Clear Sailing

Ahhhh! Finally, after several failed attempts to extend our visas, today we found favor. I must admit, that after the agent's questioning us on Saturday, that I did not have a good feeling about meeting with him today. So, I prayed, several friends prayed, Don prayed. Our missionary friend, Ruth, who had also prayed, picked us up to drive us the the office and to act as our interpreter. On the way, we explained in detail what had happened thus far. She seems to understand the law pretty well and said that we might have no other choice but to leave the country for the required 3 days. By the time we arrived at immigration, I had pretty well resigned myself to having to leave.

There were several people ahead of us and they all seemed to be having assorted problems. While waiting, we talked with a Methodist preacher/missionary who was born in St. Louis! When our turn came, Ruth explained our situation and in answer to his questions, told him that although we were not missionaries, we were, in fact, helping with the mission work (true) and that allowing us to stay would benefit that effort. They had quite the discussion of Honduran law, residency requirements (more questions were asked), and finally he advised us to starting working on getting our residency. He read off the requirements, and Ruth wrote them down for us. After more talking, he agreed to allow our extension. Hallelujah! What a relief.

Day 11 with no car: On to the Kia dealer/repair shop. Henry was not there but another employee called him on the cell phone and Ruth talked to him. The problem with the a/c condenser had been fixed but he was waiting on a high pressure switch (this Don understood) to finish the job - once again the wrong part had been sent and reordered; he would have it fixed today and we could pick it up first thing in the a.m. (We'll see.) Such is life on the island.

I asked to Ruth to listen to the messages on my phone, which was supposed to be programmed in English, but in fact is half and half, and I don't understand that other half. So, I've never been able to retrieve messages or use voice mail. She set it up for me, so if you're in Honduras, feel free to leave me a message now! (I've been telling everyone for the last few months to not even bother.)

So, a wonderfully productive day. Ruth is such a blessing, and her faith is amazing.

The hummer, Esmerelda, is getting used to us coming and going across the deck all day long. She doesn't even bother to leave her nest when we come a little too close. It has been one week since she laid the first egg, two more weeks to go!