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I thought I would update everyone on what the latest happenings are in Costa Rica. While I was gone to the States for my dad's memorial service, Davi was home with the children. He was able to begin meeting several people that are in our area and are interested in learning more about the Lord. Praise God! One particular family he met on the beach, they are a young couple with an 8 month old baby. We spent the day with them last Sunday at the beach just having a fun family day together. They are a very sweet couple. William works at a hotel that is very close to us and has a desire to learn English. He knows that we want to further our Spanish and has offered to help us with Spanish if we will in turn help him learn English. This sounds like a great trade. So last Monday we were able to sit with him and converse alot in Spanish. We found out he was raised Jehovah Witness but he has many questions! We are praying for him and for his wife, Evelyn. One thing that helped open the door to speak with them is they are from Nicaragua and have lived here for 5 months. We look forward to sharing more with him and his family in the future. Please keep them in your prayers.

We have noticed a few challenges we did not have in Nicaragua. In Nicaragua, many things were easily accesible; banking, shopping at grocery stores, shopping at the market,etc. The main challenge we have faced is the shopping issue. Because we live in a beach community the prices here are pretty outrageous for Costa Rica.In our neighborhood, we have a few little Mom and Pop grocery stores we buy necessities at, but even they can be pretty expensive. We have found out that even most of the locals do not shop here. So we found out about a great market that is 25 miles away. Now 25 miles may not seem far if you are going across town, it may take you a half hour more or less. Here in Costa Rica that 25 miles by bus takes 2 hours when you figure in the stops the bus has to make and not to mention the many, many potholes that have to be avoided! So, last Saturday, the whole family woke up at 5 am to catch the 6 am bus and make it to Santa Cruz by 8 am when the market opened. This market is only open on Saturday for a half day. We found a gold mine when we arrived; wonderful fruits and vegetables, great prices, and many booths to choose from!! Let me just give you one example of the difference in prices from the market to what we can get locally in our neighborhood. Dave bought one pineapple from our local grocery store that cost two dollars. When we got to the market in Santa Cruz we were able to buy 3 for two dollars! Boy...those fresh smoothies sure taste good on a hot night!! :) Another great deal we found on the streets of Santa Cruz are the vendors that just set up along the roadways. We had to get Rachel a new pair of flip flops (all those trips to the beach must have worn them out! LOL). Here, there are only souvenir type shops within about 10 miles, so Dave got her a pair on one of his outings. The flip flops alone cost $10.00! When we went to Santa Cruz we found them for $3!!! So.....we are gaining wisdom in the area of shopping!!

Although some things have been challenging, we have seen God begin to move and open doors of oppurtunities. We continue to pray for wisdom and guidance as He continues to lead and direct us in the path we are to go daily. We appreciate your prayers and I want to say a special thank you for all who prayed for me during the time following the death of my daddy. God has truely ministered His peace to me and I know it is due to the prayers of many. Thank you for all of your kind words of encouragement as well. You are all apreciated very much! May the Lord continue to bless you in all you do.