Shoveling all week long!

Hi everyone!!
I have really been wanting to blog all week long. We have a REALLY cool group here right now, but we are leaving tomorrow for San Cristobal and then on Sunday they are headed to the airport. All week we have been working on the health clinic. We have been moving sand/dirt down around the base of the walls and compacting it. It took all week to get close to the top of the wall. Filling wheel barrow after wheel barrow has been long and tedious, but the difference can clearly be seen. Today we even poured thirty or forty bags of cement for a different part of the foundation. It has been quite physically demanding. The mornings start cold and foggy, but soon the sun comes out... I am enjoying my terrible farmers tan.

Monday was my birthday. I was sort of waiting for the day to be over at first, but then it was really fun. It was the groups first day here, and I got to experience getting my face smashed into a piece of cake that had tons of frosting... blue frosting. It was really good cake though. I even got to talk to my mom and brother on the phone that day!

Yesterday and today after working until 1 pm, we had an "escuelita biblia" (VBS) for about 50 kids. It was really fun. I lead the music section with a really cool guy named Will, who plays guitar, and a very nice lady, Sue. I had to do all the explaining and everything... so lots of practice with spanish. I even learned songs in spanish and translated a couple. It was a really good time.

Tomorrow when I am in San Cristobal we are going through a canyon on a boat. I am really excited. I am told that there are crocodiles and spider monkeys... we'll see...

much love...

oh and the first picture is of some kids in the village Matzlan (from previous blog). The second is of three boys from VBS with our puppy. The third is the group that is here right now.

120 Topes to San Cristobal

Hi everyone!
I am back from the village of Matzlan. I had a great time. The drive there was ofcourse... beautiful. Although... it was one 90 degree turn after another... and between Ocosingo and San Cristobal (which is less than an hour from Matzlan) I am told there are 120 topes. Topes are basically speed bumps... but a car goes from driving 90 kph to 1 kph because they are higher than speed bumps in the U.S. They are very annoying, and painful to say the least... but the scenery makes up for them. We arrived at a Presbyterian school and church way up in the highlands where the road is gravel. We accepted their meal of chicken and potatoes in a sort of broth. We had just eaten a big lunch in San Cristobal... I we were not hungry. Coke was also served... and I took that "to go" meaning handed it to someone else. I tried to eat everything on the plate, as it is polite... but the chicken was about 200 chews per piece. Then we had a little service with the youth at the church, and headed off to another church not too far. We had to eat there again. I say "had" to because trust me it was not voluntary. This time it was beef... and other stuff... including Pepsi... which I handed off when they weren't looking. We had a really long service at that church.

The women were in traditional dress... which are similar to eachother because of their specific village. The women and children were on one side of the church and the men on the other. We introduced ourselves and sang a song... which went horribly. Most people there didn't speak spanish... only Tzetzal, so communicating was hard. Although, I learned that smiles are universal.

Afterwords, we went back to the first church and stayed the night there... but not with out eating MORE! I was about ready to die. This morning we had another service, and came back here to Ocosingo. Another group is about to arrive in a few hours, and tomorrow is my birthday... which means cake in the face.

I will post pictures from the village soon. Peace

Cleaning the paint out of my hair!

Hi everyone!!!

I am so happy to finally be able to blog... so much has happened in the past few days and the internet has been down or really slow. Today I had to say goodbye to my dear friend, Ana. We became really close over the past few days, and stayed up until usually one or two in the morning talking outside... while enjoying the stars... the same stars all of you are looking at. Ana was a student here, but is now graduating... so today she packed and left.

We have been working on the shower and bathroom stalls. Today I painted more than one shower stall by myself. It took a lot of time, and I had paint splattered all over my arms, and you don't even want to know what my shirt looked like. My favorite is the drop of white paint on my eyelash... which I can't get out. The bathrooms are coming along well though.

I have been using lots of spanish, and playing soccer. There are three particular little boys that come everyday to play soccer with me. They make me laugh a lot... and they are really good.

Yesterday I went to a nearby river to swim. It was amazing. It sort of reminded me of Michigan. Except for the crocodiles swimming nearby... just kidding of course. Tomorrow I am going to a village for the night. I'm sure what we are doing there... just visiting maybe. It is really traditional and men and women don't associate much with eachother... which should be a new experience. For now, enjoy the pictures... much love from Chiapas.

