Tranquilo che

And now, a little boring, but important account of the past few days...

Day 44: Saturday I tried to sleep in. Eva and I had watched Memoirs of a Geisha whilst (in her case) crochet-ing and making bracelets. We laughed, cried, enjoyed the beauty of that movie for a calm, popcorn and mate Friday night.

But the world was against my sleeping in. Various groups had gathered for ministries in the morning that I was not apart of this time, so I was awake by 8:30. Bleh!

Worked on a surprise video for the birthday gal Eva. It's gonna be great! Then I met with Ale and two of her sobrinos to watch The Muppets 2. It was pretty good, but not nearly as fun as the first. Well, I might have lost in translation some of the jokes as all kids movies are only in our favorite castellano.

Walked home. Talked with Cristian, later the parents. Bed by 11 (a rarity these days!!).

Day 43: Church in the morning with Laura and her cousin Cami. Then I raced home as I had completely forgotten about the movie with the pre-teens at Mike and Andrea's! Quickly made all the phone calls, ate lunch and went over to set up. It was a fantastic time despite being rushed. The movie, To Save a Life, really hit home to the girls despite the major cultural differences!

Church and home.

Day 42: Trying to do all sorts of odd jobs. A major cleaning of the kitchen. As I was in the kitchen, I then took advantage for lunch:

you have no idea how delicious!

Then there was wrapping up some camp stuff. Putting visa paperwork in order. Sermon preparing. etc. etc.

I am thankful that my computer still works, so I can work and enjoy some good tunes mientras tanto.

love and chau!

How could I possibly..?

Here we go:

Day 58: An incredible day of teaching some important communication skills to our future missionary friends! Watched Downton Abbey surely!

Day 57: Rest to prepare for 3 long days.

Days 56 - Day 54: Said long days. English camp, that to be honest, WAS SO MUCH FUN!!! Here you can watch a glimpse.

Day 53: Rest to get over 3 long days. ha.

Day 52: Team Bible study and team meeting followed by random catch up work such as making bracelets for the wedding, finances and editing.

Day 51: An amazing time to watch our preteen gals have a personal encounter with God. Despite some rain, we enjoyed some away time in the Sierras concluded by silence time to listen to God. And he spoke!!!

oh Dara. jaja

Day 50: Church in the morning where I was once again inspired by some Bible translators. May it never be forgotten that God's word never returns void! Lunch with Laura, Eva and Samuel O. Mentor time and then I got to lead the worship solita on guitar at church!

Day 49: Slept in. Would have loved to meet with Noemí but I forgot to call. Spent some of the afternoon buying supplies for the girls. Then a meeting for CI camp to recall the good, the bad and the ugly... Prayer meeting in the evening.

Day 48: Girls' institute where we read the story of Jesus feeding the 5K and then walking on water within 24 hours! I loved when Talia said, "But how did he do it!?!"Lunch and prep work with Andrea G. Bracelet making with Mariela.

Day 47: Pre-teens Bible study followed by hanging out with Dara till she had to go to school. We are so alike and so dis-similiar at the same time! Nap and then girl's institute. I was going to hang out with Paloma but we moved it to the next day...

Day 46: A weird yet still good morning with one of the newest girls in the institute. We had a deep conversation about her past and how God wants to redeem the ugliness of the abuse she faced. I then quickly went to the center to meet with Paloma, and I realized yet again that we should have spent more time together. Very thankful for her!

More time in the center where I then could go to Laura's where we, plus Ale, did a very secretive thing!! I will share the secret in two weeks, when the work (the gift) is done. But for now...

Day 45: Today. I made it (though sadly too quickly in summary). We had our usual meetings. Except this time I asked the team to spend time sharing why they are thankful for a certain member. It was absolutely beautiful!! Perhaps I was most touched by Eva calling me her sister.

I must say, there are many times in my life where I do not realize things right before my eyes. Another one of those is that eventually, I have to go back to the States. Don't get me wrong, I am very excited. But I am sad about saying goodbye! This life is so amazing!!

love and chau!

It's already May

Well heck. (In my most southern accent possible)

Here I am trying to figure out how time is flying so quickly. It has something to do with trying to fill my days because I have so few left. It has something to do with trying to pass the time for when I see Cristian again. But this fast? Really???

Let's see.. there was Wednesday.. two Wednesday's ago. Pre-teens and girls' institute. The next day a thief tried to rob us. Everything is okay. They caught the guy 15 minutes later and we recovered the few items he had stolen. The main thing is that God protected us and that I stayed inside for the morning.

We had a meeting for the camp that starts this coming Monday. More meetings on Friday morning followed by an amazing motorcycle ride into the Sierras with my friend. I was meeting the rest of the CI team for some rehearsal camp schtuff.

Two AMAZING conversations with CI teammates followed by a two layered pizza created by yours truly for a Bible study prep with Andrea G. A Sunday of some rest before preaching about freedom.

A Monday morning of prep work for this week's OM missionary conference. Evening prayer meeting.

Tuesday, time with the gals reading the story of the Samaritan woman by the well. Then yet another meeting for CI (hey! there's a lot of preparation to do!). Wednesday morning pre-teen Bible study where everyone was absolutely too tired (and drained by the weather) to think. Another afternoon with the gals where we had our bracelet-making session.

What? Now it's May.

On Thursday (yesterday) I had the typical girls' institute time. Karla (1) actually stayed to work on a new invention of mine. Hers turned out very nice! For the afternoon, I was able to give a talk to the 9 participants about creating a support team for the missionary journey. Home. Bed.

Today, early to the conference to give a talk about writing your story. I had specifically mentioned that we shouldn't write lists about our lives. I recognize my hypocrisy. I also recognize that I am late in sending my update letter. This will unfortunately have to do for now. I hope you can understand. There will most definitely be more details at some time or another, because the Lord has been opening a certain person's heart lately!! Stay tuned!

love and chau. (Day 59)