February 3, 2007

Landon, all bundled up for the night	Sunday seemed strange without Carolina Sue around the house.  We went to church in the morning and Bro. Gary preached on "The Principles of Worship".  We came home to a delicious meal of sarmales.  They were scrumptious!  Well worth  our effort... We rested for a while then worked together on putting a puzzle together.  It was a little different because it was round so the pieces did not make the standard rows.   In the evening service Bro. Charles Brubaker expounded on the topic of "The Christian and Stewardship".  An interesting topic.
Landon's first ride on an airplane	It got really cold overnight!  I had to go into the shop at 6:00 Monday morning while Ina Sue started the wash.  She said that her fingers nearly froze off while hanging it out to dry.  My dear wife made us a wonderful meal of biscuits and Hearty Chicken-Rice Soup for supper but I felt like I had to stay at work and catch up on projects that I am falling behind on.  Ina Sue ate supper with the children then they walked down to the Korvers where Mary helped her pick out 30 lbs. of pecans to take down to the workers in Puerto Rico.  I didn't get home until 10:00 so I ate by myself...  I'm getting more and more ready for our trip to Puerto Rico.  The work schedule is wearing us both out.
Delegation interview with Norvan & Jewel	I went in to work early again on Tuesday.  Ina Sue spent the day packing and getting everything ready for our trip.  I got home around 7:30 and helped her get everything finished up.  Then I worked on getting some of the papers and misc. PRMC board stuff ready to go before we left.  To bed in decent time.
The ladies worked on recipe cards...	We got up at 6:00 on Wednesday.  We got ready and did some last minute packing before Royal & Jenn Barnhart met us here at our house at 7:15.  He drove us all up to Charlotte where I flight was scheduled to fly at 11:40.  Everything went fairly smoothly except for the usual hassle with my wife at the security checkpoint.  But, they let her on  through and the plane left right on time.  It was a direct flight to San Juan.  This was Landon's first flight so we weren't sure how he would do.  He did great though and fussed very little.  Even the altitude changes didn't seem to affect him.  Ina Sue though had a pretty tough time as we were coming down into SanJuan.  She is having some sinus problems and the pressure evidently got pretty intense.
Landan & I at the Areceibo Observatory	We got into San Juan at 4:45 and were picked up at the airport by Luke Anderson and Norvan Yoder.  Sam & Sarah Petersheim have flown from Puerto Rico to Texas earlier in the week to see their newborn granddaughter.  We were disappointed to miss them during our time there but were happy that it worked out for them to be able to see the daughter and granddaughter for a while.  Jerrel & Joyce Good have been down here already for several days and are planning to be living in Sam's house and hosting Royals during our stay in Barceloneta.  We all ate our supper together there in Sam's house.  Rotisserie chicken, rice & beans, tostones, salad, and strawberry torte for dessert.  Wow, what culinary beginning to our stay!  After the evening we went with Norvans back to the house in Las Tosas where they will be hosting us for the next several days.  The weather here is absolutely lovely!
The joint MAC/Delegation meeting.	Royal & I got up in decent time Thursday morning and had our interview with Luke  before breakfast.  Jewel Yoder fixed us all a delicious brunch of egg bake, tater tots, guava danishes & fresh fruit.  Then, while we had our interview with Norvans, Ina Sue and Jenn worked on sorting, arranging & copying Jewel's recipe collection.  In the afternoon the men in the party all drove down to Arecibo and checked out the huge radio telescope that is built into a natural depression in the mountains there.  It was very interesting.  I took Landon along and he behaved fairly well.  The lady folks did a little material shopping while we were gone.  When we got back we got ready for church then ate a quick supper at Jerrel's before going to church for prayer meeting.  Norvan moderated and had devotions,  Jerrel had led the Bible study.  After church Joyce fixed us all pina coladas then Royal & I had our interview with Jerrel & Joyce.
Dinner of pinchos afterward	We ate a quick breakfast Friday morning with Norvans then we all drove over to Jerrels at 9:00.  Bro. Carl & Bro. Craig drove up from Anasco so that we could have our joint MAC/Delegation meeting.  Unfortunately, with Sam gone we felt a bit restrained from making some decisions without his input.  The meeting went well though and the ladies went out on a little excursion while we discussed issues.  Our meeting was pretty much wrapped up by dinner time so we drove in to a pincho stand and bought pinchos for our lunch.
The Hartman Youth with Bethany Headings, Hannah Brown, and Landon Strite.	For anyone who hasn't been to Puerto Rico, a pincho is meat (usually pork or chicken) packed tightly onto a stick then grilled and flavored.  They are wonderfully good!  After lunch we all met back at Jerrells then us fellows went out to a beach for a little rest and relaxation.  The ladies helped Jewel make supper for the whole crew.  Biscuits, meatballs, baked macaroni, salad, fresh pineapple and cookies.  A delicious meal and wonderful time of sharing afterward.
Worker's meeting on Saturday at Barceloneta	Saturday was the Worker's Meeting scheduled for Barceloneta this year.  All the workers from Anasco came up and we all met in the Fuente de Vida church at 10:00 for a morning of spiritual enrichment for the workers.  Since this morning is meant especially as a chance for workers to be ministered to, it is held in English and the delegation & bishop are in charge.  Royal moderated and led the singing, I had a talk on "Finding Guidance from God" taken from the story of Abraham & Ebimelech's search for a wife for Isaac.  At the end we also had a time of discussion on finding God's guidance.  Then Jerrel had a challenging talk on "Quiet Time" with God.
The house at Las Tosas where we were hosted by Norvan & Jewel Yoder.	For dinner the delegation ladies & Joyce cooked us up a meal of pork BarBQ, potato salad, green beans, marinated carrots, chips & a strawberry triffle.  In the afternoon we sat around and visited for a while then Royal and I rode down to Anasco with Bro. Carl while June drove the ladies and made another small bypass to yet another material store...  When we got there, Royal and I met with Bro. Samuel Heatwole for his interview.  He is doing a wonderful job there teaching Carl's children and being very helpful in the overall work of the mission.  We all met the ladies back at Carl's new house in Mayaquez for a delicious sub supper and visiting around the supper table.  Royal and I tried to navigate our van back to Craig's place for the night but got lost on the way.  Finally with a phone call we were able to get back on track and finally got settled in for the night in Craig's basement apartment.