These letters begin with Mid-America Capuchin Fr. Bill Kraus's arrival in northwestern Mexico as a new missionary in September of 1998. They are in chronological order to allow readers to discover Mexico along with Fr. Bill.

Bill's address is:

from Yecora, Mexico, Sept. 28, 1998:

Peace to all of you in the Lord. It's a quiet and pleasant Sunday evening in the mountains of Yecora. I just finished the evening Mass here, having celebrated the morning Mass and then attending the afternoon Mass in Juan Diego de los Pimas about a mile away across a small river and a beautiful valley. This evening I want to take a few minutes to write a little about the mission and my first few days here.

I just found out today that we may be getting our own phone line here in the parish and friary in the near future (relative term - 2-3 months?), so I may be able to send an e-mail directly in the future. Meanwhile, regular mail can take anywhere from 2-4 weeks between Yecora and the states, or longer in busy seasons. If we mail in Obregon or Hermosillo, it takes only 1-2 weeks, but we're a 4-5 hour drive from those cities, so we get to one of those cities only about once a month.

My first week has been full. After a smooth flight that got me and all my luggage here safely, two brothers met me in Ciudad Obregon where we stayed two days with the Christian Brothers who have a couple schools there. We had to get the truck repaired, do some shopping, visit the bishop and have a meeting at the chancery, then we went to visit one of the Mayo Indian parishes outside Obregon. We got here to Yecora Wednesday about midnight, so it was too dark to see most of the terrain; but what I have seen here is pretty, especially now after the rainy season, from June to September.

Yecora is named after a town in Spain, and Sonora is an Indian name meaning the "place of the corn." The city was founded in 1673 by the Jesuits who did most of the missonary work in Sonora. (There's a "Padre Kino" wine commemorating the most famous Jesuit who founded the missions in northern Sonora and southern Arizona.) They were expelled by the king of Spain about 1770, and the Yecora area has had no sustained missionary effort since. The last religious order to work in the area was the Augustinians, who left about ten years before the Capuchins arrived in 1985.

The town has about 4,000 people, sits at an altitude of 5,000 feet, and is primarily agricultural with crops of beans, potatoes, corn, and some wheat. There are also cattle, and some cheese is made in the area. The terrain is quite rugged and there are very few cars in town, mostly horses and trucks and pickups for work and transportation. The farm machinery likewise is either animal drawn or uses small tractors. During Mass one hears as many horses hooves as trucks on the stone streets outside the front; and dogs and cats are frequent worshippers inside.

The one and only church (Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe) and the plaza are in the center of the town. There are also a primary, secondary (like our junior high) and preparatory (like our senior high) school. The Adventists run the preparatory school, but that's the only Protestant establishment in the area that I know of. The rest of the non-residence buildings are stores for farm supplies, groceries and household items, several restaurants and small businesses, and of course bars and liquor stores. There's a huge "Tecate" beer sign outside our front gate, providing good light for our street all night long.

And you'll be happy to know, especially Mom, that there's a doctor in town just a couple blocks away from the friary. She's a friend of the friars and we had a home Mass and meal there last week.

Now to the most important: the friars and the work. We are a community of six, three lay brothers and three priests, and the five California friars are really good men, all unique and gifted for mission work. They have welcomed me warmly and made me feel a part of the community and mission. In fact they already offered me a 20-year contract!!

JAIME DOYLE, ca 75, has been here for ten years. He is as Irish as the day is long and does a variety of manual work (cooking, cleaning, carpentry, gardening, sacristan) as well as some visiting the sick.

GUILLERMO TRAUBA, ca 45, has the longest experience here in the mission, since 1986. He is associate pastor, works with a number of the "pueblitos" or outreach stations in the area, and is a botanist who catalogs the local flora in his free time. [Earlier, 1982-86, he served as a missonary at Burani and Kagua in Papua New Guinea.

DAVID BEAUMONT, ca 40 and here since 1990, is the pastor and guardian who also cares for a number of mission stations, mostly of indigenous people. He is quite charismatic and good with people, and loves especially to help the native people know and express their own culture and language.

ANSELMO AGUIRE, ca 35, here one year and originally from Guanajuato, Mexico, provides a great bridge between the local Mexicans and us northerners. He does a lot of work with music and catechesis, especially bible studies and sacramental preparations, and some fraternal service.

MARCOS NANCE, ca. 35, has been here about a month and is still learning the language and mission work. He is more urbane than the rest, but good both in manual work and interacting with the locals.

The other member of the community, now known as Padre "Memo" ("Bill") to distinguish myself from the other "Padre Guillermo," am still learning how I'll fit in best in the works of the fraternity and the labor of the parish and the mission stations.

We also, gracias a Dios, plan to accept 4-5 postulants at the end of October. Some of them have been waiting for several years, until the friars thought they/we were ready for a formation program. I have not met any of them, but I hear they're good fellows, from the states of Sonora and Chihuahua. Their coming will mean that Spanish will have to be the language of the fraternity, where now it is part English and part Spanish.

Short as my time has been here, I like the fraternal life. It seems both relaxed and accomodating of the ministry. We keep a Mexican-European schedule, with the main meal about 1:00 pm and a light evening meal after the work day about 7 or 7:30 in the evening. We pray Mass and Morning, Evening and Night Prayer together, and have two periods of meditation. The evening schedule works well with Evening Prayer at 8:00, followed by common meditation and then Compline at 9:00 with common recreation afterwards. Of course with the demands of long trips to the mission stations, sometimes overnight or for several days, the fraternity-ministry tension is present here too. Some things never change!

The living situation is simple but healthy. Probably the best way to discribe the physical compound is to think of rustic or mountain "camp" living, with separate buildings for sleeping, dining, recreation and chapel, rather than one integrated friary. Furnishings are mostly home made and simple, walls and floors are block and concrete, and vehicles are a truck, a pick-up and a motorcycle. We do have electricity and running water, but no heat in the buildings and only one hot water heater, in the kitchen. There are wood-burning heaters for showers and laundry, and winter nights will mean bundling up in sweats and warm blankets or sleeping bags.

Food and meals have been sufficient and healthy. We have a good mixture of local food (bean, rice, cheese, fruit, vegetables and of course tortillas) along with other fare (pasta, chicken, etc.). We have little meat, which doesn't seem to bother anyone. The air is clean - though it's very dusty due to unpaved roads, walks, etc. - and the climate is pleasant. We use purification pills in the water, because the city plumbing is bad and can absorb ground impurities, So far I've felt fine!

Remote as we are, there is no newspaper, but we can get international news over shortwave BBC and local news through a poor TV reception of Mexican news. It's just right for knowing that Kohl lost the election in Germany, not knowing any detail about the Clinton affair, and hearing that Mark McGuire won the home run derby. Actually, the location and absence of mail here means a real lack of good reading about current world and church news, and I'm not sure yet what if anything to do about that.

The people? Well, the townspeople and parishioners at Yecora are probably as much like the Indians and Mexican people of the US southwest as they are like those of central Mexico. They are more punctual than the stereotype, and the men wear cowboy hats rather than sombreros. Many of the parishioners are more light-skinned and tall than the people of Annunication Parish [a predominantly Hispanic inner-city parish which Bill Kraus pastored in Denver from 1990 till 1993], though the liturgies and parish life is very similar. There are perhaps more communions here, but fewer men in the pews.

The people in the 20 or so missions in the area, however, mostly indigenous, have retained more of their darker color along with their culture, traditions and native languages. There are four main Indian groups we work with: Mayos, Yaquis, Pimas, and Guarajillos. From the several missions I visited, it seems that their people are warmer, less influenced by the material culture, and more open to evangelization.

The 20 pueblitos are within a 2-3 hour driving radius of Yecora, and we try to have Mass at least once a month in each station. As I understand it, much of our future work is to evangelize/catechize the people of the missions, as well as build up the main parish here in Yecora. Our other objective, of course, is to live well our fraternal life, implant the Order in this part of Mexico, and make the Capuchin life available to the people.

By the way, the town is very quiet these days, since most people are in the "ranches" after the rainy season picking fruit, harvesting crops and vegetables, cutting hay and sorghum, making cheese, etc. I also heard that marijuana is one of the crops that a majority of the people are involved in...probably including many in the government! The friars here say that all the narcotic traffickers have a strong devotion to St. Jude, but I haven't figured out the connection yet.

Well, enough for now, and I'd better wrap this up with a few words about myself. These have been both hard days and exciting days. The difficulties are adjusting to a whole new reality. The cultural and

daily life changes are enormous, but the largest challenge and most frustrating experience for me is the language. It's really a struggle for me to converse freely and intelligently with a group of people when my Spanish is so limited, and I'm quite an introvert even when I can communicate well! One on one I do pretty well, but in a group I'm like a baby among adults, sometimes bumbling and making many mistakes, and that's humbling and hard for someone who needs to be successful and look good.

But I'm sure that this minority and poverty is precisely one of the things I need to learn and use for spiritual growth. I feel pretty sure that the language will come in time; I just need to have patience and be grateful for the opportunity of littleness. Pray for my perseverence!

On the exciting side, as I said above, I find the Capuchin life and fraternity to be strong and healthy, and we have all the important elements we need to begin the postulancy. I know too that the friars and the people will teach me a lot about what's most important in life: God, community, nature, family, fiesta, rich cultural traditions, and the blessings of a simple life.

Though the transition is hard, it really is what I hoped and prayed for. So please pray for me that I learn and receive graciously all that God has to teach and give me, and that I can use my gifts well in the fraternity and ministry.

