Jazz

Shortly after we moved to Autlan in August, my sister Morgan joined a ballet class at a dance studio here. I saw that there was classes offered for my age, so in October I thought I would give one a try and see how I liked it. I went into the class for the first time not really knowing what to expect, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into. It was totally hip-hop, high school musical type dancing. When my mom picked me up and asked me how it was, I told her what it was like, she just laughed. Everyone else I told about it that knows me really well laughed too. It is totally not something I would normally do, but for some reason I still really enjoyed it. I decided I would try it out for a month, and if I didn't like it I would be done after that. Even though I wasn't very good at it, I still enjoyed it for the most part.
I soon heard that we would be having a performance in December, and didn't know what to do. A performance? Are you kidding me? I didn't want to just quit, so I decided to do it even though I was pretty sure I was going to do mess everything up, just by doing the one song I knew.
On December 6th, was the first performance. I decided I was going to have fun even if I did mess up. I did almost all of the songs in the routine, and only messed up one time, well that was really noticeable anyway... :)That night was the funnest night I have had so far in Autlan. Even if I wasn't the best one in our group, it didn't matter. I got to know the girls on my dance team much better that night, and we laughed and had lots of fun together. It wasn't awkward to hang out with them, it all seemed so natural. It reminded me of all the fun times I had with my friends back in Salem.I am excited to develop a better friendship with the girls in my dance class. I hope that I can share the love of Christ with them and make a difference in their lives.
We have another performance on December 18th on the stage downtown, I'm excited. :)
Enjoy the pictures. I will post more after our performance on the 18th.

Thankful for the Stars

Almost every night I find myself staring up at the never ending beautiful sky above me. Being captivated more and more every time I take a minute to look up at the stars.
We have a big open courtyard at our house, at night it seems like you can see every star in the entire sky by standing out there. It continually reminds me how small I am compared to God. Each star is a gift, to show both how powerful the creator of the universe is, and how much he loves me. I think I as well as most other people in the world, forget to look at the small things God blesses us with each day.
The other day I was doing my Bible study on my bed. I keep a list in my devotional book of people and things I want to remember to pray for. When it became time for me to spend some time in prayer with God, I realized that almost every single one of the things on my list was asking God for something. I pray for those things every day, and I didn't even realize that there were barely any things on that list I could thank God for until then. That doesn't make them bad things to pray for, but I was forgetting to thank God for the things he already has done for me also.
When you are in a big city, if you look up into the sky, the stars are much harder to see. Why? Because of all the city lights. However, if you are out in the country and you look up at the stars, it is like looking up at a completely different sky. There isn't all the city lights, all the distractions, blocking the view of what is really out there. We get so caught up in life asking God to give us more and more that we forget to thank him for all the things, big and small, that he gives us every day. Don't let the city lights block your view of the beautiful gifts God blesses you with. Next time you look up into the sky, thank God for the things he has given you and be reminded how powerful our Heavenly Father is.

Packages Wanted

Hello all my dear friends! Just thought I would let you know, my grandma just sent my mom a birthday present and it only cost $3.00 to mail here to Mexico. Hint, hint....we would love to receive a package from you! :) Our address here is:
Monte Alban 107
Colinas Del Sur
Autlan, Jalisco 48900
MEXICO

Twilight

I am sure you have heard the buzz going around about the book series "Twilight". Pretty much all teenage girls are reading them, and that is all their conversations seem to be about anymore. I have to confess, I am addicted to these books too. I just finished the second book, and I am super excited to get the third and fourth ones. I can't buy them in English in Mexico, so I am a bit behind, but they should be arriving in the mail soon.:D When I first heard about the books, and then heard what they were about, I thought all my friends were going crazy. I mean, come on, vampires?! But after I started reading them, I couldn't stop! After a while they become more than just a story you read when you are bored. Stephenie Meyer has done an outstanding job writing these novels. They aren't like most books you would find on the shelves at Barnes and Noble these days. They are different, unique. I think people really enjoy them for that.
A movie is coming out on November 21st based off of the first book. I can't wait to see it!
If you haven't read the Twilight series yet, you need to read them! They are amazing. Especially if you are a teenage girl, you will love them. :)

