Phew, the time comes quickly to a close, and the Lord has blessed our time with great progress.

Today, after processing around 3600 books in these few weeks (it's hard to count because some we take out, then we add others, then we fine-tune others and reprint labels--so that's an estimate), we reached the count of 10,600 books in the SCA school library.  We did work 15 work days, usually between 8am and 5 or 6 pm.

On Wednesday (July 13), we return to the states (we'll be there by the 14th, early).  Pray for safe travels.

BLAST FROM THE PAST:  Over the weekend, we visited an area some 60km southeast of here with Becky Patten.  On the way we stopped  see James and Coletta Morsey.  Back in 1996, both the Pattens and the Morseys were in language school with us in Texas.  Well, actually the Pattens were ahead of us a term, and of course, many others were studying, too, but its neat to be back all together for an "instant."

After spending several hours of snacking and catching up on memories and ministry, we got back in Becky's little red car and continued southward.  Another stop was at the Chile's military club and also at Casa del Bosque (house of the forest)... which reminded me of something from Tolkien's Shire (or upon seeing pictures, Colleen decided it looked like something from Dr. Seuss).

We went on to visit another favorite (with good reason) spot of Becky's, that of Cascada de Animas (Cascade of Spirits).  We enjoyed some good walking through forest paths with mountain views and a great restaurant at the end.  Beautiful sights and delicious dishes.

On Sunday, Doug and Sharon Kreeger took us to their church -- Living Hope BaptistChurch -- where the Rubins also minister.  We enjoyed listening to Mark Rubin teach adult Sunday School, and then Pastor Christian interrogate all the Sunday School classes over what they had just learned. We heard the littlest ones recite a memory verse in strong unison, the youth sing a chorus, and finally we heard Pastor Doug share a message regarding the importance of following the Bible as the map for our lives.

Our last two really sweet times of fellowship included dining with Sharon and Doug Kreeger at a churrasqueria on Sunday, and having rotisserie chickens with the Amundsens on Monday evening -- in spite of the fact that the latter are in the middle of moving between houses. But we were eager to spend time with these friends from our time at Sojourn and to meet their adopted toddler girls.

From 8:00-5:00:  And so you are asking, "with all this great visiting, when do you do any work?"  Well, of course we do work, but I'm not sure you really want to read about me entering data into the computer, finding new books to exchange with old ones, printing off labels, loading and unloading computer programs, labeling books (which is actually a two-step process, and maybe a four-step process if you have to prepare pockets and cards, too), and then the part that I personally dislike the most--shelving the books--all in perfect order (which actually I do like the order).  Today we worked on reading shelves, which means finding mistakes and putting things in final perfect order.  Plus, I made labels for the shelves so that the elementary kids can find their books on rocks, on David's flocks, and Seuss's Sox.