Reunited

Tomorrow begins our official furlough.  Nate and I will also be reunited.  He will fly from León, Guanajuato, México and I will depart from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.  We will meet in the Dallas airport and fly together to Phoenix, Arizona where Dad W will pick us up.  I can’t wait!

It has been a long 3 weeks apart, but we kept in touch everyday with various venues of media.

We begin our promotional tour of presentations on Sunday.  Nate´s brother, Steve, accepted a pastoral call to Texas, so we are planning to spend the time between our presentations with them before the family leaves Arizona.

Due to our travel schedule and unknown internet connections, there may be a delay between postings for the next couple weeks.  Thanks for your support and patience! 

 

LATTE – Taking Seminary Training Across Borders

Nate and I have been tweaking our mission presentation: LATTE-Taking Seminary Training Across Borders for the past two weeks. We are endlessly thankful for the technology to be able to communicate and collaborate our efforts while we are currently in separate countries. We are organizing our content into several presentations to tailor them for each of our different audiences-elementary students, high school students, congregation members, ladies’ groups, men’s groups, and retirees.

If you happen to be in Arizona this month, or planning to attend the LWMS Convention in North Carolina in June, we would love to meet you and share the details about our life and ministry in Latin America in person!

MAY TOUR SCHEDULE – ARIZONA

Sunday, 5/13
9:30 AM WORSHIP SERVICE @ SHEPHERD OF THE VALLEY LUTHERAN CHURCH-SURPRISE, AZ
10:45 AM PRESENTATION @ SHEPHERD OF THE VALLEY LUTHERAN CHURCH-SURPRISE, AZ

Monday, 5/14
2:30 PM PRESENTATION @ PILGRIM LUTHERAN SCHOOL-MESA, AZ

Tuesday, 5/15
9:30 AM CHAPEL & PRESENTATION @ ARIZONA LUTHERAN ACADEMY-PHOENIX, AZ

Wednesday, 5/16
8:30 AM CHAPEL & PRESENTATION @ CROSS OF GLORY LUTHERAN SCHOOL-PEORIA, AZ

Thursday, 5/17
6:00 AM PRESENTATION @ EMMANUEL LUTHERAN CHURCH-TEMPE, AZ

Friday, 5/18
8:30 AM CHAPEL & PRESENTATION @ EMMANUEL LUTHERAN SCHOOL-TEMPE, AZ

Saturday, 5/19
5:00 PM POTLUCK & PRESENTATION @ ARIZONA LUTHERAN RETIREMENT CENTER-PHOENIX, AZ

Sunday, 5/20
8:00 AM WORSHIP SERVICE @ GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH-GLENDALE, AZ
9:15 AM PRESENTATION @ GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH-GLENDALE, AZ
10:30 AM WORSHIP SERVICE @ GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH-GLENDALE, AZ
3:00 PM POTLUCK & PRESENTATION @ CALVARY LUTHERAN CHURCH-CHANDLER, AZ

Monday, 5/21
9:00 AM CHAPEL & PRESENTATION @ GRACE LUTHERAN SCHOOL-GLENDALE, AZ
6:30 PM WORSHIP SERVICE @ EMMANUEL LUTHERAN CHURCH-TEMPE, AZ
7:45 PM PRESENTATION @ EMMANUEL LUTHERAN CHURCH-TEMPE, AZ

Wednesday, 5/23
AM PRESENTATION @ EAST FORK LUTHERAN SCHOOL-WHITERIVER, AZ
5:30 PM POTLUCK & PRESENTATION @ OPEN BIBLE LUTHERAN CHURCH-WHITERIVER, AZ

Thursday, 5/24
TBD ACTS STUDENTS-WHITERIVER, AZ

Sunday, 5/27
11:00 AM WORSHIP SERVICE @ SANTO TOMÁS LUTHERAN CHURCH-PHOENIX, AZ
12:30 PM PRESENTATION @ SANTO TOMÁS LUTHERAN CHURCH-PHOENIX, AZ

JUNE TOUR SCHEDULE – NORTH CAROLINA

Saturday, 6/23
2:45 PM PRESENTATION @ LWMS CONVENTION-WINSTON-SALEM, NC

We hope to see you soon! 

 

First Furlough

Nate and I are coming upon furlough, a time to travel stateside for ministry meetings, conventions, presentations, medical and business appointments, and spend time with family and friends. Nate took his furlough early in 2009, to marry me.  This is my first official furlough and I am excited.

I will be getting a head start on our furlough, leaving tomorrow morning, on our 3rd wedding anniversary.  I will be presenting at the upcoming WELS Kingdom Workers’ Chapter Workshop in Bloomington, MN this weekend.  My topic is “So… You’re Going Overseas”.  I am absolutely thrilled to be able to share all the things that I wish I knew when I began serving as a mission worker overseas. Nate will be joining me stateside in mid-May.

