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!

When you find yourself teary or speechless

I do not even know where to begin. I arrived in Guatemala yesterday (Tuesday) around 1:00 local time (2:00 central time). Instantly I could not believe the incredible hospitality of the people. A man in the airport told me I had just arrived in the best country in the world and I practically wanted to run out of the airport I was so excited. I hadn't even been in Guatemala for an hour and the new team of teachers sang me Happy Birthday (thanks to my Dad who e-mailed my boss, I thought I was going to get away with nobody knowing!). We then drove about five hours to our home city, Quetzaltenango (Xela for short, pronounced She-lah). We arrived at my host home and they had a small party planned for me--all the new teachers, a cake, and happy birthday again. It was an incredible treat and made me quickly feel like family and I felt very welcome. They take birthdays INCREDIBLY serious here.

This is the view of Guatemala on my flight as we flew in. 

My host family is amazing! There are tons of people at the house all the time--I'm honestly not real sure who even lives here! There's a grandmother, a couple teenagers, a few little kids--it's a blast. They don't speak English, but I'm getting plenty of practice on my Spanish. They treat me like and call me their daughter. I constantly feel so blessed. Just to help you picture the town, Xela is almost 8,000 feet above sea level in mountains and volcanoes (yes, we're right next to an active one!). Xela is small with very narrow mostly one-way roads. It's probably close to the equivalent of a large city's downtown, perhaps slightly smaller. It has almost a New York City feel with the hustle bustle and constant car horns. It is very handy being able to walk almost everywhere. My favorite part though is that the school is slightly out of town set on 9 acres of land. So, I also get to get out of the crazy part of town and just enjoy some beautiful green mountains. There is a bus that picks up all the teachers in town and drives us out there.

This is the hallway leading to my room. This is the second floor. First floor is living room/dining/garage (yes, where we ate cake was where the car was parked the next morning). Second floor is bedrooms and bathroom. Third floor is roof where you can see a lot of the city.

This is my sweet little room! I was so surprised and blessed to get my own room. Very nice to have my own space after long days at school.

This is the bathroom. Pretty nice except for slightly scary shower head conditions!

God is definitely providing quick relationships. This week is orientation for the new teachers and there are only about 8 of us. It's incredibly awesome hanging out with people that have the same heart for teaching as I do and that are also in the same boat as me--brand new place, no friends, no family. We are hanging out constantly and are bonding quickly. And it's a plus that we're all co-workers! 

God is incredibly real here. I am quickly learning to appreciate and soak in everything and get out of my American habits of being extremely "time-efficient" since I'm in a slower paced culture. I find myself randomly tearing up because I can't believe I am finally here and doing what I was MADE to do. I have just been walking around wide-eyed and speechless. I can't believe how good God is. I'm getting lots of time to reflect on every little thing that has happened in my life and see how it has brought me to this point. My prayers are just awe-filled silence right now. I'm praying that the newness and how undeserving I am remains at the forefront of my life here. I also pray for everyone I know in the States, that each of you would feel the divine peace, joy, and contentment one finds when they are obedient to God's calling in their life. I wish that for all of you! Thank you for the birthday wishes and the unending support and friendships I have in each of you.