I made it!!! :)

Hola mis amigos!!


I've made it to San Salvador!!! PTL!! All my flights went well and I didn't have any problems other than I think that I have a bit of sinus infection because especially on the airplane I couldn't breathe out of my nose and my ears started to hurt really really bad when we went up in the air, but the symptoms are decreasing so I should be alright ( I have to say that I am really glad that I packed my "Pharmacy"). I arrived yesterday at 12pm and Victor and Carlos Artilo met me at the airport and on our way back to we went out to eat at a Mexican Restaurant. The rest of the afternoon I went with to pick up Silvita from school and then Silvia and I went to the Gym while Silvita and Victor Raul did Karate. I was super tired since I had been up since 1am but I just couldn't turn down Victor Raul when he asked me to play Wii with him. The funny thing is that Victor Raul will not speak any English to anyone except he will with me but only little bits but its adorable :)


Today like usual my favorite rooster(aka my alarm clock) woke me up this morning around 5am but I actually went back to sleep until 6:30am. I went to El Guayabo! I apologize that there are no pictures from my first day up there...it's not because I didn't bring my camera (which is usually the case) but I forgot to charge the camera battery. I was reminded instantly about why I love these people and this country. It was my first time seeing the new community center and it is wonderful! I also saw the bathroom that Stonebrook built, I am SO thankful that they built a bathroom so we don't have to go find a bush ;) The kids are so adorable, some of them are a bit hesitant at first because I am a gringa but once they realize I will speak to them in Spanish, they want to play with me. The best part of the day came in the late morning when I was sitting in one of the chairs near the door and the second round of kids came to the center and three girls practically tackled me because they all wanted me to play with them, but the funnier thing was that Tati came running and yelled out "Una gringa esta aqui" and I just started to laugh but I probably shouldn't have because they try and teach them that saying gringa is not nice(personally I think its totally fine) and that they should say norteamericana but I thought it was funny anyway. :)



Other than that I am just going to chill and relax tonight and get some more rest but my first full day here in El Salvador was wonderful. I'm going to charge my camera batter tonight so I will be able to take some pictures tomorrow when I get to Guayabo!


Adios Amigos!!

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

Hey All!

Words can not describe how thankful I am for my supporters, this wouldn't be possible without you and I'm so thankful that you guys are walking with me as I head to El Salvador and I'm so appreciative of your prayers. I have some great news I have officially been released to assignment and I will be leaving for El Salvador August 16th. I leave at 5:30 (there is going to be lots of coffee involved considering my family and I will have to leave our house at 2:30am in order to get to the airport on time.) and I will arrive in San Salvador at noon which will be 1pm here in MN. I've pretty much finished packing other than the last mintue stuff that I need to pack...It's finally starting to feel real and that leaves me with mixed emotions in the fact that I am so excited to go to El Salvador and start my ministry there but I am really going to miss my friends and family, especially my very young nieces and nephew. The goodbyes will be hard this week but I actually think they will be easier than if I hadn't gone to SPLICE and learned about saying goodbye.At SPLICE as I have mentioned before Robin said that "I hope it hurts when you leave(say goodbye) because that means you have loved and have been loved" and this is such a huge thing for me, because I have never liked goodbyes. As I say my goodbyes especially with my nieces and nephew because they are too young to understand why there auntie is leaving and going far away and they have told me they don't want me to go, so prayers would be much appreciated.

About two weeks ago I spoke at a church here in Cambrige, New Hope Community Church and as many of you know that music has a huge influence on me, I love hearing new music. Although they played a song that I had heard before but I hadn't listen to in a while and I just love the song, its called 'Follow You' and its by Leeland and Brandon Heath, so I thought I would share it with it you :) So adios till I arrive in El Salvador!! :)

36 Pupusas

I was going through some of my older pics from previous mission trip to El Salvador and I came across a cetain pic and I was reminded of a hilarious thing involving pupusas that occurred when on a mission trip with the team from Stonebrook. So it was our last night in ES and a group of us from the team decided that we needed to eat pupusas one last time, because they are the most amazing food ever. So take into account that it is about 11pm and so we were at the hotel and Patrick one of the guys goes up to the waiter person to order pupusas. The thing is that Patrick really didn't speak Spanish...he was good at using broken Spanish, so he said that he wanted 12 pupusas but I guess the waiter was a bit confused and really didn't understand, because about 15 minutes later(after we were wondering why it was taking so long to cook just 12 pupusas) the waiter guy came over and asked if anyone in the group spoke Spanish, so Anna and I said that we did and he was like "did your friend mean 12 pupusas or 12 orders of pupusas?". At that instant I knew what had happened and then the waiter said that he thought Patrick wanted 12 orders of pupusas, which translates to 3 per order so 36 pupusas...it was actually really really funny.


Here are the 36 pupusas! :)

Support Update

Hey All!

Sorry that it has been a while since I have posted. Things have been a bit busy trying to get things done and wrapped up before I head to El Salvador. I am excited to announce that I have sent in my request to be released to assignment and hopfully in the next couple of days I will get the ok to buy my plane ticket and such and leave for ES here in the next week/week and a half. I am really thankful for all of you and this wouldn't be possible without you!