La Roca

La Roca is my new second home here in Autlan. I love hanging out there, and I am there at least three nights a week. La Roca Casa De Cafe is a coffee house owned by Tecate Mission, ran by John and Elizabeth Rodgers, some of our ministry partners here. La Roca has a warm, welcoming feel to everyone who comes in, and at the same time a safe, christian atmosphere too. People come to La Roca to drink a cup of coffee and visit with friends, play games while listening to the christian music playing in the background, to do homework, or just to relax. In the back room is also where we teach our English classes. I see many of my students at La Roca throughout the week, which gives me a chance to have more of a one-on-one relationship with them. The coffee at La Roca is the best coffee ever by the way. It even beats starbucks! :) Audie and Lulis are the two full time employees at La Roca. We have become good buddies and they are tons of fun to hang out with. I love them both. Audie has two kids, Daniel and Dinora. They are attending one of my English classes, and I love them to pieces too. I am beginning to get to know and become friends with more and more people here. From my English classes, hanging out at La Roca, and from my gym class. We have only lived here for two months and I can't even go into town anymore without seeing a few people I know. Whether in La Roca, driving in the car, or walking around, I am stopping to say "hola" to people more and more. The other day in the car, for about the third time that day, we passed by some people and I was like "hey, I know them." My mom said, "Wow Jess, you sure are getting to where you know more people here." Just think of what it will be like in a year! I am glad that I am making new friends here. I hope that our friendship can lead to them beginning an everlasting relationship with Christ. Autlan is a great city, with very kind, friendly people, but they lack the love of Christ in their lives. This city needs to be shining with the bright light of Christ. Please remember the people of Autlan, Mexico in your prayers. That they would find the light of Christ and not continue to live in the darkness. Please also pray for my family as we shine the light of Christ to the people here, and show them what love is all about. Dios Le Bendiga!

Pretty. Awesome.

From August 9th-18th, a group of thirteen people from Bethany Baptist Church (my family's home Church in the U.S.) came to Autlan, Mexico, for a week of missions work. It had been a long time since I had seen my friends and family that were coming on the trip and I couldn't wait to be with them once again. I had more excitement running through me waiting for them at the airport than any teenage girl should ever be able to have. (Not to mention trying to figure out what to do with all of my excitement) I couldn't wait to laugh, hug, smile, take pictures and hang out with my friends from Salem once again.
The nine days that they were here were incredible. I saw God work in many different ways. I saw how much passion my friends have to serve and honor God with their lives and that encouraged me a lot. We had a great week of ministry and were able to serve the people here in Autlan in many ways. Some of the things the group did while they were here included: Leading a Vacation Bible School each morning at the Church that my family attends here in Autlan. Going to an Indian camp one evening and sharing the gospel with the children. Going to La Roca coffee house, doing both a music night and two English conversation clubs. We also did some work around the center and went to Andy and Jessie Clark's (some of our ministry partners) house, helping them paint, clean bathrooms, wash windows etc. We had a very busy week, but I know that the group's work brought glory to God in many ways.
It was cool to see how much the relationships between my buddies and I that came on the trip grew throughout the week. We all became a lot closer and got to know each other better. It was cool to see how each of my friends has different passions, gifts and ways they want to serve. I am very thankful that the group from Bethany got to come down this summer, and for all the work that was done while they were here. We had an awesome week of ministry and I know that God was very pleased with the work that was done for Him.

Spanish Finished!

Today I took my last two tests for Spanish. It was a long, but yet at the same time short nine months of studying Spanish. I look back and see how much Spanish I knew in January, and how much I know now and I am amazed. I still have lots of practice until I am able to speak as good as I would like to, but I will get there. When you live in a country where everyone you come in contact with speaks Spanish, you will learn it. :) I am very thankful for all of my teachers at Harvest. They are all great teachers and are passionate about us being able to learn and speak Spanish well. I have learned so much the past nine months, God strengthened me in so many ways. I don't think I would have been able to make it without God helping me endure until the end. I was learning Spanish to make a difference for Him, and He was at my side helping me learn it all the way through.
Most of you probably know that I am homeschooled. I decided to take a break on my normal school studies as I was going to language school so I could completely focus on Spanish. I will begin right away catching up on my Sophomore year in highschool and then start my Junior year as soon as I can. I would appreciate your prayers as I do so. It is going to take a lot of effort and disipline to catch up. I look back and do not regret my decision at all. Yes, it will be difficult to catch up in my studies, but I have learned a heck of a lot of Spanish in the past nine months, and I will be able to use what I have learned to serve my King; and I am willing to do anything to serve my King.
Thank you all for your love and support as my dad and I went through language school at Harvest Language Center. It was an amazing experience and I learned more Spanish than I could have ever imagned. Now I get to take what I have learned, and make a difference for my Savior.

