It's been so long since I've updated my blog and I've had so much to share this past week! Where do I begin?!?

Thursday, Dec 4
11:00 - Went to Stone Island for the day with Lydia (one of the missionaries)
1:00 - Did a clothes drive with some folks who brought tons of clothes. I was amazed by the turnout of people from the island and how grateful the were to receive the clothes, toys, and toiletries.
3:00 - Visited Maggie's home for a Bible Study. Maggie has muscular dystrophy and is stuck sitting in a chair all day. She can hardly talk and can't walk, so her husband and two 20-something sons take care of her. They live in a very patchy shack - pretty common for this neighborhood. One of her sons is working extra hard to be able to finish his college education and get a degree in engineering. Their family is poor, and he's had to pay for it all on his own. He had also just finished making payments on a computer to use for school, when his lender decided to use all of the money he'd paid for something else. So, now he's without the money and the computer. The son really seems like a great person - hardworking, cares for his mom - it's so hard to hear that he's struggling so much.
4:00 - The community Bible Study and childrens' sunday school were held outside the church. The usual helpers with the kids couldn't make it, so I ended up having to do it myself! Fortunately, Lydia had a book with Bible stories that had the stories both in English and Spanish. Through my broken Spanish, I was able to share with the kids about the story of Elisabeth, Zachariah, and John the Baptist and convey that with God nothing is impossible (even having a baby when you're old!). It went pretty well and was exciting for me to be stretched in this way. After the teaching, the kids colored and then we played some games.
8:00 - head home!
Friday, Dec 5
9:00 - Spanish lessons
1:00 - Sarah's birthday party! Sarah's birthday was Dec 1, but she had her party this day. She had all of her friends over from her class at school. They were really cute kids. A couple of the girls were extra patient with me while I practiced my Spanish. I appreciated that so much. During the day I managed to spill strawberry Fanta, changed my outfit, and then had Sprite spilled all over me... I was the soda factory! haha. Sarah had a great time.
9:00 - Some kids were still at the house for the party, believe it or not! Their parents had come in and were eating some of the food and chatting with us. When a bunch of us had left, Megan and I went for a walk to the Starbuck's and grabbed a cup of coffee and talked. It was great getting to have this time with her. One of the servers at the Starbuck's practiced Spanish with us for a little while.
Saturday, Dec 6 - MY 24th BIRTHDAY!!!
Started out a bit uneventful....
-7:00 - Woke up early so I could get on a bus to be in Dona Chonita by 8:30. Had a great time of worship on the bus on the way over.
-8:30 - Helped prepare food for the feeding ministry in Dona Chonita.
-10:30 - Sang songs with the kids and then Kyle and Ellen gave a lesson about the story of Mary and Joseph. We had the kids trace each other's feet multiple times to indicate how many steps Mary and Joseph had in their journey to Bethlehem. I'm not sure they got that point very much, but they seemed to be having fun tracing their feet, and then we played a game of hopping from one footprint to another. After the lesson, we fed all 75 children and even some of their parents.
At this point in the day, I was having a bit of a rough spot. First of all, it was my birthday and I was fighting feelings of wanting to be celebrated, but I was feeling like I hardly know people and not feeling like I belonged. I fought back tears for about an hour and then finally started to feel better. . 12:00 - Headed back to the main La Vina for a fun day of "Olympics" with the Vineyard youth groups from various colonias. It was SO much fun and got my mind off of my sorrowful state. I really felt good after this, but was still anxious to get home and open my gifts from my parents and call them.
7:00 - Left to take some kids home from the youth group.
8:30 - Finally arrived home! I was expecting to just open my gifts from my parents, but I walked out into the back patio and..... SURPRISE!!! MEGAN HAD THROWN ME A SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY!! There were about 15 people there, lots of balloons and confetti, great food, a big cake... Oh, man. It was AWESOME!! They all prayed for me, too. Talk about feeling like I belonged. This really did something in my heart. It was just what I needed.
You'll have to check out the video below of me learning of the Mexican birthday traditions, called "Mordida":



THAT'S ALL FOR NOW! Was that long enough??