Terremoto is Earthquake in Spanish

Howdy all I apologize again for not blogging for so long. Hopefully this has been a beautiful fall for you and life is going well. We have had a very eventful few weeks here in Xela: lots of traveling, earthquakes, and preparations for the holidays and finishing up the semester. It is still a very exciting life here. There is never a dull day.

A couple weeks ago, we traveled to Tapachula, Mexico so we could get our passports stamped. We drove about 3 hours to the shocking heat that none of us are used to any more. We enjoyed a few hours on the beach, ate, and shopped. This was a very nice and relaxing trip. It was also fun getting to be in and experience another country.

Liz, Devin, Sean and I in Central Park in Tapachula.

Last week, Latin American countries celebrated Day of the Dead or All Saint's Day. We got a couple days off school, so we took a trip to El Salvador. This involved about 12 total hours of travel. We rode about 4 hours to Guatemala City, then caught a bus to El Salvador. We stayed in an amazing hostel that was right on the beach. It was quiet and very uncrowded. We had all our meals cooked for us and built a bonfire right on the beach. We did a lot of reading and relaxing. We also went into town one night where we ran into Miss Guatemala, ate pupusas, walked on the boardwalk, and walked through a cemetery while people were decorating for and celebrating All Saint's Day. We had a very nice trip and were not quite ready to go back to work the next day.

This is the view of our hostel from the beach.

We met Miss Guatemala!

This is our sunburnt but very relaxed group on our last night in El Salvador.

This last week brought probably the most shocking and unexpected event. Many of us experienced our very first sizable earthquake of 7.4. It was about 10:30 in the morning, many of us were teaching in our classrooms. When the earthquake happened, my students responded very well. I was confused for a good ten seconds about what was happening. But my kids quickly got into the crouching position and did what they were supposed to do. The most frightening thing was seeing shelves almost get knocked over and my students calling out my name. I haven't been that legitimately scared in a long time. School was canceled the next day so our school building could be inspected. Other than being shaken up and a few cracks in the building, everyone is doing okay. The epicenter was not far offshore of Guatemala. Xela experienced very minor damages, but there were severe damages and even deaths in nearby towns.We were fortunate to lose power for only a few minutes that afternoon and not have any aftershocks. I didn't exactly have "experiencing a 7.4 earthquake" on my bucket list, but I had to add it just so I could scratch it off.

Thank you for your prayers especially after the earthquake. Please pray that I will continue to put everything into my job, even though I'm getting tired and I'm ready for the holidays. Please especially pray over the next few weeks as it is somewhat difficult being away from home during this time of year.

Superblessed

We have survived another week here in Guatemala! Rainy season is ending and I didn't think it was possible to have even more beautiful weather. We only saw rain once or twice this week. We have brisk, chilly mornings and evenings and then warm gorgeous afternoons. I miss the coming of fall and for the first time I'm grateful that Texas has even small seasonal changes, because here there are none. I'm missing pumpkins and the fall colors taking over the city. It's really weird seeing Christmas trees and decorations in stores already. I forget that time is passing while I'm here and life is going on at home without me. I left during 100+ degree summer and will be returning to cold Austin ready to go to Christmas Eve services....it is very strange. Although there are so many things I miss and can't wait to do again when I return to Texas,  I wouldn't trade my life here right now for anything.

God is moving in huge ways in my school and even more specifically in my class. This week we started having prayer time as a class for about ten minutes at the end of the day. The kids love it (of course, they're not doing work) and it has really created a loving, compassion-filled environment. I enjoy just stopping at school and focusing on what God is doing during the day while I'm at work with my kiddos. We have been praying for each other and we've been learning how to honor God before asking for blessings. This is such an incredible moment--hearing eight years olds thank God for being mighty to save and being so thankful that Jesus died for their sins. I thank God for these times and pray that we will all benefit from it continually for the rest of the year.

Third grade representin at Chapel.

My class is such a blessing to me. On those days that life is really difficult or they are driving crazy, I have the privilege of turning on some worship music and listening to my kids worship our Savior while they work. I am so grateful to be at a Christian school where we can shamelessly worship a huge God. It's so cool that Americans, Guatemalans, and children from so many backgrounds can come to the same classroom and sing together while they're learning.

My class did a fantastic job of leading Chapel again this week. They are very confident and brilliant singers. They love spending that time to worship and I just love hearing their voices every week.

My students leading elementary Chapel.

