After spending about 5 days in Waukesha celebrating the holidays with friends and family there Pete and I headed back to Baraboo for the Muscanero family Christmas celebration.

This Christmas, as I sat back and watched the kids playing, everyone talking, Grandpa & Grandma (my parents) interacting with the grandkids, I realized how much my family has changed and grown. What happened to the days of a quiet adult Christmas where we could have fondue dinners without worrying about someone starting a fire, when we took turns unwrapping gifts and actually saw and admired what each person received, when the coffee table was for putting our drinks and snacks on rather than a kids table with kid proof objects to play with literally covering it. What happened to 5 stocking hanging on our mantel…where now there hangs 11 stockings, and the family photo that used to take 2 minutes and now takes 20 because someone is crying, or not smiling back at the camera. What has happened…we’ve grown up, we’ve met people that we love so much they’ve become a part of our family, and am I used to it…not exactly, do I like it…yes, in fact I LOVE it!

As I reflect on this Christmas I thank God for what He’s done in our family. I thank Him for Maddie, Mason, and Paxton, and for Pete, Lindsey, and Tessa all making our family what it is today. I love you Pete, and Tessa & Lindsey my sisters, and have had so much fun this holiday season spending time with all of you. As we get ready to leave for Mexico we have many memories to take with us, and each time we are able to see you all will be just that much sweeter.

Here are a few pictures to enjoy of Muskie Christmas Day!

Any good party begins with some good snacks

My personal favorite, shrimp cocktail!

The guys hanging out by the food

Mason with the nerf air gun...something Grandma bought to create more chaos on Christmas

Grandma with Paxton reading a Christmas story

Madeline

All dudded up for Christmas pictures

Cuddling with Grandma

 After some play time a good friend from church came over and took some professional quality family pictures for us. Becky, thank you so much. It will be nice to have a complete family photo to display in our home in Mexico to show all of our new friends what our families look like. Once we were done with the photo Madeline was begging to open presents…a girl after my own heart. So we did!! Thanks everyone for all the nice and useful things, we are so blessed.

Opening presents

Tessa helping Mason open his gifts

Jay & Paxton

Bad to the bone

Paxton and his toy chainsaw from Aunt Liesl & Uncle Pete

Enjoying family

Cousins playing together

My brother Jay and beautiful sister in law, Lindsey

 Following the gift opening we were treated to a complete Italian meal by your’s truly Momma Muskie. Red sauce, pasta, meatballs, sausage, and pork roast+ salad. YUM! It was so good…and I was stuffed.

Delicious Italian meal

Being silly at the table

There was a group effort to polish off the dishes and once those were complete we played a few games and enjoyed Christmas cookies and coffee together.

We have had a wonderful Christmas full of joy and family memories we will not soon forget. Thank you all also for the cards and emails you have sent our way during the holiday season. Your prayers and love mean so much to us. Hope you have all had a Merry Christmas as well, and enjoy the rest of your week heading into the New Year.

What are your New Year’s Eve plans? We have a quiet party planned at the Muskie ranch with my brother and sis in law, some friends, and Mum and Dad…should be fun!

Christmas definitely had mixed emotions for us this year. It is such a joyful celebration of God’s most awesome gift of Christ, His Son, and a time to spend quality moments making memories with those we love the most…our families. But yet it was also a sobering reminder to us of how things will be quite different for us come Christmas 2010 and beyond.

It is sad to go and leave those we love behind, and to think about not being around while our niece and nephews grow up, and our families change and move on in their lives. Yet, above the sadness is a joy unspeakable that we both feel in our hearts, and excitement for the new adventures ahead and the new people we will welcome into our lives as family. We cannot wait to move across the border into Mexico because we know we are being obedient to the call of the Most High God on our lives. To us it is not a sacrifice, rather an honor to be used of Him for His glory.

Those are just a few thoughts I had this morning as I reflected over our Christmas holidays. Now…on to some fun stuff…pictures!!              Christmas was great this year! We spent December 21-25 down in Waukesha with Pete’s family, and many of our friends and prayer supporters. Christmas evening was then spent driving back to Baraboo for the Muscanero family Christmas celebration on Dec. 26th.

Every good Christmas Eve morning starts with a steaming cup of coffee!

And brunch at Kathy's...YUM!

Complete with the traditional sausage, potato pancake thingys

A little goofing off

Playing with Reggie

And exchange gifts! Thank you Kathy!!