Cousins Reunited

Jarren, Justin Jordan and Jackson Baker have always been like brothers to me. We have grown up seeing each other every week of our lives. Some of my favorite childhood memories have been with the Baker boys, and I will always remember our time together over the years.
From June 30th to July 25th, Justin, Jordan and Jackson came and visited us in Guadalajara. I was able to to spend a little bit of time with them when I went to Salem for a visit in March, but it had been a long time since we had spent quality time together. We had a great time hanging out together, just like "old times". Even though we had been apart for six months, we picked up right where we left off. We had some good times over the three weeks they were here. Jarren and my Uncle Tim are coming with the mission team from Bethany Baptist Church on August 8th, I am super excited to see them too. (Only two more weeks!)
One thing I have realized by moving to Mexico is that even though I live 3,000 miles away from my friends and family, my relationship with them can still grow. Between the phone, Facebook, e-mail and AIM, I am always talking to my buddies from the States. I thought that when I moved here to Mexico, as much as I didn't want it to happen, I would slowly lose all my friends and not be as close with my family. To my surprise, I have been proved wrong. I have become more close than ever with many of my friends in the past 9 months. And seeing that the Baker boys and I are just as close as ever was really encouraging too. Yes, I do wish that I could still spend time with my friends and family in Salem every week, but I can't. I still know though, that I can be close with them, and our relationship can still grow. Being a Missionary takes a lot of sacrifices, but I am willing to make the sacrifices so I can serve my Savior.
Thank you all for showing me that you still love and care about my family and I even though we live so far away. I can live here not having that many close friends and not being able to see you guys very often because I know that God will always be with both of us. No matter how far away we might be from each other, and no matter how long it might be before we see each other again, we can still be close and our relationship can still grow because God's love is in both of our lives and He ties us together. That is a connection that we will always have, and no one can break that relationship.
I love you guys!

Mi Primer Blog en Español

¡Hola Todos!
Hace unas semanas estaba hablando con una vecina y dijo que debo hacer un blog en Español. Mi Español todavía no es perfecto. Entonces no se pueden reir si entiendes Español y ve todos mis errores. He estado aprendiendo Español desde Enero de este año. He estado estudiando mucho, y he aprendido mucho en los meses pasados. Mi familia y yo cambiamos a México en Diciembre de 2007. Cuando cambiamos aquí, no sabia ninguna frase o palabra en Español menos frases como "donde esta el baño" y "taco" etc. Mirando que sabia de Español en Enero y que se ahora, no puedo creer tanto he aprendido. Pero, todavía tengo mucho trabajo y practico hasta mi Español es perfecto. Creo que hablando en Español es el clavo para aprender Español bien. Cada noche voy afuera de mi casa y jugar fútbol o algo asi con los chicos que viven cerca de nosotros. Ese tiempo cada noche es donde practico mi Español normalmente. Es muy chido por que puedo mejorar mi Español mucho platicando con mis amigos aquí en nuestra colonia.
En tres semanas mas o menos un grupo de joveness de mi iglesia en los estados unidos van a venir aquí a Guadalajara. Se van a quedar con nosotros por nueve dias. Mi primo Jarren y una de mis mejores amigas, Hannah se van a quedar una extra semana conmigo. No han visto mis amigos en Oregon desde Marzo, y les extraño mucho. Estoy muy emocionada verles pronto. Ahorrita tres de mis primos, Justin, Jordan y Jackson estan aquí en Guadalajara quedandose con nosotros. Ha estado muy bien que mis primos estan con nosotros otra vez. Para mi, son como hermanos y cuando mi familia no estan con su familia, les extrañamos mucho.
Okie-dokie, allí esta mi primer blog en Español. No es nada muy especial pero yo lo hice. =)

Summers at the Fireworks Stand

Hot summer days, rook games, foot long subs from Winco, sleeping in parking lots, yelling with cardboard signs in our hands on the sidewalk, riddles, inside jokes, Jess and CoCo days, creating "art" out of the supplies, throwing wall balls over flags....the list goes on and on of the memories that I have had over the past five summers I have helped out at my youth group's fireworks stand. I have many great memories in my years in Crosswalk, but being at the fireworks stand is definitely one of my favorites. It has been a great way for our youth group to raise money, and the youth always love coming to help out in the tent. This year is the first out of the last five summers that I have not helped out at the tent. Although I miss it a lot, and wish that I could be helping out there again this year, I will always have the memories of the summers I have worked at the fireworks stand.

