So how goes it with the wall you may ask?

One look at my face should tell you all!

Thankfully the next door neighbor came and gave us a hand  - NZ's are known for that sort of thing (whatever - they are only known for that sort of thing if the neighbors are family - and Graeme is my Brother-in-law!).

 So at this stage of the game we are still digging and removing blocks - hopefully though this week we can start the rebuilding. It has been really bad weather here with more rain than we've had all year falling in the last few days - isn't that just typical! Anyway we are still remaining positive and hope to have some good news in the very near future!

A quick update on our Colombian  Lady. 

This morning I text-ed her to see if I could pop around sometime today and before 2 minutes had passed she called and said would 11 o'clock be ok. So Amanda and I knocked on her door (albeit a little timidly as I was unsure if her man would be there).

She invited us inside and we had an interesting hour with her. She said that she had been praying to God for answers and immediately after - my text came in (that's last weeks one). She is a very passionate lady and very expressive so we had to listen to long stories about her life but that's quite typical with the South American Culture so I am used to that. She does have a bit of a problem that is going to be a bit hard to overcome - but more on that later. Just suffice to say - we will be going back next week with the intention of studying - Where are the Dead?

A little light music

An interesting experience today that I thought I would share with you. Actually it started last week when I did an RV on the lady from Colombia who wanted to know why there is so much suffering. I had the Spanish bible to give her. Aaron was with me when we called and we were all prepared for a good Spanish conversation but her husband was home and he was not happy. He told me to get lost basically and not to bother coming back. He said he would give the bible to his wife though and even though I was a little bit dubious about leaving it with him - I did. Anyway today I text-ed her to say that I hoped she had received it and if she had any more questions - she could call me on my mobile. Well within 5 minutes she did call back and said she was so happy with her gift and she really did want to see me again but it was difficult for her as her family did not believe in God. I do hate talking in Spanish on the phone (it is so scary and much harder to understand what they are saying) but we were able to make a plan for the next time I visit. I thought that was pretty cool - let's hope something comes of it!

No we are not digging our way to South America...

But my arms and back sure feel like we tried!

Well just to let you in on a little secret - we do have some interest in the house finally! However the council records showed up some problems with a retaining wall on the property so we are having to fix it before any sale can go through. The upshot is that we have to dig 1/2 a metre down for a length of 11 metres! It also meant removing a Palm tree that took us all day Monday to get done. Needless to say - we are really proving our desire to go back to Ecuador - I hope I have some good news soon - that's if I can still use my poor calloused hands to type!

Just back from sharing in the special assembly day with Aaron and his circuit. It was a really good program - reminding us to remember the time left is reduced! As it is a different circuit we meet some new faces but also caught up with friends we hadn't seen for years. Aaron was interviewed in one of the parts and it was nice to hear him mention the time he spent in Ecuador helping build the KH as a highpoint in his life. It's been a long day so we are off to sleep it off. Buenos Noches!

You can't tell but...

There's one happy chica at our house (actually shed) today - Amanda now is the proud owner of a 2 year missionary visa courtesy of the Ecuadorian Consulate in Sydney Australia. It's been a bit of a mission to get it sorted - not helped by the fact that when we sent the money over via Telegraphic Transfer to pay for it, the bank over there took $20 as a fee!I had to send more money - which we found out was not so easy. (Our bank here doesn't send less than $100???). Anyway in the end - it cost us another $25 to send it with Western Union - a lesson learned for future reference!

At the end of the day - we got through the red tape and now we are all ready to jump on that plane! Bring it on!