This past week, we spent special moments with our mission team in Leon, as we celebrated Easter together.

Nate & Julia Wagenknecht, Rachel, Noelle, Mike, Hans, & Trinity Hartman, Larry & Marlene Schlomer, Lucas Fricke (WKW), Joel Hering (WKW), and Heidi & Brad Krause

Stay tuned for more details throughout our furlough.

 

Peanut Butter Chocolate

Just wanted to share a little traveling tip for international travelers. As Nate and I were taking my parents to the airport, we reviewed the details of their return trip to the USA from an international origin.

P = Passport Control
Passengers disembark the plane and pass through immigration to show proper documentation with passports and visas.

B = Baggage Claim
Passengers pick up bags after immigration.

C = Customs
Passengers continue through customs with the declaration form (1 per family) and baggage. Declare any items, if needed. Proceed to exit if final destination, or hand off bags to baggage handler and go ahead through security checkpoint followed by departure gate if layover.

When in doubt, just remember Peanut Butter Chocolate!

International travel has been on my mind lately, as I am preparing my presentation “So, you’re going overseas…” for the upcoming WELS Kingdom Workers Chapter/Volunteer Workshop in Bloomington, Minnesota, USA. Click here to register!

 

A Sweet Surprise

This week is our birthday week.  Mine was Tuesday the 17th and Nate’s is Tuesday the 24th. Nate planned a surprise 24-hr getaway to celebrate.  Late Friday afternoon, I packed a small bag and brought my sense for adventure.  All along the way, Nate kept giving me false clues.  He even took a narrow back-road (unintentionally as I found out later).

When we stopped the car, I recognized one of our favorite destinations — the city of Guanajuato.  We walked down some steep steps until we opened an iron door.  As we entered, Rick, the American owner, welcomed us into his home.  We spent the night at a local bed and breakfast overlooking the city.

After we settled in, we took the free pass to go downtown via cable car.  We enjoyed the atmosphere along with a great meal.

We found out it got pretty chilly overnight as we sat on the balcony in the morning to watch the sunrise. Then we enjoyed a delicious full-breakfast in Rick’s kitchen with two other guests from Washington state.  Then Rick joined us, telling us tales of the city’s history along with some good sightseeing suggestions.

Nate and I spent the day touring Teatro Juarez and the Museo Iconografico.  This museum is a collection of art featuring Don Quijote from around the world; explaining the connection of Don Quijote and Cervantes with Guanajuato.

I am thankful to God for an amazing husband and another year of grace.

 

Days with Dad

Nate’s dad spent the last two weeks of December with us here in León.  It was a special treat since he is our first family visitor in our home in México!

As he resides in the Phoenix, Arizona area, the climate wasn’t too big of an adjustment, at least not as much as the language.

The first week included daily tennis matches between Nate and Dad along with completing our list of small projects around the house. We also participated in several mission activities (posts coming soon) throughout the week.

The second week included a little sightseeing around the city of León and surrounding areas.  Some of the highlights included Cañada de la Virgen (Pyramid), historical and picturesque tours of the cities of San Miguel de Allende, Dolores Hidalgo, and Guanajuato.

It was so special to celebrate Christmas with family.  Thank you, Dad, for coming to visit.  We miss you already.  Come back soon!

Go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/myrlinmexico for photo titles & descriptions.

 

Back in México

With a midnight arrival, Nate and I were happy to sleep in our own bed after a 2-month stay in Brazil. We slept in and spent the next day unpacking. During the next couple days, we managed to clean almost every room of the house and trim back the garden. We were excited to find a dozen cherry tomatoes on the vine waiting for us in the garden.  While we were in Brazil, the switch for our electricity was accidentally turned off, so we lost the majority of our refrigerated and frozen items. We had some food to tide us over, though, because in México some items like boxed milk [and eggs] aren’t refrigerated, but stored in the pantry.  We eventually made it to the supermarket to replenish our groceries.

It was fun getting back into our routines. Nate working on his online courses, and I participating in Zumba exercise classes.  I also started a new class — boxing.  The rest of our time was spent visiting friends.

On our first Sunday back, we were pleasantly surprised at a high number in Bible Study attendance at church.  During class, we heard a “Help” from the front patio.  WKW Volunteer Joel went outside and came back carrying a large Christmas tree. One of the regular attendees donated the tree for church.

Almost everyone I ran into said to me, “Un milagro” — a miracle as they hugged me because they hadn’t seen me for such a long time.  It was really neat to return to many warm welcomes!