Sorry no pictures!

I tried to upload pictures... but the internet is too slow and it won't work. Today my job was to carry buckets ofwater over to the cement mixer. We were doing the foundation for a bathroom here at the school. I also moved rocks for the foundation.

The mountains stay the same... beautiful, but the sky is ever-changing.

I'll write soon... peace

I made it!

I am in Ocosingo at the Bible Institute now... I had an awesome day. I woke up in Villahermosa, and boy was it hermosa (beautiful). John and Ginny had to go to a few stores in town and get books, so first we did that after breakfast. Then we set off for Ocosingo. The ride was absolutely beautiful. If there were more words to describe it's beauty, I would use a whole page. We were basically driving in the mountains, and it was green, and lush, and the clouds were amazing. I am going to try to upload some pictures later when I have more time, but wow... The little cities are so cute, with narrow streets, bright colored cement buildings, and people. I even bought a traditionally embroidered skirt for $10. John and Ginny, and the daughters, Maggie and Holly are really nice. Their friend, David, also cracks me up. He called Pocahontas today... because of the picture I took in the mountains. I met a lot of really cool people. We actually went to the movies tonight. We saw "The Haunting." It is a one theatre cinema in the village... crazy... more to come later... I am loving it here... and excited for tomorrow. Oh and the flight, was okay until I had to sit in the plane on the runway for two hours before taking off... much love

Here I go!!! There's no turning back now!

Well... what can I saw other than that it is 2 am... and I am flying out in just 7 1/2 hours!! I must say I am very excited, but I never knew this day would come this fast. I am going to miss everyone, especially my mom... please pray for her comfort. I will probably not be able to get online until next friday... so I will update then! Much Love to everyone...

Thanks to everyone!

I am finding out more and more what a blessing this trip is... (although it is not about blessing me.)

I just want to thank everyone... First and Foremost... God. Second, the Mills family. They are so generous, caring, and brave to accept guardianship of me for this summer. They could have easily skipped over the email, but they cared, and that to me is amazing. Go Mills family! I can not express my gratitude... this would not be possible with out them. Third, all my family and friends. The trip hasn't even began, but already people are saying that they are praying for me, and many of my friends are giving me lots of support and ancouragement.

SO THANK YOU TO EVERYONE! this would not be possible with out YOU!

What in the world am I doing?

So... here I am preparing to spend 53 days in Mexico for the summer. Or as my mom might prefer to think of it... 7 and a half weeks. The whole idea to take on a summer-long adventure started when I got back from a month-long mission trip to Kenya last July. Later in the year I started looking online for long-term missionaries in spanish speaking countries. It was a long process... very long. I spent hours searching for missionary families and emailing them. Basically, I asked then if they would be interested in having me as a intern for the summer. I explained that I felt a calling to spent the rest of my life as a long term missionary, and wanted to learn more about life as a missionary, rather than participating in a short-term mission trip. I also was trying to cut down on the cost, and more importantly hoping to become fluent by being immersed in a spanish-speaking country.

After months of emailing, probably over 100 families, I only had two families that were interested. I then found the Mills family from North Carolina, who is serving in the states of Chiapas and Tabasco in Southern Mexico. We got to emailing and things began to fall in place. I knew that this was the family. They have two teenage daughters and they have week-long mission groups from their hometown come down through out the summer.

Finally, in March, I knew where I was headed to, and in May I bought my plane ticket. I learned that everything is on God's time. I mean, I thought back in December that I would find a family, or couple, and my plane ticket would be purchased by maybe January. That's okay though... it all worked out... I just had to trust God.

Through out the months my mom has been SO supportive of me doing this. She has given me encouragement, prayers and ideas. I am so grateful for her, and she is SO brave to let me travel so far away, not only last summer, but this summer as well. I know she will miss me... so please take care of her for me while I am gone.

I am really excited for this opportunity. As far as I know I will be doing what the different mission groups that come down do. This could include construction, village ministries, or translating for the different medical teams. I can't describe my excitement, and I am ready to challenge myself.

I just want to learn, and serve and love.

11 days until I leave.

P.S. check out the Mills family blog... http://millsfamilymission.blogspot.com
or their website, which has a map of where I am headed, which is
http://millsfamilymission.org

Grace and Peace!