After brunch and gifts we played a rousing game of Catopoly…yes, a cat version of Monopoly. There may or may not have been some team effort, but Kathy finally squeaked out the win. Then it was outside for a 4 mile run before getting ready for Christmas Eve Services.

We attended Christmas Eve service at Crosswalk Church and enjoyed seeing many familiar faces of those who are praying for us and supporting us. It was a blessing to join in worship and remember the true reason for the holiday, the birth of our Saviour.

Hypki fam on Christmas Eve

Our Pastor's family at Crosswalk Church. The Skaja's are such great people we love you guys!

After church we came home to the Hypki abode and began our dinner preparations with some appetizers…always great to cook and eat at the same time.

Alissa enjoying the snackies

My duty...always the salad

Momma Hypki prepares the pizza

The beautiful Hypki family tree

Christmas morning brought more family fun, Pete’s tradition of jumping on his sister Alissa to wake her up continues…and we all move downstairs for some hot coffee, breakfasty treats, and gift giving.

Being cheesy with our stockings

The breakfast spread

Opening gifts

We were very blessed this year and received so many nice and useful items for our time in Mexico. Knowing we can only bring what will fit in our vehicle meant there were alot of specific items we asked for. One of those being peanut butter and almond butter….they are not readily available in Mexico, and we love them! So…yes, there will probably be a box of just nut butter in our car on the way down.

In all it's glory...YUM!

One of our gifts to Pete’s Mom was a memory album of pictures throughout our marriage and dating relationship. She may have cried when she opened it.

We also received alot of hiking equipment from a great prayer partner at Whitestone Church, what a blessing!

Annual sibling pic in front of the tree

After playing with our gifts and teasing loving each other, goofing off, folding laundry…yes on Christmas (what a shame), we enjoyed a delicious Christmas brunch made by yours truly Momma Hypki.

Gingerbread scones

Not sure what you call this dish...but I call it Veggie & Egg deliciousness

Gingered fruit

What a lovely Christmas!! We had such a great time with the Hypki family, and enjoyed some relaxation in the process. I just love Christmas, and the family memories! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too, and please come back and check for Christmas update Part 2 the Muscanero festivities.

God bless, and have a wonderful week!!

I feel a little ashamed, as I notice it has been over a month since our last post. It is my aspiration to be a better communicator as far as our blog is concerned, and I like it because it gives me an outlet to express our adventures in a less formal sense then our monthly newsletters. Hope you all enjoy reading as well, now if there was just more to read!

Since we last posted…

We are preparing as much as we can for the big move to Mexico!! We have managed to find buyers for all of our large furniture items. This is a huge praise, and are now going through cupboards, drawers, closets, and storage boxes deciding which items to take, pass on to friends/family, or take to the second hand store. Many have asked if it has been hard to part with our “things” so to speak, not because we have placed value on them, more because they become a part of your life, or existence as you know it to be. However, for us, (I can speak for Pete as well in this) it really has not been hard to say goodbye to our stuff. Furniture, dishes, things, are all nice to have, and have been part of our lives up until this point, but they have never been part of what we know God wants our lives to be. Plus it feels so good to de-clutter!! I love it! Really, I so enjoy the feeling of becoming organized and getting rid of things that you don’t use anymore, it’s so freeing!

The weekend before Thanksgiving we met my parents and Pax for the Baraboo Christmas parade. Afterwards they all came over to our place for a warm bowl of soup and mugs of tea!

Liesl at the parade

Pete & Pax at the Christmas parade

Also since our last post we were able to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with both of our families, together! My Mom, Alice, invited Pete’s parents and sister, Alissa to join us for the day. It was so nice to all be together in one place, enjoy the meal contributed by all, play games, chat, and make memories to take with us when we leave in January.

All the cousins meet each other at the door

Our niece Maddie with her plate of Thanksgiving goodness

I promised Alissa I would post this picture

Preparing for my last Thanksgiving of Mom's good eats for awhile

Everyone kind of gathering for prayer before dinner

Our sister-in-law feeds Paxton his first "memorable" Thanksgiving meal

The "pre-pie" napping room

Trying to show Maddie how fun it is to make "fishy face" pictures

Later, Maddie & Pax snuggled up to watch a movie together. It was so cute!

We loved the time with both of our families, we will miss these holiday get togethers when we are miles away. It’s these memories we are making now that we will take with us. (wow…that was really sappy heart-felt for me)

The first weekend in December we had the priviledge to help our church send a missions team to Saipan!  We were involved in helping them put on a fundraising weekend where they held an auction and spaghetti supper raising money to purchase supplies to help build radio towers and other constructions projects on the HCJB radio base in Saipan. It was alot of work, but a great time to get to spend with brothers and sisters in Christ! The missions team was also able to raise about 1/3 of their goal for purchasing materials to take to Saipan!!