Tomorrow we have a major community meeting to talk about the postulancy and what we have to do to prepare for it. (I just found out that the postulants will be coming October 19). Tuesday I'll go with David to the village of Maycoba, to the Pima Indians, for whom the feast of St. Michael the Archangel is a major feast! There'll be a Mass, fiesta late into the night, and we'll sleep under the stars before returning to Yecora on Wednesday.

from Yecora, Mexico, Oct. 21, 1998:

Peace to you all in the Lord, Francis and Clare. It is a month today since my arrival in Yecora, and I thought I’d fax you a letter to say hello and let you know I’m doing well. The language, especially daily conversation, is the biggest challenge and often a major frustration; but there’s only one way to learn, so I’m forcing myself to dive in and make mistakes and ask for help (God forbid!). I think I am taking two steps forward for every one backward.

The fraternity here is solid and rich in diversity, and we have just doubled in size! Five candidates arrived this past weekend, and we expect a sixth one on Saturday. Some of these men have known the friars for quite awhile, waiting until the guys here thought we were ready to begin formation. They will be candidates for a couple months, since distance and communication prevent our getting to know them well enough before their entry; then those who remain will become postulants Dec. 12, for a year-and-a-half postulancy.... They hit this place like a whirlwind, and we professed enjoyed our memories of energy and enthusiasm at the beginnings of formation programs. They seem rooted in a strong desire for prayer, poverty, and service to the poor. Needless to say, it’s quite a change for the fraternity, as we are officially now a "formation house."

I’m well, have been healthy, and have had sufficient time for adjustment, prayer, personal life, etc. I’m officially an assistant in the parish and assistant postulant director, but really a kind of an "assistant everything" while I learn the language better and get to know the parish and travel around to the (20 or so) pueblitos. There’s so much to learn in a situation where the pueblitos are a mix of mexican and indigenous, and each mission community and indian tribe has a distinct history and character. So I’ll visit each mission eventually, and meanwhile cover the main parish here and a small Pima village of Juan Diego nearby 2-3 weekends a month while the other two priests are out in the pueblitos.

from Yecora, Mexico, Nov. 1, 1998:

We had our first frost last night, 28 degrees, but it warmed up to 78 this afternoon. This wide range is the common pattern, so if you get cold during the night you can look forward to a pleasant daytime. We have plenty of blankets to curl up in at night; the greater skill is dressing in layers in the morning to be able to shed as the day heats up. We have had some rains as a result of hurricanes in the area and actually had the blessing of 5-6 days without dust last week.

The biggest news is the beginning of our postulancy program. Six young men joined us two weeks ago, and they're really a solid group of guys. One is 37, one 30, and the other four range from 22 to 25 years old. They came in like a whirlwind with lots of energy and enthusiasm and have settled in well. We oldies enjoyed remembering our first days in formation. The postulancy here is a bit more academic and less pastoral than ours, given the need for a little more education, and the prayer life is a bit more structured. But our programs would be basically compatible.

So I'm back in a "formation house" and am helping with classes, pastoral days, work assignments, etc. I'll end up teaching quite a bit, because DAVID [BEAUMONT], the postulant director, is also guardian and pastor and is away a lot in the various pueblos. So far, it's going well. The postulants are patient with me and help me with the language. I'm pleased with the community life and the positive way the friars have adapted to a formation fraternity that doubles our size.

This doesn't mean we'll have such a large group every year, because some of these have been waiting for several years until the friars here thought we were ready to begin formation. But we do have 1-4 serious candidates for next year already. These candidates (they'll become postulants Dec. 12) all come from northern Mexico, whose eight states the Order has given to the Yecora mission for recruitment. These states will form a future jurisdiction, and a vice-province once there are at least three houses, and God willing a province some day. The present plan is to set up a second house (house of studies) in Monterrey, and a third house (pastoral) in Durango. The Spanish Capuchin jurisdiction in central Mexico will become a vice-province in early December, and David will be attending and visiting with the friars there about collaboration in formation for the novitiate and post-novitiate year.

I have almost five weeks here, and am feeling more comfortable all the time with the language and the rhythm of life. The friars and parishioners have been good and kind teachers, My role here is kind of an "assistant everything," which is fine as I learn many things and can free the other guys to expand or reach out in new directions. I'll be staying home most of the time (in the local parish and helping with the postulants) while the other two priests go out on weekends in the various pueblos. But one weekend a month I'll also get out to the other areas so that I will eventually see and meet all the pueblos.

It has really been interesting to visit the pueblos that I have so far, to see and experience the unique history and culture and tradition of each one, especially the indigenous (indian) villages. I've been able to join in several Pima indian celebrations, dances, fiestas -- including sleeping out (and getting drenched with rain) as the dances and music go late into the night. Several of these fiestas have been in remote areas to which we have to walk the last mile, but through very scenic valleys. I sent a few pictures to the provincial house in Denver, and I'll have some for the provincial assembly in April.

As I mentioned last time, the life here is rural and rustic, so that many of the properties have farm animals in the back yard or adjacent small corrals. We too, within the adobe walls that enclose our property, have an assortment of dogs, cats, rabbits, ducks, and even a turtle that makes its home in the duck pond. We were offered some baby deer, but we felt we didn't have the space or grass/hay to keep and feed them. We'll have to build some more buildings in the near future, since we're full now, to house future postulants/friars as well as guests.

In addition to pastoral work, I also have a chance to help with a lot of manual work gardening and landscaping, building shelves and tables and other carpentry, cleaning and fixing up various things that need repairs. So the opportunities to work with my hands and in the dirt suit me just fine!

I've had a lot of opportunities to reflect on the different style and pace of life here, in the absence of many modern conveniences. One reflexion is about a surrender to the laws of nature: heat, cold, darkness, rain. Without heat and air conditioning, with limited electricity and water, the weather controls more when you work, study, eat, sleep, recreate...even when and if you have a meeting! This lack of control invites humility, rest, creativity, relaxation and finally peace. The world keeps going fine when our plans are changed by nature.

And one also see that the "lazy" Mexican under his sombrero is simply obeying the laws of the sun in the 120 degree heat of day in the Sonoran desert and that "manana" allows people to relax rather than suffer a heart attack in the face of weather or other events beyond their control. Like our having only one vehicle for several weeks because the wheel bearing went out on the other one. The closest new bearing is five hours away and will take a week or so to get here. You take a motorbike where you can, walk some places, thumb a ride other places, and simply not show up elsewhere...without a phone to let people know you can't make it. And everyone survives, maybe even more healthily.

Enough philosophizing. I'll keep this to two pages and close by saying thanks again for your love and prayers. I miss you and enjoy hearing from you. Know that I'm well and quite happy, and that I have you in my prayers. Much love, Bill.

from Yecora, Mexico, Dec. 14, 1998:

Peace in the Lord who comes to save us. It's been awhile since I sent a message for e-mail circulation. A thousand thanks to all you who have written, and to all who remember me and the mission in your prayers. Mail comes in a bunch: we may not get any for two weeks, then we get letters mailed anywhere from 2 to 5 weeks back. I got a nice "bunch" last Friday, all of it mailed ostmarked sometime in November.

The biggest news here: we formally received the six candidates into the postulancy Saturday, at a Mass for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, who is also the patron orf the parish here. It was a wonderful ceremony, very impressive as a "first" for us and the parish here. We're very pleased with these guys and their potential, and we feel very grateful for them. The present plan is to have a two-year postulancy, with a good amount of classes in the Catholic faith and traditionm, but it also seems that some of them might be ready for novitiate this next summer.

The question of a novitiate for our territory or an inter-jurisdictional novitiate is still undecided. David went to Mexico City earlier in December for the establishment of the new (Spanish) vice-province of

Mexico. (Their territory is central and southern Mexico, and we have the eight northern states for recruitment, and by the grace of God a future province.) At that gathering a common novitiate was discussed, but another meeting is set for January to further consider common formation.

This has been an extremely busy time here, as it has for all of you. Advent here centers around preparation for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (a novena of processions, rosaries and Masses), then the nine days of posados leading up to Christmas.

from Yecora, Mexico, Mar. 2, 1999:

Peace to you all in your lenten journey to Easter.

First of all, thanks to all of you who sent Christmas mail...some of which is still arriving! The system here gives new meaning to "snail mail." (My mother's Christmas package with some nice new sweats" arrived last week, and there's still plenty winter left to enjoy them.) I feel very blessed to be remembered in thought, love and prayer by so many people.

The year is going well and fast here, and there's a lot happening as we prepare for next year. We just finished a vocation retreat for possible postulant candidates for this fall Eleven young men attended, two of whom are still too young, two others inappropriate for us, and the other seven vary from moderate to strong candidates. It would be great to get 3-4 of them anyway as postulants for September. We've set September 18 as the entrance date for the postulancy class of 2000!

With at least some of the present postulants seeming to be ready for novitiate this summer, we've petitioned our general Capuchin leadership in Rome for permission to establish a novitiate house. We hope to have that permission in March. We have an offer of a kind of farm-retreat compound at Tres Ojitos in the state Chihuahua, near the city of Madera and a couple hours away from the city of Chihuahua. The local bishop will give us the use of this site in exchange for our pastoral care for

five local pueblos and the Capuchin Poor Clares in Madera. It looks like a good setting for the novitiate, so pray with us that we get the permission and our postulants continue to prepare well for novitiate.

