The North Coast.

This past weekend was amazing! Really my whole time here has been great! But this weekend was a true blessing. I got to go down to Balfate, Honduras which is about a 6 hour drive from where I'm at now. However, since I went along with a family, who is looking for a place to serve, we got to stop at many different places. I got to meet three National Pastors and their families and that in itself was a blessing. I even got to stay the night in Tela with one of the Pastors and his wife, there I had to use my Spanish. I can say that night we laughed a lot! I couldn't understand them all the time and they couldn't understand me all the time but we made it through the night and had fun just talking. (Or trying to. lol) We left the seminary on Thursday and we stopped in Tela and La Ceiba and then went on to Balfate, there we stayed the night. Thursday we toured the hospital and went to a fellowship thing that was for all of the missionaries that were working in and around the hospital. It was fun to be around all of the people and be able to hear what kind of ministry they do here in Honduras.
Friday morning Mark Fittz and I took a young lady to the bilingual school that she worked out. That Friday was a holiday and even though the kids didn't have school they still showed up. I thought that was really night. We got to hang out with the kids and talk with them, since it was a bilingual school some of the kids knew English very well. We hung out at the school for about a hour or so. While there a missionary who works in the Hospital and does ministry in the rural areas and in different schools in the area showed. He pulls out a piece of cloth and the kids all gather around and starts singing a song, first in Spanish then in English. The song starts out from the beginning of the bible and end with the resurrection of Christ. Then they pull out another piece of cloth and starts singing about the Continents, and other things. It was so great to watch the children and even the Principle of the school singing! It is a great ministry!
I got to experience that and then after that we got to go to the Children home. Which is one of my favorite things to do so far. While in the States my mom collected stuffed animals for me to take with me when I went back to Honduras. Since I had them I was able to had them out to the children! You should have seen them! It was amazing! I didn't get to meet all the children that live there because the older ones were in school but I did get to meet all of the little ones which was such a privilege. After all the little ones got there stuffed animals Iain and Liz, the directors of the children home (Missionaries from Scottland) gave us all a tour of the place. We didn't get to stay very long but the time that I was there was such a blessings. I got to hear about the ministry that they do there and also hear some of the stories of the children. Some of their stories are heart breaking, and they will bring tears to your eyes. But it also brought joy to me when I got to hand out the stuffed animals and play with them. It was a great privilege and honor to be able to go there. 
After the children home we headed back to Tela but we made a few stops to visit Pastors and their families. It was nice to even get to hear their heart and their ministry. All together the weekend was very successful and a huge blessings. I look forward to going back to those places. I do hope I get to go back soon.

Well I need to head out. So until next time.

Prayer Request.

Well I can say that this week has been another successful week. I have had so much fun learning! I need extra prayer this weekend. Tomorrow I will be leaving to head to the North Coast to visit an orphanage which is located right next to a hospital. Since it is right next to the hospital the government has made this orphanage a place where they place high-risk children, those that need extra attention because of the condition that they are in. I have been told to prepare myself because some of the conditions the children are in are extreme and will be sure to break my heart. I look forward to being able to love on these children. I cannot wait! I have little stuffed animals waiting to be given to their new owner. (: It will be a great experience and yet like I said will break my heart. (i have already heard some of their stories) So please keep me in your prayers this weekend. They will be need and I would really appreciate it. Thank you for praying for me! I thank God for you every day! Blessings. Until next time.

The First Week.

I cannot tell you have much information or rather Spanish I have learned this week!! I feel as if my brain may explode from everything that is getting crammed into it!


