We have been able to get a lot of paperwork done for your civil marriage. I think if it were 2 peruvians getting married, it would be so much easier. Its just more difficult and complicated since I am not from Peru. My birth certificate is now legalized for Peru, and a spanish translated copy is being made right now. We went the U.S. embassy, and that is quite a facility. The people there were very helpful. I had a marriage certificate from Iowa that basicly just said they could not find my name in their computer, and I was hoping that would do for a document that said I was single. But the woman at the embassy told us that she could get us a document that said I was single in the United States, and the document would be in Spanish and would be legal in Peru. And so we got that, and were really glad. We also had to get our blood taken, and tested for like STD´s and other stuff. We also both had to get a chest xray done, but not real sure what they were looking for. Everyone is required to do that when getting married. A wedding is expensive, but also the civil marriage is not cheap, and I imagine a lot of people in Peru wish to get married, but they just can´t afford it.
I am happy about the progress, and today we were able to make an appointment for our civil marriage ceremony, which is October 25. I really don´t know what that will be like, but I know we dress up for it. After that the country of Peru considers us married, although really it is not until our wedding that we consider ourselves married. Eliana reminded me to thank everyone for your prayers.
Things are going well here. I am not a big eater, and I know Elianas mother wishes that I ate more. She gave me a pat on the back at supper tonight when we were eating spaghetti and I asked for seconds.
It really is a different world here. I think that really you would just have to experience it to know what I am talking about. I imagine it is a shock to go from the United States to a lot of countries, and probably the same for a lot of people that visit the United States. It is just so different. I am hoping that my Spanish continues to be better, because it really is difficult to communicate. It even still gets difficult for Eliana and I talking to each other. But I hope that in a year that is different, and that communication is really not an issue anymore.

Not too much happening, but wanted to write another post. I got sick for a few days, but now am feeling better. The other times I was here, I had stomach problems. I am not sure why, but might have been the water, or just food that I am not used to eating. But this time I haven´t had any stomach trouble, and I am glad.
Today is a holiday in Peru, and so there is no work or classes. But tonight I think that Eliana and I are eating out with Elianas sister and her fiance.

Nuestra Boda Invitaciones

Tonight Eliana and I went, and got our wedding invitations. We got a bunch, and took the both of us to carry it all. But one of the pictures shows a small box, and that is for the reception. Tradition here is that everyone is given some cake to take home, and we got those boxes to put everyones cake in. The invitations are really pretty. The napkins that my parents got us for our reception have those two hearts on it, and we wanted the same for our invitations. We will be sending these out soon.

Day 3

Thanks for all your comments. Eliana and I went to the place to start the process for our civil marriage. We need to do that before our wedding. I had to bring some documents to Peru with me, and there was some problems with them, but I know that everything will be ok, and God will help us with that.
Yesterday I went to the university with Eliana, and will go today also. I read a book, and right now am reading, ¨for men only¨, which seems to be a good book to help prepare for marriage. Elianas professor was glad I was there, and speaks some English.
I am so glad to be here in Peru. I need to take some pictures, and put them on the blog, and hope to do that soon. Mom and Dad will be here soon, and mom now has a digital camera, so I think you will soon be seeing lots of photos from her also. Have a good day!

Day 2

I think that my Spanish has gotten better since the last time I was here. I don´t know how much better, but I know its better. But Elianas nephew David is here to my side, and I don´t understand much of what he is saying to me. Last time he was here, he thought that Dad and I had trouble hearing, and he would speak loud into our ears. But to his disappointment it didn´t help much.
It really is so wonderful to be here. Everyone is speaking about our marriage, and is very excited. We still have preparations to do, but soon they will be finished, and our wedding day will be here.
Mom sent fudge and cookies with me, and they have been a big hit. I think they are all gone now. Tonight I am going to the university with Eliana, and it will be neat to see where Eliana is going to school. This is a wonderful blessing for us to now be together. We have waited a long time to be together.
mom & dad, everyone is glad that you will soon be here.

Our first day together in 7 months.

Well I made it to Peru without any trouble. Thanks for your prayers. We have had a really good day together. We picked out our wedding cards, and did some other preparations for our wedding today. Last night I was tired, and when I met up with Eliana, it felt like I was having a good dream. We have waited so long for this, and it is so wonderful that it is here. Well it is late, and we need to get some sleep, but will post more later.