Sixteen Years of Life

Every one can remember when they were a kid and they would think and dream about when they would be sixteen. They would be so cool and have life all figured out. I turned sixteen this past weekend, and I honestly don't feel any different than I did last week.=) And I sure don't have the rest of my life figured out either. It is really cool for me to look back on the past sixteen years of my life and see all that God has done for me. The friendships I have had, the ways my faith has grown, the things I have learned, finding out how to be the person God has created me to be...the list goes on and on. God has blessed me with sixteen great years of life, and I am thankful for every day.
Even though I wasn't able to celebrate my birthday with my friends and family in Oregon, (or get my drivers license) like I wanted to, I still had a great birthday. I had a party with my friends on Saturday and we had a blast. We went to the mall and took pictures with a bunch of crazy stuff, then came back to my house and made a scrapbook page out of the pictures we took. The next day I had another party with some friends that live in our neighborhood.
Thank you to all of you in Oregon that called, emailed, or thought of me on my birthday. You guys made my birthday all the more awesome!

Faithful Servant

The past twelve weeks, I have been able to attend a missionary teen girls Bible study. We went through a study learning all about what it means to be "His (God's) Girl". God has blessed me in many ways by going to this Bible study. I have learned a lot the past three months! I have grown and been challenged in my faith in many ways. One of the coolest things that God has blessed me with by going to the Bible study is I have been able to make some new friends. I miss my friends, family and youth group in Oregon like crazy, and I was in need of some girl friends my age here in Guadalajara.
Last Tuesday, as we were finishing the last section in our books, our leader had us turn to Philippians 4:4-10. She had us all read the passage by ourselves and then each of us shared with the group what it meant to us. We all had different ways that the passage impacted us. As I read the passage, verse nine really stuck out to me. It says "Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me-put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."
God sent me to Mexico to serve Him. He has called me, and all other Christians to boldly go out and share our faith with the world. If we do this, if we do what God has called us to do, has taught us to do, we will be at peace with Him. With out Christ, there would be no peace in this world today. I encourage you, don't be like Jonah and run away from what God has called you to do in your life. Take what He teaches you and share it with the world. Make a difference by living for Him. That is my goal as I am here in Mexico, to make a difference by living my life for Christ. I want to have the peace of God in my life. Someday when I get to heaven, I want to be able to look into the eyes of my Savior, and hear His voice say to me, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

Shout to The Lord

I don't know if you all are American Idol watchers or not. I don't watch the show each week, but last night was the "Idol Gives Back" night, where they donated money to charity. The song that they sang while watchers could call in and donate money was a very commonly known song by Christians, "Shout to The Lord". They did an awesome job on performing the song, but what I couldn't get over when I was watching the performance on Youtube was how many people watched American Idol last night and heard the song all about worshiping our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Here is the link to the video if you are interested in watching it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chXEraRnE4o

My trip to Tecate

I had the awesome opportunity the last two weeks to go to The United States. I flew into Portland, Oregon on Monday, March 17th. I arrived with the warm welcome of my youth Pastor, Pastor Joe, and some of my good friends from Salem. I stayed at my grandparents house and my aunts and uncles as well. I was only in Salem for a short time; about four days. I then left early Friday morning with my Church, Bethany Baptist and we began our drive through California to Tecate, Mexico for a week of ministry. It was my second year going on the trip to Tecate; I had such a blast! It was fun to be able to hang out and have fun with my friends from Oregon. I have missed everyone in Salem like crazy, it was so fun to be able to be myself and have fun with my great friends that speak the same language that I do, as well as being able to see God work in our lives and the lives of others on the trip. I became more close than I ever have been with almost everyone on the trip, and I left with friends that I didn't have before I came. I am so thankful for the awesome opportunity that God gave me to go and serve him, as well as to see my amazing friends for 12 days. I finished my time with my friends at Disneyland on Friday. It was extremely hard to say goodbye, the days we had together went by all too fast. I look forward to getting to see some of them in August when the group from Bethany comes here to where we are in Mexico. I have been pretty down the past two days, I miss my friends and family in Oregon a lot. I begin school again tomorrow and I will get back into the swing of life soon. I was very happy to be home and see my family. I was very tired (still am) and it was nice to be able to catch up on some sleep. I had such a great time with all of my friends in Oregon. I have so many memories that I will keep forever from the past two weeks. Thank you all for praying for me as I went on the trip. It was an awesome trip and I saw God work in MANY ways. It was so cool to be challenged in my faith and want to do better at living for God. It was also really cool to look around as we were doing vbs or devotions and see all of my Christian friends and know that we have the same goal, the same purpose, the same passion in life, to serve our wonderful Creator. I found out that six or seven kids came to know God at vbs when we were in Tecate!I know that just by us being there, and shwoing the kids of Tecate, Mexico that somebody cared about and loved them that we made a difference in their lives. Even if only one child came to Christ when we were in Tecate, all of us would have came home with happy hearts because we boldly went and shared our faith with others. We have furthered God's kingdom by seven more people and we did it one heart at a time. That is the way it is done and how God wants us to do it, one heart at a time.

