Finally back!

Chile here I am!

Wow what an adventure I've had since being here already! First of all I had half an apple left while going through customs so they took it away :( but then I was met by Becky and Pastor Ricky. Becky was once an intern here and now she works through Iberoamerican Ministires. Ricky is the pastor at the church Libertad where I'll be for most of the time here. I will also spend some time at Oriente, the church I went to before.  So they took me straight to my host home, which is like a block from the church! My family consists of Eli (Elizabeth) and her daughter Carla, and Carla's daughter Sofia. And Sofia's cousin Fernanda is here too for a little while. Sofia is 5 and Fernanda is 6. They also have a dog named Happy and a cute little kitty! I have a room to myself and they even put in a tv... Definitely spoiled. The first day we all had breakfast (I arrived at 8:15am) and then I got to rest a bit and take a 3 hour nap! Really needed after that plane ride, even though I didn't have Anyone next to me so I was able to sleep a little bit. Later I went to a women's group with Carla and Fernanda and met lots of nice women; we had avacado and ham sandwiches. Sounds weird but it's good! Then we got back home, picked up Sofia from her school (which is like a half block away!) and headed out for the supermarket called Jumbo. In a way it's like Fred Meyer. I got to pick out chocolate milk, cereal, and some yogurts. Ooooh and I got to take a warm shower which was probably the first time I was really warm since being here! It's not that cold, it's just that it's cold everywhere since there's not really indoor heating in the houses. Imagine spending all day outside in November and that's basically here hahaha, but it's not bad. On Saturday, I went to Oriente to help with the basketball ministry in the morning and the Chileans there remembered me!! One was so surprised I was there hahahaha his face was hilarious. Then I returned to my house in the afternoon to eat lunch at my house, relax, and take a nap. At 8 I returned to Oriente for Identidad which is their youth group and I got to see sooo many Chileans that I knew! Ahh so blessed and happy to be here again :) after returning I had a quick bite to eat and then off to bed. Today (Sunday) we had church service in the morning. It was quite cold, but I got to help with the smaller kids and I also got to introduce myself. Of course it was in Spanish, which I did better than I thought! We went home for about 10min and then left for La Plaza de Maipu. It's a cute little town square with a big park, shopping areas, and a metro station. We spent the afternoon eating pizza, taking pictures, playing, and in the evening there was a kids show with music and games. Sofia and Fernanda really enjoyed that. Now I'm in bed, mostly warm and ready for a day of relaxation tomorrow! Chile plays in el mundial (World Cup) and they get pretty crazy, so I get to say home.

Anyways, I'm soooo soooo soooo excited to be here and these fun days are only the start! This week should be amazing so I'll try to post later :) I've been blessed in every way so far and I can't wait to sense what else God has on store for me! I love my family and everything down here... But anyways, buenas noches!

Chile here I come!

Almost there

Just 10 hours

Wow! Here I am sitting at the Atlanta Airport, just a short 30min from boarding the final plane to Santiago. Let's hope I can get some sleep since last night I only slept for 4 hours.... Let's just say that packing was a bit difficult since it's going to be winter down there so I needed to bring a lot of warm, but bulky, clothes!

Today is just the beginning of my adventure. I feel like its been days since I was at home but it's only been 12 hours! I'm soooo excited to see what God has planned for me there in Chile. I don't know why exactly but I know I have a strong connection there, and maybe this 6 week internship will answer that big question for me!

This is a bit of a short entry but hey, what's exciting about a 4 hour flight? (Besides the cute boy I sat next to! ;D ...) The real exciting, fun stuff will start tomorrow morning as I return to this beautiful, friendly country. Although I'm missing out on my own summer, this will be the opportunity of my life time and I couldn't be happier!

Chile, here I come.

T-minus 7 days

One More Week

He we go, I am only ONE week away for leaving for Chile! 7 days, 168 hours... and after 3 tests today alone, all of my finals are officially done, so now it's finally time to relax and think about summer!

Last post I talked more about how I "found" Chile, so now I'm going to talk about how I feel about Chile and my connection with mission trips.

In July of 2010, as a crazy and outgoing 13-year old girl, I accepted Christ into my life as my personal savior. My family and I had always gone to church, but recently I didn't enjoy it much because I didn't feel like I fit in. I also never had felt a deep connection, as if I didn't know what it meant to be a Christian. That summer I attended my church's summer camp; Christian Chapman was speaking. I was sitting in the second to last row with my friends (something to understand is that this summer camp is huge, with a couple hundred people) and he told us that if we hadn't ever accepted Jesus into our hearts, to come to the front and pray. Something had moved in my heart, something had changed... and I was the very first one up there. That same week, just two days later, I got baptized for the first time ever (Oh boy was that an interesting story... but that'll have to be saved for a later time!). That following year, I basically became addicted to church! It was all so intriguing and I had made so many friends that summer that I now felt like I could fit in.

That's when the opportunity to travel to Mexico came in! It was my first mission trip with the middle school ministry at our church and I was finishing up 8th grade, which was perfect because that was the last year you could participate in this trip. We went down to Rancho De Sus Niños in Tecate, Mexico and that was my first trip seeing what the world was like! Then, almost a year and a half later, I went to Santiago, Chile. I already talked a bit about that in my last post. That's the trip that I discovered I wanted to become a Missionary! I love travelling the world while sharing the word of God. I felt a connection there like no other; it's a feeling that you only know once you experience it... it's pure happiness :)

Then, about a year ago, I returned to Mexico as a high school leader. And once more, this last December/January, I went to Guayaquil, Ecuador with the high school (One thing about Ecuador... there are a LOT of crickets...). It was our first trip there as a church, but for me it was amazing! I made a ton of friends and got to talk to Chileans about the internship. That's what really encouraged me to apply. I knew God had been calling me to Chile again, but I had no idea when, how, why, etc. And even though I still don't have all the answers, I'm excited to see what will happen this summer and where my life will take me!

So here I am, one week away! And getting more and more excited simply thinking about returning to that beautiful country.