We Made It, WooHoooo!!!

   Pardon my excitement but from everything I read on the Internet I was expecting that we would a) be shot at by narco-trafficers immediately after crossing the border, b) kidnapped and held hostage by the same or c) pulled over every five miles by a crooked Mexican cop looking for a mordita. Thanks to Jehovah none of the preceding things occurred in fact we had a great trip out here and an interesting first two weeks in Mexico.
   The drive out west on I-10 was great, smooth sailing especially once we got past Houston. As this was my first time out west, I took lots of pictures of sights I had never seen before. We got to cross the Mississippi River, saw the Texas hill country, and Sonoran Desert in Arizona. I have never seen so many Cacti!
   We also got to experience the love of the brotherhood on more than one occasion. We stopped over for a few days  at a resort in Tucson before we crossed into Mexico. On our first evening there was a knock on the door and a nice young lady asked if we would like to have turn down service. When she came in she noticed some of our literature and asked if we were Witnesses. It turns out she was our sister from a nearby Spanish Congregation. She and her Mom both worked at the resort and invited us to their home for a meal. We got to meet the family and later that week joined them at the meeting on Thursday night.

La Familia Berreyes,  muy hospitalario!

Tacos Dorado, Cocido y Te de Jamaica; gracias Hermana Berreyes!

After the meeting a group of us went out for a frozen treat called raspados, kind of like a Mexican version of an Italian ice. An added blessing was that many in the congregation were from Mexico and had family in Sinaloa so we had people looking out for us when we arrived here and some contacts along the way just in case of emergency.

"The Raspados Crew"

   After a brief stop in Nogales and more hospitality from the friends there we arrived in Guasave late on Sunday evening( It is about an 11 hour drive from Nogales to Guasave). About a dozen of the friends showed up to help us get unpacked out of the car( a major task!) and welcome us. The brothers in Guasave have been beyond belief! Apparently there is no word for "no" here since anything we have asked they have happily helped us with.

Sooooo happy to have help unpack all of this!

  Last weekend we enjoyed our circuit assembly in Culiacan, about two hours south of here. We had an attendance of 289 and 2 were baptized. We were greatly encouraged to meet other needgreaters at the assembly and to hear their experiences about coming to Mexico. It was especially nice since there are no other foreigners in Guasave English Congregation, yes, we are the first. An interesting side note you should see some of the looks we get as we go about town. There are NO other black people here and for some we must be the first they've ever seen. We chuckle amongst ourselves about the stares we get when we go to the store. It's all good though, we just say "buenas tardes" and talk to them in Spanish, it kind of breaks the ice.
   So we have jumped right in to the work here. Our service days thus far are Wednesday through Saturday, with Thursday being a full day. After siesta, we go out at 4p.m. for studies, street witnessing and then meet for door to door at 6:00. We return home exhausted but are happy we've given Jehovah our best for the day.

Before our departure... I still don't know how it all fit inside!

***********
SOME PHOTOS FROM THE TRIP:

Enjoying Beignets in Louisiana

Cacti always seem to be waving "Hello"

Beautiful Bowie, Arizona

Dani after her first bite of a  hot chile!

my favorite thing about texas

my second favorite thing about Texas