If we set up the novitiate this summer, we'll have to divide our personnel here, which will stretch us next year both in terms of pastoral ministry and formation staff. I'm not sure if I'd stay with the

parishes and postulants here in Yecora or go to the novitiate house. Thanks be to God we do have another friar from the States joining us in March, Br. EFRAIN SOSSA from the Province of the Stigmata in New Jersey; and we hope to have 1-2 other friars from the California Province (the host province of the Yecora mission) also join us this summer. But we're always open for more missionaries here....

The pastoral ministry continues to provide many new experiences for me. In January I went with David (who is in charge of the indigenous ministry for the Diocese of Obregon) to a week of studies for leaders and catechists for four different indian tribes: Mayo, Yacqui, Guarajio and Pima. We met in Guaysiacobe, a Mayo pueblo (without any running water), to study the Gospel of St. Matthew and share the various religious traditions and prayer rituals of the four tribes. It was a rich experience, especially observing the reverence and spirituality of the people, and participating in their sacred dances. It was also quite a challenging experience, to try to figure out how to place the person of Jesus Christ more in the center of the prayer, ritual and sacramentality of their religious expression. Locally, the ministry continues to be a mixture of joy and disillusionment.

I enjoy the opportunities to preach and teach, to celebrate and console both in Yecora and the neighboring pueblos. But ministering here is so often like teaching a high school class where most of the students don't want to be there! Pulling teeth! I mentioned in my last letter the history of the absence of the priest here and the psychology of independence, a kind of "leave me alone" attitude that has minimal social and ecclesial expectations. In this ambience baptisms and funerals are big, but the other sacraments and the Sunday Mass are not strong. The novena of rosaries after a death will sometimes fill the church, but the daily Mass a couple hours later will draw three people.

Christmas in the parish was particularly hard for me as a Catholic and Franciscan, who really wanted to celebrate BIG but found only a weak interest. Christmas is not nearly as important to the people as Our Lady of Guadalupe. We have a ways to go to help people know Mary the mother of Jesus, not just Mary a kind of religious icon, and Jesus as the center of the Advent-Christmas celebration. Or, how can we let Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, take us beyond December 12 to the birth of her Son?

The friars here say that Holy Week and Easter are likewise weak, so I'm bracing for another disillusionment. I should add, however, that this is not characteristic of the Mexican church. Generally, especially further south, the traditional Christian and Catholic feasts are very lively and well attended. This lethargy is more the case in parts of the North and especially here in the isolation of the Sierra, where our parish is generally recognized as the toughest challenge in the diocese.

In all this I appreciate the fraternity very much - it would be hard to minister here alone - and I have great admiration for past missionaries, including the Capuchins, for their faith and patience and perseverance. Progress is slow, but real.

I continue to be impressed with the great poverty of so many of the people, both the "white" (Spanish) and the Pima indians in and around Yecora. The two groups of people who most frequently come our door are the poor and elderly in Yecora who need the basics of firewood for their stoves and beans for their pots, and the Pimas who seek those same things plus medical care. There's acutually quite a variety of economic levels here in Yecora, a growing town with new money and developments but also with its marginated and street people.

I recently had two funerals for very poor people. One lady Rafaela was laid out for the vigil in her wood-slat home, without a casket, on a mat surrounded by four simple vigil candles and a handful of people. The other, Salomon, was a kind of street dweller who died but wasn't discovered until almost a day later. Without embalming here they usually bury within a day, so the aroma at this funeral after almost two days...well, let's just say I appreciated more than ever before the use of incense at the funeral Mass, the comments of Martha at the tomb of Lazarus, and the women carrying perfume to the holy sepulchre on Easter morning.

It was also the only funeral I've celebrated here where there were more men (his street buddies) than women in the church.

The papal visit here was a huge and impressive national event. None of us from Yecora went to Mexico, but we watched a good bit on television. The media coverage being very supportive and positive, and it was refreshing to be away from the cynicism of so much of the U.S. reporting. I hear that the St. Louis visit was very enthusiastic and graced by a number of our friars and youth from our ministries. I was also delighted that the governor of Missouri commuted a death sentence in response to the Pope's plea.

Last week I had the opportunity to travel to Mexico City to attend the Vice-Province assembly of the Spanish Capuchins, the other Capuchin jurisdiction here in Mexico. My attendance there was part of our efforts at colloboration between the two groups, and it was also good to be able to spend time with their formation friars and visit the postulancy program in Puebla. The Assembly focused on the "Propositions" from the recent Plenary Council of the Order on the subject of Poverty.

While in Mexico I did a little sight-seeing, did some shopping for books for our libraries, and visited the Basilica of our Lady of Guadalupe. I had been to the Basilica once before, but it was my first time on the city's Metro (subway) system. It's quite well-done and moves lots of people in that city of 20 million.

On the gardening front, we've recently added a statue of St. Francis and a fountain in the square outside the dining room. Adds a little class to the place. You should come and see it..... It takes a lot of water these days to do some minimal gardening, since we haven't had any rain since December - and we're entering the dryest season, till rains return in June.

In the "another new experience" column, I assisted at a delivery a couple days back in our guest room here at the pastoral house. Many indigenous ask for hospitality here if they have business in Yecora and can't catch a ride back home (hardly any have cars) before dark. A pregnant Pima lady from a neighboring village was spending the night here, having tried to visit the doctor and hoping for an appointment in the morning. Well the baby didn't wait, and about 6:00 am this lady's mother, who was with her, came to my room asking for help. Luckily I was able to reach the local doctor who came for the actual delivery. I stayed in the background and provided the clean sheets and water, but I think I at least merit the new little guy's being named "Memo" (Spanish for "Bill".)

As you can tell from my comments above, about formation next year, I'll be staying on here in Yecora for awhile. Cuba does seem to be opening up a bit to U.S. priests, and it remains an interest of mine. But the missionary and formation need is definite and immediate here, especially if we expand this summer, so I told the California province to count on me for at least another year.

from Yecora, Mexico, May 12, 1999:

Peace to you all in the Spirit of Jesus. It was good to see many of you, the friars of my province and most of my family, during my brief visit for our provincial assembly in April. I appreciated the opportunity to give a short report to the friars and I'm very grateful for your support of my work and the mission here.

I love this time of year: the Easter-Pentecost cycle, flowers of spring, fresh mornings. It's a season full of new life!

Here in the Sierra it's also a tough season for the farmers, especially this year which is one of the driest on record. Pastures are brown and rains won't start for another month, so farmers are either importing expensive hay, alfalfa, etc. or selling their cattle. Water is more critical, and in some pueblos even water for houses is in short supply. In a town/parish we visit, La Concepcion, only one well (spring) has water so the families take turns around the clock, one hour every other day, filling their containers to carry back to their houses.

Here in Yecora we have a good water supply, thanks be to God, and we can even water the roses and a few tomatoe plants we're started. The soil is poor, but there are plenty of cow chips around to enrich it. I'm just learning the secrets of cultivation in this climate, but the folks who've been around for many years have some beautiful flower gardens and share them generously as bouquets for our church altar and various shrines.

It's interesting to note the reversal of seasons here from the US heartland: May is dry but August wet; the prime months for grass and crops are late summer and fall; wheat is planted in June and harvested in October. (As is marijuana!)

We have lots of movement going on in the fraternity and pastoral ministry these months. Our biggest news is the opening of a second house in Tres Ojitos, near the city of Madera, in the state of

Chihuahua. Thanks be to God we accepted five postulants for the novitiate, so we will begin our novitiate at St. Fidelis Friary in Tres Ojitos on July 21. This is a historic moment, the first expansion into a second fraternity since the beginning of the mission in 1985.

To prepare the physical site (a former retreat house for the diocese) and the novitiate program, four friars left here for Tres Ojitos on May 2: Fr. BILL TRAUBA who had been here 13 years, Bro. JIM DOYLE who served here 11 years, and two new missionaries Fr. MICHAEL RONAYNE and Bro.

EFRAIN SOSA. Efrain is from the Province of the Stigmata of St. Francis (New Jersey), the others all from Our Lady of the Angels Province (California.) They will run the novitiate program and serve five little towns in the area, plus act as chaplains to a community of Capuchin Poor Clare sisters in Madera.

That leaves three friars here for next year: Fr. DAVID BEAUMONT. Bro. ANSELMO AQUIRRE, and myself. Yikes! It will be a much smaller community for the postulancy and the parish ministry, but with careful planning we can make it work. Pray for us here as we prepare for next year, and also pray for the novitiate community that it gets off to a good start.

For me personally it will mean taking on a few more responsibilities in the fraternity and postulancy, but it will especially expand my pastoral work on weekends. I'll take care of the 12 towns that Bill served, using a rotation where I'm here two Sundays a month and in the towns two Sundays and three Saturdays a month. The towns are within a two-hour driving radius of Yecora, so that's lots of "tire time" over rugged roads on weekends! David will cover Yecora the other two Sundays, and work in other towns (mostly with the Pima indians) his weekends away. We'll try to have one Mass a month in the towns, at least the larger ones, and provide catechetics and other pastoral services in our monthly visits.

Perhaps we can work some of the postulants into weekend apostolates, especially in religious education.

We don't know yet how many postulants we'll have for next year. We hope for 4-5, perhaps including one who left last year but wants to return. One applicant is a Mayo indian, so we'll have our first ndigenous vocation - wonderful!

Liturgically speaking May here is like most parishes, busy with First Communions and Confirmations, and a few Quinceaneras thrown in. Friday and Saturday we'll have large celebrations in honor of San Isidro, and the Ascension here in Mexico is observed this Sunday.

