Well, I'm back..... Sorry I couldn't keep this thing updated while I was away but I'm sure ya'll can imagine I was a little busy and internet wasn't available all the time. I can't even begin to think where to even begin but I'll try. I'm not quite sure what my favorite part of outreach was. I had 2 MAJOR favorite places. One in each country!!! I ABSOLUTELY LOVED CHINANDEGA, in Nicaragua. The family we stayed with and the ministry we did was increible (incredible!!) I have found a new passion for spanish and so i apologize if I throw words in here because I'm trying to keep practicing!!! Chinandega was one of the greatest locations because we got to do so much fun stuff. Like de-licing peoples hair, we basically just washed their hair and combed it for them.. I tell you what I was more afraid of combing then the lice, I thought I was going to rip some of those womens hair out by the way it was tangled and I was pulling on it! The open airs or campaigns that they call them were awesome. We would work with another ministry and alternate dramas and testimonies and have an awesome time of worship right in the park and under the stars SO GREAT!!! We were only there for 6 days so it wasn't long enough for me but I guess it was long enough for God. I did however get the great opportunity to have (puntadas) stitches so that was pretty fun. The best part came in Costa Rica a week later when we got to take them out!!! Who would have ever thought that a pair of fingernail clippers, tweezers, and 2 LED flashlights is all you need to remove 3 stitches!!! Veronica one of the other leaders, bless her heart tried to remove them for me. After she pulled on one that wasn't cut yet I think my scream helped her understand it was better to cut all the way through the dental floss like stitch before pulling!! She tried her hardest to get them but was so afraid of hurting me so I had to snip them with the fingernail clippers and she pulled them out. Looks like a real doctors office from the pics huh!!! Costa Rica was also a fun time, we did a lot of physical work, construction and it was pretty fun. Well except digging in the old landfill. That was ridiculous I swear no joke there was more garbage in the ground then there was dirt. Shirts, pants, shoes, bottles, everything you can think of it was stinking amazing. We thought the deeper we dug the better it would get but we sure were wrong.

This is the pile when we were done digging the footing for a wall!!! Crazy!!! We worked at a church helping on a feeding center they were building and heard some of the most amazing testimonies of people working in ministry in this village. Pretty awesome!! After that week we had our Silent Retreat where we all were completely silent for 24 hours. It was a time where we couldn't listen to music, talk, or make even a sound out of our mouth. We were suppose to spend the time praying, reading our bible and listening to what God wanted to say to us. It was incredible. I loved it, I spent the day reading my bible and actually read passages that I've never read before so it was really cool. I was able to study new things and just get a fun day of discovering God in the word in new ways! Our last week in Costa Rica was spent working with one more family who had a ministry in their community near Heredia where we were staying. This was my other favorite location, the family was awesome and the opportunity we had to work with them and help them meet new people in their neighborhood was great. We did more digging and mixing of concrete, i was able to help dig a septic tank hole..... It was about 8 feet deep when I started and by the time I finished I got to close to 13!!! It was pretty cool to be in a hole that deep with a 2 foot shovel and a bucket on a rope that I was putting the dirt in and having someone pull it up and empty it. Then the last day I had the great and amazing privilege to actually MAKE a ladder and use it to go about 20 feet up to the top of the power pole and reconnect a line that came off. It was very interesting that's for sure. It was fun though to know that the ladder I was standing on was straight up and down and tied to the pole with coat hangers to make sure it didn't move!!! As i was climbing up one of the pieces of wooden rungs that was nailed came out. (It wasn't one that I hammered in) just so you know!!! AHHHH the amazingly simple life of other countries!!! So different than the united states!! Outreach was a blast and I tried my hardest to learn as much spanish as I could. God bless mi familia en Chinandega who taught me the most. Ahh my favorite phrase was Montse, Como se dice. Montse is one of the girls in the family that spoke AMAZING engish and I just kept asking "HOW DO YOU SAY....." but I would ask how to say it in spanish and repeat it and tried my hardest to speak as much as possible. I'm thinking spanish classes are in my near future!!! Thank you all for your prayers and support in this amazing time of my life. It was incredible and I love the fact that I can travel and show the love of God to all I meet!!!