June 20th 2008

As I started to wake up this morning I thought that I would hear my alarm go off, but it did not instead I heard the children of the house banging on a pot. It was soon after that, that my alarm did go off so I got up. Then I headed down to the kitchen for my breakfast of a piece of bread which is like a roll and a glass of water. After breakfast I returned to my room upstairs and began my morning devotion. However, my morning devotion went longer than normal because I have a lot on my mind about the rest of my time here, so my mind wandered as I was praying for different things and for different people. I allowed my mind to continue to wander after my morning devotion because I have noticed that when I allow myself to think about things that God reveals to me answers to my prayers and possible plans for my future. Right now I feel that God is telling me that I will get to experience work at the boy’s home for the next two weeks because it fits into my schedule now because the children have a break from school. The following week I feel that God could be telling me that I will be working with the team that is coming if they still are coming. Then, after that week, there will be the retreat which will be most of the week. Following that I am not sure what God’s plan is that He has in store for me. It has been very different not having a set schedule and not knowing what the next step is on my journey in this world. While resting, I also realized the fact that in the United States I never I had the opportunity to rest like this; I was always on the go. I had classes and a part-time job during the week and worked on Saturdays as well. Then on Sundays I would go to church have lunch and then headed off for another church service and then youth group. So it seems strange to move at a different pace and not always be on the go. Another idea that I have is that mission trips are meant for teams and not individuals because when I am with people or doing something; I am fine. However, when I am by myself the times can be very lonely. Also, one of the best things I did to prepare for this trip is to only drink water and eat bland foods about three months before coming to Bolivia. Because I have had only minimal problems adjusting to the food and I think that because I would exercise regularly that only when going up steps I feel the altitude. When my reflecting time was over, I took the rest of the morning to work on the retreat that is coming up. I was able to create both of the activities that I need to and now all I have to do is to get some help translating them into Spanish. At noon I did my noon day devotion and then had lunch. For lunch I had chicken along with pasta and vegetables and a potato. Upon returning to my room after lunch, I sent an email to get feedback on what I have planned and the activities of the retreat. I decided that I needed to do some more work on my Spanish and also to think about the different foods that I have eaten here. There was only a little bit of time before I had to leave for youth group since it is earlier tonight, so I decided to relax until then. I then headed off to youth group and got a much better deal tonight of only going for five Bolivianos instead of ten for last week. When I arrived there was only one other person there so we watched soccer on the television for a while. The youth group began in prayer and then again I had a chance to lead the game. I explained the whole game of “come over the mountain” and only part had to be clarified which I felt great about. I noticed tonight I was not nervous when explaining the game so I think I did a better job of explaining and was clearer. The group even enjoyed this game as well because when the Parker’s said it was time to end it they said that they did not want to. We then looked at the first two commandments of not having other gods or idols. In looking at the Ten Commandments, we went around in a circle and had to read some verses and tonight I was grateful that I could pronounce every word and not make a mistake. We also ended the youth group in prayer as well. Tonight at youth group, I observed the fact that the boys are at the stage where they do not like girls because only one girl arrived tonight and all the guys were upset when she did. This incident made me laugh a little bit because their reaction was like some of the youth I have worked with in the United States. After youth group I went with the group to play soccer. It was a lot of fun playing soccer with these youth and I think it help me make a little more of a connection with them. At youth group I met another youth from the church named Marcelo and he was very nice talked with me which was good to help me continue to practice with my Spanish. Also, I talked with another young lady named Anna who I had met at Shawnee’s house because she takes care of Shawnee’s house. As soon as the soccer game was over I took a taxi with some other people from the youth group back home and still only paid five Bolivianos which I thought was a good deal. When I arrived back at the house, Adelina told me and showed me that the kitten had gotten up on the roof of the house and could not get down. So my height came to my advantage tonight and I was able to get the kitten to a point where I could reach it and get it off the roof. While getting the kitten off the roof, unfortunately I broke a pottery bell and I felt bad and apologized. However, Adelina told me not to worry about it and then asked me if I wanted dinner. For dinner I had this tomato soup with noodles and like a pot roast type of meat. After dinner I did my evening devotion and then relaxed the rest of the evening because I did not have any work that I could think of to do. When it was really dark out, I decided to do my night time devotion, shower, and go to bed.