Thursday, October 26, 2006

Moving on . . .

Tomorrow is our last day of classes at the Spanish Language Institute. In many ways, we are excited and in other ways, it's difficult . . .
It's taken us longer than we expected to feel comfortable where we are, but I'd have to say that we have somewhat settled into San Francisco de Dos Rios. We have really been blessed with a loving host family and have had some wonderful opportunities to get to know them. They say that they are sad to see us go, and we can honestly say the same. We've also had a neat experience at the language school, with some fun classmates and excellent professors. We've marveled at the beauty of the mountains in the morning. We've figured out where we can go to get notebooks, shampoo, and some great coffee. And its all flown by. . .
Monday we leave this area & with some help from some missionaries close to LPDV school, we should be into our condo by Wednesday. We're still working out some minor details, such as: how do we get electricity, where should we get a fridge, and when can we get our keys?? We know though, that God has it all under control. We're so thrilled to be on our own, and to begin our work at LPDV, but we know that its going to be another transition. We'll need to learn all about San Antonio de Belen and how life flows over there. We'll need to learn how to be somewhat self-sufficient in our own home. We'll need to learn where and how God wants to use us at LPDV. But we are excited because we know God has called us to this life and that He is faithful. There have been a couple instances which have prompted me to think about going home this week (the fact that many of the students are going home now that they're done with language school, and also the fact that we had a return flight that we weren't able to exchange that flew out today). A part of me thought, how awesome would it be to go home where I am comfortable and see all of the people that I love??? But much of me thought, I don't think I would feel fulfilled going home now. Our journey is just beginning.

Please continue to pray for us as we take this next step in our mission. Please pray specifically for:
- Our individual relationships with the Lord (We want to be fully equipped for our mission.)
- Our relationship with each other (I don't think we've ever spent this much time together & while it's great, it's something new for us.)
- Our daily safety (There have been a couple of incidents in our neighborhood here and we don't know exactly what the area we are moving to will be like.)
- Our move to the condo (That we would find all that we need to make a home.)
- Our move to Belen (That we would get to know the area and also make new friendships within the community.)
- God's guidance in our roles at LPDV

Thanks to everyone for your encouragement, we deeply value all of it.
God's peace be with you . . . goodnight

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

We´re still here!

In case anyone was wondering, we are still alive and well! We have been getting used to the area and school, and are beginning to feel a bit more at home here (about the time we have to move again). We have been plenty busy with schoolwork, but we´ve been enjoying our time at the institute. We got our first test back today and it wasn´t too bad! Well, I wish I had more time, but my hour at the cafe is running out. . .for a more detailed and exciting blog, check out Bryan´s Blog. He´s way better at this thing than me!
We miss you all. Please continue to pray for us as we continue at the spanish language institute and also look for a house on the other side of town. Thanks & ¡Que Dios Los Bendiga!

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Stopping by to say hi . . .

Hi everyone! I'm too lazy right now to email all of our groups, so I hope you continue checking this blog and Bryan's for updates . . .

Let's see, where to begin??

We can start with our host family. It has been nice getting to know them and talk with them. Like Bryan said, we are living with a nice woman and her daughter of 17 yrs. They are Christians and very very faithful. They have taken us around San Jose and have been willing to help us out however they can. They have also continued to feed us WAY more food than we (I) need, which is nice, but can get to be overwhelming after a while. I think I've finally communicated that I don't need as much as Bryan!

We live about 5-10 minutes from the school. It's nice to walk around. We've also managed to make it to a few stores, this internet cafe, a mall, and other places. The neighborhood is very close to downtown, but kind of suburban (though not like the suburbs you would think of in the US, still very busy).

We started language school on Monday. I was happy to make it into the same level as Bryan, as he has been teaching and knows more than me. We are alone in our grammar class, which is nice, but also intense. We are in a conversation class with another man named Rob, who is here with his wife. They took us out tonight for coffee. I guess you could consider them like parents because of the age difference, but we always seem to identify with people older than us. Anyways, the classes are what they are called - "intensive." Our conversation teacher has already given us way more assignments than I needed to know we were going to be doing. However, I think it is going to be a good experience for us. I am just mentally exhausted when we get out at 3:15. Bryan however, gets excited about the assignments - he may be just a little bit too much of an overachiever for me!! haha

I'm not sure what else to say, since we really haven't been here for too long yet. Please please continue to pray for us (thanks for the prayers thus far) - we are still missing home and family quite a bit, we've had bouts with cockroaches that we're not too thrilled about, and I have been getting very tired by the end of the day (which by the way is at like 5:30 when the sun sets here!! it also rises around 5:30 am . . .weird, i know). Please also pray for our safety, while out walking or on buses, and also while at home. We know that God has called us to this place, and want to fulfill that call with joyful hearts. Thanks to everyone for the encouragement through email, blog comments, and prayer, please keep it coming!! We love you much . . .goodnight!

ps - I was able to watch Monday Night Football to see the Eagles beat the Packers, so that was nice. I didn't think that would happen (capacity to watch real football in CR, not the fact that the Eagles won!)