Banos!!!!

Today was our free day and it was the coolest thing ever!!! First I had to lead the devotion this morning and it actually wasn't as bad as I was expecting. I spoke about having faith and used the verse Hebrews 11:6. If you go back to my post on march 24, you will see what I talked about. :) I had to do my devotion on the bus which I wasn't too thrilled about. But oh well. We went to the house of Jim Elliot and the other four missionary men that died here in Ecuador. That was pretty cool because I read Elizabeth Elliot's books and I have always heard of what happened. Then we went across the street to see the airplanes they take into the villages. After we finished up there we went to this EXTREMELY nice restaurant. It had a little forest outside and there were parrots! And it was right by the river so we went down there and it was so pretty! Once we were finished eating we headed up to the place where we could hike down the mountain to the waterfall. And words cannot express how BEAUTIFUL it was!!! I mean how can you go to places like we did today and not believe in God??? I mean really? We climbed through this cave and got to stand behind the waterfall where we got soak n wet. And then when we were hiking back up there was this man with a huge snake and you could pay a dollar to take a picture with it around you. Well I've never done that before so I did it and it was so scary!!! But so cool!!! When we had all made it back to the top we went to this place where you could ride a cable car across this valley thing. That was very neat also. After that we headed to Banos and walked around for about an hour. It had such cool stuff!! Tons of shops and it was sooooo cheap. I mean very very cheap!!! I bought everyone souvenirs and myself stuff and I wish we could have stayed longer because I wanted to shop more!!! Then we headed back to the hotel and our group time tonight, oh my goodness, was very emotional. It was our last night in Ecuador and just wow. Too emotional for me. I cried. Bryan washed Kyle's feet and pretty much everyone was crying. It was awesome but sad at the same time. A bittersweet moment. I enjoyed today so much and I would love love love to go back to Banos. It was just so beautiful!!!

Faith: the evidence of things not seen

So I didn't get a chance to post anything Thursday night because we didn't get in until late and then I needed to focus on my devotion I had to do Friday morning. I don't think I would have been able to post anything anyway because I was so stressed about that devotional. But now I'm here to post about all the wonderful things that took place Thursday. We went to the University again and went to the same classes. The first class was great and they were all very nice just like the day before. However, the second class was absolutely amazing!!! We did some stuff for their class and then we moved all of the desks and Trevor and I taught them how to two step and line dance! It was so funny! We had my ipod plugged up to the radio so we could have music. They really enjoyed the line dancing. They kept asking to do it again. Ha ha. Then they tried to teach Trevor and I how to salsa, but it wasn't working too well. Afterwards, the team was hosting a little pizza and movie night at Bryan's house and we were supposed to invite the students from our class. Well Trevor and I waited downstairs at the University for the people from our class that was coming and the entire class came! It was so awesome!!! So I got pretty close with a few of them and I made a bet with them: if I can't speak Spanish next year than I have to buy them lunch but if I can they have to buy me lunch. :) They don't think I can do it. I can't wait to prove them wrong! Lol. We had a little dance contest also after the movie was over. Trevor and I were in the middle of Bryan's living room doing some kind of dance. And then it got a little crazy so we had to stop. After everyone left we had our devotional and it was once again amazing. Thursday was a really good day just like every other day. I didn't want it to be my last day at the University. I am definitely coming back next year!

Planting seeds....

So today went a whole lot better than I was expecting. I was very nervous and didn't know what to expect. BUT it went great!!! Bryan, Robbie, Zack, and I went to a class at the University this morning for two hours and we just got to know the students and vice versa. I absolutely loved it. Then the whole group reunited and we played frisbee and we got some students out there to play with us for a few hours and they really enjoyed it. At around 3:30 we went to the next class. I was with Trevor and Trish and at first it started out kind of rough for me. I didn't really say much. However, once a little time went by and the students continued to talk and ask question it got better. I got asked if I had a boyfriend and if they could have my number. Lol. All of these Ecuadorians were crazy about us. Pretty much everyone was asked if they were single. It was very funny. Anyway, we invited each class to come to one of our translators, Rebecca, for a night of worship. Just worship. Well, to be completely honest I wasn't expecting a lot of the students to come but oh how I was wrong. I was sitting down looking at my pictures on my camera and I look up and one whole side is filled with the afternoon class I was at!!! I was so excited!!! I went and said hi and sat by them and once the worship started I lost it. I was so happy these kids showed up. It just really touched my heart. Then they started leaving during it and I couldn't just stay in there so I had to go outside to see what was going on. Well they had to leave because of class in the morning and they lived far away. But needless to say it was still absolutely amazing!!! I love worship and I loved tonight. The songs really touched my heart and our group time, man, the things that were said really inspired and encouraged me also. I really am looking forward to tomorrow when we go back to the classes. These students are just so friendly and nice and laid back. :)

P.S. I don't think I've mentioned how the people in Ecuador greet. They do the little kiss on the cheek thing. Ha ha, I have always wanted to greet people like that. I find every reason to do it now. Lol. I love meeting people here. :D I know, I'm a dork.

