We made it!

Aaron and I, after receiving our appointment certificates Wednesday morning at a separate ceremony.

Standing behind us is John Floyd, IMB Trustee Chairman. For a full story click on the IMB link at the bottom left of our page.



Hello everyone! We made it home safe and sound. What an amazing week we had. I don't think I can say that for my parents because they drove and had my kids all week. But they all barely survived.

I am having a hard time coming up with words to convey how much this trip meant to us. We were able to see all our friends from Candidate Conference in July, that we have been keeping in touch with since that week. We were also able to meet 3 other couples and another lady who will be joining us at language school in Costa Rica. They are all very special people and can't wait to see how God will work in our lives as we spend a lot of time together.

During the week they gave us time to prepare a "testabyte". Because there were 82 appointees we were only allowed 75 words per couple to tell a piece of our call or testimony. We also had to have it memorized. So we practiced on my parents which was a pretty good time. We spoke it in front of 1500-2000 people that evening. We weren't nervous at all. Maybe I should speak for myself (Gabe).

We played lots of Farkle (dice game) and Nutsy (card game) with all our friends and had a blast. After playing the first night I woke up the next morning and couldn't extend my arm and it was in a lot of pain. So everyone was saying I had "Farkle Elbow". But the only think I can think of was that I pulled a muscle while getting the luggage on the bus. Who knows. But it was all the way better after 4 days.

On the flight out there we sat across the aisle from 4 members of a Mexican Band who was touring in the US. I tried my minimal Spanish on them and it gave them a pretty good laugh. But I told them we were going to be missionaries in Mexico and the lead singer said he was from Mexico City and his uncle lives in Puebla. We were so excited to have had this opportunity to speak with them and who knows, our paths may cross again someday.

Aaron was able to witness to a homeless gentleman in Subway on Sunday after church. He shared his sandwich with him and spent about an hour with him talking about the love of Jesus. This meant as much to Aaron as the Mexican band did for me. God is once again confirming our call even as we are appointed.

We will now just enjoy our time with family and friends for the holidays up to February. Thanks for all your prayers during our trip and if you have any questions feel free to ask. We would be glad to tell anyone about our week that changed our lives forever.