Lots to sayOk where do I begin....just to let all you know, this is going to be a very long entry 
Well, I am back from texas and I am back from Mexico there is a good place to start.
*Teaxas: My Papaw did go home to be with Jesus about 3 weeks ago. I am going to miss him so much. I was packing things up for college and I found the last birthday card he sent me. But yeah he is home now.
Since my Papaw passed away we planned to stay in Texas a week longer because his memorial service was going to be that saturday. In the mean time my cousin was graduating from Nursing School in missouri 2 days before the memorial service. We decided to go. It was alot of fun and i think the whole family needed it. We came back on Friday night to get to our hotel in baytown texas. After arriving to the hotel, Sarah, mom, and I were going to go to Walmart to get snacks and bottled water and such. But then.....Bom bom bom.....van decides that it didn't want to work anymore. All my aunts and uncles, cousins, great aunts and uncles....yeah the whole family arrives at the hotel so we had cars we could ride in praise God, to get to the Memorial service.
The memorial service was such a great celebration of my papaw's life. He was so patient with people. Papaw wanted a Gospel message at his service which was amazing. Then we had fried catfish and hushpuppies (fried cornbread) in his honor!
ok now back to the car situation....we towed the car. My dad, Michael, Mary,Hannah, and I stayed with my aunt tricia for 3 extra days (keep in mind that we stayed from saturday to tuesday and Michael are suppose to leave for Mexico at 2:30 AM friday morning) I was getting very homesick at this point. My aunt tricia took us out to Keema Boadwalk. Its an amusment park with shops and rides and such. I am grateful that God gave me that extra time with my Dad. God gave me a closer relationship with my Dad just because of those extra 3 days! Ok, because the van kept breaking down God gave us a new yukon!!! It actually was my papaw's and we bought it back from the dealership like new.
So we drive the most wonderful, amazing, coolest new yukon back to dallas and stayed with My Uncle Rick and Aunt Mary tuesday night. Then we got up Wednesday at 5:30am and left for Milwaukee. Got in at about 2:00 am thursday. Woke up. Went shopping with Dianne, packed and left for the Chicago airport at about 2:30 friday morning to go to Matamoros Mexico.
*Mexico: At this point on this crazy trip back to the south, I was feeling a bit apathetic. Tired and wondering why I am going to Matamoros when I am leaving for school in about a week in a half. But God is good!
I'm just going to fastforward . O'hare, to houston airtport, to harlengin, texas airport. Stayed in holiday inn. walked to walmart, went to denny's ate pie.....yada yada yada.....PLAY.... the people from Adventures in Missions came to get us Saturday morning to take us across the border into Matamoros. We met people from Iowa and North Carolina who were on our bus. I love all of those people. You could tell they wanted to serve Chirst! We get to the AIM (Adventures in missions) place in Matamoros. All of the girls from every church were in one big room with bunk beds and all of the boys from every church were in another room with bunck beds. We check out this very hot very humid place. I enter the bathroom stale were I am greeted by a grasshopper so big it could be a pet lol. At this point i'm still kind wondering why I am here.
SUNDAY: We got to go to the church that we would be serving with all week. I get to the colonia (the village where the church was) and some of these houses where falling apart, some without plumming, without electricity, and yet the people are so thankful for what God has given them. They give everything they have back to God! We came to the service and when they sang "Lord I Lift Your Name on High" Everyone was worshiping God together as brothers and sisters in Chirst. It didn't really matter that we didn't speak the same language, we all serve the same God! The whole service I felt like God was telling me that I wasn't giving him something. Everyone was invited to the alter if they needed to lay something down to God, so I grabbed Amber and I asked her to pray with me. I gave God all the fears and anxioties that I have been holding on for so long. After that I was ready to do whatever God asked of me!
MONDAY: First day of on site ministry. We did this thing called Living Water. We were suppose to hand out purified water to the people in the square at downtown Matamoros. It was so amazing! 5 people came to Chirst because we gave them water and shared with the love of Christ!!! The translators were making fun of either just me or all the girls....because of our fluent spanish of "hola agua".... woot woot! We had 4 translators which helped alot with the language and they were so in love with Christ too! Later that day we did a pray walk and just prayed for the people in the colonia.
TUESDAY: I was doing devotions that morning when I felt God telling me today i was going to see some red flowers and there will be someone waiting for you. I was like...umm...ok wondering is this God's voice or just my voice. We had door 2 door for our first on site ministry that day. Chis and Elliazar where our translators. We decided to splite the group into 2. Jed, Michael, me, and Elliazar were one group. Marci, Doug, Grace, and Chris where the other. My group came to this house and Elliazar is just like this is the house we are suppose to be at. I was scared at this point because I had never done this before, how am I suppose to just casually come up to someone to share the Gospel? But this people want you to come to their house, this was something I learned pretty fast. As soon as we get there I looked over and their we lots of red flowers then the lady standing their said that she was hoping that someone would come and pray with her. I was like whoa!!! That was totally a God thing! Then her friend came by and we shared the Gospel with him. His wife was a Christian and was hoping he would come to know Christ and he did!!!! Soo...then the lady sent us to her mothers house....we prayed with her....then she sent us to her daughters house....the daughter knew Christ but her son did not. He was having these strange dreams and Satan was just really messing with him alot. The same thing happend to me when I was 10 so i told him that my mom had prayed with him and Jesus had all the power of my life. Satan didn't mess with me anymore after that. Elliazar then explained what it ment to live for Christ and the boy came to know Jesus!!!! Yay!!!! ohh i am so overjoyed to see God at work!!!! Its amazing how one second you can be terrified,, but then Christ shows you its not by your power its by his! Oh i'm so psyched!
WEDNESDAY: we did construction on a house about half the size of my kitchen. The lady was soooo grateful to have it! That just hits so hard. I live in a mansion. I take for granted all the things God has given me. But I painted....got paint in my hair...Michael almost dropped a hammer on my head....then we did door to door again....we mainly helped around the town. We prayed with people, helped a lady pick up rocks out of her yard.
Thursday: ATL ask the Lord..... we prayed in the church for about 20 min asking God where he wanted us to go what he wanted us to do. God gave me a picture of a blue house...then I looked down at the dusty pew and saw an outline of a fish. I was like God you want me to find fish? where? Mikey also saw a blue house and a bird and yellow flowers. Doug saw a toliet outside and a washbin....i know God has a sense of humor....and he just showed his power because we did see all these things. We turned right and saw the washbin and a toliet sitting outside....we went up to the house and prayed with the people there. They did know Chirst already. Then we walked a little bit further and saw a blue house with decoritive fish on the side of it....whoa!!! We prayed with a lady there that her husband would come to know Christ. Then we went and talked to her husband....he still did not accept Christ....but I pray he will soon!
God has changed me so much...He has given me such boldness and I am just falling in love with Him more and more everyday!
Love always,
Lisa | 
