Twas the day after Christmas, and........we went to the beach. Sorry for those of yall who are cold now.. It was pretty warm, and so we decided to spend the Sunday afternoon there swimming and taking it easy. Was a lot of fun. The first few pictures are from our trip to the volcano. The sunset. We got up to the top about 10 minutes after the sun went down, so we missed the good part, but it was still beautiful. The picture of Ramon leaning is an example of how strong the wind is on the top. But it is very refreshing after you sweat you way up to the top. Then we had a hotdog roast and sang with the guitar and relaxed. The other photo is a panoramic view from the back side of the volcano. Its bigger than it looks in the photo. Just a little.. and the last is of the sunset at the beach yesterday. Very nice view. I guess the next thing will be new years and who knows what...Today i washed clothes for about 4 hour, only because i was out of clean clothes. then in the afternoon, i helped put up some fencing, and then we handed out about 100 Christmas buckets in a little community close to my house. So i wasnt bored today. Tomorow, i will be going to Managua to take Delmar to the airport to go to Daves wedding. So then i will be living by myself for a week again. Also, 4 of the guys from church(Benito, Jerson, Julio, and Christopher) went to Waslala to a bible institute. So pray that this will be a very good time for them, and an encouraging time. thats all for now.....

Well it doesnt really seem like its the Christmas season here. It is hot, and dry and dusty, which is way better than white, slimy, cold and miserable:)Ok sorry for those of you who dont like the cold. Nicaraguans celebrate Christmas on the 24th so today most people arent working. Actually, they celebrate in the evening and all night long. Then recovery day would be tomorow. Yesterday, two guys were out at our house, and they spotted a big iguana in our mango tree. so i climbed up the tree, and they were throwig rocks at it, and we finally knocked it out and the one guy caught it before it hit the ground, or else it would be gone in a flash. They suposedly dont bite. then we played with it for a while, and skun it out and fried it. WOW. It was very good, but it didnt taste like chicken. But then there are the gorrobo, and they are bigger, and they bite extremely hard, and they are harder to find. I would like to get a couple with my slingshot, but i rarely see them. Plus, someone stole my slingshot, so i am in the process of making a couple more. Tonight, we are going out to the volcano with all the Americans, and some of the people that come to church, and we are going to climb it and watch the sunset, andthen have a hotdog roast. It should be a lot of fun. On monday, we got together and made Christmas buckets. We put like, salt, sugar, rice, soap, oil, and just some necesities in them, and then last night, we went caroling and handed the buckets out. It was a lot of fun, and the people really enjoyed it. Yesterday, i also had to work on the motorcycle a little. That is always fun for me. Delmar was driving it and got a 3inch nail stabbed right through the tire. So i took the wheel off, and walked out to the tires shops along the road, and paid $1.00 to get it fixed. haha. Things here are very cheap. Then i went to put the wheel back on today, and noticed that the wheel dampers were worn out and shot, so i biked out to the Honda place and bought some new ones and put them in also, and now it rides nice and smooth. That is what i do a lot here. Just whatever needs to be done. Fixing things, breaking things, studying, and visiting with anybody that wants to. I love my life down here, and i wouldnt trade it for the world. I wish everybody could have this experience, although it can be tough at times. I hope yall have a wonderful Christmas and all. Thanks for yall support in any way that yall have given..Joel

Well i thought this was too funny. Our neighbors had a dummy sitting in their yard for a while. They finally decided to get rid of it, and the mom wanted me to take a picture first, so they could remember it. She was laughing so hard she about couldnt stand. Yall need to see this nice lady. She has a buzzcut, and is big and strong as an ox:)
In other news, things are still the same. People are going to be leaving from here in the next week. Karen is going for a visit, and Delmar is going soon after Christmas. They will all be heading out to Daves wedding. So I will be by myself again for a week or two. Then Richards are coming back from their visit in the end of January, so that will be a relief to have the pastor back around. It will be nice to have him around again to help out with the preaching. The dryness is starting to soak in or however you might would say that. They people on our little road are putting these annoying speed bumps in the road so people dont go too fast and make a lot of dust. Which, anymore, it doesnt matter how slow you go, you just roll up the dust. But it is still somewhat green here, but that to soon will change.
We can thank the Lord that the guys are still pressing on. Roger has been a huge encouragement to me. He was spiritually reenergized when we went to Guatemala. He has a vision for the church and is always encouraging people and always has a smile on his face. until next time

Well i got home safely from Guatemala. I had a great time there. I went with Roger to a teachers institute. Not that I a planning on being a teacher. We were up there for a week. It was pretty chilly to. it was a lot of fun to be at a place in central america with a lot of mennonites again. Kinda made me feel at home. we traveled by bus which was an 18 hr ride. the bus was alright, but not what we were expecting. but it was comfortable enough to sleep on which i did a lot. The pictures are all radom photos. the first is the streets in Managua. they are all decked out with Christmas lights and it looks pretty nice. On Monday, the day before we came back, we had a free day. So we went to Antigua, a historical type of a city at the base of a volcano. very beautiful place. Roger and me climbed up a hill that had a cross on it and we could see the whole city so that was a nice view. The tower above the street is world known supposedly. If you look up Guatemala, there should be a picture of that tower, and i forget the history behind it. So i got to stand under it. YAY.:) the other pictures i guess are kind of self explanitory. There is Roger and me enjoying a nice shake, the bunks in the guys dorm at the institute, which kinda reminded me of a prison camp:) , a group singing at the institute,us playing volleyball at night, and our bus. well that is all i have time for now..Joel