We also experienced our first big snow of the year…which easily called for a quick hike out at Devils Lake State Park! For the record the first snow fall is always the best one of the year…after that it all just kind of goes downhill.

View from the top on the West Bluff Trail

Footprints

The second weekend in December our church, Walnut Hill Bible Church, puts on a Christmas dinner theatre called the Buzz in Bethlehem. Pete and I both signed up as volunteers to help with the production. Pete helped build the “Bethlehem” village set, and did food transporation during the first three nights of performance. Liesl prepped and served food during the show the first three nights. During the Sunday matinee performance Pete also played one of the Roman guards, filling in for another actor who could not make that particular performance. Once again, the show was a great success, and many in the community were reached with the true story of Christmas.

Serving the tables at Buzz in Bethlehem

Posing as the town bread vendor

 My niece Madeline played a sheep in her church Christmas program, “The Friendly Beasts.” She was definitely the cutest sheep, and knew all the words to the songs as well. It was so entertaining to watch.

Singin her little heart out

Mason was jealous, so had to pose for a photo shoot himself

Pete has also enjoyed a little sports action since we’ve been in Baraboo this winter. Every Wednesday night he plays for Baraboo City League basketball. My brother Jay, put together a team this year, so it has been fun watching them and being able to cheer for Pete, my brothers, and other guys we know from church.

Pete at the free throw line

This next week we plan to spend several nights with supporters and friends, we will be sharing at the Walnut Hill Bible Church Junior High Youth group, and traveling down to Waukesha for more time with supporters and family.

It will be  a whirlwind until we leave on January 6th, and we appreciate your prayers for us as we do try and take some time to slow down and enjoy our families in these last few weeks. As many of you know, we are also having some severe vehicle problems right now, but we are trusting God. What is happening with our car has surprised us, but it has not caught Him off guard! Thank you in advance for all of your prayers and support regarding this situation as well.

This post has gotten quite long, so I will leave you with a reminder of what this season is all about. And check back soon for a recap of our Christmas week!! Merry Christmas!!

“For a  child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;                                                                                                                                                and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
  Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 
  There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
   On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
   To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
   From then on and forevermore 
   The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”        

 Isaiah 9:6,7

A date for our arrival in Mexico!!

After two years of Bible training, two years of missionary training, and almost six months of full time support raising and partnership development, it’s here… well almost.

Our departure date for Mexico is exactly 58days, 15 hours, 34minutes, and some seconds away!!

The plan is to depart from Wisconsin on January 6, 2010. We will stop in a few locations on the route since it is almost a 25 hour drive, and will arrive near the border on January 9th. After undergoing some orientation, we will cross the border a few days later and head down to Chihuahua, Mexico!

Many of you have asked us what we are feeling as we near this time. Are we anxious, excited, nervous, unsure?  I think we would respond that we are all of the above. This is a huge step, moving to another culture to begin our immersion, language and culture learning, but we’ve been prepared. Prepared in many aspects, but most importantly we are learning a bit about what it means to lean on the Lord in each and every situation we will encounter. By no means are we perfect, but we know that this is what God has for us, and we are convinced that those who have not heard the hope of salvation in Mexico are on God’s heart.

God has chosen to use us to go, and we thank you,our partners, friends, & family for allowing God to use you to pray, give, and encourage us along the way! We are all in this together, obeying God and communicating His saving grace that they might know Him.

As I wrote above, we have less than two months until our departure, and there are still ways you can be involved in the ministry of planting tribal churches in Mexico.

We still need prayer partners, people to stand in the gap for us and for what God is doing in us to reach people’s hearts. It is you, interceding for us that will keep us on the field.

We still need monthly financial partners who are willing to allow the Lord to work in their hearts as they consider giving sacrificially so that the ministry in Mexico will increase. It’s not about the money, as we are learning, it’s about the obedience and willingness to be used in whatever way God would chose to use you.

