Hey!

So... it's been a while. I was unaware anyone actually read this until someone reminded me that I hadn't written in a while. I have been back in the U.S.A since December 18th 2008. Since then a lot of things have happened and my life is so very different!! I like to blog with pictures because it's more fun, so until I compile some recent one's I won't expand. I'm still serving God here in Lubbock, TX just in different ways.

God is Good

Coming ...Home?

Yesterday marked one month before I return to Lubbock. It's a very weird feeling knowing that in less than a month I will be back to where it all started and not just for a visit. Today we had our last meeting with our coordinators about Re-Entry. They have been preparing us for leaving here and going home. I have really liked these times and know I will benefit from them. Please pray for our team to finish strong here and to lean on God.

~Annie

My Birthday and a New Sister in Christ

My birthday was pretty much awesome and I felt really spoiled! The girls made a special breakfast of cinnamon rolls and a breakfast pie. Afterward Megan curled my hair and took me to get my first pedicure! While we were out everyone was arriving at our apartment for a surprise party! I had no idea and it turned out to be really fun! The best part was being surrounded by my family and friends here. I will definitely remember this as one of my most favorite birthday's. The girls even borrowed my phone and (without my knowledge) found the numbers of some of my friends here and invited them too. They were pretty sneaky, but I didn't even suspect a thing. I also got to talk to my family over Skype and one of my good friends who is an AIMer in South Africa waited up to give me a special birthday call (the time difference between here and there is 8 hours).

My Birthday Breakfast



Getting my pedicure!


Chillin' at the party

Present time!

Megan, me, and J'Lae

My cake! (Thanks J'Lae)

Mordida! There is a Mexican tradition where you are supposed to take a bite of your cake. Usually the people surrounding the poor birthday victim try to push their head into their cake covering their face with frosting as they go in for the "bite". Luckily the frosting on my cake was coolwhip so it was easy to clean off. Clearly the culprit's arm in this picture is that of my teammate Donovan...good times.

Afterward...yes, it was up my nose.

Missionary kids: Maddie and Maicah

Lety,me, and Andrea

And now for some Good News!

A girl named Itzel decided to be baptized into Christ after studying the bible with Roberto(one of the preachers and missionaries here). She has been staying in Leon with relatives who are a part of the church here. She is 15 years old and is from Mexico City. She is now the only Christian in her family. Please pray for her in her new walk.

My teammate Donovan and I have been studying with a girl named Montse. Today we studied about the temptations of Jesus and other passages about how he has been tempted in all ways we have been and is now able to understand us. We read about how Jesus is our High Priest and intercessor in Heaven. Please pray for Montse to be open to recieve the gospel.

Also...Today marks our year and a half anniversary for us being here in Leon (18 months)!!!

Thank you for your support and prayers!!

September and October

September

Me, Megan, and J'Lae at a free concert for Julieta Venegas! She is a famous music artist here in Mexico.



Independence Day Party -September15


Roberto and I wearing sombreros!



Nadia's Birthday is also on Independence day!



Estrellita and I!



Shawn...



J'Lae and I at the Independence Party


Kids lined up to hit the pinata!




Bill wearing what was left of the pinata!

Here are some things that have been happening in October!!

Some of the women of the church wanted to learn how to make a dessert so we had them over for lunch and made the dessert together!

Me, Megan, Alondra, and Carmen





Working at the children's home with a group from the states:

I got to know a little girl named America! We hung out a lot and she wanted me to teach her a lot of words in English!




We made lunch for the kids!


About 20 women from the church in Leon went about 5 hours away to the city of Toluca to be a part of a women's reunion at the church there. It was very encouraging to see all of our other sisters and mothers in Christ at the reunion. In total we were about 400 women!!


Me, Lupita, Megan, Alondra, Andrea, and Fabi in Toluca!


All of us seated in the auditorium!



Girls night out!
After our weekly girl's study at our apartment we hung out at a cool restaurant and played jenga!



As you can see it was an intense game!


Right after the tower fell...


We have really been blessed with this group of girls! Some of the main goals we made for the group a while back were:

• to encourage them and answer important and relavant questions about life from the bible
• for the girls to grow more united in Christ and closer to each other
• to encourage them to grow and eventually be able to lead the group on their own

This is the second week so far that the girls themselves have been leading the group!!

Thank you for your prayers! There will be another picture update following this one shortly! God is awesome!

WE ARE CHOSEN BY GOD

Hello! I hope everyone is having a great week!! God has blessed me very much and I just wanted to share!

