"for where two or three are gathered..."

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them". (Matthew 18:20)

I got to go to church today! It was wonderful. And we sang "Más Alla del Sol" so I was really excited that there was at least one song I knew.

So going back to Friday - we did indeed get tickets on Friday morning and headed out of Taxco on a bus bound for Toluca at 8:45 a.m. It was a beautiful drive, but also contained a lot of hills and curves. It was quite interesting - you would look down below you and see a road parallel to ours, and then you would realize that that's our road, but it doesn't appear like there's any way that we're ever going to make it there, and then you see a sign that says "curva peligrosa" (dangerous curve) and you realize that that curva peligrosa is going to be our method of getting down to that part of the road... anyway, it was interesting, like I said. :) It's about 2 1/2 hours to Toluca and then we bought new tickets there to get the rest of the way to Morelia and hopped on another bus 45 minutes later. We got to Morelia and bought tickets for a taxi, and we got in the taxi and gave him the address where we were going. Emily's brother Matt lives in Ixtlan and married a girl named Ruth Cervantes and her aunt and uncle live in Morelia, so they were meeting us there. So we had the address for Ruth's aunt and uncle. And would you believe that the taxi driver did not know where to find the house! I was very thankful we had a phone number... we ended up calling Ruth's aunt and had her talk to the taxi driver to give him directions to their house.

Rogelio and Fernanda (Ruth's aunt and uncle) were so kind and welcoming - they gave us a place to stay and excellent food all weekend! On Friday night we had a Bible study at their house and on Saturday, Fernanda and their son, Booz, showed us all around Morelia. We went to the central plaza, the cathedral, an exposition of art and stuff (which was actually really cool) and this really cool museum called "el Museo del Dulce" (The Museum of the Candy, roughly translated... although dulce generally refers to anything sweet). Definitely my idea of a great museum. It was pretty neat. Also, at this place, Emily and I dressed up in old-fashioned clothes and took one of those old-fashioned pictures... pretty classy, if I do say so myself. :) It was pretty fun.

This is the cathedral in Morelia - every town has one, it seems, somewhere around the central plaza. There was actually a wedding going on in this one. We were not invited, but observed anyway. :)

The entrance to the 'Museo del Dulce' - which is, like I said, a great museum. They even give you free samples! :)

Emily and I posed for several pictures next to signs by cultural places in hopes of extra credit upon showing them to Dr. Alstrum. We shall see... :)

Us with another sign... and Booz, our tour guide of sorts. :)

Also - on Saturday at some point we found this place that sold really big ice cream cones, so we bought some of those (see below). Dad, Mom, Leah, Seth, and Addie - I thought of you all as I continued our ice-cream-cone-buying tradition... :) Today at the bus station Emily and I bought cones again for only 5 pesos (less than 50 cents) and they were pretty great too.

Right now, Gloria Gonzalez from Ixtlan is living in Morelia and working at an orphanage there that is extremely under-staffed. This weekend, her sister Claudia was visiting her, so they spent some of Saturday morning with us and then we went to see them on Saturday evening at the orphanage. This picture was taken at the orphanage - there was a peach tree, with really good peaches, so we all ate one... or two... :) From left to right it's Gloria, me, Emily, and Claudia.

Today was such a blessing to have church. The service is held at Rogelio and Fernanda's house, and there were not very many people but it was wonderful to be together. It was Rogelio, Fernanda, and Booz, two other ladies from the area and two younger boys, Gloria and Claudia, me and Emily, and Matt and Ruth and their little baby Caleb.

After pictures and good-byes, Emily and I barely caught a noon bus out of Morelia (as in, we walked in, bought tickets, rushed through "security" - which involved us flashing our 12:00 tickets at 12:02 at the guard and him permitting us to go through without checking a thing) and enjoyed an uneventful ride back through Toluca to Taxco. We got back around 7ish. As exhausted as I am, the weekend was such a blessing and I feel very refreshed and strengthened going into this week.

Girls, this weekend was so special. Thanks for being such wonderful friends - I am so thankful that we share a love for Christ! Many prayers and blessings...

"You know a dream is like a river, ever changing as it flows.

And a dreamer's just a vessel that must follow where it goes.

Trying to learn from what's behind you and never knowing what's in store

Makes each day a constant battle just to stay between the shores.

I will sail my vessel 'til the river runs dry

Like a bird upon the wind, these waters are my sky

I'll never reach my destination if I never try

So I will sail my vessel 'til the river runs dry

Too many times we stand aside and let the water slip away

'Til what we put off 'til tomorrow has now become today
So don't you sit upon the shoreline and say you're satisfied

Choose to chance the rapids and dare to dance the tide.

There's bound to be rough waters, and I know I'll take some falls...

But with the good Lord as my captain, I can make it through them all!"

(The River, Garth Brooks)