in love with these kids and you want the best for them, and you want them to be happy, just like we want for our own children. These kids get knit into your heart and you feel so much love for them!

Copan Trip
Friday we went with the chapel at the base to Copan for a weekend retreat. It was a beautiful drive there. It was about a 5 hour drive. We all had a fun time. When we arrived on Friday we had free time. Us missionaries just walked around the town, did some souvenier shopping (got you a Christmas gift Joshua!), and walked around. It was such a blessing to all of us because the base covered the cost of the hotel and the entry into the Ruins. We only had to pay for the gas in our van and for our food. It was a blessing to us!

The first thing we noticed when we arrived at the hotel was the wonderful color of brown that all the water was. Haley was excited when she saw the strip of paper over the toilet seat so she knew it was clean....then she lifted the lid and the water was brown. It was just the water there. It was dirty, like with real dirt. Very gross. Especially when taking a shower. I took a shower Friday night after walking around town but not sure how clean you get showering in water the color of apple juice. But all the same, it was a lot of fun. In the evening we met in the hotel restaurant and we sang praise songs, and then the Chaplain had a devotional for us. That evening we were hanging out in Annette's room, some of us were hungry but the restaurant was closed but room service was available. So we ordered and congregated in one room to eat. We were laughing and having a good time...the Chaplain came down and gave us a hard time about being too loud. We decided we were go Christmas caroling to his room. Which we did...and we were quite loud. It was all pretty funny! I started to laugh and some how my snort came out sounding like a moose! We decided I was just making reindeer noises to go with the Christmas caroling theme! We just know how to fun! ha ha ha!

The following morning we went to the Mayan Ruins. It was very interesting. We enjoyed the time there. We did a lot of walking and climbing up and down the rock stairs of the ruins. We were all being very careful, and it was at the end of the tour when I tripped on a rock and went flying. I crashed down onto several rocks and hit my head one rock. I was so completely protected! Everyone was saying don't move, don't get up, you hit your head. I was fine. The thing we were all the most impressed by was the Honduran guy who worked on the grounds with his First Aid Kit...he ran to me with antibacterial wipes and began cleaning the dirt off my arms, then my head where I had landed, he put neosporin on my scrape on my head and a bandaid. I was like "where did he come from?" He was in action quickly! I was concerned that the next day I was be sore or covered with bruises, but nothing! If I touch the spot on my head it is a little sore, but it doesn't hurt unless I touch it. It could have been so much worse!

And I didn't break my camera! I was so happy about that! I had my came in my hand when I fell and it came crashing down on the rocks along with me! It got more scratched up than I did, but so glad that it still works!

I have some pictures from the trip that I will post in another message....

Money Blessing

In my last post I told you about Patty going with me to the bank and us getting some good information about how to proceed. The lady here at the bank said that it would probably take 30 days to get my money put back into my account. Elaine went to the bank in Texas for me and explained the situation and the guy who helped her said it would be refunded to me in 3 days. And it has been! I checked my account tonight and the money had been put back in my account.! Such a blessing!

Dentist
I went back to the dentist last week to have the mold made for my three crowns. YAE! So next week I will have my new crowns here and get them glued in. So excited! After my appointment the dentist began talking to me about me being here. She speaks very good English. She is from Mexico and her husband is Honduran. That is why she lives in Honduras. She was asking me about my being here, and why had I come to Honduras, and was I ok being here. I talked to her about coming on mission trips and feeling that God had called me here to stay. She was surprised, and said she would not be here if it were not for her husband. It was good to visit with her. She shared with me about when she became a Christian. I was glad we were able to visit about this. She and her husband are both very nice. I feel so good having them to go to! One of the missionaries that is here, Sara, had a filling fall out after she arrived, so we sent her to my dentist. My dentist was excited when she met Sara and when she told her she was from Ruach she said "Oh Stephanie"....I am glad to send her business.

Turner Casa Drama
There has been more drama at Annette & Lance's house. It seems to never stop! Last week they had a fire. It was the breaker box in the back of the house that controls the duchas in the apts., and the washer and dryer, it caught on fire. Ben and Sara were calm and were able to think quickly about what to do and they threw flour on the fire and put it out. There was an explosion before the fire started that knocked Sara to the ground, it scared Redman so badly that he peed on Sara. Oh joy!

Then this weekend, after we all got back from Copan, Saturday night people were all happy to take showers and were excited to have CLEAN water (after showering in apple juice in Copan) ... until a water pipe broke. One of the girls was in mid hair wash, so they used purified drinking water to rinse her hair. I found out about their Saturday night fun when Sunday morning I heard my phone ringing. I picked it up and I hear Annette saying "Bark Samson Bark!" She realized I had finally answered my phone and she said I'm outside can you let me in. She was standing outside my gate in her jammies with her shampoo and towel. She was the only one who had not gotten to shower Saturday night. She had been trying to call me but I had my hairdryer on and hadn't heard my phone or heard her yelling outside for me. She was able to shower at my house then go back home to get ready for chapel. Once again I saw me having this house down the street as a blessing! It was a safe place when I was here with the girls and we had the first electrical blow out...and now a shower for Annette. Lance was able to get the pipe fixed Sunday afternoon and they are all back in business!

Residency
We have to go to Tegucigalpa this week to get some of the paperwork on my residency. I don't know exactly what it is, it isn't my actual residency card, but it is something I need in the process. It is exciting!

Electric Bill
I paid my first electric bill last week. I'm sure everyone is thinking why is this good enough to blog about....but it was kind of exciting for me. A first to do at my new house, as I learn how to do all these every day life things. In the states you get your bill, you write a check, you put it in the mail, or you get online and pay your bill electronically, or you call the electric company and give them your debit card number and wa-la your bill is paid. But here you get the little bill which is about the size of a small grocery receipt, and you go to the bank and you pay your bill. This is how you pay your water bill also. Not sure about the phone, still working on getting that sorted out. When my landlord came last month to collect rent he told me something about my telephone, and told me to write down the phone number. But I didn't understand everything he was telling me. I have the phone number but the phone has been blocked, so I guess I need to go to the phone company to pay some money. I talked to Paty today after school and she will take me to Hondutel (phone company) after school tomorrow so we can get it sorted out. It will be great when I have a telephone in my house, it will be much cheaper and easier to call the states. I don't have to worry about grabbing a phone card all the time because I don't know how many minutes I have on my cell phone. You can call and find out how many limperas you have left, but it is all in Spanish and I have trouble following the directions!

More Missionaries Arriving
Helen arrives from Restoration on Friday. Along with a young girl from Colorado who came down last summer with Corey's church. They will be doing dance along with Sara. It is great having Sara here for 3 months. She teaches dance at a dance studio in California, so she has been doing dance with all the grades. The kids love this!

I will close this post...If you have hung on this long to read to the end, I am impressed!