Jutiapa

We made it to Jutiapa and were greeted by a warm welcome and ham sandwiches. Our kids will be heading off to a park in 30 minutes for mime, basketball and childrens. The service and Medical will have the afternoon to help each of the teams.


June 14 afternoon #2

Mom, Dad, Danielle, Josh, Grandma, Grandpa, Taylor & Nikki,

Hey everybody! I haven’t blogged for a while because it’s a little difficult to get on the computer. I am now in El Salvador (which you probably already know) and we are staying in people’s homes here. I have a family that consists of a mom, dad, and little girl named Kayla. At first I thought I struck gold because it was so much nicer than Campur. I later realized the shower and toilet don’t work and it isn’t as “magical” as some of the other palaces here. So far today we only went to one church to do a performance for the kids. It was a nice break from running from school to school. We traveled with the mime team and the basketball team. So far, I haven’t gotten sick, but this is the point in the trip when everyone is. Just to be safe, everyone is asking “can I eat this?” before taking a bite of anything. Mom, I just read one of your letters. Terry is doing a good job of waiting long enough for me to forget you wrote them before giving them to me. Danielle, everyone liked hearing your hello, especially Kelsey. My host family liked seeing the pictures of you guys, my house, and the snow. Taylor & Nikki, I miss you guys so much and I’m talking about you guys a lot. I start my sentences with “my best friends…..” Okay, so everyone thinks I’m writing to my “lover” because I’m writing so long so I need to hurry off. I love you all soooooo much.
Love, Nicole Iskierka
p.s. Taylor say hi to Zacky. Nikki say hi to Moo moo. And Mommy say hi to Uncle Neil.


Hey Hey Mom and Dad,
Sorry its taken so long to write. I’m having a great time and feeling really good. We are in El Salvador now and staying in home stays. My house is extremely nice. It’s a drastic change from Campur. There are nice beds and showers and air conditioning!!! We have been going to lots of schools and doing our thing. I’m pro at balloon animal making. It’s very hot here. O and sorry mom I took the sisterhood book  Hope you had fun cleaning my room. We gave a whole bunch of kids beanie babies today and got lots of pictures. Me and Sarah are totally bonding and have made lots of plans for our dorm room  I’m missin being at swimming lessons Wendy!!!! I can’t wait to be back. I love you and miss you a lot. Do you know if I can go stay with Rach yet??? Tell Brett hi for me and I love him. Do you have any requests for presents??? Cant wait to hear from you!
Love, Lucie

Hi Mom, Dad, and Friends
After I blogged last time I found out that the brick count was more like 550, so I was just a little off  Right now we’re in Metapan and we have been scraping off old paint and rep-painting the walls for the last two days. Everything has been going well and I’m feeling good. Tomorrow we leave for Jutiapa and I’m very excited to sleep on the bus. I’m not going to write too much because other people are waiting to blog, so I’ll tell you more when I get home!
Love You,
Christina Benjamin

To: The Erickson Girls

Hey gals. Miss you. Love you. We did some ministry up in the mountains here near Metapan, El Salvador. It was great. An outdoor presentation for about 100 town folk. The basketball team played against some town guys that played well. Our guys won the game, but it was close. The mime team did the 30 minute program. Each time they perform they get better and better. In order to get to this town we had to walk across a bridge over a very muddy river. The bridge was a couple of blocks long. It swayed when many of the team members were crossing at once. They could have used this walkway in an Indiana Jones movie 

Christina, tried to email you, but it bounced back. Place a comment on the blog and include your email address. Hope all is gong well with mom and the girls.

Better go now. Have a great day. Love you!
Dad

Hola todo mi familia y amigos.
I don’t recall the last time I updated on this blog, but I’ve been reading all of your comments—I was able to check this last night at our homestay in El Salvador. I’m staying at a super nice house with Sarah Wasley and Hannah Dull. We have our own room separate from the rest of the house; we walk through their 3-year old’s room, out across the balcony and into our room. Yesterday we had a medical clinic in a big open halfway constructed buildingish thing, and today we had one in some church. We saw 180some patients throughout the course of today compared to the 100/120ish we have been seeing. It was pretty intense, but fun. Pray for team unity and encouragement though because tempers have been kind of short with everyone, though we’re coping. I hope all is well back home. I miss you all, and can’t wait until we get home. Mom have you sent my graduation invites yet….please??? Thanks. Love you all,
Elizabeth Z

Hi H-dawgs!
I haven’t gotten sick at all on this trip except caffeine headaches and a stomach ache. There are a few people that have gotten sick, but nothing major. I’ve only ridden the chicken bus once and it wasn’t bad at all. The medical team is doing really good, we’ve been seeing about 115 patients a day and today we saw 183. It gets really awkward and hot and we sweat A LOT. But it’s a really good feeling helping people in need. It’s been a lot of fun. Have a good time on your trip.
Kate Hondlik


To Mom and Dad and Tracy,
My finger is not in a splint. I put tape on it because I grabbed a chain net in basketball and cut it, but I’m good. Were having a great time and we have been playing well. I’ve not had one offensive foul Daddio. Be proud. I miss you Mom and Dad and I love you guys. I miss you too baby sis and love you. Let me know how the fishing is Dad. You the man Tracy. See you soon.

Love,
Brett



Hi Mom, Dad, Chrissy, Joshua and friends-
Thought I would write again. The service team has spent the last two days chipping paint and painting different parts of the church building in Metapan. Its been…well Josh, you remember how long I was interested in painting our bedroom. I stayed as positive as I could and helped “motivate” the students. Overall Metapan has been a good experience. The students are enjoying their home stays and many of them are meeting new team members and enjoying the company of more than just their good friends. The group is definitely more united as we head to Jutiapa. I am excited to get back to Jutiapa. I enjoyed that town last time I was here, good food. I hope all is well back at home or wherever you all are, Boston? Calgary? I want to go to the cabin – can we work that out? I love you guys and think of you often. You’re prayers are felt, thank you. Looking forward to a few hours of rest on the bus tomorrow, then ready for more work. Josh- go grocery shopping, don’t do any of my laundry ;), and have fun with your friends. Love ya! Miss ya!
Lori (Becker) Ask