Work update

The boys are all here now, and it's so much fun :)  Turns out they don't start school for about a week, so they will just be working during the day for a while.  Most of them are out cutting grass along the road and canal, but this year there are about 10 that are younger.  Omar and I have been put in charge of them, and we call it our "kinder," or kindergarten class.  So far we've been doing landscaping maintenance around the school.  I've been driving the tractor around a lot to pick up the leaves and such, but we also trimmed the big palm trees.  Omar and I got up and a big rickety scaffolding with axes and machetes to cut them down, while the boys picked up branches and cut some lower ones.  Did you know palm trees have big thorns?  And also if you do it right, you can chop a branch off with one swing of the machete.
Gabe.
P.S. I think it's funny that when you come here, they give you a bed, haircut, Bible, goggles, measuring tape, file and a Big Ol Machete :)

Sermon Notes - The Very Special Mouse

Once there was a very special mouse who lived in a very big house on the top of a hill.  All the other mice were jealous of the little mouse because he lived in a better house than them.  They had to steal little crumbs that fell off the table and in the kitchen, but the very special mouse got to eat cheese and pie and pudding all day long, whenever he wanted.  But it was not all fun and games.  The King and Queen who lived there were constantly trying to trap him.  Every day the King and Queen would find a new way to trap him, and each day the clever little mouse would find a way to get past the traps and eat the food.  Whenever one of the other mice tried to mike it past the traps they couldn't, and that is why none of them could live there.
One day while the very special mouse was playing outside, he saw another mouse that was more beautiful than any he had seen before.  He decided to invite her into the big house and show her how to get past the King and Queen's traps so they could both live there together.  At first, the new mouse was too scared to try, but after a few days she agreed to follow the very special mouse through the traps.  They were almost all the way to the kitchen
The End.

What's it like?

Well, I'm sure you are all dying to know how I'm doing, what I'm doing, and what I'll be doing later on, so I'll just come right out and tell you.  I got here on Wednesday, but really didn't do anything except meet people and get settled, so Thursday was my first 'real' day.  It's actually a really good time for me to come here because it's towards the end of a big transition here at the school.  The boys will all be starting school on Monday, and it's going to be the first year that a Honduran is the director.  In the past, the WGM missionaries have been running things, but they are transferring more responsibility onto the Hondurans and the Church.  But this year, Cristian - a former graduate of the school - is running the show.  This past week has been crazy getting everything ready for 100 boys to come swarming in, so I've been able to jump in and help with all kinds of odd jobs, but one big one in particular.  The front parking area was re-done, and we cut squares of sod out of one of the pastures and put them in.  Then we took out some sidewalk and put a new one in.  It looks really nice now, but it cost me 5 blisters ;)  I also helped paint the school building, and that was a big pain.  We used oil-based paint, probably the worst paint I ever used.  It was next to impossible to do it perfectly, because if you rolled fast or pressed more than lightly, it would leave these awful dark lines on the wall.  So yeah, I've been busy. 
The weather here is around 80-90, maybe 95, but it get's cool in the evenings - almost exactly like an Oregon summer, except it gets dark here around 5:30 - 6:00. 
Tonight I went with Jeremy and some of the workers to the gas station to watch the "big game."  They had a projector and a big screen, with massive speakers, and there was around 75 people all watching Honduras play USA.  Of course, Honduras won 3:1,  but it was a very fun game.
Tomorrow I'll ride into Catacamas - the local town - to go to church, so that should be fun :)
Next week should bring a bunch of changes to what I've been doing so far, and I'm still kind of curious as to what I'll be doing the rest of the time.  They don't do a lot of farming here, mostly just raise cattle and hogs, so I might end up helping more with the school side of things.
Oh, and I've been able to talk to pretty much everyone using what Spanish I already know, so that's nice.
Hasta Luego!
-Gabriel

Hola from Honduras!

Hello!
I arrived safely at the guesthouse, where I will be staying until Wednesday.  Yesterday I went with the Moyers - a young new missionary family that flew in the same day as me - to buy a mattress for their apartment.  Just driving around the city here is an experience in itself.  The mattress store was kind of strange.  There was a big metal gate, and there was a guard carrying a 12 guage (with a rope sling) that let us in.  Security is a big thing around Tegucigalpa, because there are motorcyclists that will grab cameras and purses and whatever and speed off.
Prayer requests: safety, communication.
-Gabe

Texas Sunrise!

Airports are so much fun, aren't they?
The Casi Cielo wasn't as good as when I make it at home.
I put some stuff on my photobucket, so it should be pretty easy to see pictures now.

Hello, and goodbye

Watching 24 right before my midnight flight :)

Well, I'm just getting the final things together before I leave.  I wanted to tell you all how much I appreciate everyone who supported me financially and through prayer, may God bless you all!