Happy Birthday David!

Hello Everyone,

Last Friday was David’s birthday, so we celebrated at language school by having some of the teachers sing “Feliz Cumpleanos”. It was great fun to surprise and embarrass him. Then we had a special family meal ordered out from a Chinese restaurant nearby. Yes, we have wonderful Chinese food in Guatemala. Since we’ll be here for one year, we will each get a birthday in Guatemala. David’s was first, but Kayley is reminding us regularly that she is next on the schedule in May. She is already counting the days until her 8th birthday.

The kids are feeling better this week and we’re thankful for less coughing. It was Shelley’s turn to get feel ill this week as she caught some sort of stomach bug. NOT FUN! Thankfully it didn’t last too long and we’re all well now. We’re praying that no one else comes down with it.

For those of you who know Spanish, we’re learning the past imperfect. Who made up this stuff anyway? I’d like to have a word (in English) with that person. But we’re catching on. I had to laugh the other day as I was explaining my frustration about past imperfect to a native speaker and the person said, “Oh, I have trouble with that too!” That was encouraging! If he can’t get it, how can I? Well, we’ll keep trying anyway.

Tomorrow is Field Day at the kids’ school. They are participating in different races throughout the day. We hope to see them race some in the afternoon after language school. They are excited about a day without regular classes.

An update on the vehicle: The red Pathfinder had only a minor problem. The battery was knocked loose. Now how could that happen here in Guatemala? Hard to understand, isn’t it? With the streets being so perfectly smooth and all. It’s had some reconstructive work under the hood and apparently it’s ready to hit the bumps once again. Another praise! Have a great weekend and God bless,
The Webbs

Zone Six Church

Dear Family and Friends,
It’s been another good week here in Guatemala. Nothing spectacular to tell, so I guess life has gotten into a comfortable routine.

We have been attending church in Zone Six with a Nazarene congregation there (see the picture above). We are enjoying it and understanding more every time. Lately, the Webb adults have been going to Children’s church with the kids. At first, this was because Kayley would not go without Mommy, but now, it’s because the adults learn more there (understand more) and of course the snacks are always a plus! We hope to graduate to adult service in a couple months. We enjoy the music at the church, especially when the projector is working and the words are on the wall. We take the dictionary and look up phrases as we go along. It’s an interesting way to do church!

This week both David and Shelley passed their Level B exams for language school. This level was tougher than the first and some people have said it’s the roughest one because of the amount of material and memorization required. We’ll see since we are beginning Level C now. We’re both glad to have the stress of exam day behind us again for awhile.

The kids are feeling better each day and they are coughing less each day. We are thankful for so many people praying for them as they have adjusted to Guatemala. Our car seems to be sick now…it overheated yesterday, but we’re so thankful we got home before it got too hot. It’s in the shop now, so we’ll see the damage later today or maybe tomorrow.

Feel free to email us at shelwebb@hotmail.com. Some days the server is down, so it may take a few days to respond, but we’ll get back with you.

God bless your day,
The Webbs

Birthday Party

Joshua, Abby, Kayley, Hannah with Syndey. In front, the Edgerton children and Elijah.

Dear Family and Friends,
We had a fun time on Friday night at a birthday party for the youngest MK (Missionary Kid) in our group. Sydney turned one year old and her parents threw a bash for her. We enjoyed the food and fellowship with other missionaries from the U.S. and from Central America. The kids had a great time running around together and playing games. Joshua has become fond of Elijah, a two year old boy (Syndey's older brother) and they are good buds. Kayley and Abby are the same age and have been good friends since day one.

You can't have a birthday party here without a pinata! It would be against tradition of the country and region to not have that. So, every child had an opportunity to take a whack at the pinata and guess who broke it open? You guessed right: Joshua! Everyone dove in for the candy soon after and thankfully no one was hurt.

This week is busy with David and Shelley both expecting to take their Level B exam soon. It will be a week of late nights of studying and review, but we're glad to be making progess.
Thanks for your continued prayers. God bless,
The Webbs

Puerto Barrios

Don, Bev, Shelley and David with Kayley and Joshua in the front at Amatique Bay off the Caribbean.