{Humbleness}

Words cannot even describe how amazing today was. I absolutely love it here! Today we went to a village and washed the kids feet, gave them suckers, had a spiritual clinic to talk to them about Jesus, painted their fingernails, played with them, etc. It was such a humbling experience to see the smile on the kids faces when we were washing their feet and then gave them their new socks and boots. I am just so thankful that God gave me the opportunity and made it available for me to come down here and serve Him and His children. It has only been two days and today was our first work day and I have already been blessed more than you can imagine!! Being with those kids, playing with them and painting their fingernails just touched my heart so much. I didn't want to leave. And I want to go back tomorrow and the next day and the next and the next. :) We then spent some time with the college group down here, had a Bible study with them and painted our Amazing Race t-shirts with our partner. I love my partner already!! She is amazing and she is smaller than me but two years older!!!! I didn't think it was possible!!!! Ha ha. I'll get to spend more time with her tomorrow which I'm really looking forward to. Our group time was very touching as well. Mike spoke and did a great job and then we just talked about the day and how we were blessed. Well I can say I was blessed just by listening to what others had to say. Overall, today was a spectacular day and I KNOW that God is going to continue working in my life and touching my heart in the days to come.

No hablo espanol...

Today was a fantastic day!!! And I quickly learned that I REALLY need to learn some Spanish. It's ridiculous how little I know. We went to the University down here to get familiar with the campus and introduce ourselves to the students. We first split up into groups and I was with Jennifer, Mike, and Trevor. I felt like a loser because they all knew at least enough Spanish to get through a conversation. I on the other hand had to look to others to get me through. Anyways, we went to the engineering department and a professor from the food engineering class introduced herself to us and invited us into her classroom. She was extremely nice and we talked with her for about 30 minutes. She invited us over to teach us how to make pizza and talk with her kids. Unfortunately, we couldn't go because we had other plans with the team. After we finished talking to her we walked to the English department and Trevor started talking to a guy named Gustavo that he met last year. I was standing with them just listening and Gustavo introduced two of his friends to me and Trevor. Then a few minutes later Trevor left me with these guys. However, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. These guys were as sweet as can be and their English was greatness!!! I was very thankful. And I enjoyed talking to them greatly. After about 15 or 20 minutes of talking to them about 5 of us went to each English class and introduced ourselves. These students were just fascinated with us and so nice. It was very inspiring and encouraging. I'm really looking forward to Wednesday and Thursday when we are back on the campus. Later on we visited the orphanage that Thomas and Deborah are buying and that was a lot of fun also. I'm excited to see what God is going to do with that. We then went back to Thomas and Deborah's house to paint boots and Deborah asked me to go downtown with her and one of our translators to pick up some more boots. Well of course I accepted and it was craziness!!! The driving scares the heck out of me and there were people everywhere just walking in the streets and stuff. I was shocked that we didn't hit anyone or anything. I saw some crazy stuff too, for example, one of those robot men that dress up in like foil and paint their faces gold. It was so cool but I didn't have my camera which I was extremely bummed about. Lastly, we had our group time tonight and all I have to say is it was wonderful! I know God is about to do some amazing things in our lives and I can't wait to see how He moves in our hearts.

We are going to a village tomorrow to wash feet and give out shoes to the children and this is the thing I am most excited about. I can't wait to love on these little kids.

Leaving on a jet plane....

I've never actually heard that song except when it was sung on Armageddon. And I like it! :) I thought it was an appropriate title for this post......

The Ecuador group left this morning at 4:50am and we did not arrive to our destination until 11:30. I didn't think I was going to make it considering I didn't go to sleep the night before. I went out with a friend one last time before I left and we got back at 2 and they didn't leave till 4 which was when I needed to get up. I have no regrets though because that night was absolutely amazing!

Anyway, I absolutely love airports and flying and considering I haven't been on a plane in 2 years I was filled with excitement! And it was quite an adventure. These people I am traveling with are such great people and they make me laugh constantly. I'm so thankful that God blessed me with this amazing opportunity and to share with some wonderful people. We started off in Dallas, flew to Miami and had a 3 hour lay over because our flight got delayed, then hopped on the plane to Ecuador. That flight was a little rough, I'm not gonna lie. It was a four hour flight. Longest I've ever been on a plane. However, they did put on a good movie that I have been wanting see: The Tourist. I only lasted about thirty minutes into it though then fell asleep. And then we got dinner which was actually pretty good! Shocking. Once we arrived in Ecuador it got a little crazy. But we survived it. We had to ride on a bus for three hours just to get us to the town we are serving in. I'll just say this real quick...two hours into the bus ride I was starting to get cranky and it didn't help that once we FINALLY got to the hotel they wanted to talk for about 30 minutes to an hour. I wanted to shoot myself. BUT I still had a lot of fun today. And I can't wait to see what God has planned for the rest of this week.

Funny story: I didn't get my second ticket from Miami to Ecuador so Chad and I had to talk to the people and the lady asked me, get this, "If I was older than 15?". Really?!

Dream Come True

Just wanted to share a picture of an awesome awesome day!!! The day I met CJ Wilson. The most beautiful pitcher in all of Major League Baseball. And he belongs to the Texas Rangers! Woot Woot!! The other chick is a Victoria's Secret model just in case you were wondering.