I've begun my rounds of the towns, and I see that a major challenge is catechesis, especially a solid preparation for the sacraments. A high priority will have to be training catechists in those pueblos that don't have them. There also appear to be quite a few couples married civilly that are willing to be married in the church, so I want to emphasize that too, so that can receive the Eucharist.

As we wrap up the postulancy year, I'll take the postulants for a couple days next week to San Carlos, a (largely American) beach resort on the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California). It'll be our end-of-year outing, and my first time to the coast since I've been in Mexico.

That's it for now from Yecora. You're all in my prayers and daily Eucharist, and please remember me to the Lord.

from Yecora, Mexico, July 11, 1999:

Peace to you in the Lord Jesus, and in Francis and Clare of Assisi. As I write this a heavy downpour of rain is beating on the tin room of the parish house; but I don't have to hear anything, only see the screen to send you a few lines for the summer.

Yes, it started raining about three weeks ago and continues almost every day, sometimes giving us a "gullywasher" and other days a "soaker." Since it's my first summer here, it's fascinating to watch the cloud and weather patterns. The rains are somewhat like those in the Rocky Mountains, but the seasons are much more distinct and reversed from back home. The hot dry months here are April, May and early June, and the wet season is mid-June to mid-September.

It's amazing to see the rapid transformation of the earth, and people's spirits, almost overnight, with a good rain. The rivers and streams run again, the cattle graze contentedly, and the farmers can plant beans and corn and potatoes for the fall.

It's been a good and full summer so far. I was alone almost three weeks while the California friars were in their province for their chapter, for mission appeals and other business. I missed the guys but it was good for awhile to have all the work, activities, pastoral duties and decisions fall at my doorstep: it gave me a good sense of the breadth of the ministry, especially at the front door. Thanks be to God we have a secretary-receptionist now, for the first time in the mission's history, who works half a day and takes care of much of the porter and office work. She's very good and has a lot of patience with my faltering Spanish.

Another first for us here in the parish is extraordinary ministers for communion, whom we're training to begin in August. Since we'll be only three friars instead of six this year, it will be particularly good to

have help in taking communion to the sick and homebound. We're finding that there are a lot of elderly Catholic people in their homes not receiving communion, mostly because they don't think about it. It has never been part of their history in towns or rural areas where the Eucharist was not reserved in chapels and they saw a priest once or twice a year.

Oh, there's so much evangelizing and catechizing to do here among people who have never had a regular experience of the Mass, Blessed Sacrament, confession and other sacraments of the church. This morning I celebrated confession with an elderly lady in here home, a home full of statues and religious symbols; but neither she nor her children, all Catholic, had any real sense of what confession was all about. I had to explain to her adult daughters why they should leave the room and allow their mother some privacy for confession.

There's a strong faith and devotion among the people, and their lives are full of religious symbols and celebrations; but most of the time there is very little reflection on the meaning of their traditions and customs and practices. It's so frustrating a times...but I have to keep telling myself that it's their history! Have patience, Bill, and compassion for a people that haven't had the riches of a strong Catholic education and the regular presence of a priest and the sacraments!

On the other hand their practice of Gospel hospitality is unmatched, and the family served me homemade empanadas and coffee this moring after confession and communion!

You knock at the door of a house here and the first words are "Come in," "Have a seat," and "Would you like a cup of coffee?" Only then do they ask your name or the purpose of your visit. I learn a lot from this unconditional welcome, and I have a long way to go in practicing it...at MY front door. That's at least one of the reasons the Lord allowed me to come here.

On July 21 we'll travel from Yecora to Tres Ojitos (near Ciudad Madera) in Chihuahua for the blessing of the novitiate house and the investiture of the five novices. It's a great grace for us and I'm looking forward to the visit and the ceremony. And as we look to September here, we're hoping for 6-7 postulants again, though we won't know a number for sure until they get here.

Meanwhile, I have a great opportunity that I said "yes" to: an invitation to teach a course to Capuchins in Nigeria. Yes, that's Africa! I'll be offering a three-week course in Franciscanism to their young friars in initial formation, and have a week to visit the country a little. One extra delight will be to see AKOSA EMODI again, who was in one of my novitiate classes in Victoria, KS and was instrumental in getting the friars (from the Province of Tuscany, Italy) to come to Nigeria. I also hope to visit a Great Bend (KS) Domincan sister,who was a neighbor of ours in Grainfield, KS and has been a missionary in Nigeria for 25 years.

I'll use this time as my vacation this year, in lieu of coming back to the States, since it was such a great opportunity for me to visit the friars and country of Nigeria, and since I had the chance for a short

visit home in April. So I have my visa and obedience and plane ticket for July 30 - Aug. 29. Now I just have to get a few innoculations...and prepare my course! Wish me luck, and say a prayer for me.

from Yecora, Mexico, July 23, 1999:

God's peace be with you. I just returned from Chihuahua and I want to send you a short report on our marvelous celebrations yesterday, blessing the new novitiate friary and investing our four new novices.

The new house is St. Fidelis Friary in the little pueblo of Tres Ojitos (perhaps 150 inhabitants) about five miles outside the city of Madera, Chihuahua. The 15-acre site, with a lake and pine trees and lots of space to walk, makes for a great novitiate setting. It was donated to us by the bishop of the diocese of Madera-Chuatemoc, in exchange for our pastoral care of several neighboring pueblos and our making the place and the friars available for retreats, confessions, etc.

In the morning of the feast of St. Lawrence of Brindisi, we invested four novices - SERGIO, VALENTIN, DAVID and PEDRO PABLO - in the Portiuncula-like chapel, which I think is a wonderful place for prayer. In a touching ceremony RON TALBOTT, the provincial of the California Province, gave thanks to God for this historic moment of implanting the Order in Northern Mexico and invited the novices to become good Capuchins.

In the afternoon Bishop Juan Guillermo presided at a Mass to bless and inaugurate the novitiate friary. About 250 people came from Tres Ojitos, Madera, other neighboring pueblos, and from Chihuahua three hours away. They included six local priests, many Secular Franciscans, 14 Capuchin Poor Clares (from both Madera and Chihuahua), and 15 friars from Tres Ojitos, Yecora, California, and the vice-provincial of the (Spanish) Vice Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe here in Mexico. The brothers in Tres Ojitos have become known quickly and have great support already from the Capuchin Sisters, the Secular Franciscans and the local clergy and laity!

It was exciting to inaugurate the novitiate, and God has blessed us with a wonderful location and four new brothers. Please pray for them and the formation community as we take another important step in implanting the Order in this part of Mexico.

from Yecora, Mexico, Sept. 7, 1999:

September in Mexico is "el mes de la patria," the month of the fatherland, with the principal celebration being Independence Day Sept. 16. So the next weeks will be filled with fiestas and political observances, even in isolated Yecora. The natural world peaks in beauty this month, after the rainy season, as we enjoy emerald landscapes, late summer flowers and garden goodies. One has to remember September in the cold of January and the dust of April!

In the Capuchin world we're expecting 5-6 new postulants here this coming weekend, and the four novices and the friars' community in Tres Ojitos are reported to be doing well. I'll write more about the new postulants and other pastoral and formation activities in the future. For now I want to tell you a little about Nigeria, where I spent a very enjoyable and educational month in August, teaching a course in Franciscan spirituality to the young friars there.

First of all, for the friars in Mid-America, warmest greetings from AKOSA (CLEMENT) EMODI, whom many of you will remember from the novitiate in Victoria, Kansas in 1981-1982. Some of you recall that he wanted with all his heart to join our province, but he also wanted to live as a Capuchin in Nigeria. His only option, we told him then, was to return home and petition his bishop to invite the Capuchins to Nigeria.

He did! The friars from Tuscany, Italy, arrived in 1984 to implant the Order, and now 15 years later they are a custody of four Italian friars and about 40 Nigerian Capuchins, ten of them priests (including Akosa), one a perpetually professed lay brother, and the rest in initial formation. So after 17 years it was a particular joy for me, and something of dream-come-true, to re-unite with a former novice and in my Franciscan teaching to nurture the sprout of a Capuchin seed planted in Mid-America.

It was also beneficial for me to spend time teaching and reflecting with the Nigerian Capuchins as they face the transition from an Italian-led community and formation system to one that is fully Nigerian and African. We'll undergo the same process here in Mexico in our mission and formation, and please God we can implant and help inculturate a Capuchin life that is completely Mexican.

The Capuchins are the only community of Franciscan men in Nigeria, so they have the "corner on the (Franciscan) market." Like most seminaries and formation programs they have plenty candidates and need to discern carefully among numerous applicants. I heard from two different religious - the Capuchin vice-provincial of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the novice director of the Redemptorists - that they accept only twelve novices a year from among 20-30 applicants, for the sake of space and so that they don't grow too fast. Such a problem to have, right?!

The friars in Nigeria are very grateful for educational and formation resources donated by the US (I saw books from several provinces, and a whole library from Garrison, NY), and they still welcome any and all English works, especially in philosophy and Franciscanism. They appreciate vocational resources too, and in the early days found much success with the "Live the Dream, Make the Difference" slogan and booklet. (Kudos, MIKE SCULLY!)

Africa is sometimes called the "forgotten continent," and I too knew little about Nigeria and her neighbors. So I learned a lot about a country whose church is young and alive, whose people are very expressive and colorful, and whose land is rich in natural resources. They've had their problems with civil wars, military rule and political corruption; but they're hopeful now with a new democratic government since May of this year. The church too has major challenges, and opportunities, in guiding a people and helping a nation to realize their rich potential, especially in the service of the poor and evangelization.

