Minnesota

Hallelujah! Praise the Lord for being home for 2 weeks. Even though it was hard leaving El Salvador, it's been great being back. However, I can't believe I've been home for almost a good 2 weeks or so now- going on my third week. I still can't believe it, time is going by so quick. Something I miss when being in El Salvador, I was able to enjoy my time with people and not have to worry about getting things done or having to do the next thing etc. I learned to enjoy my time with people and with the environment that I was surround by. "Time" was a big thing here for me, something I struggled with for weeks. Adjusting back was rough. There were days I would break down and cry because I was overwhelmed with everything in my life, my schedule, errands etc. I would lock myself in my room and not go anywhere, hide from people and/or not do anything. People just didn't know what I was going through, even if I told them, they couldn't help me. I felt alone.
Even though I was going through all of that, praise the Lord. It brought me closer Him, through it all, He taught me to learn to trust Him, He's the Father of all fathers and He's the comforter of all counselors. I was able to reflect my memories with Him because He was with me through it all. During my 2 months stay, I was able to see what He accomplished in El Salvador.

 

As you can see in this picture above, this was when the team was still putting together the Mission House.

Within 2 weeks in El Salvador, the Short term missionaries and I helped established an English school at the community center. 

 

When the team from New York came into town we all helped paint the walls and stairs at the soccer field. 

It was great to witness the soccer boys receive their new jerseys.

I was able to see the transition between one clinic to the other.

 Getting ready to feed the homeless. This was my first time doing anything like this, so it was great to experience this down in El Salvador.

I was able to see the transition from Elsa leaving to Texas and Josue becoming the new Short-term missionary leader.

The country, the people and the culture as apart of my heart. If I could do this again, I would in a finger snap. But for now, I praise Him for the experience. I can't express how blessed I am. I truly appreciate every one who invested in me whether if it was by giving a gift, prayer, purchasing egg rolls, reading my blogs and/or following up with my Facebook posts/pictures.  May God continue to Bless you all more and more each day!

To those who are in the process of considering a Mission trip, if God calls you to go, go!


What's next? I'm not sure what's next in my life. All I know is that I'm gonna be obedient and do whatever He wants me to do. "The Mission" blogsite will still continue. Follow me if you would like. "The Mission" doesn't stop with El Salvador, "The Mission" is about what the Lord is doing in my life. So if you're interested in what's next, follow! :) 

More thoughts

 Here I am, sitting at the airport. It's roughly 9:11pm right now (central time). I can't believe i'm in the states now. I'm getting closer to home. For a good 2 months or so home to me was El Salvador, my bunk bed with 2 mattress, a courtyard stabbed in the middle of the house, and the dental/medical clinic below the house. In 2 hours or so I'll be home. The thought about it is crazy! I'm so thankful and I feel so blessed to have had this experience. It really helped show me how big our creator is, how creative He is, and how much He cares for each and everyone of us. The people, the culture, and the country all have a place in my heart. I know this isn't going to be the last mission trip nor my last time in El Salvador. This is just the beginning.

I've had a good amount of time to reflect on a lot and man, was it tough thinking about it all. (on a side note: I'm a very emotional person) I was using the bathroom in the plane and when I got off the plane, and when I went to throw away the toliet paper, I litterally was looking for a waste basket. If you don't know, most central america places don't allow toliet paper in their toliets because it can clog it. If you can picture it, you have to toss it in the waste basket and once the bag gets full you take it out. Another culture clash I had, I started speaking in spanish to people on mistake here in the airport. Ahh... was it embaressing! I have to get out of that mindset now, I can't believe how easy that was. Not to mention, I was dropped off at the airport and while walking in, someone mistaken me as a salvadorian. Seriously, they didn't even have to think twice, they were convince I was a salvadorian. How cool was that? Obvisously i'm not a salvadorian but my goal was to be one. Hey, it worked! I seriously came with zero spanish, barely any to get by and now I can start a conversation but with broken spanish that is. Oh i'm so happy! Praise the lord for teaching me how to be patient when it comes to learning. Friends, patiences is a virtue. :)

I can't wait to see my family, I am happy. It's been a while, skyping and factiming isn't the same. I'm going to miss everyone in el salvador but like I told everyone, i'm not saying goodbye, i'm saying “see you soon.”

Last blog in El Salvador

Happy Good Friday everyone!

What a great week! This week is "Holy week" so we didn't have to work at all. Instead, we took this week to enjoy our time together as a family. We went to the beach on Tuesday for a "see you soon" celebration for Jimmy and I. Wednesday, we had Henry (a soccer kid) who wants to become a pastry chef when he gets older, he came over to help bake with us. Later that evening Lauren, Ashley and I were given an opportunity to bless our church with a special song before I left on Friday. Oh was I nervous, but glory to God for the opportunity. Overall, I had fun singing to the Lord and singing along side my awesome sisters. Thursday, the soccer ministry had it's first official family meeting. We had this meeting to gather all the parents together to get a clear understanding of what the soccer ministry was about, who CFCI was and the future plans for the ministry. We had to let them know that it wasn't just about soccer, it's about our relationship with the Lord that comes first. It was a great meeting. We served pizza and oh man, it looked like we didn't have enough. But praise the Lord we had enough for the family, the students and the team to have 2 slices. What a blessing to have witness how great and how mighty the Lord is and how He truly is the provider. Praise the Lord.

