Saturday

Well, today we worked half-day. We put up more rows and worked hard. We took a break and had saltenas. We worked for another hour and had lunch. We got in taxis and came home to the hotel. I was in a taxi with Herb, Abby, and Philip. Our taxi driver didn't know where the hotel was so we got a tour of Santa Cruz. :) There's a cool library with a cube on the roof that has little to support it. We were the first to leave church, the last to arrive at the hotel. Half of our team is still at the church, playing soccer at the cancha with some church people. We ate at Picolo's and I had chicken nuggets. :) But they were shaped like chicken fingers and about twice the size of a US chicken nugget. Kailey had that too. Those that went to the hotel instead of play soccer were Kailey, Mom, Dad, Philip, Abby, me, and Herb. Lynne also came and ate with us. John Mark stayed at the hotel. When we got to the hotel, we took showers and rested and then we went to HiperMaxi which is their supermarket and got agua (water) and treats (chocolate :) ). We also stopped to look at Andrea, a jewelry store, but it was closed. So we will try to go on Monday. We really want to go there for a Bolivianite, an exclusive gem mined only in - that's right - Bolivia. By the time we got back, the boys had gotten back and left for dinner so we waited for them. They came, we gathered on the second floor and went around in a circle, saying the things that we most appreciate about Willie, and we prayed for him. Then we played Presidents. Then everyone went to bed but Abby, Philip, Willie, and I. We stayed up another hour or two talking and laughing. The boys went to eat at some restaurant where they had duck. Dad, Herb, Willie, and Philip will get picked up by 5:30 tomorrow morning by Pastor Walter to take Willie to the airport. He will fly to Miami and meet his uncle who will fly with him to LA.

Dinner

Tonight we went to Pastor Denny's church (the church I visited Sunday morning). They had songs, welcome, and a psalm and then we went out next to the sanctuary where it was basically a covered patio and we ate a rice dish called "mahow". There was also salad y fried plantana. (Plantane; a banana). Then Cory asked about the church and its needs...it needs a new building and wants to have many more people. One can definitely feel the love of God at La Luz Divina; here there doesn't feel like there is as much love. They are across the street from a market and on Sundays they take the market sellers' children into Sunday School. There is a new law in Bolivia that churches must do a "social work" or forfeit their land and so this church is thinking of setting up a day care for the children whose parents work in the markets. It sounds like many pastors live behind their churches and that they all have a different vocation besides pastoring. Pastor Denny is the one with four daughters-Carla, Erica, Niecey, y Sarah. Philip y Lynn translated for us.