Hello
We have no words, no gestures, and not enough time in this lifetime to be able to express our gratitude to each of you. The past 5 months have been some of the hardest our family has ever experienced. We've gone through difficulties we never thought we'd have to endure; we've had to have talks with our children we never thought we'd have to have; we've had to do things and make phone calls we never thought would be ours to complete. However, through it all, through every pain, every sting, and every tear, we felt our mighty Father there with us.
A few weeks after coming home, Impacto gifted Andrea and me with 4 days of intense training. One of the exercises I was asked to do was to go back to the day our car was pulled over. The counselor asked me to try to remember everything after that point until the day I was able to come home. The catch was that in every memory, I had to stop and imagine Jesus physically standing next to me during that memory. I had to think of what His facial expression was, where His hands where, how He was standing, and what He was saying to me. My heart was filled with overwhelming love and gratitude for my Savior when, through the hard memories, I was able to take the time to see and know that He was beside me all along.
One of the reasons I know He never left me was your prayers. God hears the prayers of His children, and when there are many praying for the same cause He is not deaf to them. God has taught us so much through these difficult times, and each of us has learned a different lesson. He's also used this to bring us closer as a couple and as a family. We've seen different friendships flourish in ways that fill our hearts with joy. We want to thank you for your support, for your prayers, and for your friendship! We have seen God provide in miraculous ways during this trial and we ask that you continue to pray for His provision. We have enjoyed so much seeing many of you already this year and look forward to seeing many more of you in the coming months.
Below are pictures (with captions) showing a few of the joys we've been blessed with even through these hard times. Please continue to pray for us and for a full resolution of this situation. Also, please pray for us to be able to reach 100% of our support. As of right now we are at 60% but we know God will continue to provide in ways we cannot imagine. We pray for you often and praise God for your lives. As a sweet friend told us earlier this year, we cannot wait for our trial to become our testimony!
Many, many blessings,
Tony, Andrea, Daniel, David, and Addy Mendez