Lastly, we still need a few practical items that we would like to take down to Mexico with us to aid us in our culture and language study:

• MP3 Player or Ipod – $200 (required for recording and storing language study materials and analysis)
• Spanish/English Dictionary – (new world by Signet Penguin publishers is recommended)
• Walmart gift cards – (so we can purchase notebook paper, pens, pencils, highlighters, binders, etc. when we get down to Chihuahua)
• Fireproof safe – ( for keeping person documents safe)
• Fuel/gas  gift cards – (for travel expenses on our trip down to Mexico)
• We also will have set-up expenses once we arrive in Mexico. (FM3 Visas, auto insurance, rent & security deposit of the apartment we will live in, appliances such as stove, refrigerator, etc., furniture and other household items)

If you are interested in being involved in the ministry or helping us out with practical needs please contact us by email: peter_hypki@ntm.org or by phone (262) 825-8001.

Thank you again for your support and prayers. We are completely dependent on Him – but we could not do this without you, either.

I wanted to post yesterday, but alas, we were traveling again…so here it is:

Happy Anniversary Pete!

The last three years have been the best of my life with you my best friend!

I love you!!

Here is a glimpse of our day, October 28, 2006. Enjoy!

www.joyjensen.com/peteliesl

As promised, part two of our camping/anniversary road trip from Oklahoma back to Wisconsin the “not so direct” way. I left you at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky where we enjoyed two days and nights camping, hiking, and exploring the park. The fall colors were fabulous, and the weather sunny and warm enough to still be comfortable outside all day. On Wed. 10/21 we woke up, had breakfast and packed up the campsite, then we both ventured out on another run around the park, this time exploring the road into the park. Got back showered and jumped in the car to travel to our final destination, before WI, Lexington, KY.

I don’t know much about Lexington, but had heard it was a fun town, and was close enough to be included on our route. Research beforehand provided an inexpensive hotel that we would stay at for the next two nights as we explored the city. After arriving and checking in, we had dinner at the hotel, soup heated up in the microwave in the breakfast area…yep, that’s how we roll. Actually it was really delicious, and very affordable. We then headed out the door for some exploring.

First stop, a favorite of the University of Kentucky student body, the Common Grounds coffee shop. It was a quaint little coffee shop, in a corner building on E High Street, downtown Lexington. The owners had designed each room to be a different theme. For example, the back room for studying (tables, desks, desk chairs, etc.), the next room for hanging out (leather couches, love seats), and the front room a place for maybe meeting someone for lunch or a quick chat, (your usual cafe tables, and chairs). The coffee house was nice, and the coffee was decent, but we didn’t really find it to be anything special.

Next on the list Joseph Beth Booksellers. When we arrived it reminded us of a “nicer” Barnes & Noble. It was a really cool place, tons of books & magazines, and they even had their own cafe inside the store. After browsing for a few hours, we decided to call it a night.

The alarm went off bright and early the next morning and we ran the hotel stairs down to the workout room. To our dissapointment all the equipment was old, and neither the treadmill or elliptical machine worked. So, we headed to breakfast, filled our bellies with oatmeal, and made plans to do a run at Veterans Park followed by a few rounds of frisbee golf. We ran 4.3 miles around some of the trails, and then did about 7 holes on the frisbee golf course. Liesl is amazing, terrible at frisbee golf, but it was still fun navigating the course, through the wooded areas. It feels so good to start your day off with some good exercise.

Pete says I throw to delicate and gracefully...I don't see it at all

The course ran along side this creek, it was really pretty

Around 11:30 we headed back to the hotel for lunch, p.b. & banana sandwiches in the room, and to clean up and get ready to head downtown Lexington.

Our first visit on our way was the the Old Kentucky Chocolates factory/shop. We took the short tour, which provided us with lots of free samples, yum!! We then purchased some goodies for our families to enjoy, and headed across the street to a natural foods store called Good Market. I (Liesl) have a closet obsession, bit of a hobby of reading and studying nutrition and whole foods, cooking with and exploring whole foods stores. So this was really fun for me, not sure if Pete was as intrigued, but he’s a good husband and went along. After skimming the shelves we drove downtown to visit the  historic Lexington Cemetery.

Standing in front of the gate and cemetery entrance

Entrance

The entire cemetery was absolutely amazing! Pete & I both like cemeteries for some reason, so we spent a few hours walking around taking pictures of the gorgeous trees and some of the neat old grave stones. I don’t even think we saw a quarter of the cemetery, and when we decided to head back to our car we had a bit of a rough time finding it. It was really a beautiful place and a must see if you are ever in Lexington.

The burial site of John Clay

This tree was huge! The plaque in front said that it was standing at the time of the writing of the Constitution!