I especially loved the music: spirituals in workshops and markets, polyphonic praises in churches, lullabies on the lips of mothers baking bread or rocking their children. My first hour in Nigeria, en route from the airport in Lagos to the friary in Enugu, was a spontaneous praise service on the public bus; my last hour found me on the airplane next to a young woman softly chanting an Igbo hymn. In between it was delightful to be in a country where religion is public and week-long: biblical bumper-stickers on buses and trucks, morning prayers in offices, confessions in hospital waiting rooms, God-talk in the halls and debates of congress. The other side of this thoroughly religious society is of course the Angelus bells and Islamic call to prayer together in disharmony, and an evangelical church on practically every block competing for the poor's donations.

Well, enough for now. But we'll be hearing a lot more from the church and the Order in Nigeria and Africa in years ahead, as they grow in numbers and contributions to ecclesial life, and perhaps (re)evangelize the West.

As always, know of my love and prayers for all of you; and please remember me, the Yecora mission and our formation program as you kneel before the Lord.

from Yecora, Mexico, Oct. 4, 1999:

Happy Feast Day to you all. How blessed we are in the heritage of Francis and Clare, and my prayer for all the Franciscan family is for our continual conversion and renewal in the wonderful spirit of the Poverello.

It's been quiet in Yecora today, since many local folks are in the neighboring town of Maycoba, a community we serve about an hour away, for the huge annual feast of St. Francis Borgia. His feast was originally Oct. 10, then moved to Oct. 3, and the Jesuits who evangelized this area established a popular shrine of St. Francis Borgia in Maycoba. Thus for many years around here THE St. Francis associated with October 3-4 is Borgia, not Assisi. So you can imagine we have our work cut out for us to reclaim our day! But I'm happy that we had a church half-full for the morning Mass, and a few people joined us for a Holy Hour this afternoon too.

The other two friars are away, David in Maycoba and Anselmo at an all-Mexico Franciscan conference in Monterrey. So the postulants and I are enjoying the feast on a lovely fall day, with good prayer and meals. Our duck herd was getting too large, so we had a couple for supper. But MARK (MANCE, who was here last year), we didn't use the orange sauce recipe - we're waiting for you to come back and prepare this delight for us! I cooked the ducks and made a stuffing a la Mexico, using half bread and half tortillas cause we had so many, and using nopal (the fleshy part of cactus) instead of celery because there was no celery in town. Turned out pretty good!

We have four postulants this year, a little smaller group than we expected but a solid and positive group, thanks be to God. They come from various parts of the mission territoy, which is good news for our vocation outreach, and one is Mayo indian, our first indigenous vocation. It's quite evident with this group that reading and study and silence are hard, so learning basic study habits,. including reading and writing, will be a major goal for our program. I'm directing the postulants this year, with the help of David and Anselmo, and so far so good. With a smaller friars' community this year it's a challenge to have adequate presence to the postulants, but we're managing. I limit my work in the surrounding Pueblos to Saturday and Sunday, so I can be here in the friary and local parish during the week.

The reports from the novitiate in Tres Ojitos are positive, and I'm anxious to get over there for a visit, probably in ealy December. Efraim, our vocation director who is also on the novitiate staff, will be coming here later this month to plan some vocation weekends and other activities with us.

I'll close for now, with a special note of thanks to the Mid-America Province for your financial contribution to our work here, and a promise of prayers for those of you who will be on retreat next week in Victoria next week. May love and prayers to all who read this letter, and I ask you to remember me also as you kneel before the Lord.

from Yecora, Mexico, Nov. 22, 1999:

Peace to you all in the Lord, and Happy Thanksgiving! It's actually today "Cristo Rey" today, but I'll be going to Obregon tomorrow so I can mail a letter for you all.

Today we formally received the postulants at the morning Mass. Because distance and communications don't allow us to know the candidates very well before they arrive, we have a two month "pre-postulancy" time prior to their official entrance into formation. It see ms to work well, and these four guys are doing well. They're pretty typical of the Mexican youth of today, raised on the television like most of the Western world, not highly educated especially in the faith but open to learn and generally docile, with rough edges to work off. One of the novices, Sergio, left a couple weeks ago. He has some health (heart) probems and decided to leave and attend to them more thoroughly, and perhaps return later. He's a good novice and I hope it might work out in the future. I look forward to a visit to the novitiate in Tres Ojitos (Chihuahua), an "official" visit in my capacity as coordinator (prefect) of formation for the mission.

The year is going well for me, with good health and good fraternal support. The work in the pueblos is a lot (I visit 12 towns monthly, sometimes more often), especially since it all has to be done on weekends. They're all from 1 to 2 hours away, so the travel is extensive, though vocation work gave me a good preparation for that. There's great variety among the towns in the response of the people, from great enthusiasm to a big yawn, depending on their history of evangelization and pastoral care. Last Saturday I had a quinceañera in one town where practially everyone in the church was drunk, including dad, mom, and the quinceañera herself! (They had the dinner and dance - and a few refreshments--in the early afternoon, before the Mass). On the other hand yesterday in one town a group of ten women, on their own initiative, asked one of the sisters here to assist them in a Bible study, which went for over two hours.

So there are many opportunities, in my ministry and all of yours, to identify with the ups and downs of Jesus' ministry--and sometimes rejections - in the Gospels. One skill I'm thinking and praying about, in the disappointments and frustrations of ministry, is the ability to transform anger to sorrow. The way Jesus wept over Jerusalem rather vent his wrath, the way Francis wept that "Love is not loved" in his frustration and feelings of rejection. Any ideas for me?

On the California side, we all enjoyed the visit of MIGUEL ORTIZ from the provincial house, along with benefactors Paul and Nadine from Solvang. Thanks for your time with us and all your work while you were here.

We'll all be in Ciudad Obregon this week for a diocesan assembly, and to catch up on shopping, parish/diocesan business, e'mail (I haven't been able to connect from Yecora for several weeks).

from Yecora, Mexico, Jan. 3, 2000:

Peace to you in the Savior Jesus, and a most Holy New Year to you all. I celebrated the new year in two states, with a morning Mass in Yecora (Sonora) then an afternoon Mass in Bermudez, Chihuahua. Bermudez is not really in our parish, but is right across the border and far from the nearest priest in Chihuahua, so we visit it as a favor to the people.

It's an interesting community since it was founded about 100 years ago by three families who came down here from North Carolina, and so the people have very white features. I'm not sure why the families migrated here, sometimes it's better not to ask, but they're a very warm group and one of the most faithful communities we visit.

Christmas was good and peaceful, a time of many Masses in many pueblos and a popular time for baptisms and weddings. We do as many adult baptisms as infant, since so many adults in distant pueblos or ranches without priests in the past were never baptized. Frequently at marriages, or sometimes when a person is near death, we celebrate baptisms and confirmations and first communions. I had a baptism the other day for a lady dying of cancer, and three baptisms this past week with weddings, one a convalidation. We also buried the oldest resident of Yecora, Francisco, who was 110.

We had a couple small snows here in Yecora--my first in Mexico!--one December 11 to honor Our Lady of Guadalupe and the other December 22. The Christmas snow didn't last till the 25th, but it was very lovely on the hills, among the pine trees. In a few places in lower elevations the snowflakes resting on the leaves of the "nochebuena" or Poinsettia provided a lovely Christmas ambience.

The snow also gave me a good "missionary" experience the day after Christmas, when I went to celebrate Mass in Campanero, several thousand feet higher than Yecora. There was a lot of snow and ice on the steep incline, and our 1992 Chevy pickup couldn't make it. It has four-wheel drive, but doesn't work, and it may not have been enough anyway. I tried another route but it was equally slick, and I almost went off the edge; but thanks to my Kansas mountain driving experience I got safely back on the path. After several attempts on several different routes, I parked the truck, took my Mass kit in hand and began to walk.

After 15-20 minutes I reached the level, where the driver of a pickup truck going the opposite direction waved with a "Feliz Navidad." Next came a man on a horse, and when I asked him for a ride he said he had to go to a nearby pasture and would come back to pick me up "ratito" ("in a little while"), which down here can mean five minutes or an hour or never. Next I met a lady walking towards the main road where I came from, we exchanged some Christmas conversations, and seeing her reminded me how many people have no transportation and walk or beg rides all the time.

So I decided to forget the clock and take advantage of the walk. It was very enjoyable in the morning sun and cool air and winter wonderland scenery of Campanero. I also thought of you, Jerry (Wintz), in the various PNG treks you narrated in your letter.

After about an hour's walk I caught a ride to the church, where we had a nice Holy Family celebration. After Mass I helped push-start the truck of one of the parishoners who gave me a ride back to the beginning of the decline. I walked back to the truck and was able to make it to my other Mass in Santa Rosa an hour away only a few minutes late.

The friars here are well, and the postulants too, away at their families until January 10. I delivered an extra blanket to each of their rooms the other day, and they left enough things behind that I think they'll all return! Two of the novices left the novitiate, one at least temporarily for health reasons, the other a vocational decision. So there are two left, with the hope of the third coming back if his health improves. I had a nice visit to Tres Ojitos in December, it's a good place for the novitiate, in spite of the cold, and they've done a nice job in setting up the house.