I've been spending a lot of time with my nieces and my nephew since I won't be able to see them when I leave, def a yay/yuck duck time. It will be really hard to say goodbye to them especially since they are so young and they really don't understand but for now I am enjoying my time with them, chasing them around the playground, playing with them and just laughing with them. I've also been really into the Women's World Cup, but those of you who know me well know that I love soccer and this World Cup hasn't disappointed, especially the USA game versus Brazil, it was probably one of the most amazing games I have seen and I am so excited to see the USA win the World Cup!!!

I still have to say that I really miss my friends from SPLICE!! I still think that I see/hear them when I go places. It puts a big smile of my face everytime I think of my time at SPLICE and the people who I spent that time with! :) So I leave you with some pics from when we went to Focus on the Family while we were in CO. I do have to say that we have so much more fun in the kids section than the adult area. :)

"The Posse"

As I have mentioned before, while I was at SPLICE I got really close to a small group of women and we were called "the posse" by everyone else. I can honestly say to you that never in a million years would I have believed you if you would have said that I would have gotten so incredibly close with these women in just three short weeks, but God had a different plan.


Words can not describe the bond that we formed. The crazy thing about it is that we became so close and it all started on that first night at MTI together, we sat by each other in class, at dinner together and then played and intense game of horse together. We just instantly bonded. I can not thank God enough for these women! We formed a bond that will even be sustained in spite of fact that we are all going to different countries around the world. I have to admit that I miss and love them so very much but the great thing about technology today is that we will be able to keep in contact with each other! :) Also in becoming so close we have little things that will occur in our everyday life that will remind me of them. :)


The posse was made up of Stephanie, Renee, Ashley, Oriana, Christina, Emma and I. I love these ladies but I have to say that honestly 5yr Emma had a huge impact on me. I never would have guessed that a 5yr old would have such an impact on me in that little time span but I have to say that when saying goodbye to everyone, saying goodbye to Emma was the hardest for me. She will always have a special place in my heart!

Here is the group pic of everyone from SPLICE, it's the only picture were all the posse members are together, so I wanted to add it:)



This is probably my favorite picture of the posse!! :)
(L to R: Renee, Emma, me, Stephanie, Ashley)

:)

Since the last couple post have been about very deep and intense things, here is a picture post that gives just a glimpse of the awesome time I had while at MTI and the amazing people I spent three weeks with! :) I will never forget the amazing time that we had at SPLICE!
Emma and Joy! We were getting ready to watch Tangled! I can say that watching Tangled will never be the same as watching it with my SPLICE family :)
Playing at the park in Manitou Springs...there is a great story that goes with this picture and me trying to sit on it correctly, but you'll have to ask about that one ;)
Laura, Christina and Stephanie walking through Manitou Springs :)
Playing Monopoly Deal...pretty much the most amazing game EVER!
Ladies night out! We ate at this amazing Mexican restaurant.
Joshua! The single ladies held a babysitting night, so the couples could go out for a few hours without their kids.
More from babysitting night...the older kids helped out too! :)
Fun at Focus on the Family. I have to say that we had more fun in the kid section than the adult section.
Just playing in Narnia :)
Ashley and I :) We are going to be neighbors, she is going to Honduras and I will be in ES!
The Posse!! :) (minus Christina and Oriana). These are some of the most amazing women I have ever met. I can honestly say that I never thought I would become so close to these ladies in just three weeks. Words just can not describe the bond that we formed! I miss them and love them a lot!

Hello's/ Goodbyes and Glorifying God

I have to say that out of the three weeks at SPLICE, the last week is possibly the most intense! The sessions were really good but they also very emotional. If you know me there is one thing that I really really dislike and that is saying goodbye to people. I think maybe this is because when growing up we moved so much that when ever I had made friends I would have to turn around and say goodbye again. So I had a feeling that our session on goodbyes would be really hard and emotional.

Just like with many other things in myself I have insulated myself when saying goodbye, becuase I didn't want to feel that emotion and that hurt of having to say goodbye.Robin then asked us to write down and invited us to share with the group the names of the people who we still had to say goodbye to and that we were struggling with the fact that we had to say goodbye. I have to admit that as I started writing I just started crying, because I guess that I really didn't realize how much it's going to hurt and how hard its going to be to say goodbye. I didn't even realize that I have to tell my nieces and nephews that I am leaving. Saying goodbye is really really hard but I am comforted again and agian by something that Robin said while we were at SPLICE and if I had to pick one thing out of all the things that Robin said while we where at SPLICE that resonated with me the most it would have to be when he said one of the first days:

"that when you say goodbye I hope it hurts because then you know that you've loved and have been loved".

Glorifying God!!!

That afternoon, we gathered around in a circle and there was a pile of rocks in the middle of the room laying on top of sheets that had our joys and thanks that we had written down from the 3wks we had been at SPLICE.
We all were then told to pick up a rock and write on that rock what God has taught us while we have been at SPLICE. We then got up one by one to share in the middle about what God has taught us and to give him all the Glory for what He has done! I wrote many things on mine including: community, Sabbath, and yay/yuck ducks! I still can put into words what God in my heart while I was a SPLICE. I came to SPLICE thinking I was all good to go and such, but during three short weeks God did heart surgery on me and changed me and for that I am so very thankful!It was great to see person after person get up and share about what God has done and how he has been continually faithfull!!