A cool arched gravestone

There was some beautiful burning bush throughout the cemetery

Cool cross

Fall color

Us at the cemetery

We were starving after our long day, and had been looking forward to going out for our anniversary…our only “out to eat” meal of the trip. So we headed to the Mellow Mushroom!! It is a pizza place established by a couple of guys in the 1970s that were appealing to the college appetite of pizza & beer. I had heard good things about the place so we decided to give it a try. We ordered a salad to share for starters, it was mixed greens smothered in green olives and mushrooms!  Then came the pizza!! I let Pete pick and he ordered the Mega Veggie (which would also have been my choice) …good guy… it was covered with delicious fresh veggies, feta, and mozzerella cheese. Delicious!! We would definitely go back, and had so much fun experiencing a new restaurant.

Yeah, I was pretty excited about the pizza!

About this time we headed back to the hotel to get some decent sleep, we plan to leave early in the morning to make our 9.5 hour drive back home to Wisconsin. It’s been a great trip, and I’m glad we decided to take the time to travel a bit. However, we are both looking forward to being back home and preparing over the next two months for our departure to Mexico. Thanks for praying and enjoying the journey of life with us!

Happy Fall to everyone! Hope you are all enjoying the colors, cooler weather, apples, pumpkin, warm drinks, hayrides and all the other great traditions that come with the season.

Our fall has been spent traveling, and having new experiences. Pete spent the early part of October in Tahlequah, OK where he finished up the practical portion of his linguistics training. Iwas here in Wisconsin helping out with different church functions, and spending time with family, prayer partners, and friends. Pete and I joined each other once again in Oklahoma on October 10th and I spent the last week with the linguistics students in Tahlequah as they wrapped up their time with their language helpers and began their final analysis of Cherokee.

On October 17th we left Tahlequah to begin our long journey home. I say long because we decided to take a different route back to Wisconsin and spend some time camping and relaxing together since it will be our wedding anniversary on the 28th! Our first stop was in Springdale, AR where we got together with two of my friends for lunch. It was great seeing you John, & Ben, and meeting you Kristi!

After leaving Springdale we drove to Bull Shoals, AR and camped at Bull Shoals State Park. We rolled into the campsite around 5:30pm, and it was getting chilly fast! While Pete set up the tent I ventured through the woods to find wood to start a fire for warmth and dinner. I put together a good stack and we switched roles as I got some things out of the car for preparing dinner. I had my back turned and I heard a little voice, so I  turned around and there was a young girl standing with a “Duraflame” log in her arms. “My Daddy said to give this to you,” she said. Looking over to the campsite next to us her parents were standing around their warm fire, “thank you” I shouted, they nodded back. After cooking our dinner of lentils and sweet potatoes over the fire we joined our campground neighbors, Steve & Liz around their fire and talked late into the night. Our walk back to our tent was VERY cold, it got down to 34 degrees that night, but we survived.

Our little campsite at Bull Shoals State Park

The whole park was covered in a blanket of mist in the morning. It started lifting as the morning went on.

Mist rising from the White River at Bull Shoals

In the morning, we hiked one of the trails to warm up and get a little exercise before we hit the road for our next stop, Henderson, TN and Chickasaw State Park.

Getting ready to hike, I was freezing! I actually slept with my mittens on.

Picture of the White River from up on the trail

Pete's creative photograpy

More creative photography?

Our next stop was Chickasaw State Park in Nowheresville Henderson, Tenneesee. We got to the park and it was deserted, not a soul to be found except a small family that was leaving and a older woman who was waiting for a friend to show and when we got back from a walk had mysteriously disappeared. It was cold, we didn’t really feel comfortable being there, and so we pushed on to Nashville. Found a cheap hotel at about 11:30pm and crashed.

The next morning we set out on a journey to find a “cup of joe” in the heart of Nashville. I had researched coffee shops a bit, since it is a fun pastime of Pete and I’s to visit different shops and taste some new coffees. We decided on the Frothy Monkey, a local, trendy coffee shop complete with all the favorites, in house baked goods, and a kitchen putting out cafe sandwiches and soups. The place was packed with all sorts of different people, however we were able to snag a nice table out on the front patio and enjoy the sunny, fall day.  The Frothy Monkey was so cool! We loved it. Pete and I both tried a seasonal house specialty latte: Pete’s the Maple Spice and mine the Roasted Chestnut & Vanilla. They were both amazing! Pete also couldn’t say no to the Pumpkin Spice muffin that was jumping out at him from the counter; so I had a few bites too!

Here it is!

