Tico Tuesday, January 14th

Welcome back to Tico Tuesday!
With Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve (a day I traveled), and last Tuesday as another travel day for me, Tico Tuesday has had almost a full month break! I won't try to make up for lost time here though. After a wonderful visit with my parents for Christmas, I headed to St. Louis to visit my brother and his family. I had a great time with them: playing games, going to the children's museum, enjoying use of a real fireplace, going to their church for glorious "high church" worship (if you don't know what that is, it's ok. Just know I really like the rich way they worship there!), reading in the warmth of the afternoon sun, eating my sister-in-law's wonderful food, talking with her and my brother, and I even enjoyed playing in the snow with the 4 oldest of my brother and sister-in-law's 5 children! (The picture here is of the Gateway Arch, if you were wondering). We got two snowfalls and had a day when the highest temperature was about 3F.

While I was very happy to come back to the wonderful warm, humid tropics (my skin is still recovering from the dryness!), I got quite a knot in my throat on the plane when I thought about how long it might be until I get to see my niece and nephews again. The kids come back to the Bible Home this coming Sunday, and I'm looking forward to seeing them again, but they have their own special place in my heart and definitely can't replace my brother and sister-in-law's children. Another cool part of my trip was getting to see Kiki, a fellow missionary here. Her family lives less than 3 miles away from my brother! We had a hilarious evening together.
Now I'm back in Costa Rica, gearing up for the new semester, and this week, I have training and meetings in preparation for the year ahead of us. Thank you for your continued prayers for the personnel needs we have and for the new children who will be joining us in the next couple weeks!
And just a reminder: the Latin America Mission is now fully united with the United World Mission! I thank God for what he is doing and going to do through this new powerful, more efficient joined organization. If you have any questions about this or are unsure where to direct your gifts, please let me know!
Thank you!
Carrie