Last night, my friends and I participated in a very Latin American cultural event. We attended our first soccer game. We rooted for our local soccer team, Los Superchivos (Super goats)! This was a very interesting, yet hilarious experience. I went to Texas A&M so I know enthusiasm in sports, but this was comically different--people throwing trash on the field, men urinating on the wall ten feet from our seats, fireworks being exploded a little too close for comfort, learning all kinds of Spanish vocabulary that we probably wouldn't learn anywhere else. We had a lot of fun in our new jerseys as the white people represented the Supergoats.

Kendra, Liz, and I in our Superchivos jerseys.

This would be the equivalent of the student section=craziness.

I am very grateful for some relaxing time the next couple weekends. We are heading to Tapachula, Mexico next weekend for a completely paid trip to get our passports stamped. We will be doing some shopping, going to the beach, and enjoying some shorts weather. Then we head to El Salvador for a four-day getaway the next weekend. Definitely looking forward to some much needed relaxing time. Thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray for my kids and my relationship with them. That I would model love and patience with them. Love you all and see you Austinites in two months from yesterday!

Fall in Xela

Hello everyone! I miss you all and I miss the traditions that fall bring. Mostly Texas A&M football, especially since we're doing so well! Who knew...

This week was so great. I find myself saying at the beginning of every week, "If I can just get through this week, it'll be less busy next week." Lies--that has yet to happen. Each week brings new craziness and joys. I would not trade any of it though. I am daily reminded of how huge our God is and that He is my source of life, energy, and joy.

 This last Wednesday the school's student council put on an event called Silly Skit Night. This was a fundraiser for our Spiritual Emphasis Week that we will be having next semester. I had the honor of being the elementary school judge representative. We saw skits from first grade all the way up to the teachers. We had a great time with students, parents, and colleagues. It's so great to be in a school community where we can be silly and laugh together. Even where the teachers can put on skits dressed as a boy band or an 80s work out video and still have the respect of their students and their parents.

The judges. Ready to judge.

The sweet 1st graders doing their skit.

Second grade girls. Girls just wanna have fun!

The winners! The 9th graders. So painfully awkward--hilarious.

Girl teachers.

Boy teachers.

Women.

This week unfortunately ended with me being sick. Thank you Lord that it didn't seem to be anything food-related. It seemed to be just a yuck fever, flu-thing. Please pray for continued healing and that being sick will have taught me to REST. It was difficult missing the last day of the quarter and I feel very behind. Please also pray that I would prioritize well and realize that I am responsible for taking care of myself. Pray that I would put my need for perfectionism at the feet of Jesus and leave it there.

I woke up to an earthquake this morning! That was kinda crazy. Definitely not in Texas any more...

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. This week marks almost exactly halfway til Christmas. I can't believe how fast it's going. I am looking forward to spending the holidays with my family and eating some MEXICAN FOOD! Hugs :)

jess

I am blessed is an understatement

Hello everyone! I AM in fact still alive and well. I'm sorry it has been so long. It's been a crazy few weeks. Life is so good! We are finishing up the first quarter of school! The first round of report cards and parent teacher conferences are this week...so crazy how far into the year we are. We're almost halfway to coming home for Christmas break! So much has happened these last few weeks that I'm gonna do bulleted-style blog this week.

1. These last few weeks have been really spiritually heavy in the classroom with my students. I prayed for deeper connections with my students at Bible study on a Monday night, and the very next morning a student came in and sobbed on my shoulder for five minutes. I have a student going through such a hard time and he is carrying such heavy burdens on his little shoulders. I cried and prayed with him. As heartbreaking as that moment was, I was so grateful for that moment and the reminder of why I'm here.

2. Last week, we had a bit of a dramatic occurrence in third grade. My students come from difficult homes where life is not always easy. We have an issue with getting along and loving each other, but who doesn't? It reached a point that I broke down in the office, not knowing what to do. I returned to my classroom and cried in front of my students for a while telling them how frustrated I am that they are so hurtful to each other. Needless to say, I made all of them cry. There were tissues everywhere and sniffling students. They wrote me apology notes and we are all going to work on loving each other better. Please pray for me to be an excellent role model of servanthood and love in my classroom. Pray that I would have time and energy to spend time teaching them what it looks like to love and to incorporate it well with God's Word.

Had a huge stack of these.

3. My students like to do something called "hug attacks." This is exactly what it sounds like. They run at full speed to hug me and the goal is to knock me over. They are very dangerous, but I'm always laughing too hard for me to tell them to stop. I secretly love hug attacks.

