Upgraded our website (mostly under the hood) & now we have Instagram photos (sidebar) + an improved Twitter feed. Finding-direction.com (7 January 2017)
We have a special guest today at Path of Life Bible Church Las Palmas! [image] (8 January 2017)
The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. ~Proverbs 21:5~ (9 January 2017)
Ok, Albertans – no more excuses – come visit! “Direct flights between Calgary and Mexico City coming June 1, 2017” ow.ly/uXF1307bQX6 (11 January 2017)
retweeted from Canada in Mexico: One of the world’s most popular sports was born in 1892, when Canadian James Naismith published the 13 “Rules of Basketball†#Canada150 (12 January 2017)
Wow, that’s something you don’t see every day. I saw two teens walking down the street carrying ice skates. ???! â›¸ï¸ (13 January 2017)
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; how much more when he brings it with evil intent. ~Proverbs 21:27~ (16 January 2017)
But … my teacher told me not to do that … “How high can you count on your fingers?” [video] (19 January 2017)
Looking forward to being back at Sendero de Vida Las Palmas this morning. I even get to preach! (22 January 2017)
Did you know? Mexico is one of the top ten countries with the most languages. Many of those languages still have no Bible. (24 January 2017)
Every year for the Christmas season, huge toy stores are built in the parking lots of big stores. Now it’s time for this one to come down. [image] (24 January 2017)
We’re still working on getting license plates for our van, which means that we’ve had no vehicle for the majority of the week, and won’t have one until we get some paperwork done.
We’re hoping to get that done soon, but it’s a bit of a challenge. Essentially, once you get your permanent resident visa, you can’t drive a vehicle that has not been nationalized. Which means you need to nationalize your vehicle (which means driving to the border) before you get your permanent resident visa.
However, you can’t get plates for your vehicle until you have a permanent resident visa. Which means … well, think about it, you’ll get the idea.
Anyway, there are some possible ways around this, none of them super-easy, of course. And according to a friend of mine, it involves lining up at 5am, 4 hours before the office opens, in order to get in before the day is over ….
Thanks to a ride from Rod Fry, who was dropping his kids off in Puebla for the day, I was able to meet up with someone to get some documents signed for our visas. So that’s a step forward. We’re getting everything finalized to be submitted, so that I can get my visa as soon as possible. If things go really smoothly, I might have it in a couple of months. Hey! Stop laughing! Just because things went that way last time doesn’t mean it will be that way this time!
Anyway, we appreciate – VERY much – your prayers as we continue to walk through the tangled web that will allow us to get our visas, and maybe even drive!
We all knew this time would come. And yes, it is here at last.
Some of you may remember our exciting visa adventures from the past. No – not the credit card – the documents that allow us to live in Mexico. Through great trials and tribulations (and thousands of dollars spent), we finally had our temporary resident visas.
Another visitor from Canada…If you were really paying attention, you might have known that you can only have those for so long – then you need to get out of the country, or apply for permanent resident visas.
Permanent resident visas are beautiful glittering documents that are – well – permanent. At least in the sense that you don’t have to get anything else after a certain time, and you don’t have to renew them for thousands of pesos every year or whenever. So we want those. So this is the year.
We’ve actually been working on the details for all this since last year, but this past week we really began in earnest with a trip to the MX/US border.
If you get permanent visas, you may not drive a vehicle with foreign plates. So to begin the process of getting Mexican license plates, we had to go to the border and do some dashing in and out (at different locations even), paying large sums of money, and doing a whole lotta paperwork. It took us three days at the border (plus a day to shop and some travel – almost a week in away), but we now have a Mexican vehicle (and a Mexican cargo trailer). Special thanks to Luis and Brock for their help.
But – hold on – no Mexican license plates yet. That’s a whole other issue.
So as we continue the month of January (boy, it’s going fast, isn’t it??) we’re going to attempt to get license plates, and get some more paperwork done for my visa (which expires before the visas of the rest of the family), which will likely mean lots of waiting in line, travel to another city, and there’s always money involved (and it’s never money we get – why is that?).
Seriously, though, we do appreciate your prayers. Our trip was good, God went before us, but we are exhausted (and came home to a pipe leaking water in the bathroom – I guess we’d better add that to the “to do list”…) and trying to make sure we get all the “urgent” stuff done. You don’t want to forget that one document and find that everything has expired and you missed a whole procedure.
But for now, visa issues aside, we’re preparing materials for kids’ Sunday school tomorrow (Shari is teaching), and I’m working on my sermon. I had a good talk with someone today who is thinking of checking out our Sunday service – as always, I’m sure it will be an interesting day!
Our first Three King’s Day in Mexico, ten years ago today, was spent with friends and fellow missionaries the Thiessens. Here we are in our kitchen in Cuernavaca with our rosca (the traditional cake of the day). I believe atole was also on the menu. For more about the traditions of this day, check out my original post: The Cottrills and the Magi
Above you see Peter and Grace, with their youngest Ivory and their boys Ivan and Ira. Sadly, less than a month ago, Peter passed away suddenly, due to complications related to a ruptured appendix. I’m sure the family would appreciate your prayers.
We’re hoping to get that done soon, but it’s a bit of a challenge. Essentially, once you get your permanent resident visa, you can’t drive a vehicle that has not been nationalized. Which means you need to nationalize your vehicle (which means driving to the border) before you get your permanent resident visa.
Above you see Peter and Grace, with their youngest Ivory and their boys Ivan and Ira. Sadly, less than a month ago,