A visit with a very grateful Mexican student.

Thursday was the day for the annual Mabel’s breakfast.  It is always biscuits and gravy because they are easy to prepare and are quick to serve.  We think there may have been 600 people supporting the organization that provides dental care for the indigent in the Mexican state of Tamalipas.  Actually all the people there are indigent.  We will learn next Monday how much money was raised.  People from many parks come here to support the cause.  After making our donation, Evelyn seasoned and I prepared the smoker for cooking the ribs, Cornish hens and turkey breast we had bought earlier.  I had smoked them 3+ hours before John and Sue came to meet us to go to the the happy hour featuring Diego.  He has become a big favorite with winter Texans in the Valley.  He plays from 3-5 in the social halls in several parks.  His pay is normally made by passing the hat.  His wife was there with their 8 month old little girl.  We had a good time dancing but snacked most of the time there.  That would have been fine if we had not come home and eaten an appetizer of smoked salmon John had bought, followed by hamburger sandwiches I had barbecued earlier.  I had already removed the smoked meat and we finished wrapping it before we ate supper.  For the first time in quite a while, we did not play dominoes.  They left after supper.

Friday was usual in that we played with the kitchen band and went to the hospital to serve.  For the first time in 2 weeks, Evelyn was needed at what was called the Foundation.  She spent the day there while I was at the information desk as usual.  The excitement for the day was that a man working for a company came to the hospital.  He was 7 feet 2 We don’;tinches tall.  Wow!  It is difficult to imagine anyone that tall, but suffice it to say that he had duck his head at every doorway.  It was a lovely day as it has been for nearly a week now.  We came home and decided to to to a local restaurant for fish, so I printed a coupon for us to use.  It cost $3.60 and gave us $15 credit for our total bill.  We ended up paying $8 plus a tip for a $25 meal.  The meals are always too large requiring our carrying out at least 2 more meals to eat during the week.  We relaxed during the evening.

Saturday I had to get back to working on the sermon in the morning.  Things went well but I wasn’t very satisfied with the content.  I worked until 11 when we went to Mexico to meet the student we sponsor.  We don’t drive but park and walk across the bridge as usual.  But there is a bus that picks up the sponsors and takes them to a school where the students meet with their sponsors.  This time Josue was there with his mother and his sister.  They are very appreciative of the help we have given.  He is in fact scheduled to graduate from some university in December with a degree in Civil Engineering and has a job with a firm in Monterrey.  We thank God for the opportunity to have played a part in helping this young man become a success in his life.  We stayed with him for a lunch of square tamales.  Seriously.  They were 4X6 and were delicious.  They were a bit long on the masa but good.  We came home by 2, and rested until 3:30 when we began to leave.  Just then a couple came to look at our house for another couple who wants to move south for the winter.  The man does handyman work around our park and knows a lot about building.  They inspected our home thoroughly before we left for the winter Texan party for the members of Immanuel.  We were just a bit late to the Aloe field and building where we met.  There was a tour of the fields and inside the building was a man with a karaoke machine.  Many, myself included, used it to entertain the people who came to participate.  I sang alone and with 2 other men.  Evelyn sang with Blanca, a young teacher who wants to practice in leading our choir.  We had a very good time and enjoyed the pizza dinner.  We came home and I continued working on the message for tomorrow.  For some reason I was tired and went to bed early.  I usually stay up for the weather but thought I knew what it would be.

Sunday was a wonderful day.  The message I thought was disappointing was well received.  I know the power of prayer because I had been praying for God to help me and to open the hearts of the people who heard it.  We left and went to Immanuel to sing with 3 other choir members.  It seems to have been successful.  We came home and enjoyed one of the fish dinners we had brought from Friday night.  We rested until 5:30 when we went to our hall to serve ice cream.  While we scooped, the woman in charge kept micro managing me.  Finally I just traded jobs with her.  I don’t like to be assigned a job that someone else takes over.  When we finished serving, we stayed to work concessions for the Neil Diamond concert.  Of course it wasn’t really Neil but was a man singing his songs.  We had heard his show was not very good, but we thought it was better than we had expected.  We finished cleaning the kitchen after his intermission and were home by 8:30.  We didn’t stay until the concert was over.  Bonny called when we returned home and asked us to come and get some vegetables they can’t use because they will fly to New Mexico tomorrow for a ski vacation with one of their 6 children and their children.  We will go get them in the morning.  While Evelyn has been pain free for almost 3 weeks, she has a suspicious mole in her back that I want her to get an opinion about.  I want her to have someone at the hospital or her oncologist so she will have an idea whether to see a dermatologist.  She also needs to tell the neurosurgeon who referred her to the therapist that the treatment worked.  I need to cut the grass tomorrow morning before the rain begins tomorrow or Wednesday.