T-Minus 3 Days

Look out Mexico City, the Gentrys are headed your way in less than 3 days!

WITH PRELIMINARY VISAS STAMPED INTO OUR PASSPORTS!!!

We received a phone call early Friday afternoon from the consulate asking us to come in. They didn't say why, so immediately, I jumped to worst case scenario. Again, I should have learned this trust thing a long time ago. After waiting awhile, we were each interviewed by one of the workers and then sent home. If not for slow systems, we would've had our passports in hand WITH the visas stamped in them on Friday. However, we returned this morning and received them. We have until February to finish the process of applying for residency in Mexico. God is so good to us!

Saturday, I said "see ya later" to a couple ladies who have greatly helped me with my Spanish through weekly visits. Yesterday was our last day at the church we've attended since we arrived last August. That was bittersweet. We're excited to be moving on to the next phase of this journey, but it's hard to leave behind people we've grown close to this past year. As I alluded to earlier, we're not saying "adios" (goodbye). Rather, we've chosen to say "hasta luego" (until later). Goodbye seems so permanent. See ya later has the hope that we'll see each other again soon.

This morning, we had graduation practice and it was a morning of incredible fun and laughter. I'm sure our poor academic dean was frustrated with us for not taking things more seriously. We're all just so giddy and slap-happy about finishing formal language study and moving into our ministries. Tomorrow will be the last day of classes -- party day. In between, we're working like crazy to get things packed up. Although we said we'd work hard not to accumulate more stuff, somehow we managed to do it anyway. And so, Troy's work is cut out for him, figuring out a way to get everything packed while saying within weight allotments for each piece of luggage.

Wednesday morning is graduation. It will definitely be another bittersweet time for us as we celebrate our accomplishments yet say goodbye to the teachers, administrators, and staff who have ministered to us throughout the year. And I don't even want to THINK about the goodbyes to come among our fellow missionary friends. There is a large group of us (a little under 40 people) going to a local Chili's to enjoy one last meal of celebration together before we each move on to other ministries. We haven't eaten at a Chili's for over a year, so we're looking forward to "food from home" as well as the fellowship we'll share with good friends.

The next 3 days will fly by very quickly, so please keep us in your prayers as we finish our time here and prepare for our move to Mexico. Our flight is THURSDAY at 7 AM.