Update from Guatemala

Well we have now been in Guatemala for 10 days and things are starting to come together.

• We have a house to rent! It is located in the same town as Shauna's parents about a 20 min walk or 5ish minute drive. It would be a shorter drive except the fact that there are many speedbumps to go over. Speedbumps are quite common in Guatemalan towns to mainly make sure people keep their speed low because there aren't speed limit signs in small towns. Anyways back to the house. It has 3 rooms and a bathroom. The biggest room we are planning on using as a great room (kitchen/living room combo). Then the two other rooms will be a bedroom and storage/study room (which can be turned into another bedroom when we have visitors :)). We have a nice open patio/courtyard and a little bit of actual grass and a few fruit trees. Once we move furniture in more and better pictures will be taken but there are a few below! (As you can see we have a fantastic view) We officially have the house on September 1st, but there's a little bit of maintenance and cleaning to do before we move in. So hopefully the first full week of September we will be able to live there!

        

• We bought phones! We each got the same phone and at least one of us will be getting a plan to be able to call the U.S. so that we can communicate with family and friends. 
• We have some of our household items! We went yesterday into Guatemala City (most likely 1st of 2 or 3 trips) to buy many of our small kitchen appliances and kitchen ware, along with some odds and ends for the rest of the house. We also were able to get some larger food items that you can only get in the city such as stick butter, shredded cheese, American cheese, and pancake mix to name a few. You can see some our personal belongings in the picture below :)
  
• Some prayer requests:
• That we would be able to find a bike or two for a good price (to make it easier to get around in town)
• That we would be able to get all the bigger kitchen appliances, bed, and some sort of living room furniture at good prices when we go later in the week.
• As we adjust to more of a Guatemalan style lifestyle when we move into our house. 

Thank you to all who pray for us and thanks be to God who gives us the strength we need.

On to new adventures!

Some pictures of our packing adventures :)

This week has been crazy so far. Going through all of our belongings and sorting what needed thrown out, what needed given back to people, and what we were giving to Community Aid. We are taking two checked bags, a carry-on suitcase, and a backpack each. So we needed to condense a good bit :) We are making sure we get a good last week of use from our projector and big screen as we have had the Olympics on all week as we get ready. Along with cleaning and packing, seeing family and different friends one last time before we leave has been a priority too.


We have been so blessed by everyone who has been praying for us as well as supporting us financially. We are so thankful and excited to let you know that we have reached our monthly support goal four days before we move. God is so good!! As we begin our respective ministries we expect our expenses and budget to increase and would always welcome more support as the Lord leads you.


Once we get to Guatemala we will be looking for a place to rent. We have been given some options, but we will be looking for others and hopefully making decisions in the first few days. I will also be starting Spanish lessons tentatively on September 5th and will be taking 12 hours a week. If you can be praying for these changes and decisions we have to make that would be greatly appreciated.

Trusting God as He guides us on this new journey in life.

The next blog post will be coming from Guatemala hopefully in the first week or so. Hasta luego Estados Unidos.