First, every Monday night we have a bible study for girls in our apartment. Megan, J'Lae, Jasmin (a college age girl), and I all switch off teaching or leading the group. Some hopes and purposes for the group are to 1)unite the girls from the church, 2)answer questions/ teach things they want and need to know, 3)bring in new people, 4)and have fun! We usually have about 10 people that come and sometimes more! Just this last Monday I got to lead the group. Us "leaders" had just decided to teach about different women of the bible. There are a lot of admirable women in the bible that are good examples! I chose Lydia in Acts 16:11-15. Even though there is so little about her, we can still learn a lot from God in her story! One thing from the story that stood out to me is in verse 14, "The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message". (NIV) Just like God chose Lydia in the story, God has chosen us!! In Romans 9 Paul talks about God's election, "Not only that, but Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad–in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls–she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all!For he says to Moses,“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?”
But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ ” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath–prepared for destruction?What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory–even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?" ( http://blueletterbible.org/ )

So, God decided to show mercy and compassion to you and me!! We have purpose and we are chosen!! The gospel really is Good News!

Here are some admirable qualities I see in Lydia:

• hard worker
• worshiper of God
• hospitable
• good listener
• she was chosen by God!

I also thought it was cool in the story of Lydia how the disciples (Paul, Luke, Silas, and Timothy) preaching the good news were used by God! "On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there". (v. 13-14) They weren't even looking for people, but were seeking to spend time with God in prayer. When we are seeking God he will use us!

Second, we were invited to go to a river an hour outside of Leon by a family in the church. It was a good time to fellowship and enjoy God's beauty!

J'Lae, Megan, and I

Alondra and J'Lae

Carmen and her girls (Pau and Abby) along with their cousin Jorge

Jorge and Pau eating some delicious watermelon!


the river and rock walls. it was gorgeous!!

And finally, the breakfast we had with our guys.
Monday morning the guy's apartment was being fumigated. So they bought some food and came over!! It was a fun morning. Bill made chocolate-chip pancakes, I cooked bacon, and J'Lae made scrambled eggs! We enjoy hanging out together as a team!

Megan, Bill (with juice), Tyler, Ben (with syrup), and J'Lae.

Bill and his smiley plate of food!

Ben and his smiley chocolate-chip pancake.

Us, minus J'Lae (taking the picture).

Our teammate, Ben, will be the first to leave on September the 8th. Please pray for him as he will be saying goodbye to family here and returning to Alaska to work with his church there. We love Ben!

Please continue to pray for the work here in Leon and the spiritual growth of the church!! God is continually adding to it's number here in Leon!

PS. Thanks to Omar for his class on Romans!

Happenings of late

So I would like to share some of what has been going on . From the 21st to 28th of July I took a week-long trip to the states to see two of my friends get married. My long-time good friend, Lauren (Sanders) Johnston, from school got married Sat. the 26th! It was a blast to be a part of her wedding because she is so much fun! She is always smiling and really sweet and because of that she has a ton of friends. I was blessed to be her Maid of Honor and really enjoyed sharing in her special day! The other friend, Kielle (Holt) Smith, I have known for a while, but we really didn't become friends until a few years back. Her wedding was the following day on Sun. the 27th. She is really sweet and has a desire to please God! Her wedding was beautiful and I'm glad I was able to be there! While I was there I also got to see some of my grandparents, a lot of good friends from high school, visit my home-church, and visit some of my supporters and friends. I really enjoyed my week there even though is was so short.

On the 28th of July my dad traveled back with me to Leon to visit where I live and work serving God with my team in Leon, GTO, MX. He had nearly two weeks here and it was cool for him to see and experience for himself this part of the world. And now for the pictures!



My grandparents who live in Seminole, TX. Elvoy and Peggy Thomason.



Lauren and I right before the wedding!



Kielle and her husband, Chris Smith, right after the ceremony!



Yes, I know this is gross, but it's an authentic part of the experience of a market in Mexico!



Hahaha!



My dad helping little kids at a VBS we had at the church. It was a really good turnout and a lot of kids from the children's home we work with got to come too! It was cool seeing my dad help out even though the language barrier is there!



Some kids at the VBS!



My dad and I near some campgrounds outside of Leon.



My dad and I when our team went bowling with Omar and Tana!

I hope y'all are having a great week!

So I thought I would update picture style again! My brother, Zeke, came to visit and here are some things we did together and events that happened while he was here.



He got to be there on a Sunday see the building we use and meet people from the church!


We ate some good Mexican food!


We went to visit Guanajuato, a turist city about an hour away.


We rode some buses! This is Tyler, Baron (who also came to visit), Donovan, and Zeke!


Gabi, Fernanda, and Jorge decided to put on Christ through baptism!!


Gabi about to go under!


Zeke, Roberto Rubio, David, and J'Lae at a small group



I actually didn't realize my brother would be here for the fourth of July until after he arrived! We went to a waterpark outside of Leon called "Splash" to celebrate, swim, and grill!



grillin' and eatin'


chillin'


Kason swimmin'


Maicah going down the slide!


Shawn and Barb!


Me and J'Lae


And my brother at the end of the day...I think he was a little worn out!
Well, I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Love your sister in Christ,
Annie