Please pray for me and the mission here, too, especially for more friars to join us in the parishes and in the growing formation program. Blessings to all for a Jubilee Year full of grace, peace, and a new generosity for preaching the Good News.

from Yecora, Mexico, Mar. 6, 2000:

Peace and all good to you. The noise and excitement in most of the world today is for mardi gras, today in Yecora the primary election is responsible for a larger crowd in the plaza, and in Mass too! Almost everyone here belongs to PRI (Partido Revolucionario Institucional, the same party that's been in power nationally for 70 years), so there's really only one election. But the 6-7 candidates for PRI have had a spirited campaign so there's lots of interest. I wandered around the plaza after Mass a little, joking with some folks that I belonged to the PRD (Partido Revolucionario Democrato) because PRD stands for the "Partido del Reino de Dios."

On the national level this election-year campaign is similar to campaigns in the US, though I think the contest is a little cleaner, with less personal attacks and a better debating of the issues. We've gotten some news of the US campaign and other events through "El Imparcial," a daily paper that comes by bus from Hermosillo. It's a good paper with good news and commentray, but it hasn't arrived for several weeks now.

We just finished our first annual "Semana Capuchina," a week-long gathering of all the friars and students in the mission. The four friars and two novices from Tres Ojitos in Chihuahua joined our three friars and four postulants here, and it was a very good week with a positive and enthusiastic spirit. We studied the Mattli plenary council document on "Our Missionary Life and Activity," particularly with the theme of inculturating our life, mission and formation in the reality of northern Mexico. Implantation and inculturation is a delicate task an any event, made more difficult because our mission and our candidates really represent many different cultures: indigenous and mestizo, rural and mountain and urban, rich and poor, educated and not. The history of evangelization and the life of the church is also extremely varied north to south, east to west in our territory.

We had good reflections over our life and especially our formation programs, which always force the issue of life and mission: for what are we training and forming future Capuchins? In my role of coordinator of initial formation, I wrote up a draft of our "Plan de Formación, " though we still have a lot of work to do developing the post-novitiate part. I was grateful for our plan in Mid-America, which provided an outline to work from...inculturated, of course! The plan we discussed seems generally acceptable to both friars and students as a working document.

As the two novices prepare to profess vows, we're making plans to open our post-novitiate formation program and house of studies in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. It looks like we can get some land adjacent to the diocesan seminary, which would be great for philosophy and theology opportunities. The Franciscans (Observants) have a fine theologate in Monterrey also, and have invited us to study with them. The location is good for schools for non-priesthood studies as well as other formation programs. Now we just need to get enough friars (yes, that might mean YOU!) to have a fraternity and formation team there.

We've had a warmer winter than last year, and just as dry. It looks like the dusty season will be longer, since it hardly ever rains now between March and June. It's been a healthy year for me, thanks be to God, with just one short bout with some little creatures in the stomach. Last year after several weeks of treating parasites with antibiotics I switched to a stong mixture of garlic and milk twice a day; so this year I went natural right away and had whatever I had for only three days.

After a year and a half here I'm feeling more comfortable all the time with the language. I still make a lot of mistakes and constantly ask how to say things, but it's so good to be able to preach more spontaneously and carry on a relatively smooth conversation with people. Idioms, sayings, jokes, etc. are another thing - that'll take years!

Christmas mail this year was slow, but abundant! (It helps when your mom puts your address on the church bulletin board with a little note "Don't forget OUR son of the parish!") Thanks to everyone who sent cards and greetings. Mission life can be lonely at times, so I truly am touched and grateful for your love and prayers. I don't know when I'll get back to the States, probably the end of May or in June, depending on the assignments of friars for next year and consequent moves. I won't be able to attend the province's Easter assembly, but hope to take in the fraternal retreat in June if possible.

You are all in my prayers, especially the sick and our friars in formation. Have a holy Lent, and pray for me too and all the missionaries and our work here in Mexico.

from Yecora, Mexico, May 10, 2000:

Peace to you all in the Risen Lord Jesus!  I'm glad Easter lasts 50 days, gives me a chance with difficult email connections to send you greetings within the season.  Congratulations to all who celebrated in any way therebirth of Baptism and the Easter sacraments, and I pray that all of you know personally new life in the Spirit of Jesus.

It's also Mother's Day here in Mexico (a fixed day, May 10), so I pray for all of you who are mothers both today and this coming Sunday.  This day a huge religious, civil and commercial holiday here, a free day from school and many other employs.

This year was my first "Semana Santa" and Easter in Yecora and the surrounding towns, both a good and a confounding experience.  Holy Week in all of Mexico is a vacation week, and for students and many others Easter week is likewise free.  The background of this is religious, to allow people to celebrate fully the Paschal events, and where the faith is strong it's very positive.  Where evangelization has been weak or the church absent, this vacation time promotes many secular celebrations with dances and drunkeness and outright debauchery, worst of all in the name of religion.  Here we have both, with Holy Week services going on in the church with dancing and drinking going on in the plaza opposite the church.  (The tradition of having the church in the central public square has many advantages, but many disadvantages too.)

But we're making progress!  More people are observing Holy Week religiously each year, and fewer patronize the dances and bars.  This year for the first time a number of the youth group leaders made a commitment to not participate in any of the dances and secular celebrations during the Triduum, and that was a powerful witness to the other youth and parish in general.

For me personally it was a good Easter, especially pastorally, with many positive celebrations in 11 pueblos I visit regularly.  The families like to celebrate all the sacraments at this time, when they're on vacation and many relatives and padrinos come home, so the liturgies are full and a bit complicated.  The puebos get one Easter visit from the priest, so baptisms and confirmations and first communions and weddings and sometimes quinceañeras in one liturgy present a pastoral challenge!

May has been busy fraternally.   We had a wonderful visitation here (and in the novitiate in Tres Ojitos, Chihuahua) by Br. WILLIAM WIETHORN from Rome, along with Brs. RONALD TALBOT and ANTONIO MARTI from California, and Br. VINCENT FORTUNATO from New Jersey.  Bill is our English-speaking general councilor (one of eight advisors to the general minister), Ron and Vinnie are minister provincials of their respective provinces, and Tony is a counselor to Ron.  It was great to be able to share our life and concerns with them, especially our personnel needs, and know of their fraternal support.

As some of you know, much of our discussion centered on formation programs and staff, particularly as we set up the fraternity  and house of studies for the post-novitiate program in Monterrey, Nueo Leon, over this next year. Monterrey is a large, relatively modern and very Catholic city, and we'll be able to attend the diocesan seminary there for philosophy and theology, and access many other education and formation programs in the city.  So pray with us for more friars needed for Monterrey and generally in these years of expanding formation programs and these years before we have native friars ready to serve.

The Lord is blessing us with future friars.  I think the two novices will profess temporary vows in July, the four postulants have been accepted for the novitiate, and God willing we will have a nice group (5, 6, more?) of postulants again here in Yecora.

My personal formation news is that I'm going back to the novitiate (my ministry many years ago in Mid-America)!  I'll be novice director beginning with the new class in July, in Tres Ojitos (literally, "three little eyes," so named for three little lakes of water in the town area), a town of 20-25 families I think, about five miles from Ciudad Madera, a town of about 15,000 people.  I'll tell you more about my new digs in the future, but for now here's the new address:
        Franciscanos Capuchinos
        Misión Tres Ojitos
        Apdo. Postal 12
        C.P. 31940, Cd. Madera, Chih.
        MEXICO
The friars' phone is (from the US) 011-52 (158) 97041, and the phone/fax of the Capuchin Poor Clares in Madera, which you can use for faxes, and phone messages when the friars' phone isn't working, is 011-52 (157) 20438.

I wasn´t looking for a move from Yécora, especially since I have only a year and half here and have just begun to feel comfortable in many areas.  But I've learned lots here, and will continue to learn, and I think the novitiate will suit me well.  The friars and the postulants, future novices, seem to have confidence in me for the job, so I'm going with it.

But how I´m ready for a good vacation!  It´s been extremely busy with the combination of formation and parish ministry, and I need a break from the postulants and they from me - especially since we'll soon be together again for 365 days.  Yikes!  So I'm really looking forward to a rest and seeing some of you at least the end of this month and in June.

That's it for now.  My next letter will come from Tres Ojitos...if I can find some connection there.  Blessings of joy and life in the Risen Christ to all of you.

from Tres Ojitos, Mexico, July 21, 2000:

Greetings and peace from my new home in Misión Tres Ojitos, Cuidad Madera, Chihuahua.  "Tres Ojitos" ("three little eyes") is so named for three little reservoirs of water used by the town before they had a tower. I've found two of them in my wanderings around this village of about 50 houses; perhaps the third has been filled in for one of the many small plots of corn or oats, or a cattle, sheep or horse corral.

This is a lovely place!  They tell me it gets colder here in the winter than in Yecora, with more snow, but for now I'm relishing the beauty of the climate and landscape.  It's a great place for the novitiate, 20 acres of pine trees and wild grass and mountain flowers, surrounded by a rural quiet and now-lush valleys and mountains.  The altitude is about 7,000 feet, similar to the Colorado foothills, like Estes Park, and the weather patterns are much the same too, though it's pretty dry outside the months of June through September.

It's interesting that most of the men from this area who work in the United States are in Colorado, perhaps for reasons of climate, or simply Colorado's booming economy?

Since we're on the mesa between the two Sierra Madre mountain ranges, east and west, there's a good bit of flat and fertile farming area.  The farmers couldn't plant a lot of corn or beans in May because of the drought, but there are a lot of horses and tractors in the field now, planting oats in between rains.  In yards and gardens, they're seeding squash and fall flowers, as we are in the friary.

