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.