Ahhh...Home.

Dear Family and Friends,

I thought about starting this entry with one of those cheesy wedding announcements. Something like, “The bride, resplendent in white, was preceded down the aisle by her seven gorgeous bridesmaids, each uniquely draped with an exquisite pashmina that perfectly reflected the cascade of falling leaves on that faultless October day.” You know, one of those gushy, overly sentimental pieces that admires every detail of a wedding from the gift bags filled with popcorn and chocolate covered almonds to the amazing rehearsal supper complete with an incredible video and delicious Aspen tea.

The fact is, Heidi and Joe’s special weekend was one of the best times I’ve ever had at a wedding or otherwise. It would be a perfectly acceptable event for me to gush over. For starters, I was home. I could stop right there and be happy, but no, there was more. The weather was perfect – crisp, sunny, with the leaves changing in the background. The Knoblochs did a truly magnificent job of making everyone feel welcome and loved in their home, even though we descended like a plague of locusts to fit dresses, try on shoes, take pictures, eat them out of house and home, and generally overrun the camp.

Let me start at the beginning: I flew home on Tuesday, Oct. 14. I started my travels before dawn and arrived home at 11:45 PM. Yes, you can get home in one day, but it’s a l-o-n-g day. After four planes in four different airports, I was a little fussy. But, as soon as I saw my sisters and parents at FWA, I was rejuvenated in mind and spirit. (It took eight hours of sleep and McDonald’s to rejuvenate my body.) We left for Morton on Friday and attended Heidi’s personal shower on Friday night. It was a great time to meet all of Heidi’s friends from college, work, church, and the YG. Heidi’s sisters did a fantastic job of planning her shower and making everyone laugh with their game, “How well do you know Heidi?”

Saturday, we spent the morning relaxing by the pool with the kids and the afternoon trying on our dresses and shoes at the Knobloch house. It was fun to finally see all the Knobloch siblings and spouses together with their children. We all arrived at the Morton church for the wedding rehearsal around four. It went very smoothly and Cheryl kindly took pictures for us as we practiced. The rehearsal supper was held at a tearoom outside of Morton. It was just beautiful. The Knoblochs created a truly amazing video of Joe and Heidi, Dr. Omar Gava shared a Spirit-filled testimony, Marie Lucie talked of Heidi’s dedication to missions, and Ed Schwartz spoke about Joe’s heart.

Sunday morning dawned clear and sunny. It was literally the perfect fall day, like the kind you see on the front of every college brochure as the cute co-eds pose in their new sweatshirts with the college’s name prominently displayed on the front. Anyway, a perfect day. We took pictures in the morning and then hurried to the church for the wedding service. It was an uplifting message about agape love.

The reception was wonderful! I spent most of my time chatting with family and friends and meeting new people connected to Joe and Heidi. After we sent them off to their honeymoon via bubbles and cheers, we left to head back to Bluffton. On the way home, Mom, Dad, and I hit a deer on 69 going 70 mph. It’s not only a miracle that nobody was hurt, but the car wasn’t even damaged that badly. We drove it right home, although we had a few interesting souvenirs left over from the collision. It took two automatic car washes and a diligent car wash attendant to remove all the...remains.

Monday and Tuesday, I enjoyed my time with family and friends. Tuesday night, Molly and I took Sophie to the Ft. Wayne Zoo Halloween. She went as a purple butterfly. I mean really, could there be anyone cuter? Perhaps I’m a little biased, but she is such a pumpkin!! Just check out the pictures. Wednesday, we made a quick run to the BDC to drop off some additional supplies for my next few months in Haiti. I left Wednesday afternoon, stayed in Ft. Lauderdale that night, and made it into Cayes by two on Thursday where I continued my constant battle against homesickness.

Sheila, Christophe, and all the Reinhards left with the first work team of the season early on Saturday, so I’ve been enjoying my solitude. Today, I stayed home from church to welcome a family to the Guesthouse since Sheila was unavailable. Beth Newton and I listened to the Bluffton Country service over the phone. After the second service, I made chocolate chip cookies, went swimming at the Wray’s house, and had a wonderful discussion with another missionary woman until after dark. When I finally got home, I made myself some cheesy chicken and macaroni. (Leah, you can stop reading here. I know you have a weak stomach. Amber, don’t let this deter you. You’ll get use to it very quickly.)

OK. So, I’m used to bugs by now. In fact, I have a least four different types crawling on me as I type. There are beetles reading every word I write because they are sitting on my monitor. It’s pointless to shoo them away; then, they just fly around and whack into my face which is even more annoying than obscuring my monitor. I have to double sift my flour - first, to remove all the live bugs crawling around in it, and then to remove all their little dead carcasses and eggs. It’s OK. You just adapt.

