back home :0)

Early Monday morning, I finally made it safely back home. We had lots of complications at the airports, but i DID make it home :) Thanks for all of your prayers for the trip. It means a lot to me, and I definitely needed them! Even though I am very thankful to be back (and safe), I miss being in Guatemala. The experience was life-changing and I hope I can go again next year! I look forward to telling you all in person about all my experiences :) love you all!

So far...

Ok, here`s the rest of the trip so far. On Sunday, we had a rest day. It was an awesome day because the weather was perfect and we just got to hang out. Some people went to the market, but I stayed back with some of my friends and went swimming. We even learned some spanish dancing ;) The next day, we went to a soup kitchen. We performed the drama, and then we talked to the people, helped them get their food, and stuff like that. Some people helped back in the kitchen, and others helped clean up around the tables. The next day was probably one of my favorite days. We got to go to an orphanage :) There weren`t a whole lot of kids, but they all enjoyed the drama. After that, we got to play with the kids. We handed out some toys and played with them for a long time. On Wednesday, we performed the drama in a park. Then we went to another soup kitchen and performed it again. Today, we went to a school. There were TONS of kids there. Today, there was a total of 177 people who got saved! and that is just our team. it was amazing. After we did the drama, we got to just play and goof off with the kids for a long time. they are so cute! Ok, so that is a very short version of what has happened so far on the ministry days :) I cant wait to tell you all in more detail when I get home!

If everyone could please pray for the health of our team, it would be veryyy much appreciated! We have a lot of people who are sick or are getting sick. Tomorrow is our last ministry day so we need everyone at their best! thanks :)

First few days in guatemala :)

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't been able to update since I've been here. It's been crazy busy but also amazing! The first day, we had a work day. We went to a church and sanded and painted all the walls and benches. It was fun, and a great time to get to know my team better. Also, Aiyesha Woods and her brother are on our team :0) since they came to Guatemala with us to help with worship, they had to pick a team and thankfully they picked mine! It is super neat to get to hang out with them. One time during the first day, Aiyesha started singing and everyone joined in. It was cool cause lots of Guatemalan people would come up to the fence and just listen to us sing, even though they didn't know the language. When we got back to the hotel, Ashley and Kiley (my roomates) and I started talking to this lady and her brother who were selling stuff outside the hotel. They only speak Spanish, so it was a great opportunity to get to practice! There were these two little kids, Pamela and Samuel, and they were completely adorable! We ended up playing with them for an hour and a half that night! The boy was too young to talk, but we really got to know Pamela. If we didn't know a word in Spanish, we would just ask her, and then we would teach it to her in English :0) I love playing with the kids because they don't care if you can't speak completely correctly. They are just excited to play with you! The next day, we had to get up extra early and we had a three hour bus ride. Then we got on a boat and went to the village where we were performing the drama. We were the support for Team 3, so we went through the streets with translators and invited people to the drama. After that, we went on another boat ride to the next village. Then, we were the ones actualy performing the drama. It was amazing to see the kids all paying attention and understanding it all! Afterwards, my friend
Caitlyn and I went up to a group of about 9 or 10 boys and we ended up getting to pray with ALL of them! It was so amazing. After that, a couple other of our teammates came over and we sang some Spanish songs with them :) I have to go now because I only have 15 minutes on the computer and its about to shut off, but I'll try to finish the update tonight or tomorrow!

About to leave for Guatemala :0)

I'm about to fly out! Our bus leaves at 1 and then out plane takes off around 4. It's been really fun so far and I can't wait to actually be in Guatemala! I don't have much else to say but please pray for all of the flights! :0)

First day of drama training!

Today was my first day of drama training! I was assigned the part of a mime. I'm enjoying it so far, but its definitely more involved than I thought it was! We've already had 3 hours of training this morning, and we're in the middle of our 5 hours of training for this afternoon. I'm having fun, though, because I'm making lots of new friends! My roommates are really fun, and I'm starting to get to know other people from my team through the drama training. Anyway, I'm on a break now and it's about to end, so I better get back to work! Thanks for all your prayers!

Leaving tomorrow!

Last minute preparations for Guatemala are underway! Early tomorrow morning I'm heading to the Rochester airport to fly to Miami. We'll be there for 3 days of drama training before we actually fly to Guatemala on Thursday. I'm excited to be going after so much packing and preparation! At the same time, it's a little nerve-wracking because I won't know anyone in a group of 700 people, but I'm looking forward to getting to know them. I know that we will all mesh quickly because we're there for a common purpose.

Please pray for the safety of all the incoming flights, and also for everyone's health as we all meet in Miami. As the teams begin to train together, also pray that there would be unity and willingness to work.

I'll let ya know what's happening next time I get a chance! :0)