Pete working hard on his linguistics write up

The full effect

After we left The Frothy Monkey we were headed to Trader Joes Nashville to pick up a few items for our next two days of camping, when we passed a fun statue…Pete wanted to go back and take pictures, so we did.

 The statue was placed in memory of The Battle of Nashville 1864, a Civil War battle that apparently took place there.

Next, Trader Joes Nashville!! Always fun to visit a new Trader Joes. We picked up soup, cheese crackers, and some really delicious treats in the form of Maple Leaf cookies for the rest of our trip.

Hello friend, I have come for another visit

We shopped, and then jumped into the car to continue on the road to our next destination. Along the way Pete served lunch in the car, salmon (out of one of those convenient little packages), crackers, raw cheddar cheese, apples, and carrots sticks, delish! We ate and talked as we drove, and in no time we were at Mammoth Cave National Park in southern Kentucky.

Upon arriving at Mammoth Cave we set up camp, and took off for a run together around the park. We decided to explore a few of the trails around the Visitors Center on the run, and were out for about an hour. There we lots of unplanned up hills, and rough terrain, but it was beautiful. The fall colors are at peak in KY, and it was breathtaking! We were able to enjoy a hot meal on the fire after the run, and some good conversation with my best friend.

We had a fallen tree at our site, it was pretty cool

Pete chopping firewood

The next morning we made breakfast and had devotions & prayer together before heading out to hike. We started out on the Sal Hollow trail and eventually met up with two other trails, and hiked for about 3 hours, around 6 1/2 miles! We made a picnic, and then explored a bit more…I think we must have hiked around 9 miles for the day. Dinner at the fire again, yummy!!! Green curry with veggies & tuna…it was great. We then planned the last two days of our trip as the flames flickered into the darkness.

Jesus, oatmeal, and coffee...perfect start to the day

We had to take the Green River Ferry to get to the start of the trail

Some sightings along the trail

We even stumbled onto a small waterfall

Us on the trail

Posing by the sign

Pete's turn

Beautiful photo of the Green River around sunset

Just us goofing around

We left Mammoth Cave National Park on Wednesday around mid day and traveled to Lexington for the nice, city, hotel part of our trip. However you’ll have to stay tuned for Part 2- Lexington, it’s late and we have a busy day tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed the post of our travels!

A few weeks later, and here’s a brief update on what I (Pete) have been doing here in Oklahoma.

I’m now finished with five of the seven weeks of the live language practicum.  I’ve compiled over 1400 utterances to use in my interpretation and analysis of the language, and now in the last two weeks, I’m hoping to begin making some conclusions about how and why the language does what it does.

The beginning of our team's Cherokee verb board

Here are is one example:

One of the vowels that we use to write down our phonetics is the “æ” – which in phonetics is referred to as a digraph.  The digraph makes the sound made by the “a” in “apple.”  However, this sound is never found in Cherokee, except in one position.  Look below to see if you can find what position that might be.

CHEROKEE	ENGLISH
ulɑhstæn	foot
kʰʌnóɡæn	arm
ǰuɡɑ̹nʔtæ̹n	cabbage
uktæn	dragon
ɡɑnʊ:skæn	leg
dikʰtulæn	car

As you may have noticed, the digraph always comes before the letter “n.”  But as linguists, our job is to not only notice what is happening, but to explain it as well.  From my research, it appears that the Cherokee actually are thinking of the digraph, in this position, as the phonetic “e,” which is the sound made by the “a” in “ate.”  However, they pronounce it as a digraph when it comes before the letter “n.”

This would be a reasonable hypothesis if it weren’t for one small problem.  The “e” sound is sometimes found before the letter “n.”  If it was true that “e” always changed to “æ” in front of “n,” then we shouldn’t have even one “e” before an “n,” but I have a lot of them there.  I have a theory why this is happening…but I won’t tell you right now.  You’ll have to wait to find out!

Anyway, that is just one of the areas I will be investigating as I finish my time here in Oklahoma over the next two weeks and begin my write-up of the Cherokee language.  Another big area I will be looking at is how different verb tenses are formed, which is a more complicated task than it might sound like.  Thank you so much, though, for all your prayers, support, and encouragement while we’ve been in Oklahoma.  We truly appreciate it.

Lastly, here a few more pictures from Tahlequah, Oklahoma:

Our housing here in Tahlequah, OK

Seminary Hall at Northeastern State University in town - Carrie Underwood's alma mater!

