Souvenirs

So this morning the mission team went to an orphanage in San Jose. They enjoyed playing with the children and I translated for many of them. The children were delighted to us and play with us. There were a pair of young girls there that reminded of my beautiful sisters. After lunch the team went to a local souvenir place. It was like an indoor bizarre. A tin roof covered dozens of small shops all housed in one building. There was a narrow central hallway filled with vendors cramming and fighting for our attention. 

They sold items such as shirts, dresses, knives, machetes, pipes, cigars, carvings, and hammocks. Speaking of which, I am sure my friend Mr. Henson will be happy to know that I picked up two hammocks for him today. I saw some purses there I think my sisters will like, I will get those next time when I go with the next mission team. 

Today was the first day I really struggled being away from my family. I have missed them a lot but before today I have been able to deal with it. Today however on the bus I was going through some pictures of my family and when I came to the pictures of my sisters I actually teared up a bit. But despite missing my family I am having a wonderful time here. I expected to experience culture shock but so far none. 

Thank you for your prayers! If you want to here about anything in particular let me know in the comments.

Pictures

Here are various photos from CR! The are pictures from the Basilica, the Folks house, and our trip to Panama.

Mission Team

Today Jacob and I picked up the mission team. We met the bus driver before they arrived in front of Sojourn Academy where I went to school in Costa Rica. There are fourteen members of the team. After we picked them up from the airport we went to the Basilica church of Costa Rica. It was a beautiful building however stained glass windows showed images of Mary being crowned ruler of heaven by the Father and Son. 

Then several members of the group went with Jacob to a bible study and the remainder of the group and I went to Walmart. I'm sure my parents will be happy to know that I picked up some bags of decaf Cafe Britt for them. We checked the mission team into a nearby hotel and ate supper with them. Please continue to pray for my Spanish as I continue to use it more and more.

Back in CR

We made it back! After crossing the border and having our visas stamped again we drove eight hours to make it back to Cartago. We are all tired after so much time in the car. It feels good to be in the cool mountains. As I am writing this the front door is open and I am watching clouds drift through the mountains and the volcano Irazu. Tomorrow morning Jacob and I will be picking up a mission team. I will be translating for them and helping out where I am needed. Please pray that God will give me a good recall of all my Spanish.

Earthquake!

Early this morning while we were still asleep we had an Earthquake! It registered as a 5.0. It woke me up when it hit though I did not know what it was. I felt kind of like I was swinging forwards and backwards in a hammock, if that makes sense. My first thought when I woke up was that either Jacob or his son Benjamin was shaking the bed to try to wake me up.

Then I opened my eyes and realized what was happening and by that time it ended and I went back to sleep. Today was fairly uneventful. The Folk family are using this time out of the country in Panama as vacation time so they are enjoying the swimming pool. The girls spent what seemed like hours shopping for clothes in the local mall as the prices are much lower here. All the boys stood around trying understand why they took so much joy from the experience.

I am still trying to figure out how to add photos to this blog using my iPad so once I do there will be pictures a plenty.

Arrival in Costa Rica

So it was a busy day yesterday, I got up at five and was at the airport at 6. I departed at 7:45 and arrived around 8 am in Atlanta. I departed from Atlanta around 9:45 and and arrived at Costa Rica at 11:15 their time, which would be 1:15 in South Carolina. Courtenay met me at the airport along with some of her family. She took me by where my family used to live in San Francisco de dos rios, talk about a walk through memory lane! 

We made it back to their house just in time for lunch with a mission team led by Mr. Hart, my science teacher from sojourn academy.  After eating they showed me my room and I unpacked and caught up with the Folk family. We had tomato soup for supper then I went to a bible study with Jacob. The study was on grace and I don't remember much from it as I became very tired during the bible study. 

Today we got up at five and went to PanamaThe Folks have to leave the country for 72 hours to do with Costa Rica rules for long term stay. We had an 8 1/2 hour drive. we stopped for lunch and had a picnic on a beach. as we ate we got to watch some locals surf. I enjoyed eating some coconuts we found in our picnic site! Now we are staying in a hotel in David, Panama. In order to use the Internet we have to be in the lobby. I tried to blog yesterday but when I went to upload it the Internet did not work.

During my time here in Panama i will be preparing lessons for the bible study in CR. Please  pray that god will bring me out of my comfort zone as I help minister to the people here and that he will draw me nearer to him and that he will give me the words to say to the people.

Return to Costa Rica

I am going back to Costa Rica! It has been close to three years since we came back from Honduras. Since then, I believe not a day has gone by that I have not thought at least once of my adventures in the mission field. I feel called to full time missions like my parents. However, because I miss it so much, I am worried that maybe I am not called to the mission field but rather I am imagining it due to how much I miss it! So I am going to Costa Rica tomorrow to see if my call is genuinely from the Lord (and not from me!). I will be there for six weeks staying with Jacob and Courtenay Folk, missionary friends from our time in language school.


Throughout my stay I will help with their ministries and with any mission teams that come down. Also while I am there I will be taking a class online through my college North Greenville University. I am a Spanish major so why not knock out one of the required classes while in a Spanish speaking country? If anybody reads this before tomorrow, please pray for safety for me for tomorrow and for me to make all of the connections. I will be flying from Greenville to Atlanta, once in Atlanta I have only forty five minutes until my next flight to San Jose! Also prayer throughout my entire stay for safety and courage would be much appreciated!



Thanks!

Trey