We are excited

The countdown clock is now less than 24 hours, and I am headed to Peru tomorrow. I should be arriving in Peru at about 10:50 p.m. central time. I don't know why, but I always worry a lot about my trip to Peru, and getting through customs. I think it is because I want so much to be there, and see Eliana. If you would, please pray for my travel to Peru, and that Eliana and I are together tomorrow night.
Thank you.

The long awaited answer

When it comes to finding things on the internet, Rhonda is the best I've seen. I was going to warn everyone about her, but I guess there was no need. Rhonda, I have to tell you that your answer was not correct, but the try was greatly appreciated.

To give her credit, Sucre is known as "the white city", the same as the city we are going to. But I said it is a "misti" city, and that is because this city lies at the foot of a big dormant volcano named "El Misti". And so congratulations to Terrie for getting it right, because Arequipa, Peru is the correct answer, and is where we are going for our honeymoon. The city is known as a white city because much of its buildings are built out of the white volcanic stone. I must say, that was fun, and I really should do another one of those in the future.

Eliana and I have decided where we are going for our honeymoon, and I think that we will have a really good time. And so instead of telling you, I thought it might be funner to write a clue, and see if anyone can guess it. So here it is:

This misti city is known for its whiteness.

Eliana y yo hemos decidido adonde vamos para nuestra luna de miel, y pienso que tendremos un tiempo muy bueno. Pero en vez de decirte, deseo escribir una pista, y veo si puedes conjeturar el lugar. Aquí está la pista:

Esta misti ciudad se conoce para su blancura.

If you scroll down a little, and on the right you see a pink countdown clock. Right now there is only a little more than 13 days before Eliana and I are together. Really we have waited a long time, and I wish that clock would move a bit faster.

Acontecimientos

I wished to have the opportunity and joy to write again in our blog. Sometimes it gets to be difficult for me to write in our blog because I do not have words to write. But today I feel it is different, and I have words to write and to comment on some things that have happened recently.

First: I started my classes in the university and my days are a little complicated, but thanks to God everything goes well and I am glad because the things in the company where I work are progressing and everyday I have more work to do. Really that is very good, although also I get to have more homework from the university and that gets to be difficult because the time is short for me, but I thank to God who always gives his aid.

Second: today I have an administration examination and was worried on that because yesterday I did not have the book that the teacher wants us to have and the examination will be of chapter 1 of the book. I was very worried on that, but thanks to God for Tim who helped me to trust, and give that to God, and also he prayed and asked God that he helps me with that and then I began to be calm and to have peace. I remembered yesterday that I had a document of the administration course that a friend from the university sent to me by email and is a summary of what the teacher has spoken about in the past days, and so I will study that, because what he spoke about was the first chapter of the book.

Third: this is something special because several days ago back I wrote about how sad and worried I was with not finding a place for our reception.Now, I am glad because God has provided us with that place for our reception. Its a pretty place and when I saw it I had joy in thinking that that would be the place of our reception, but did not yet know if it was available and how much it would cost. But thanks to God the 10 of November was not reserved by other people and the price was not expensive. It was really very special because I got a good price unlike the other place that I saw that was very pretty, but also very expensive. God is really good and helped us in a special way and used two very special people whom I appreciate very much.

Fourth: In these past days Tim and I saw cake photos, and they all looked pretty and delicious. But out of all of them we chose a cake for our marriage, and in the photo you see a cake with 3 levels, but we want it to have 4 levels, also we will have another cake that is chocolate with strawberries, because the 10 of November is the birthday of my sister Katherine, and we want my sister to have a cake for her birthday, and we are glad about that, because we will eat a piece of chocolate cake with strawberries.

Wedding preparations

Eliana and I are happy about the progress in our wedding preparations. Like I've said in a previous post, Elianas dress is being made. A pastor from Miami (a long time friend of Eliana and her family) is coming for our wedding, and will be marrying us. We now have a place for our reception, and is about 20 minutes from the church. Elianas cousin is a chef, and him and some others will be cooking the dinner at our reception. I am really excited for our wedding, and wishing for the day to finally arrive. Eliana and I were talking about wedding traditions. We were talking about how people throw rice, and that is also a tradition in Peru. But I told her that the people should throw something else, because birds eat the rice, and the rice expands in their stomach, and kills them. That was a surprise for Eliana, and then I read about it on the internet, and it turns out to be just a myth. So they can throw all the rice they want, and the birds can then fill their stomachs without worry. And as long as they are tossing the rice at me, I might as well open my mouth, and hope for a well aimed throw.

