Buenas tardes,

The day was filled with many aspects including throwing debris from the roof, both Jerry and Michael have added to the “pile.”

Cheyenne had no idea that scraping ceilings could be so much fun!

Here is Jerry the fearless leader that worked hard to get the team prepared and to stay on target with all his responsibilities.  Thanks Jerry awesome job!!!

So besides being an awesome devotion leader, Susan also has displayed strength in bringing down the stairs to the mezzanine.

Contrary to popular belief, “hot dog” is Spanish, “perro caliente” is not.  If you say “perro calient” in Puerto Rico, people will chuckle.  This is just one example proving how the gap between our two cultures is not quite so wide as you might suspect.  Though Puerto Rico is an island, not landlocked, which is flourishing with tropical fruit rather than crops like wheat or corn, and expressing itself with a foreign language, we have much in common with the people here.  Evidence of this was the moment Wednesday when one of the church’s worship leaders, Mario, sang a duet of “How Great is Thou Art” with Nicole in Spanish.  As they harmonized wonderfully, Michelle and Kelly joined in, in English.  We truly are brothers and sisters with the people here.  At the church, Jerry and Mike continued on the roof and many of us chipped in to try and paint the church’s fence amidst rumbles of thunder warning of rain.  We plan to finish painting the fence tomorrow and be as productive as we can on our last day.

How often do you spend time in learning about other cultures, learning about where the language or customs originated from, basically the why behind the what?  It is truly fascinating the rich history that each culture has and how it has shaped each generation, many still preserve customs that originated thousands of years ago.  Next time you meet someone from another culture, ask them to share memorable stories from their childhood, you will be amazed at your growth in knowledge and understanding of someone’s history and you will come to appreciate theirs along with yours on a whole different level.

Que DIOS te bendiga!

Kelly and Michelle