Sweeping away water to help prevent flooding in the main building here in Oklahoma during a thunderstorm

Playing games at a Korean Church picnic in Oklahoma City while visiting friends there

As the rain pours down on the window pane, and I sip steaming coffee reflecting on what the Lord is teaching me from His Word, and through life I am compelled to share with you.

Right now Pete and I are apart…just for a time. Pete is in Oklahoma, learning Cherokee and practicing the processes that we will use for language learning once we are working in Mexico. I am back in Wisconsin, for various reasons, church functions, weddings for friends, and more communication face to face with supporters and praying friends. It is hard being miles away from one another, but we know this is where God has us at this time and because of that we have a peace that only God gives.

Also, many of you are aware that I had been very sick. I had been dealing with stomach pain and issues when we left for Oklahoma on 8/24, ignored it, but things just got worse.  On 9/8, after about 4 days of severe pain and no energy Pete took me to the emergency room in Tahlequah, OK where tests were run, and I was given a diagnosis of “Colitis.” This is a bacterial infection in the intestines which causes much pain and inflammation. The cause of my Colitis… an allergic reaction to an antibiotic I was given for oral surgery I had earlier in August. Ugh…how depressing. And I’ll be honest, I was depressed, in pain, and lonely in our little 10×10 concrete room with no windows in Oklahoma. I was going crazy, my body felt like it wasn’t me, I could barely even make it for a walk outside with Pete, I just wanted to lay back down.

During this time I read…alot…and talked to God. I truly felt His presence there with me each day that I spent in that room while Pete was out learning language. I have started to read through Genesis, to prepare me for discipleship once we begin to teach the gospel in Mexico. On my most painful day I read the story of Noah, and his obedience to God in building the ark and bringing on the animals just as God had told him too. He had an overwhelming concept of faith and trust in a God who’s promises never fail. God protected Noah and gave him peace as he floated on the water for 40 days and nights. They were the only living things in sight for God had covered the rest of the earth with the flood waters. God promises to Noah did not fail, and when the waters receeded God gave Noah a promise with the rainbow to never again destroy the earth by flood…and Noah rejoiced in God’s goodness even though, he had been placed now on the earth with no one else but his family. He had to start over and had to trust God for everything.

During this time, not knowing what was going on with my body I felt completely out of control…but now looking back on it, I know this is exactly where God wanted me to be. Some entries from my journal on Sept. 7th and Sept. 8th, my worst time, encourage me even today as I read back through them.

“As miserable as I have felt Lord I know you still know and feel what is going on in my body. Help me trust you, and your plan, and help me to make decisions about my healthy and not worry about how we are going to pay for it, or where the provision will come from. (this was before we decided to go to the hospital) Lord, thanks for healing me. I know you will, because you do not desire for your children to hurt in ways to hinder them from serving you. Also God, thanks for your peace. Because of it I know right now, no matter how I feel that I am in your will. I may not enjoy it, but I pray I would focus not on me, but on you and what you would have for me to learn and experience about you through this time. It is your mighty power and majesty that updholds me even when Iam at my weakest. God you say you are my strength, hope, Savior, and healer, all is true, and I know Your  love. How can I not rejoice in all things, even this, when I feel weak and unable to do anything…for He is mine and I am His and nothing can take that hope away from me.”

It’s been two weeks since my visit to the ER, and I’m completely off of any antibiotics now, eating normal foods, and running again! I feel stronger everyday, and I know without a doubt the Lord is healing my body. Pete and I wanted to thank all of you who were praying for me, God hears, God listens, and the desires of our hearts become reality when they are in line with the desires of God’s heart.

I am encouraged that whatever valleys may come in my life that He is ALWAYS there. He does not walk away from me in the hard times, but lifts me up, and holds me, and reminds me that I am His and He will never leave me.

Osiyo from Oklahoma!  (Osiyo is the traditional Cherokee greeting.)  Liesl usually writes most of these posts.  I’m more the newsletter guy (email us if you’d like to be added to our distribution list!), but I thought I would drop by and give you a little insight about how our language sessions are going.

As most of you know, we arrived in Oklahoma on Saturday, August 29th, to begin our live language practicum studying the Cherokee language.  Why are we here?  Why study Cherokee?

Here’s why:  When we move into an unreached tribal group in Mexico in the next couple years, we will very likely be working with an unwritten language.  By working with the Cherokee here in Oklahoma (or the ǰʌ’leɡi, as they once called themselves), we have the opportunity to practice turning an oral language into a written one.  First, we write what we hear using a phonetic alphabet – one that represents each sound with a different letter.  Then we refine that alphabet so it looks more like what the people believe they are saying.  For example, if someone spelled “phone” as “fone” in English, even though it would be pronounced the same, we would definitely prefer to see it spelled “phone.”  Refining our phonetics will allow us to write the language in a way people prefer and can easily recognize.  After that refining, we will create an official orthography, or written alphabet.