I had been to Jim Rittenhouse's house when I was little with my parents, but I don't think I met him again until 2002. My Dad and I went to the hospital because Jim and his wife Grace had been in a car accident. Jim was ok, but Grace was hurt. Jim was driving with his wife to his side, and Jim accidently pulled out in front of a fast moving semi truck. What I remember most about that day was Jim's attitude and how he was reacting to the situation. He knew that it was something that happened for a reason, and that God allowed that to happen for a purpose. I remember that I was going through a tough time, and I had a lot of questions, and while in the waiting room, Jim took the time to talk to me, and help me. Grace soon died in the hospital. Jim and Grace had been married for 62 years.
Months later I was also in a serious car accident, and it happened because I accidently pulled out in front of a fast moving suburban. That was really difficult for me, because I caused the accident. But soon I could see God in the middle of that situation, and how it happened for a reason, and one of the reasons is that God wanted to use that situation to help me. In my life, it is the difficult times when I turn to God. One thing in common between my accident and Jim & Grace's accident is that God wanted us to trust him with the situation, and know that He is in control.

When I was attending college at MidAmerica in Olathe, I had a history class, and one of the requirements was to do an oral interview with someone. I asked Jim, and I think I really surprised him, since we really didn't know each other. I told him if he wanted to do the interview, I would come to his house, and we could sit down together, and I would have a list of questions for him. And I would also have a voice recorder, so I could get it all on tape. And when we were finished, it would be typed out on a computer, and then put on an internet site that is run by the university. I can't remember if he said yes immediately, but I soon got a letter in the mail from him, and he said that he wanted to do the interview, and that it was an answer to his prayer. He also said he wanted to speak about God, and what God has done in his life. The interview was done on November 28, 2003 in his home. Jim was confident that God would help us to talk, and when I read the interview again, I can see Gods hands in it, and I think God told Jim exactly what to say. Here is a little bit from the interview:

My questions to Jim: "Jim, can you think of somebody that has really influenced your life?"

Jim's response: "You bet. That minister that preached that message about God's grace did me a favor. After that period of time I worshipped with a modern version of the church. Where, born again, Spirit filled, ministry of the Spirit and things of that kind were never even mentioned. It was more or less just a fellowship of people who felt that Christian faith was more involved in a person to person, you know. While we called it a social gospel, Tim, I followed it a long for about 30 years. I kept wondering a long time as I went along through that, how about Christ's sacrifice at Calvary's Cross?; how does it come that we are talking about personal relationships all the time and nobody was saying much about what Jesus did for Calvary? I really got confused about that and finally, the time came when I told the Lord I have to get this question resolved. I said "I don't believe I was saved because I have been good to somebody." I think I have been saved because Christ was good to me when He went to Calvary's cross. And so, I decided I was going to find the answer to that before I went any further. I was so confused about faith or works, I guess that is the way you could put it. So, I started a prayer time of my own, and a Bible study time of my own. Then, the Lord sent three men into my life that I can remember that were definately an influence in my life. I don't want to forget my wife, Gracie. She was a blessing to me all the way along. We just kind of helped each other, you know, grow in the Lord. She was just a real wonderful blessing to me. And, by the way, Tim, I want to mention to you and I know you are young like I was, about the same age. And one of the most wonderful blessings you can ever have in your life is a wife that loves the Lord like you do."

The interview lasted about an hour, and I was really glad with how it went. Then came the time to type the interview, and my Grandma Essie helped me. I would rewind, play, and pause the tape, and she did the typing. It took quite a while, but finally the interview was written out, and more than 12 pages long. I am really glad that I was given that assignment, because I think a lot of good came out of it.

Jim recently died, but I am happy for Jim, because I know that he was ready, and he was very excited about going to Heaven. Really I wish for what Jim has, and that God does something in my heart similar to what He did in Jim's heart.

Happy Birthday to my precious Niece.

Your long awaited birthday is almost over, but your new year is full of surprises and blessings. I hope you know that you are a blessing to all of us, and we are so glad that you are finally here with us.
Uncle Tim.