Saying Goodbye So Soon.

"Above all, love each other deeply. Love covers a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." 1 Peter 4:8-10

Precious boy I got to know all week in Jocotenango.

Saying goodbye has never been as easy thing for me to do. Saying goodbye to your new family is even harder. People that have become the closest to you, shared experiences with you, learned with you, grew with you, and most all SERVED with you. So these pictures are from our last two days here..showing you just who these people are here that I now call my family!

The interns with Amed, our Buckner Guatemala Director/grandfather for the trip/awesome guy/Wizard of Oz

Over the past couple weeks, the danger here in Guatemala has seriously increased. Friday morning, Amed contacted the corporate office in Dallas to discuss his concerns for our safety here. Because election season is well in swing, lots of riots, violent activities, and dangerous situations have begun. Due to the unexpected circumstances of the safety in Guatemala, we have been advised to go home early and cut our time short here. So, this morning, we were each given our special, new itineraries in our own personal envelopes at our very own conference. Felt so official. Our full summer intern, Sarah, has been relocated to Honduras for the rest of the summer and we were all surprised to see she is leaving tomorrow! The rest of the gang...we leave Monday morning to fly back home.

With Betzy, only the best Guatemalan girl you could ever know.

As we have been handling this news, it has been tough. It is never easy to hear that you have to cut your time serving short. It's hard. But, we all understand that Buckner is so great in looking out for us and they are just worried about our safety. I so very much appreciate that. Buckner has been so fantastic in watching over us this past month and helping us with our every need. We all our understanding together that THIS is God's plan and this is the story He wants us to tell. 

Mario! My new best friend!

Buckner is such an incredible organization and I have really been able to see that now working in Guatemala. I have been able to minister to people I did not think I would or even to people that I did not realize at first. Here, in Guatemala, Buckner is so well respected and known. It is always uplifting to explain to someone what we are doing here..Just now, about 10 minutes after I ordered room service at our new hotel for the last two nights, I received a call from someone who works here at the hotel. He called just to ask me what exactly I was doing for Buckner, what Buckner does, asking me so many questions about Buckner. He went on and on how great it is and how he loves how the community centers are placed in such needed places. Then, he asked me how I got employed and how he could get employed there! How awesome is that?! I then had to explain to him how I was only a volunteer intern, not an employee. But, I told him the contacts that he needed and how to look into it. Buckner has a lot of connections with the hotel so he knew exactly who I was talking about. I just felt like that story was worth sharing and it made me realize that I really have spent the last month helping this country of Guatemala. And that makes my heart happy and brings me more peace in my heart with having to leave this place early. 

All of us interns with our precious friend, Betzy!

These past few weeks have been absolutely incredible. And I want to thank each and every one of you for your support, prayers, and love. This experience would not have been the same at all without each of you and your encouraging words. This experience has been the most life changing for me and I have learned so much about myself, who I am, what my passions are, and just how I want to dedicate my life to serving. I have learned how to serve and how to be a part of something bigger than just me. It has been so amazing to see God working the past few weeks and it is amazing to think of everything we have done here. This has been so much more than anything I ever expected and I am so very thankful for it. Since we are now the last group of interns for the year and serving with the last mission trip of the year (due to these safety reasons), it is so comforting to know that even though I have made a small footprint in this country, Buckner will be here everyday still serving the people of the country. And that brings ease to my worries. I hate to ramble on and on...as I know I do that so many times to most of you anyways! But, I want to take a minute to thank the people that have been so amazing this entire time here in Guatemala....

Balloon Popping Game at VBS.

To those of you in the U.S.- Family..thank you so so much for letting me come here. I know that you have had your worries and now I know that you had reason to be nervous! But, I just don't know how to thank you for your support and love while I have been here. Even though I have told you that I am not excited to come home, please know I will be so ready for a good hug when I see you and have missed you all so much! Thank you for letting me go after my calling and spend time ministering here in Guatemala. To my favorite Guatemalan Pen Pal...you know who you are. Thank you so much for just listening to me as I tell you all my never ending stories day after day. Your friendship has meant so much to me these past few weeks and I am so thankful for you and your huge heart. To Lauren...your letters have been more than encouraging to me! You have no idea how much I look forward to reading them every morning. And you somehow planned each of them perfectly and I have so much loved each verse for every day. You are perfect. To all my friends...thank you so much for being so encouraging and so loving this entire time! 

Family. With our favorite boys..Mario, Carlos, and Guillermo. Love you three so much.

To my new Guatemalan family-There are way too many of you....but each of you has meant the world to me and I am so sad to say goodbye in just two days. Team..we are saying goodbye together. Betzy...you have been such an inspiration to me and we are all so thankful for you and your servant heart. You have done so much more for us than translate. You have been such a strong support system, friend, and sister in Christ. Guillermo, Carlos, and Mario...you know we love you. You all have been so much fun and this experience would not be anywhere near as great without the three of you. Your smiles brighten up the room every time and your friendship has meant the world. You have become family to us and we always look forward to spending time with you. We can always depend on you three for laughter, support, hugs when we need them, guidance, and smiles. 

With Amed on our last day together!

Again, thank you so much for keeping up with me! I am pretty sure this will be my last post since tomorrow is my last day here and will be very busy living it up here in Guatemala one last time...but I will be back in the United States on Monday and will hopefully seeing most of you very soon! Thank you so so much and I hope you have felt like you are a part of my journey...because I have most certainly considered you all a huge part of it.