They are so weird.

4. It has been my students' #1 goal to guess my age this year. This is the most hysterical thing ever. I've gotten everything from 15-40 years old. I told them I was 100 and although they don't believe me, one of my students pointed out that I was born the year the Titanic sunk! Another student concluded that I'm a vampire because I won't be honest about my age. They also say I'm a sinner because I won't tell the truth.

5. My craziest student likes to do something called a Waffle dance. Everybody knows about it but me. He has informed me that he'll show me the dance when I tell him how old I am.

There have been many a recess trying to build a pyramid.

6. I have been so blessed by the Bible studies I have been attending! The women staff Bible study has been so great and encouraging. It's wonderful going through the same things in life with a solid group of girls. It's also really fun to get to spend time with some high school students.

7. Last week, it was my turn to do Chapel for the elementary students. We had a blast. We talked about the Sermon on the Mount and more specifically the Beatitudes. We also talked about being the light of the world and shining brightly in a dark world. The kiddos sang Kari Jobe's "We Are" so loud. Such beautiful voices :)

8. Last weekend, my friends and I visited the city of Totonicapan. We had a great time and we fit a lot into our day trip. We climbed a mountain and hung at the most beautiful waterfall. Toto was a bit crazy because of their local fair, so it was absolute madness in most of the city. Some of the highlights were getting squeezed into a crowd at the fair by small indigenous women, being on a bus with 130+ people and a drunk teenager being dragged on by his friends through the already packed aisle. The best part was getting to hang out with this wonderful family who lived in a little village in the city. We spent time playing intense hide and seek in corn fields. My heart was filled by this time so much. It felt like my trips to the Dominican Republic in high school, and we all decided we will be making monthly trips to Toto to visit these kids :)

The gang at the beautiful water fall.

9. Monday October 1 was International Children's Day. I was invited to my class' party after school. There were pinatas and games and face painting--it was crazy. It was really fun getting to hang out with my students outside of school and hearing them speak Spanish with their parents and siblings. The weirdest part was actually sitting with the moms and talking with them. It was so great but I am not quite used to being an adult just yet. I wanted to go play with the kids! The kids bought me flowers and all signed a card for me for this event as well. They were very grateful that I moved here and am teaching them. I am blessed is an understatement.

Waiting in line for the pinata.

Showing off their pinata prizes.

Thank you for your prayers and for reading. I am missing my family and friends greatly, but I am so blessed to be serving here. Please pray that I will serve and love well and will not grow wearing doing so. ALSO, my kiddos have started a class blog please please please read it and comment on it. They are super excited to tell you about their class, their school, and their culture. They are writing it all by themselves. Another post will be up tomorrow. Here's the link IAS Third Grade

"Anyone who believes in Him will not die..."

Another week has passed here in Xela. This was a big week for this country; it was Independence Day! It has been a bundle of parades, fireworks, parties, fairs, and hullabaloo. Guatemalans do Independence Day to the max. Thursday night, the friends and I, attended the infamous Independence Day fair in town. This consisted of lots of shopping, rides, food kiosks, and lots of people. We even got up the courage to ride a rickety ride that dropped us from about 200 feet in the air. Needless to say, we survived. We DID however have to pay to use the bathroom. They shoulda paid me to use that thing.

 

 

 

At the fair, we ate at Luna's Grill. These were the mascots enticing people to come in.

Some rides at the fair...sketchy.

On Friday, the school had a holiday for Independence Day, which means teacher road trip! We traveled to Antigua (yes, that is extremely close to Volcan de Fuego, the one that forced thousands to evacuate). Antigua was just as alive and exciting for Independence Day. Ten teachers from school rode on a bus together Friday morning. We arrived around lunch time and did plenty of shopping and sightseeing. We had an absolute blast! We toured a Jade museum which is something Antigua is famous for. We also toured a Bread shop (orange chocolate bread...why didn't I think of that?). AND we walked through a Chocolate Museum.

Our mob of gringos in Antigua. (from the left: Megan-2nd grade, Sarah-middle school Math, Sean-HS Math, Liz-Spanish, ME, Devin-MS Bible/English, Aaron-PE/Resource)

My 3 great friends at the gorgeous McDonald's in Antigua.

This is our whole group, all teachers from IAS.