Snapshots from Mexico

Learning Spanish

It has been four weeks now that my Dad and I have been in language school. Things are going well. There is so much information to learn! Things can get stressful at times but when someone starts talking to you and you understand what they are saying, it makes all the hard work worth it. It is so fun being able to walk by somebody in the grocery store that is talking on their cell phone and understand some of the words that they are saying! I am still far from where I would like to be but I am improving little by little each day. There is just five people in our level one class at school. Andrew, who is one of our ministry partners, Tom a very kind older gentleman, Stephanie who is a couple years older than me, we have become friends, my dad and I. It is a small school but I like it a lot. We end level one in two weeks and then we have a one week break. (yippee!) We will start level two on March 4th. You can be praying for me as I study hard to learn Spanish, pray that I will remember what I learn and be able to apply it to conversations with people each day.

The Sandlot

I hope that you all have seen the movie "The Sandlot". It is one of my favorite movies of all time. If you haven't seen it, you need to. You might have heard, there is quite a few kids on our street that my brothers and sister and I hang out with everyday. We have noticed that they don't have many other friends other than the ones that live on this street. We are just our own little group. If you live on our street you are in the group no matter if you are a boy or girl, how old you are or what school you go to. We are all friends and when you play, you get as many kids together as you can, the more kids, the more games you can play, the more games you can play, the more fun. It is kind of like the Sandlot where you all hang out together and you are all buddies, you don't have many other friends just the kids that live on your street. I like all the kids that live on our street, we have fun hanging out together. There is a park just around the corner of our house and we love to go and hang out there, if we don't go to the park we hang out in the street or at one of our houses. We love to play hide and go seek, basketball, monkey in the middle, volleyball, cops and robbers, board games, ride bikes, futbol, futbol Americano and just hang out.

There is a picture of our "Sandlot" group above. Not all of the kids that live on our street are in the picture but this is a good portion of the kids that come out every day.

Mackenzie and Ellie

Yesterday was a very exciting day in the Bruggeman house. A while back my dad promised us that once we got on the mission field we would get a dog. Yesterday we finally got our puppy! She is two months old and as cute as can be, her name is Mackenzie and she is a Golder Retreiver. Yesterday, I also got a pet turtle; I know it is kind of random, but we were in the pet store and when Dane and I saw them we fell in love with them. My turtles name is Ellie, she is really small right now but she will grow and get to be quite a bit bigger! I haven't had a dog since I was like three years old and I have never owned a turtle so I am very excited to have these two new pets. They are so stinkin' cute!

Welcome To Mexico

There has been a lot to adjust here in Mexico as we are living in a new culture. We cannot flush toilet paper,we have to brush our teeth with purified water, (Those of you that went to Philly, note we use PURIFIED water.) There isn't many people around that speak English, and we don't speak Spanish yet. My dad and I begin language school on Monday!!! We live in a HUGE city instead of a small town, Taco stands are within walking distance of our house and you can buy Manzana Lift at the end of our street. (That though, hasn't been hard at all to adjust to) That is just naming a few. Right after we moved here, we went to Costco to get some grocery's; we decided to just grab something frozen to heat up for dinner when we got home. We were walking down the frozen food isle and my dad found these breaded chicken patties. We decided that would be good and we got some cheese sticks to go along with them. We got home and my mom put our lovely gourmet dinner in the oven. We were all really hungry and we were really excited when our food came out of the oven. We all got some chicken on our plate and my dad took a bite, he got a weird look on his face and figured out that what he was eating was not a regular chicken patty, It was Chicken Fried Steak. We all thought that it was kind of funny and were excited for the cheese sticks to get done. When they came out my mom said "watch, these will be fish sticks." She was totally joking, but when we took a bite of them, we realized that they actually were fish sticks! So we came to the dinner table expecting to eat chicken and cheeze sticks, we left the table having eaten chicken fried steak and fish sticks. That is just one example of how life can be different in a different country where you don't yet know the language. WELCOME TO MEXICO