Worth Every Penny

     

      I wish I had a few more weeks here. I know for certain that if I get the chance, I will be coming back. I'm certain of it. Sure, the showers are cold, the bugs bite, the food can be bland, and it can be emotional at times- but when I think of the children's exuberant faces as I tell them a Bible story, or running into kids I've met on the street, or when we pray with a nonbeliever to accept Christ and the joy on the faces..it's all worth it. Every dollar I've had to spend, worth it. Every miserable cold shower, worth it.

     I often wonder what my family and friends are doing as I'm writing in this journal. Last night, Emily and I became a tiny bit homesick for the first time. I miss my family and friends, but I'd rather be here right now. As Emily says, "I miss them, but I don't need them. It'd be nice to see them, but I want to be here more." That's exactly how I feel. I keep a letter from my mom and a letter from Nathan under my pillow, along with a picture of my family and a picture of him and I. I look at the pictures every morning when I wake up and pray for them.

    

     I am looking forward to telling my family and friends of all these adventures and experiences! But I know they won't fully be able to understand until they're able to experience something like this, too. I can't put into words how God is changing me, but I know it's great.

     Costa Rican icecream is delicious, I had it three times today! The first at small cafe we found while we were out evangelizing. Then we traveled to Bijagua, to pick up trash on the streets. The Kirby boys kept us entertained, singing classic Disney songs as we trekked through ditches and filled our trash bags up. Afterwards, our team began a spontaneous game of soccer with some of the locals in the village.

      Meanwhile, it wasn't too too fun sitting in the wet grass, so Carlos offered to take Emily and I to a local grocery store around the corner, so we could see what a typical store looked like there. I must say, it was very different than an American grocery store. Mayonaise was in a bag, and there were brands of food that I hadn't seen in at least ten years! And soap had dust on it. Weird. Carlos was so nice and bought me a traditional, Spanish popsicle. Carlos and I always have a great time. He is has a great sense of humor. We have some rather hilarious memories together, but if I were to write them down; they wouldn't even make sense..

    Sami's 18th birthday is today. We celebrated with cake, icecream, party hats and maks. It was great fun.