The next morning we climbed up Pacaya, which is an active volcano about an hour outside of Antigua. I cannot even begin to describe this experience. We got to see Volcan de Fuego explode a little bit in the distance while on our hike. Everywhere we looked was just endless mountains and views. We also reached a point that was just dried lava rocks everywhere. It was incredible! We got to roast marshmallows and make smores on some hot rocks. We were such small, fragile little people in this huge mass that God created. SO awesome.

Our group in the volcanoes!

Liz and I making smores :)

Yesterday at church, the pastor talked about Freedom from Depression. He read about when Jesus was about to be arrested and even Jesus struggled with depression. In that moment, Jesus wanted to die rather than go through what He was about to go through. He cried out to God and asked Him to take the cup from Him. It was an incredible perspective He presented, in a way I had never heard before. I continue to struggle with the fact that the God is always with me. Never once did we EVER walk alone. He never leaves us; never forsakes us. Such an overwhelming thought. I struggled with depression a lot in college and I've almost forgotten how difficult it can be. I'm so grateful that depression is a past memory in my life and He continues to walk this journey with me. My God cares about the small things and loves me so much. My class' memory verse last week was John 3:16. I take advantage of the words in this verse because it's repeated so often. I loved hearing the interpretation my young kids got from it. God DIED for us. He loved us and wanted to be with us. Now we get to be in heaven one day because He died. If you ever want your faith to be renewed step into a classroom or hang out with some kids :)

Life is still good. I LOVE my job. Even when it's hard and I'm putting in 40+ hour weeks. I love laughter with my friends. They encourage me and challenge me to be more godly just by being godly themselves. God is faithful and is at work here. Thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray for energy and patience, and that time with my Savior would be a priority. All is healthy and well. Hope you are having a blessed week :)

Love these people.

For God SO loved the world...

My goodness I have so much to tell you!! I apologize for not blogging last week. Not a ton exciting went on and I was exhausted and busy. But hopefully this week's will make up for it! This has been an incredible week. There has been a little bit of everything...sickness, wonderful moments in my classroom, laughter, and also being so exhausted I spend most of my Saturday in bed.

A couple of teachers at the school decided to start a Bible study for the high school girls. We started the first one this week. It was really exciting getting to hang out with some students from that school that aren't 8 years old. As much as I love my kiddos, I'm excited to get the chance to bond with some older girls. We're going to be studying Ruth this semester which is one of my favorites! Please pray that this Bible study would allow these girls to feel comfortable with us and that God would speak through the teachers. 

During chapel this last Thursday, our principal related being born again to the life of a butterfly. It was such a beautiful representation that my kids really understood since we just finished life cycles in science! After chapel we spent some time as a class just worshiping and coloring pictures of butterflies. We wrote John 3:16 beneath them as a reminder of how we can become beautiful butterflies. I took a short video of this moment in my classroom. My students love the song Mighty to Save and always ask me to play it. This is one of my favorite songs and has been a huge part of my salvation. I tear up every single time I hear the song and when my students sing it, it's like God is literally in my classroom.

This was such a blessing for a Thursday morning. I felt so at peace with being in Guatemala worshiping a huge God with my 8-year old students in my classroom. We are so blessed that we get to speak and sing the Word of God in the same place that we're learning!

Why I do what I do :)

One of my girls singing and coloring her butterfly.

This next weekend is Guatemalan Independence Day. The last couple weeks have been very eventful with parades and sporadic fireworks. We are anticipating even more patriotism and craziness this week. The school is off on Friday (coming at such a great time) so us teachers are road trippin to the city of Antigua. It's about four hours away and we plan on doing the touristy things such as shopping and eating as well as some hiking. It'll be nice to get away for a couple of days.

My two friends, Devin and Sean, both got brutally ill this week. Devin had a stomach infection and Sean contracted some amoebas. They are both healing quickly, but please pray for their continued healing so that God may continue to use them.

I am still taking Spanish lessons with Byron. I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Although it's exhausting speaking and understanding Spanish and teaching English in my second language, I'm learning quickly and the lessons are extremely helpful. God has really laid it on my heart to minister to him and tell him about the amazing God that I serve. Not only am I here for my students, I'm here for the city of Xela, to make Christ known everywhere I am. Byron asks lots of questions about what I do and it's really exciting talking about it. Pray that the gospel can be spread to him in the midst of a language barrier.

Always have smiles on their faces!