So yeah, today is my last day here in El Salvador. I can't believe when I first came I was filled with fear. I had so much fear built up inside of my head that I almost didn't come. Now, I'm filled with so much Joy! I'm so thankful that the Lord gave me peace when I first talked to Him about coming. Oh did Satan overwhelm me with thoughts throughout this process, but was it worth it? YES! I've learned a lot on this trip, I've seen a lot and experienced a lot. If it wasn't for my prayer warriors, my finical supporters, and everyone else this opportunity to come down to El Salvador couldn't have happened. With everyone supporting me and believing that the Lord could actually use me, I just wanted to Thank you! Thank you for giving me an opportunity to be a missionary here in El Salvador, I'm ready to take what I've learned here and bring it back to the states. I'm ready to bring El Salvador to you! :)

 I hope you enjoy some of the pictures from this past week. :)

I'm ready to come home!

Last week

First off, Happy holy week! This week here in El Salvador, everyone has it off or at least most people have if off due to Easter.  

I can't believe this is my last week here in El Salvador. This chapter in my life is coming to an end. Yesterday at church, Pastor Javier called me up in front of the church and informed everyone about my departure date this Friday. Then he prayed for me in front of the church. Oh boy, was I in tears. It wasn't like watery eyes, it was like a fountain of tears just running down my face. I had to walk back to my seat and after 10 min. I still couldn't breathe. I had to leave service and take a breather. Oh was it an emotional morning.

Here is something new for ya! For a week now, I've had a nickel size bump on the left side of my head (inside my scalp). I finally had the chance today to get it checked by the Dr. and we found out that it was an infection due to bacteria. He said it could have been the interaction with the kids and all the bacteria that they carry. Well, I'm glad I know what it is now and I'm on medication for it. Praise the Lord for what it is and nothing bigger.

With Easter around the corner, I've been reading Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The more I read the more I realize how big our God is. I love how Jesus is the example for us, to go out and heal the sick, the blind/mute, and cast out demons. The authority He has and the faith in God He has is nothing compared to us. Every time I read about how Jesus healed someone or prayed for someone, it motivated me because He said in John 14:12 "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." Ah I love that. I was doing my devotions and just praising how mighty my God is and the power He has above everything. "If our god is for us, who can be against us"by Chris Tomlin. That song is so powerful and such a great reminder of our God. When we are weak let us be reminded that we can find our strength in Him, for He restores our weakness. Praise you Father for you son, praise you in our mist of trials and tribulations, praise you when we wake up, praise you in every situation!

Tomorrow the CFCI team is headed to the beach for a little "see you soon" party for Jimmy and I. It's not gonna be sad, no! It'll be fun because the focus will be about "that moment" and not about us leaving. The thought of departing will have to wait. Hey, I'm still here! Well... to conclude everything, I'll leave you with some pictures. Thanks for reading my blog and I hope you enjoy the pictures! BTW my camera is broken. Thanks to my awesome roomies, they have given me approval to use theirs.

Introducing the siblings

 These are the two siblings that I absolutely adore; Adonai and Josephine. I wrote them a letter and I could see Adonai eyes getting a little teary. Oh boy was it hard to watch. I had to leave so I gave them a hug. I walked away with tears in my eyes. I hate saying goodbye. :(

Saying goodbye

What a sad day. Even though I still have 8 days left I had to say my first goodbye to someone today. Tomorrow will be my last day at Siloe (the school I first helped teach at). I'm writing goodbye letters to a few of the kids I grew close to at the school. It's gonna be hard saying goodbye. I don't want to think about it, ahhh....

Random blog

What a beautiful morning. Happy Tuesday everyone.

I hope everyone is having a great start of the week because I am. I should be working on filing some papers right now but since I haven't written a blog for a while, I thought I should quickly post a few things. First and foremost, I just want to give praises to the Man above for keeping me protected, keeping me healthy and for just always providing everything I need.

God is doing great things here at the missionary house. In the back area of our house we have a spare room that we turned into our hangout room. Half of the room is covered with a ceiling and the other half isn't. The part that isn't covered is for our hammocks so at night we can lay on them and look at the stars. We have a t.v. back there along with some chairs, tables, and couches. It's pretty nice and comfy. Just yesterday we put up a few picture frames, it's looking more comfier and comfier. Besides the back room, we now have the medical clinic here at the house. It's actually right below our house. To get a better picture, we live upstairs and the medical clinic is downstairs. On the days I have to work in the clinic I can just get up, wash up, eat something quick and walk downstairs. It's so nice.

One thing I want to see before I leave the country was their raining season. Of course that's impossible because it's the dry season right now. According to the friends I met here, they've been telling me about how crazy the weather has been, all the random raining isn't normal. Just the other day it was pouring for a good 30 min or so. Not just with rain but with lightening and thunder. Supposedly hearing thunder is abnormal, glad I was able to witness that. First the earthquakes now the rain. Praise the Lord for opportunities like this and for keeping me safe.

One of our missionary buddies left home a week ago. It's crazy how fast her time went. To think of it, I only have roughly 2 weeks left until I come home. Yeah, time is going by so fast, I'm trying my best to do what I can to enjoy every moment I have here. I've grown so attached to a lot of people here it's going to be hard leaving. We had a meeting last Thursday and Pastor Javior is planning a good bye party for Jimmy and I because we're the next missionaries to leave the base. Beach party on Monday and then that following Friday, I'm headed home.

On a new note, the whole family and I (the other 4 missionaries) watched the Olympic soccer game; El Salvador vs USA. Oh man was it a good game. Within the first min USA scored. Within the last min of the game El Salvador scored the winning goal to advance into the next bracket. Which meaning, USA is out of the game. Overall it was a good game.

That's all for now. I have to get going. I'll write more later. Have a great day! Be blessed my friends. Dios te bendiga.