Dear Family and Friends,
We had an exciting adventure for Valentine's Day. We drove to Puerto Barrios to meet Shelley's mom, step-dad, aunt and uncle who came to Guatemala on a cruise ship. It was a 4 and a half hour drive from Guatemala City to the port on a busy two lane highway. We are thankful the road was good and that we encountered no problems on the way there or on the way back.

The weather in Puerto Barrios was not quite what we anticipated. Everyone here in the capital said, "Oh, it will be so hot there." So, we packed light with shorts and tank tops for the beach. However, when we arrived it was overcast and a chilly 60 degrees. (OK, I know that's not that cold, but when you're thinking of 85, it's a bit of a shock!) Of course, that didn't stop our kids who have never seen the ocean before (at least not that they can remember). They built sand castles and ran on the beach dodging waves. We spent Monday enjoying the scenery, but not seeing the sun at all, but thankfully, no rain fell on us. David and Shelley also managed to study for a couple hours at the beach.

On Tuesday we enjoyed our time with family. Shelley's mom and sister planned this cruise long before knowing we would be living in Guatemala, so God's hand was on the trip. We enjoyed the time visiting and watching the kids play on the beach and at the pool. It was a great and fun day, just far too short as they headed back to the ship around 1:30 pm as the Webb family headed west for Guatemala City. The drive home was longer with slow traffic in the city, and we were glad to arrive home safely at 7:00 p.m. The next morning (this morning) was business as usual with school for everyone.

We are happy to report that Joshua and Kayley are feeling better, finally. It has been three long weeks, but we pray we are all through the worst of the adjustments concerning our health. We'll be taking allergy medicine to combat the pollution and dust here but feel that will be necessary to stay healthy. We are thankful for your prayers which have sustained us through this time.

This week we are thankful for a reliable vehicle, God's protection as we drove across Guatemala, and wonderful parents. Keep praying for us as we learn a new language and culture. We are half way through Level B and already anticipating the next exam in a couple of weeks.

Have a great week with the Lord,

The Webbs

Guatemalan Air

Joshua and Kayley in our yard just before leaving for church on Sunday.

Dear Family and Friends,
Another beautiful week here in Guatemala with temperatures in the 70s each day. We have enjoyed the weather, but have learned the hard way that the air is not as clean as it looks. Joshua has struggled with allergy related respiration problems and has been put on an inhaler. His coughing has lessened, but is still prevalent. He missed two days of school last week and will miss two this week as well. It is our hope that the cough will be gone by the end of the week. Kayley has caught a cold as well, but she seems to be doing better than Joshua. We’re glad for good doctors here. The first doctor we saw practiced in the U.S. for a number of years and speaks English fluently. The other is our new friend Erica who is from Mexico. She is a medical doctor and is in Guatemala for training to be a missionary with the church in compassionate and medical missions. She is wonderful and we’re thankful for her expertise and help with the kids.

We decided to get cable TV here since the price is fair and we believe it will help us learn Spanish. We can get some shows in English and we put the Spanish on closed caption so we can learn more words. It’s difficult to listen to shows all in Spanish as we still feel lost with all that, but hope in a couple more months much more will make sense. We laughed as we watched Scooby Doo in Spanish.

We attended a different church this week that is located across town. The music was loud and full of energy and lasted for quite some time. The entire service was over two hours long, but we enjoyed it all. Shelley went with Kayley to children’s church and Kayley would not let her leave her sight. The kids were served a red kool aid type drink and a tortilla with red sauce. Kayley loved it. We plan on attending there again this week as it is good practice for us to drive there. It is on the way out of town for our trip to Puerto Barrios, which is located on the east coast of Guatemala. We are traveling there in two weeks to meet Shelley’s mom for her one day stop over on her cruise ship. It will be fun to visit if only for one day.

David and Shelley continue their studies in Antigua. We are focused on verbs, verbs and more verbs. We’ve realized you can’t say much without them! Of course, most everything we say is still in present tense as neither of us can think fast enough to bring to mind the correct form in past tense. Yes, we sound ridiculous, but that’s how you learn!

We hope your week is going well. We appreciate your prayers for the kids this week as their bodies get used to the Guatemalan air.


This is a view from the front seat of our car as we entered Antigua for language school.

Love,
The Webbs