I had a long discussion with one of my friends here the other night about our purpose in being here. It's difficult to feel like a missionary sometimes because we serve relatively wealthy students in a wealthier city. It is by no means comparable to the States, but being in a third world country, this is a wealthy city. We have felt challenged to love not only our kids but the city and everyone we come in contact with. God can use rich or poor, kids or adults, Guatemalan or American. Matthew 5:14 is painted on the wall that my classroom door is on. Kari Jobe sings a song with the same words. Her song says "we are the light of the world, we are the city on a hill." This city is quite literally on a hill and the school is up on an even bigger hill! It is such a sweet reminder that these kids could be the ones that God uses to change the world one day! Every teacher needs that kind of encouragement.

Thank you for your prayers and for checking in with me. Please include me in your lives and know that I care what's going on with each of you even though I live so far away. There are people in several countries reading my blog and I'm once again so humbled and grateful to my Savior for writing my story. These aren't my words and none of this was my idea. God loves me enough that He has CHOSEN to include me in His story. What a great God we serve.

When I realized....um I live here

This has been another crazy week. We have survived two weeks of school! We are finally getting a routine down and the "mission trip" feeling is wearing off and it's starting to really be real that I'm living here and will be here a long time. It's a really weird feeling thinking that this is my life now. Laundry, grocery shopping, doctors, transportation...even in the simple things my life will be very different for quite a while.

This week we had Open House night for the parents. Families got to come see the school and meet the teachers. I was pretty intimidated by this, but it was amazing the hospitality and love they showed me. The parents are very aware that the majority of the teachers are from the States and leave a lot to come teach their kids. These parents are involved in their child's life and care about their education, but it is also deeply evident that they're so glad we're here. I felt very welcomed and like they supported what I'm doing. I met several of my students' parents and siblings. It was really interesting conversing in Spanish with them and seeing my students with their family speaking their native language. It was cool how much they owned the classroom and were excited to show their parents their desks and all of our classroom routines.

some of my kiddos finding books.

This week was also the start of my Spanish lessons! I am meeting with a Spanish teacher two times a week. This is going to be one of my favorite things I'm doing here. We are trading languages: he's teaching me Spanish and I'm teaching him English. We meet and speak totally in Spanish and I explain English grammar concepts in Spanish the best I can. It is extremely difficult explaining English in English much less in my second language. We've only met twice and I have already been incredibly stretched as an English speaker and a teacher. Hopefully I can be as good of a teacher as he is to me.

I came across this verse this week...

"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace."

Acts 20:24

I've barely been here four weeks and it's really easy for me to forget the real reason I am here. Yes, I'm a teacher and I have never-ending lesson plans and stacks of papers to grade and tests to write, but when I return to Texas in June I am a missionary. I will always be a missionary no matter where I'm living or what I'm doing. I'm getting to the point where I am tired and the year ahead seems long but it's GOOD because I am here for Him. I sleep very well, but I am excited to get out of bed in the morning. I am filled with the joy of the Lord and He makes every moment of every day great. 

Every Friday my 3rd graders read to the 1st graders. They're very proud of this.

I am still so grateful and humbled for this opportunity. As I hang out with fellow teachers I am in awe that the Lord dropped this job in my lap. These teachers and these people are amazing. They have incredible servant hearts and I'm incredibly blessed just getting to be around them much less poured into by them. 

Yes, they're this cute in person.

Thank you for your prayers and support. Thank you for reading God's stories through my blog. If you ever have any questions or would like me to get pictures of something specific I'd be more than happy to! Love you all! 

Back to this huge stack of papers next to me needing grading....

Yesterday we found this great coffee shop. It had a beautiful courtyard, Guatemalan hot chocolate, and we had the place to ourselves. This is Sean and Devin.

Dad, look who we found!

Where God's presence is shown through good friends

What a week! This last week was the first week of school and we survived almost hiccup free! I have 13 students and they are so much fun. They all have precious accents and speak fairly good English. They absolutely love and excel in math, science, and Bible. Reading and writing is difficult for them because of the language barrier, so that will be a huge thing we will be working on this year. It is so crazy being a real teacher. This is the absolute best school I could possibly imagine working for. They truly believe that Guatemala will one day be changed because of these kids and we all work for that. It is amazing having a united goal educationally and spiritually. I spoke with my boss for almost an hour in her office the other day just about life and what God's teaching us. What a blessing I get to do that with my principal! 

These are some of the teachers on the first day of school at our bus stop. Don't worry I changed shoes once I got to school.

