Heres a loong overdue post..i tried to update a while ago but couldnt because of computer problems...go figure...Well, this past month has been a lively one. The WATER students were here which means that we did a lot of out of the ordinary stuff. Waslala, volcanoes, day trip, and as the americans would say,"hangin out". It was also a lot of fun for me becasue the water guy was from my church. So we had, um like our whole lifes in common which was nice. It still has been raining quite a bit. On an average of every other day i would say. Keeps things nice and green and growing. One day, Ryan,Me, Hosmin, Fidel, and Ronald went biking in the afternoon. We didnt have anything planned for the day, so i thought it would be kind of fun to tour the city on bikes, so we wipt through Fatima(the community behind the church) and got some guys drummed up to go along. We rode probably 3 hrs at least. All over showing Ryan around. We also made it our to the dumpy little zoo and saw some cool things. Mainly the little crocidile. We threw some rocks in on top of it to get him all rowled up. And then we stopped at a little store on the way back and got some sodas. It was a lot of fun.
We also went out to a little village one day to have a service out there and thats where the mudhole picture is from. Also, the redneck picture. Kieths had to go pick some people up and it was raining, and the windshield wipers wouldnt work, so ropes and two people, i guess that works to. The river is in front of our house during a rain. When it rains, and we happen to be in the house, um, we just kind of stay put for the moment, although, i have left the house on the motorcycle when the river was that high, which was kind of fun, since i was already wet. Anyway, got questions, just email me or leave a comment...Joel

Well i guess i could put up a few pictures. Ryan Skrivit is hear for a month on WATER. Its a lot of fun so far. I have been putting him to work pretty good with a lot of much neglected yard work. We have been trimmin trees, and cuttin grass, well weeds, but we like to call it grass. The pictures are what i did last night. This tree was way to big and was putting a lot of shade on our clothes line and lemon tree, so i climbed it and made it bald, but dont worry, it will be big again soon with all the rain. sorry the pictures are backwards, they go from finish to start. Monday we took the WATER students to the volcano so once again that was fun and some good exercise. I have to study a little now for youth class that i have to teach today at church in La Palmerita. I always enjoy interacting with those youth becasue they are the first youth that i got to know when i was down on WATER. Well i should go. got questions? comment....joel

Well jist thought that i would let all yall know that i did make it back to Nicaragua safely and all. When i left for the states, it was hot, very dry, and dusty. I come back 3 weeks later, and it is cooler, very wet, and very green. It is amazing what 3 weeks of rain can do when your gone. It is very comfortable here now and the green defintly looks better than the dust. But i enjoy them both. I had a wonderful time in the states with family and friends. It was kinda shocking to see how much things have grown and changed. Mostly the people. My niece and nephew didnt even know who i was. Well maybe they can remember now. It isgood to be back though. Its amazing to see the difference in the 2 places. Anyway.....Joel

News Flash

I am really enjoying my time with family and friends in the states.

Well i guess it has been a while. Here are a few pictures from the recent past...Like the last week. This week has been a easy one so far. This week is what they call Holy Week. No school, no work, vacation, beach, thats what people do. On Tuesday, i went out to help Randy haul sand to make cement. That is some hard work to do in the hot sun, but i enjoyed breaking my back a little. Next week, we are going to pour a cement floor in his house that he is rebuilding, so that is why we neede the sand. Thursday, Delmar and Rich and me took a bunch of the guys out to the river. Nobody was working so we thought we would take the day off. It was very refreshing and thrilling as well. That is what the one picture is from. There is a tree we were jumping from and some of us jumped from the top. It has to be at least 30 ft high. Then after we went to the river, we went back out to our house and hung out and ate dinner and played baseball in the street.
Thursday night we had Communion here at our church. It was a very wonderful experience for me. It for some reason seemed so much more special to me this time. I have recommitted my life to God and really want to make some more changes and do all that I can to live for HIM.
The first picture of the three people is of the members here in Leon. Benito, Mrs Yolanda, and Roger. Mrs Yolanda is such a nice lady. After church she always comes around and gives a a blessing and some words of encouragement. Roger and Benito are very good friends as well.
The other picture is the product of a lot of sweat and about 2 hrs of washing. I sometimes enjoy washing clothes by had. i just take my time and try to enjoy it. Being that it is so dry now, everything is dry in like 30 mins. Suring rainy season it sometimes takes 2 days to dry clothes. It should start raining here within a month or so so that will be refreshing. I rekn thats all fer now..

Here is just a little bit of news. The pictures pretty much explain themselves. This week, i am living by myself again. Delmar went to Waslala for the week to help a friend build a house. So i decided to suprise him by putting tile in our bathroom. He has no clue i did it yet. I used some of the money that friends have sent down as gifts so thank yall. Benito does some superior work as well. That was a lot of fun to work with him for 3 days.

Today i had a change of plans. I was going to clean the house and wash clothes, but i turned the idea down. It is extremely dry, which means the dust rolls with ease. today is very windy, and it is just rolling with dust, so i cant was clothes and keep them clean for more than 5 minutes. And if i wass to clean the house, the house would just be slam full of dirt leaves and dust. I was on my way in to town on my cycle and i had to drive really slow. I couldnt see but about 10 ft in front of me. There are a lot of empty peanut fields right close to our house and the dust just rolls through. I left the house clean and arrived very dirty and grimy. O well, it will pass in a couple of months:)Hopefully.

The tank cleaning job was fun as you can see. Our water was starting to taste kinda funny, so i looked in the bottom of the tank, and there was a nice brown film on the bottom of the tank. so i cleaned it out with clorox and wow did it make a difference in the water taste. haha..actually i didnt notice a difference, just Delmar and Roger did..I thought it always tasted good. I guess maybe my tastebuds are pickled from being farmer or somthing..Roger says its becasue im a redneck...haha..

My Uncle Wendell and Aunt Naomi was here last week for revivals. It was good to see them and here him preach in spanish. He did very good and the people enjoyed him and his preaching. Plus i got to show them around town a little so that was fun to.

I rekn thats all for now.....

Here are 2 recent pictures of stuff that has been happening..My hand from the snake bite and a river where we went swiming. sorry for the long post