Anyway, I finished making my mac and cheese and proceeded to eat a large plate full while working on my photos for this week’s blog. I wasn’t paying too much attention to my food. My mistake. I decided I wasn’t quite full yet, so I went back for another helping. I was just about to shovel a new fork load into my mouth when I noticed something odd about a noodle and took a closer look. Ladies and gentlemen...worms. That’s right. Worms. Little white, worms. Of course, they were dead seeing as how I had boiled them for 4-6 minutes until tender. But I mean, gross! Even being accustomed to bugs, this just about made me puke.

You know, they say that a first year missionary will throw out something with bugs in it. A second year missionary will remove the bugs and eat it, and a third year missionary says, “Extra protein.” I’m not quite there, yet. Tillie, Gutwein’s dog, had a special cheesy treat tonight...with extra protein.

Love you all! Thanks for the prayers.

Abby

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I'm Coming Home

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week seemed to fly by! At work, we prepared for the Childcare Board meeting on Friday morning by updating accounts and completing reports. On Tuesday, Sheila and I hosted ladies tea for the first time. We had a great turn out, and Debbie Wray brought us delicious treats to serve. We continued our series on God’s glory during Wednesday night services. Brother Tim Butikofer flew in on Thursday for the Board meeting. Johannes and Luise Schuerer kindly invited Tim, Sheila, and I to supper that night. Friday, Sheila and I tried our luck at market again; I feel like we’re really getting the hang of haggling and finding good produce! Saturday, we hosted the Reinhards and Tim for a pizza lunch and a ride to Tet Simon. It was laundry day there, so there were many people bathing, washing clothes, and generally hanging around. It was a beautiful view yesterday as the skies had cleared and the sun was shining. I must say, Tim did an excellent job on his first 4-wheeler drive! He handled that bike like a pro.

My next blog entry will be from...HOME! I’m flying out Tuesday morning to come home for Joe and Heidi’s wedding. Words cannot express how excited I am to see all of you again. Please pray that no weather conditions will delay my departure, and that my connections and flights will go smoothly. God knew that I would need this trip home to look forward to; I’m thankful they had such a long engagement – good for me, bad for them!

I will see you all soon!! Much love,

Abby

http://picasaweb.google.com/aheartforhaiti/Oct2008II

Everyday Life

Well, I’m officially out of tourist mode and into actual living mode here in Haiti. I didn’t take a single picture last week which is why I skipped my Sunday blog entry. Let’s see if I can remember what happened...work, language lessons, tarantula, work, rain, massive thunderstorm, work, crafting, marketing, language lesson, work...pretty standard fare for two weeks in Haiti.

The thunderstorm was really something, though. I was at the Childcare office. just working away, when BOOM!! I have never heard anything like in my life. The sky was just beginning to look a little threatening, but no rain had fallen and I hadn’t heard any thunder, yet. It was like a single bolt of lightning struck Childcare. A ball of fire came shooting out of Marie Lucie’s electrical socket! Needless to say, we scrambled around unplugging computers. It poured sheets of rain after that and during the night, the lightning actually hurt my eyes and the thunder was absolutely deafening. It was WILD!

That night at church, it was hilarious to hear everyone’s account of the random lightning bolt. We all thought we had been directly hit. A computer monitor and light bulb blew out at the school, and that’s on the next hill over!!

Sheila and I decided to do our own marketing this week, so Miss Beth drove us into town and helped us haggle with the merchants. It’s a good way to practice Creole and establish some good relationships with the local venders. I need to find the best places to buy our food – I bought some oatmeal last week to make oatmeal and raisin cookies for ladies tea on Tuesday. They were terrible, but I couldn’t figure out why. Then, the ladies at tea told me that I should never buy oatmeal at a certain store. They spray all their products with a chemical that kills bugs, and it infects all the food that is not wrapped in plastic. The next time I went in, I could smell the spray. My cookies tasted like bug killer!

Today, we attended the Charpentier church which started at 7 AM. We got home in time to listen to the Sabetha morning service and the Bluffton North afternoon service. It’s always refreshing to hear a voice from home. We were invited to the Reinhards for supper along with Christina and Irene, two German missionaries. Miss Beth dropped in later for dessert. It was a regular party!

I’m looking forward to starting a new week. It’s a nice feeling to be refreshed in body and spirit. Thanks for your prayers and many blessing to you all!

http://picasaweb.google.com/aheartforhaiti/Oct2008I