Yesterday, my three close friends, Liz, Devin, Sean, and I all travelled to las Fuentes Georginas, which are some hot springs about thirty minutes away. We travelled on a chicken bus and then paid a man to drive us up to the top of the mountain. We happened to discover a waterfall with nobody else there. It was a GORGEOUS set up. The waterfall was cold water, but the natural springs were right next to it and were perfect hot tubbing temperatures. We explored, hiked, swam, and as usual laughed a lot. We ate lunch next to the steamy spring and it kinda reminded us all of a scene from Jurassic Park. On the way home we rode in the back of a pick up truck and had a total blast. 

This was our hot spring we had all to ourselves!

That building is where we ate lunch!

Devin, Sean, me, and Liz in front of the waterfall next to our hot springs.

The four of us driving down the mountain in the back of the truck. Don't worry mom and Gramma, it's legal here.

Many people have been asking me how I've been doing. I'm still doing great! I'm still just in awe that I'm here. God has just grabbed hold of me and been taking such good care of me. Some of my biggest fears in coming down here have been instantly taken away. Fears of finding friends, finding a church, finding community, and of how teaching would be. I know that I'm not even three weeks in, but I am still stoked and honored to be here. I have made some incredible friends. We discussed yesterday how crazy it is that we've only known each other a couple of weeks. I know that it's not if the hard times will come, but when. I know I will get home sick eventually, but I will never stop being grateful that God has planned this life for me. God has given me an extraordinary life here. Please pray for my students and that I would love them WELL every minute of everyday. I'm already getting to have dinner at one of my student's family's restaurants tonight--how sweet is that?!?

Where God speaks ALL languages

Hello all my dear friends and family. I have been in Guatemala for almost two weeks! Orientation is over. Curriculums, lesson plans, and classrooms are done. All we need now are some kiddos. Tomorrow is the day! So much has happened this week, but school finally starts tomorrow and I feel more and more blessed with every minute to get to be here and love on these kids.

Xela is unbelievably beautiful. God's beauty is so evident everywhere you look. Blue skies, huge plush clouds in the mornings and then loud, powerful downfalls in the afternoon. 

This is the view from the school's soccer fields on a clear day! The beautiful city of Xela.

We have had many adventures this week. We did find an awesome market called La Democracia. There are unending blocks of fresh fruits, vegetables, spices, as well as clothes, and bags, and anything else you could ever want to find. It is beautiful the way all these people work from sun up to sun down to support their families. 

Several booths in La Democracia.

A few of the teachers needed to make a trip to Wal-Mart (yes, there's actually a Wal-mart here!). However, the errand that is Wal-Mart is not as simple and convenient as we're used to. A trip to Wal-Mart requires riding in a mini van with 25+ people for about 20 minutes. People are hanging out windows and sitting on laps. AND, it is usually raining and flooding which is an added adventure. I'm not worried about hydroplaning or floating away though because we're pretty well weighed down. I pretty much am laughing the whole time because it's just extremely comical.

These are my wonderful friends/teachers, they had a London poster for free pictures! So of course the white people had to make a scene.

There are 3 forms of public transportation around here. The chicken bus...need I say more. Microbus...which is about the size of a minivan and it is more about efficiency than customer service. The micro will be maxed out yet they still stop to pick up more people! Finally, there are large yellow school buses we call Rutas. The story with these is, when they are too dangerous to drive in the U.S., Mexico buys them, then when Mexico is done, Guatemala buys them. These are very much an adventure as well. Life is never boring around here.

This morning we went to an amazing church. We went with our host family and the business manager from school. It was called Palabras en Accion (Words in Action). The service was about 2 and a half hours long, but so Spirit-filled. Ushers walked around scanning for those who needed Kleenex the whole service. It was amazing the way these people surrender and love God. They were crying out to Him the  entire time. One of the lines in the songs we sang was "todos lenguas" or "all languages." The God we worship in Texas, in New York, in California, Guatemala, Africa, China, is the same huge, powerful God. These people live their faith. Everyday they endlessly love and serve, yet they are the ones that feel blessed. We serve an international, multilingual, loving, eternal God.

Palabras de Accion. That concrete slab-looking thing is a waterfall. Hundreds of people were in here today worshipping.

Please pray for this first week of school! It will be crazy and new and overwhelming, but I only get one first day of my first year teaching. I'm ready to laugh at myself a lot. A very good chunk of the teaching staff are teaching for the first time tomorrow, so I know we would all appreciate prayers.

I will post even more pictures on my facebook so check that out too!

Nunca una vez,
Ms. Ellsworth

P.S. Karis, I found this on the church across the street! Even spelled right!