In the tribe, we will then be able to begin translating lessons and the Word into that tribal language. Here, though, since they already have a written language (as seen in the signs pictured below), we will simply write up our findings, turn them into our instructors, and hope for a good grade

Here is a stop sign outside the Cherokee Nation Complex showing the Cherokee alphabet

Anyway…I’ve been meeting with  my Cherokee language helper for two weeks now.  Our helper is a 63-year old Cherokee man.  He actually belongs to the Keetoowah band of Cherokees, which is a more traditional band of Cherokee that seeks to keep their old beliefs and traditions alive.  They also require a higher percentage of Cherokee blood for membership.  Our helper, for example, is 7/8’s Cherokee. He is fun to work with, and knowledgable about the language.  Each time we thank him for his help, he reminds us that we are helping him by helping him to remember the language.  It seems a good exercise for both of us.

A picture of my language helper, my language-learning partner Sam, and me after a session

An average session lasts two hours.  We spend the first few minutes talking a bit, before diving into the session.  This week we spent a few days learning different nouns, then learning how to make them plural, or how to add adjectives to describe them. Here is an example of some of the nouns and adjectives we learned:

Phonetics	Literal Translation	Free Translation
dikwʌnyostʰ	cɑrds/deck of cards	cɑrds
utʌn	biɡ	biɡ
uwo:tiɡe	brown	brown
ɑkwʌnyostʰ	cɑrd	cɑrd
nʌ utʌn ɑkwʌnyostʰ ɑyʌ ɑwʌǰeli	that biɡ cɑrd belongs to me	my biɡ cɑrd
ɑyʌ utʌn dikwʌnyostʰ ɑyʌ diwʌǰeli	those biɡ cɑrds belong to me	my biɡ cɑrds
nʌ utʌn uwo:tiɡe ɑkwʌnyostʰ ɑyʌ ɑwʌǰeli	that biɡ brown cɑrd belongs to me	my biɡ brown cɑrd
ɑyʌ utʌn uniwo:tiɡe dikwʌnyostʰ ɑyʌ diwʌǰeli	those biɡ brown cɑrds belong to me	my biɡ brown cɑrds

We then spent a few days learning basic verbs, and constructing verb paradigms.  A verb paradigm is where you take the same verb and conjugate it for different actor persons (i.e. I run, you run, he runs, we run, etc).  Here is some of what we found:

Phonetics	Literal Translation	Free Translation
ɡɑLi’hɑ	someone is sleepinɡ	he is sleepinɡ
hiLi’hɑ	you (sɡ) ɑre sleepinɡ	you (sg) are sleepinɡ
čitLi’hɑ	I am sleepinɡ	I am sleepinɡ
dɑni:Li’hɑ	they (dl) are sleepinɡ	they (dl) are sleepinɡ
destʰiLihɑ	you (dl) are sleepinɡ	you (dl) are sleepinɡ
deniLi’hɑ	we (dl inc) are sleepinɡ	we (dl inc) are sleepinɡ
osti:Li’hɑ	we (dl exc) are sleepinɡ	we (dl exc) are sleepinɡ
ɑni:Lɩt’nɑ	they (pl) are sleepinɡ	they (pl) are sleepinɡ
iǰi:Lɩt’nɑ	you (pl) are sleepinɡ	you (pl) are sleepinɡ
idi:Li’hɑ	we (pl inc) are sleepinɡ	we (pl inc) are sleepinɡ
oǰi:Lɩt’nɑ	we (pl exc) are sleepinɡ	we (pl exc) are sleepinɡ

Over the remaining five weeks of our language study, we will look at other aspects of the language, beyond nouns and verbs. We will begin to study where verbs and nouns and adjectives go in sentences.  We will look at forming clauses, prepositions, relations between actors in sentences, proper agreement with words, and even paragraph construction and differences between spoken and written language.  The whole time we will be adding even more information, and deepening our understanding of the language.

It sounds like a lot, and it is, but we know that as we study, we are preparing, and being prepared, for our work on the field.  Spending time with a langauge helper like ours is a huge encouragement.  We have fun inside and outside of sessions, and get to see that our training the past two years is very practical.  Thank you for your continued support and prayers as we spend another five weeks here in Oklahoma.