Praise God with me for more answers to prayer!
Here Alberto is handing over the keys to my Mitsubishi ASX (Outlander Sport) which I drove away minutes later – compared to the weeks it took to order, to do the paperwork and the wire transfer, to get insurance, to make the final payment and to sign all the documents. Finally! But that began the process of registration and license plates only to find out that there are no materials to make the license plates. Maybe they’ll be ready next month. We are in the land of mañana!
So now I’m learning to drive in La Paz, Mexico (not Bolivia). I’d like to share some of that and then go to the “spiritual” matters (for those who want to skip down). I’ve learned that when it rains, people try to avoid driving. I learned from experience that if you do go out in the rain, it takes waaaaayyyyyyyy longer to get anywhere because everyone slows down to a crawl. The reason is that you can’t see the road (or the sidewalks for that matter!), specifically 
– the holes! This is what the rain does or worsens and I’ve seen much bigger and deeper holes, but it wasn’t safe or convenient to stop to get a photo. There are thousands of holes in La Paz!
Besides watching for holes, pedestrians, bikes, you obviously have to watch for traffic signs as well. La Paz has a few intersections that use lights and others that use stop (alto) signs. I find it quite interesting that it seems to me that the majority of the intersections are 4-way stops, although that needs to be qualified. Unless there is a car stopped ahead of you or a car on the cross street arrived first, it’s just a rolling stop (or a bit of a reduction in velocity). 
Also, notice the street signs. I wish they were visible at every corner! Along with the street name, you can see under which mayoral government they were posted, the name of the neighbourhood, the postal code, and the direction of the flow of traffic. It seems to me that the majority of the streets are one-way (you probably can’t make that out near the 4-way stop), but República is two-way.
So there is a lot to watch for as one approaches an intersection – are there people/objects/holes to watch our for? which way does traffic flow? do I have the right-of-way? do I have to stop? do I just slow down and keep going? or… notice the visibility in the progression here: 
or… here’s another intersection and a close-up of the same:
or… is the sign hidden? or, worse yet, is it a corner where for some reason the stop-sign is no longer there?! So please do pray for safety driving.
Other “signs” that I saw were for Mexico’s Independence Day September 16th. It begins the night before with “El Grito” which marks “the shout or declaration or call” by Miguel Hidalgo that began Mexico’s War of Independence in 1810. Independence was officially declared September 28, 1821. The church, El Faro, took advantage of celebrating it as an evangelistic event.
I’m still in the cultural orientation phase – looking for signs of how to fit into the Mexican culture. Even so, I’ve taken a couple turns leading the Bible study portion of the Ladies’ Meeting Tuesday mornings and thoroughly enjoyed it. I’ve also had the opportunity to share the Gospel or part of it with several people as I work on my orientation. Please pray that I’ll be sensitive to the “signs” in personal relationships and discerning as to how to respond.
After working on it for two weeks, I finally have a smart phone – another answer to prayer. Now I just need to learn how to use it! (Another prayer request!) Now that I have both the phone and a car, I’ll start to seriously look for housing. 
I’ve been at Martin and Susie’s home (photo) with Lupita, but tomorrow I’ll move back to the Thiessens’ home to house-sit until they return the beginning of November. Ideally the Lord will lead me to an apartment or condo to occupy in November, with enough space to entertain groups, in a safe neighbourhood and with secure parking. I’d also love it if I could see the inlet, but that’s not a necessity. Please do pray that the Lord guide me to the perfect place to live and minister. And the Lord answered prayers for Susie’s health. The tumour was removed and she is recuperating quickly in AR.
Although I have seen new birds, one day my friend’s vehicle had a flat on the way to the airport and I saw something else. While waiting for assistance, I walked down a lone dirt road and saw dozens of beautiful butterflies – all new to me. Here are a few with the closed-wing view beside the open-wing view, the Tropical Leaf butterflies (3) have both views in one shot, plus there are two other butterflies:
How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures…
All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time.
When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things…
May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works…
I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord.
…Praise the Lord, my soul. Praise the Lord.
(Psalm 104:24, 27, 28, 31, 33, 34, 35, NIV)
Signing off with some signs from the sky,
Brenda