The convent ( St. Fidelis Friary) here has an interesting history, having been a combination butcher shop and retreat house, in which the former pastor of this area raised and butchered pigs and sheep, sold meat to build and run the retreat house, and even had a Sunday restaurant for a time. We built on the retreat concept and kept a couple hogs for pork for ourselves, but sold off the sheep and converted the butcher house into friars' dorms. One friar now lives in the former walk-in cooler!

We now have a central house for the novices, library, dining room and recreation room; a residence for the friars and post-novices; a cabin for retreatants and guests; and a Portiuncula-like chapel.  We're still working on the main house, finishing bathrooms, adding rooms on the third floor, augmenting the water supply, etc. The cabin needs some work too, but it's a great place for YOU to come and visit or retreat.  Madera is only about 6 hours from El Paso, TX, with blacktop all the way.  I'll even come and escort you across the border.

Our friar family is ten: BILL TRAUBA, JIM DOYLE and myself in perpetual vows; PEDRO PABLO and ANGEL DAVID (our first Mexican friars who made temporary profession July 12 and will stay here for their first year of post-novitiate, until we have a house and formation program ready in Monterrey), and five novices, LUIS, SERGIO, RAMIRO, GUILLERMO, and GERARDO who received the habit July 11.  Bill is the pastor of five pueblos in this area, chaplain to the Capuchin Poor Clares, and post-novitiate director.

I'll help him in those areas, and he'll help me in my role as guardian and novice director.  Jim will continue in fraternity service, and the two newly professed will do a combination of study, pastoral work, and fraternity service.

The ceremonies of investiture and profession went very well, with all the friars of the mission in attendance except Jim who is in Ireland visiting his family.  It was especially gratifying to me to have FRANCISCO RAMIREZ here to get to know the friars and celebrate with us before settling into the new friary and his studies in Monterrey.  Many family members of the novices joined them for the profession fiesta, as well as other priests, religious friends and a couple hundred townspeople.  The workers here killed a pig the day before , so we had fresh pork and chicarrones for meal.

As we begin the novitiate year, the mystery of vocation impresses me profoundly once again as five novices freely leave all the other paths and possibilities of their lives and take the habit of our Order.  They bring rich gifts of individual talent and faith history, of personality and spirituality, of nature and grace, and place them all at the service of God.  At the same time they affirm our life and entrust their formation to us. We are blessed, humbly, in our new brothers.  Lord, make us worthy of their trust and blessing.

My experience of the local folks and their faith in the places I helped out is very positive and warm.  By comparison to Yecora, the people here are more traditional in their religiosity, more faithful in their Catholic practice, more expressive of their devotions and affections.  That´s not to say we don´t have a lot of catechesis to do, and there are actually more towns scattered in the mountains without pastoral visits than there are around Yecora.  But the parishoners here in Tres Ojitos are very responsive to and supportive of the friars, and the friars in the first year here have done a great job cultivating friends and benefactors.

Another interesting point of comparison is the social milieu:  in this little village there's very little trouble with drugs, alcohol, and violence.  The two deaths so far in my time in Tres Ojitos have come not from pistols but from lightning bolts, one rancher killed along with his horse and another farmer along side his tractor while sowing oats.  I went to the field to bless the body of the second man, and it was the first time I'd seen the power of lightning striking a human, burning his flesh, completely destroying his boots, and shredding and scattering scraps of his cap in a radius of thirty feet.

As tough as is such a sudden death, I'd much rather celebrate this funeral than one resulting from human violence.

OK, OK, I know this is getting long, but it's my first missive from here. Just as it's important to take your photos in the first couple months before it all grows old, so I wanted to describe my new work and digs in some detail before it's old hat to me.  I promise the next ones will be shorter.

The communications good news is that while our phone service is worse than in Yecora and the jury is still out on regular mail, the e-mail is better. I should be able to connect regularly, usually weekly, through the Capuchin Sisters' phone in Madera.

It was great seeing family and most of the friars in June, a much needed and enjoyed vacation.  Now please pray for me and all of us here.  We're off to a good start with the novitiate year, and God is blessing us with growth in the Capuchin life here.  Pray that we can be faithful to His blessings. You're all in my prayers, and I send un abrazo cariñoso a todos!

from Mision Tres Ojitas, 30 September 2000:

Dear Friars, Family and Friends,

May God's goodness and peace be with all of you. It's a couple months since I last wrotel, and the feast of St. Francis is just around the corner, so it's time for a letter.

I'm pretty much settled into the routine here in Tres Ojitos, Chihuahua, and I continue to thoroughly enjoy the ambience and climate here. The only sounds to interrupt the silence are the dogs and roosters in the morning, a cow bawling at night, and sometimes a tractor plowing or a chain saw felling trees by day. Warm days and cool (becoming cold) nights make for good prayer, work, study, sleep...for the novices and for me.

As for the novitiate year, the honeymoon is over! To say it more positively the program is working and growing pains are evident: novices spatting and not talking to one another; novices and their director getting on each other's nerves:-); more importantly, all of us discovering or re-discovering the hard work of conversion. In this deeper confrontation, several guys are seriously discerning their call. Please pray for them, and for me and our formation community.

One novice, Sergio, decided to leave earlier this week, principally because of several significant health problems which make it impossible to concentrate on and pursue his novitiate formation. I think it was the right decision, but it's a huge loss for us because he is such a good brother, servant, example, and a Capuchin at heart. Perhaps he can associate himself with us in some close way in the future if his health permits.

My ministry is generally limited to parish helpouts on weekends and a weekly Mass and confessions for the Capuchin Poor Clares. In addition, quite a few people visit us here for retreats and confessions. I've enjoyed the parish work and find the local folks very supportive of us and our formation programs. The people in the pueblos around here are generally poor, but with fewer social problems than I found in Yecora last year (alcohol, drugs, etc.). Here the greater suffering is so many husbands and other family memers working "on the other side," that is in the United States, because there's little work locally. Perhaps half of the families in Tres Ojitos have the husband or someone else in the family away for six, eight or ten months of the year.

The Capuchin Poor Clares in nearby Madera are a wonderful blessing to us by their prayers, friendship and support for us and our young men in formation. (Besides that, I have a reliable e-mail access at their convent!) This past week we celebrated with them the blessing of the cornerstone for a new convent. They're a relatively new community, thirteen years here, and have fifteen sisters. But their present convent was provisional and is quite small for their life and work.

Speaking of construction, we now have a plot of land in Monterrey, near the diocesan seminary, and are drawing up architectural plans for our friary and house of studies there. We don't have a timetable for the project yet, but hope to begin post-novitiate formation in Monterrey next summer, in the new friary or a provisional location.

More crucial than the building is personnel...so keep praying with us for more missionaries; and friars, keep considering it. Some of you know that Br. Anselmo left from Monterrey, on a leave of absence from the community, so pray for him. The other two friars Ed O'Keefe and Francisco Ramiro, seem to be doing well.

In Yecora where I was the last two years, the friars are well and we have five new postulants. So it looks like I'll have a job at least for one more year...if I do a relatively decent job.

Friars and the rest of you Franciscans at heart, Happy Feast Day for October 4. And friars of Mid-America, blessings on all the chapter preparations. I'm doing my homework!

Please pray for me, especially that I can help the young men in the novitiate open their hearts and lives profoundly to the grace our gracious God offers them this year. And know of my prayers, and a hug, for all of you back home.

In that Love which is God,

Bill Kraus

from Tres Ojitos, Mexico, October 3, 2000:

Happy Feast Day to you all.  How blessed we are in the heritage of Francis and Clare, and my prayer for all the Franciscan family is for our continual conversion and renewal in the wonderful spirit of the Poverello.

It's been quiet in Yecora today, since many local folks are in the neighboring town of Maycoba, a community we serve about an hour away, for the huge annual feast of St. Francis Borgia.  His feast was originally October 10, then moved to October 3, and the Jesuits who evangelized this area established a popular shrine of St. Francis Borgia in Maycoba. Thus for many years around here THE St. Francis associated with October 3-4 is Borgia, not Assisi.  So you can imagine we have our work cut out for us to reclaim our day!  But I'm happy that we had a church half-full for the morning Mass, and a few people joined us for a Holy Hour this afternoon too.

The other two friars are away, David in Maycoba and Anselmo at an all-Mexico Franciscan conference in Monterrey.  So the postulants and I are enjoying the feast on a lovely fall day, with good prayer and meals. Our duck herd was getting too large, so we had a couple for supper.  But Mark (Mance, who was here last year), we didn't use the orange sauce recipe - we're waiting for you to come back and prepare this delight for us!  I cooked the ducks and made a stuffing a la Mexico, using half bread and half tortillas cause we had so many, and using nopal (the fleshy part of cactus) instead of celery because there was no celery in town.  Turned out pretty good!

We have four postulants this year, a little smaller group than we expected but a solid and positive group, thanks be to God.  They come from various parts of the mission territoy, which is good news for our vocation outreach, and one is Mayo indian, our first indigenous vocation.  It's quite evident with this group that reading and study and silence are hard, so learning basic study habits,. including reading and writing, will be a major goal for our program.  I'm directing the postulants this year, with the help of David and Anselmo, and so far so good.  With a smaller friars' community this year it's a challenge to have adequate presence to the postulants, but we're managing.  I limit my work in the surrounding Pueblos to Saturday and Sunday, so I can be here in the friary and local parish during the week.

The reports from the novitiate in Tres Ojitos are positive, and I'm anxious to get over there for a visit, probably in early December.  Efraim, our vocation director who is also on the novitiate staff, will be coming here later this month to plan some vocation weekends and other activities with us.

