First two days.

Hey everybody! I just wanted to give you a quick update from our first couple days here! Today, we went to San Jose Pinula to a Community Transformation Center and I took in so much.. so that will have to be in the next post! But, for now, I will share with you Saturday and Sunday.

First, here are some photos of our new home!

Our cozy little bunk beds

Living Room

Love these doors to the kitchen. Every time we use them, we want to play cowboys.

The green one is ours.

Kaitlyn and Brittany just showing off the kitchen!

“He says, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5

As we read this Saturday morning during our devotional, we did not know what to expect for the upcoming days. But, we knew, OUR GOD will never leave us. OUR GOD will never forsake us. Incredible to think about, right? No matter what, we have Him. Since I have been here and even only a few days, I have learned that this verse stands true. No matter what the trial, no matter what the glory, it is all for Him. That is what I strive for our team to remember everyday.

Pretty flowers outside our house.

Saturday was an adventure in itself. I made a couple of trips to the bank… seeing as they refused to exchange American money without a bank account. Well, I do not have a bank account here and they were not able to make me one. So, challenge. But, after some sweet talking and some waiting, they let me exchange just a little bit of the cash I had to bring for our team. Hopefully, they will be better next time.

Our first home cooked dinner!

Grocery shopping. So, going into the trip, we were not told we would be cooking most of our meals on our own. None of us have been to Guatemala and I am definitely not an experienced cook… makes me feel like a terrible team leader! But, we are managing!  We spent a couple of hours in the grocery store on Saturday shopping for our groceries enough to last a couple weeks. We also got to go to a really yummy bakery that we will for sure be returning to very soon.. although we have a very different idea of sweets in the States. To quote Kaitlyn on one of the desserts we tried, she says, “Would you like to taste the deck of cards?”

Kaitlyn, Jordan, Sarah, and I with our box of desserts!

Surprisingly, my Spanish is coming back to me very fast and I have been able to remember a lot more phrases and words than I thought. I am so thankful for this. Language can definitely always pose a problem, but I know God is on our side and helping us all overcome this boundary. Already, I have been so excited to use my Spanish!

Sunday, our team travels to church on the fast, winding, busy roads of Guatemala. Literally, driving here is very similar to the scream machine at Six Flags. Except I haven’t thrown up red slushy… that comment is for you Gavin! Church here is nothing like I have ever experienced before. We walk into the church and there is a great full band playing in the front with a PowerPoint going of the worship. There are about 20 round tables scattered around the small room each decorated so beautifully and have coffee cups in the middle. Each table had to introduce their visitors if there were any at their table.. so we all had to say our names into the microphone! Ahh. Praise and worship…. NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT BEFORE. There was such passion in the room.. I could feel God moving through everyone around me. Clapping my hands, dancing around, I watched in awe of the believers surrounding me. There was one man at the table behind me that I was so inspired by. Everything the Preacher said, this man had a comment to share and every song, he sang louder, jumped higher, danced more than anyone else in the room. God was in that room. And I could feel it more than I ever had before in a worship setting. I probably stood out so much already but add on top of that… I looked like a little girl staring in awe and just smiling at everything. After worship, we had a 20 minute coffee break. Seriously, the elders of the church came and brought coffee to each table for everyone. What church does that?! And it was the best coffee I have ever tasted. I am not a coffee drinker and after that one taste, I am converting. The message was incredible and the people of the church were so welcoming, so personal. We had just the most fabulous translator with us that day too. He actually had been to Atlanta and taught Spanish in the States so I got to have a really good chat with him. He is helping me and a couple of the others on my team get involved with the dance worship at the church on Thursday nights! How cool is that?!

Our coffee break at Church on Sunday. So good!

After Church on Sunday, we went to the mall for lunch… Ok malls here are CRAZY. 4 stories. So many stores. Huge food court. And a movie theater. We saw Pirates of the Caribbean 4 because one of the girls, Susie, wanted to see it! So, we loved that!

At Pirates of The Caribbean

That night, we were invited to eat dinner at the house of the older girls. The parents were so welcoming and inviting to us. I just felt so encouraged to even have friends invite us over for dinner. The girls got so excited showing us their rooms, handing us our plates, putting in a movie for us… such servants when we are here to serve them. It always seems to work out that way, right? Whenever I go on mission trips, I got to serve. But, I come back feeling like I am the one who was blessed to know them. I am the one that got to turn a new page in my life by meeting these people.

The Interns with our new favorite dessert.. fruit with melted chocolate! 

Got to get up bright and early tomorrow for another day in San Jose Pinula, but will hopefully blog again soon to tell you about our time in the communities! Love you all and thank you so much for your constant prayers!