I'll close for now, with a special note of thanks to the Mid-America Province for your financial contribution to our work here, and a promise of prayers for those of you who will be on retreat next week in Victoria next week.  May love and prayers to all who read this letter, and I ask you to remember me also as you kneel before the Lord.

from Mision Tres Ojitos, 8 Dec. 2000:

Dear Friars, Family and Friends,

Greetings from Mexico, the land of the poinsietta. I hope you think of me and whisper a prayer for me as you admire this traditional adornment in your living room. Regular mail is always slow from here, and even slower in December, so I beg your understanding of e-mail. I appreciate this electronic opportunity to send you greetings and prayers in honor of Christ's birth, and to thank you for your love and prayers. At this time of Advent and Christmas, may the new life and hope of the Savior Jesus be born in your hearts and homes.

Speaking of Mexico and the U.S., I read an editorial the other day in the "Heraldo," the daily newspaper from Chihuahua, that Mexico would be happy to instruct the U.S. on how to hold a presidential election! Interesting....how the tables can turn quickly. Actually it has been a relatively smooth election and transicion here, especially given the fact that it's the first change in party power (from PRI to PAN) in 70 years. The new president Vicente Fox began his term December 1, and there's a good bit of hope here concerning more honesty, better relations with the church, peaceful negotiations in Chiapas, etc. We'll see. He started his inauguration day with a visit and reception of Communion in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a first in modern times.

Locally life is good, and Tres Ojitos continues to be tranquil. I visited Yécora (where I lived my first two years in Mexico) two weeks ago, and in that busier and noisier milieu I was again appreciative of having the novitiate here, with no taverns, trafficways or raucous nightlife. There's not much new in the village, but many families are delighted to welcome back home for the holidays their fathers and sons and spouses who work in the United States, most of them in Colorado, mostly in some kind of construction. Some are documented, others not. Some will go back in a couple months, others have enough money to sustain them now for a couple years, especially if they find at least some part time work locally.

It was a good visit back to Yécora, for me and the novices, and we helped welcome five new postulants into the community. They're group of young men, and here's hoping that at least 3-4 of them find there way here next year.

Meanwhile here the novitiate program runs smoothly, now with three novices. Two others have left, one for health reasons and the other after vocational discernemt. So we're a community of eight now, with three (American) friars, two Mexican brothers in temporary vows,and the novices. As I write the vice-provincial and novice director of the Mexican Vice-Province (Spanish friars) are visiting here, considering the possibility of sending their novices here next year. It would be fine with us, especially if they send a friar-formator along! We have the space, since we're finishing the construction of the third floor of the novitiate house, and it would be good to have a larger community.

In our third location, Monterrey, we (the Province of California) have purchased some land near the diocesan seminary, where we hope to send our brothers in post-novitiate formation, for philosophy and theology. The architects are drawing up plans for the house of studies, and construction will begin sometime in the late winter or spring. Monterrey ia a very Catholic and modern Mexican city, with many opportunites for studies, formation and apostolic work.

It's been a tough year for me at times, working in formation in another culture. Language is still a struggle, but the tougher challenge now is to sort out in myself what are purely American values and expections from those that are truly Gospel and Franciscan. Some of these changes after 50 years are costly. Luckily the guys are pretty patient with me, and I'm learning lots about myself and that multi-faceted term "inculturation." It's good I didn't know the hard work ahead of time, I probably would have chickened out.

We're gearing up for Christmas with the two big religious celebrations in the parish community, the Novenario December 3-11 in preparation for Our Lady of Guadalupe, and the Posadas from December 16-24. Our time and various fiestas will be divided between our own friary, the parish community, and the Capuchin sisters in Madera. It's not been too cold yet, but we had a nice snow (3-4 inches) a couple weeks ago. Our friary grounds are lovely draped in white, and we hope Mother Nature does an encore for the 25th.

I continue to be grateful for e-mail and its connecting me with the province, family and various friends, including a friend in Pittsburgh, PA who got my address for our province web site and wrote me.....after 5-6 years. And I continue to be grateful for the support from "the other side," as they say here. I'll see family and a few others of you next month during a quick visit for nephew Chris Leon's wedding (January 6). It'll be great to be in the Land of Oz for a couple days.

A very holy Christmas to you all. I send a hug and a prayer, and please pray for me too.

Br. Bill Kraus, O.F.M.Cap. (billkraus@compuservecom)

from Mision Tres Ojitos, 12 Sep. 2005

Dear Friars, Family and Friends,

Peace and all good to you in the Lord Jesus and in St. Francis.

The novices have a workshop this week, with a guest teacher (Fray Juan Miguel from the Vice-Province of Mexico), so I have a week free from classes and a chance to catch up on some other matters. One of them, very important to me, is to write a letter to all of you back home who in one way or another are part of this mission. I appreciate very much your support of fraternity, love, prayers, gifts, and a phone call once in awhile, and I want to give you an update on our mission here.

Collaboration is in this year. As the United States, Canada and Australia begin your common pre-novitiate and novitiate in Kansas and Pennsylvania, we here in Mexico have begun collaborative formation on the levels of the second year postulancy and the novitiate. Three jurisdictions have joined together: the vice-province of Mexico, the vice-province of Texas, and our mission of the California Province here in the north of Mexico. Texas has sent its young men to Mexico for formation for a number of years, because their (Texas) candidates are almost exclusively bi-lingual or Spanish-speaking, and because of the bonds both vice-provinces have in their common mother province, Navarre, Spain. For our mission this is our first year common formation.

So we have here in Tres Ojitos this year eight novices: four for our California mission, three that belong to Texas, and one for the vice-province of Mexico. In addition - and for this I am supremely grateful! - Mexico sent us a friar to be assistant novice director, Eusebio Hernández. We’re ten, then, at the present time: eight novices, Eusebio and myself. Jim Doyle, our octogenarian from California, is still in California receiving some therapy for his leg, after a broken hip and replacement last winter. I don’t know when he’ll return, but we miss him and I hope he can get back here before winter. Who else will start the fire in the chimney every night?!

Eusebio is Mexican, so it’s the first time we’ve had a Mexican friar doing formation here in Tres Ojitos. Previously we’ve all been Americans (sic!) or Brasilians. It’s great having Eusebio here, he’sa good formator, I like working with him and he provides an important cultural solidarity with and Mexican affirmation for the novices. But it’s also a new experience for me, and a new challenge. With Jim away, I’m now the only non-Mexican in the house, and the only one who doesn’t share their history and culture.

So fraternal conversations, especially at table, dealing with Mexico’s past - historical and political events, songs and movies and television series, church and religious affairs - leave me isolated and marginalized. But it’s a positive loneliness, in that as a mission we can form Capuchins ever more Mexican!

The program is going very well, thanks be to God. We had a month-long "convivencia" (a pre-novitiate experience) of the group in April, so in July we began with a good sense of community among the novices. Six weeks into the program, the spirit is positive and I think we’re all growing together. Eight novices require lots of time (and lots of food!), on the other hand it’s great having more hands for house cleaning and outdoor work, and more players for soccer and basketball. Thanks again to those of you who helped us build the outdoor court a couple of years back.

Meanwhile Francisco Ramirez (from our Mid-America Province), who was with us here last here, went to Puebla to be assistant director for the common second year postulancy. There, in addition to the friars on the staff, they have eleven postulants: five for Mexico, five for our California mission, and one for Texas. If they all persevere, that group of eleven will come here next year. Time to add on another bathroom!

In the larger perspective, we in the north are working on a Strategic Plan for our mission, focusing on our development needs and with the hope of becoming a custody in the near future. That of course depends chiefly upon a stability of missionary friars, from the United States, from Brasil and from any other country where we can find help. Our general minister John Corriveau visited us in May, and continues his efforts to recruit friars to help us. John’s visit was a wonderful grace for us, at the same time a unique and blessed opportunity for the young men in formation to meet and visit with him.
On the pastoral front all’s quiet, and gets more quiet each year. The steady migration out of Tres Ojitos and the little towns around, for the sake of jobs and education, leaves us with fewer families in the parishes, fewer children in catechism, and fewer workers and leaders in general for parish activities. Each year the number of sacraments decreases, and I haven’t celebrated a wedding of young people (a few convalidations, yes) in these five towns for more than two years. The young men head off to the United States or other places to work after "secundaria" (equivalent to about the 10th grade), so the young ladies thinking about marriage have to go elsewhere too, or vie for the few available young men.

Having eight novices here in this scenario provides us some interesting opportunities in "affective formation."

While the parish work is limited, our friary and grounds are still very popular for retreats, recollection days, confession, spiritual direction, etc. It’s a great place to walk and pray, especially this year it seems to me that the wild flowers are more plentiful and beautiful than ever, and we’re gathering lots of "hierbanís" (an anis plant that grows wild here makes a tasty and healthy tea) for the winter. The garden’s good this year too, so we’re enjoying roasting ears, which the locals eat with a heavy doze of hot chili powder sprinkled on top of the butter or mayonnaise. This is apple country, but the local apple blossoms all froze in the spring, but we’re hoping for donations from lower altitudinal places so we can preserve lots of jam for the winter months too.

Well, it’s time to bring this to a close. Please continue to pray for me and us in the mission, especially for the young Mexican men who are helping us implant the Capuchin Order here…and who will allow us missionaries to return home in the future. Each month I receive from the mission office in Denver a list of people enrolled in the Capuchin Mission Association, and I happily and gratefully remember you in my prayers and Masses here in Tres Ojitos. God bless all of you, and to each I send un abrazo y una oración, which is a hug and a prayer,

Bill

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