Well this week has gone by slow yet fast in some way, I have loved going to class and being busy again! But most importantly I have LOVED learning Spanish! There are some difficult things in the language but my teachers have really had the patience to help me better understand everything, no matter how many times I have to repeat a word. Did I tell you I have some great teachers! (Reyna y Melissa) Reyna is my teacher in the mornings from 8-10a.m. and Melissa is my teacher in the evening from 3-5p.m. In the mornings we go over all of the grammar in Spanish and also go over new verbs and vocabulary words. After my morning calls I usually take a little break from Spanish and go check my emails and such then I go and study for my next class. I have those classes 5 days a week which makes it 20 hours of Spanish in a class room plus all of the time i put into studying. It's so much! My first two days of school I was in bed by 7:00 because I was just so tired, my brain was really on an over load! It’s been fun though. I like my teachers and I am learning a lot from them. There are three other Spanish students. One other person takes 20 hours a week with me and then there's one that takes 15hours a week. And then there's my roommate that takes 2 hours a week, She teaches English here though and knows Spanish really well actually. My morning class is mainly learning the grammatical ways of Spanish and my afternoon is more focused on getting me used to talking in Spanish.


This was field trip day. We got to walk to one of the Market places. While we did we had to obsevere all of the materials needed to build a house and also we had to learn the names of the materials and houses. It was a blast!

 
These are two other Spanish students, Brayan and Peyton, and the two ladies are my teachers!


Since I live on a bible seminary campus I have gotten to meet several new people, most of which are around my age. But there are also three missionary families that live here, and one single guy and then Gillian, my roommate. so I have a lot of new friends. and I have also met several missionary families that work in this area. I am, starting to attend a bible study that is for the missionaries in this area. I went this past Wednesday and there were like 20-30 people there. It was very nice. There is also a prayer time on Sunday night that is for the ‘team’ that lives here on campus, so I am very blessed to have the opportunity to go to that and share that time with my new team mates. (:

Here are some of my new friends. (:

 Hey you can pray for me. Next Thursday I’m headed to the North Coast to a high-risk orphanage. (It is located right next to a hospital and that is a place they have kids that have special needs, like medical needs and such. I know it’s going to be hard to see kids like that I have already heard some of their stories and it crazy to think about how much they've been through at such a young age. So just keep me in your prayers next weekend. I pray that God uses me to help touch these kids’ lives. I am so excited to be able to love on them! Just keep me in your prayers for that. And also that I continue to excel quickly in my classes and that I’m able to retain all of the information given to me. Well that is it for now. I hope you enjoyed. Until next time.

First Day of School.

Well I have completed my first day of language school!! I'm so excited! I will be doing 20 hours a week. My classes are 8-10am and 3-5m so be praying for me during those times. Prayers are needed! Well I will have to tell you more later, my brain is tired and I have to go study for tomorrow. Adios! Until next time.

Flooding In Honduras.

Rain has destroyed about 24,000 houses and damaged 79,000 acres planted with grains and coffee, More than 19,000 people have been evacuated from their homes.

MORE RAIN IS EXPECTED!!

Raging rivers and landslides have destroyed dozens of bridges and damaged more than 150 highways across the country.

Those are just some things I have found off the internet about the flooding in Honduras. I am sure that it has changed. Ever since I have arrived it has rained. There was a time, right before we left the airport that it wasn't raining but by the time we got out of the city, it was raining. On our drive back we got to see how many problems the rain has caused. Bridges were washed away...(Picture below) Houses were flooded. Crops were ruined. And much more.
AND STILL THE RAIN CONTINUES!
Mark tells me that as he was driving back to campus from San Pedro Sula he saw tents on the side of the road because people were forced out of their houses. The flooding has really brought about disaster in areas. There are mudslides and bridge calaspes. Its heart breaking because some of these people have lot everything. They'll survive, they always do. Lets keep them in our prayers! I do think this is only the begining of the rainy season.


Here are a few pictures.

Aerial view of Honduras. This is what it looked like when I was landing.
(I didn't take this picture.)


The High Waters.


People now have to take turns crossing on a smaller bridge because parts other bridge were missing.


This is the bridge that was closed.

A Safe Trip.

Well I have arrived safely in Honduras. I made it through all of customs without a problem. I did have to go through a special search thing and it turns out that one of my suitcases got inspected as well. But that's the way it is and I can't change that.


Here's a great story! As any of you that have traveled know, the airport puts a restriction on how much your bag can weigh. And I am a person that worries a lot about breaking rules and such so I was so worried about my luggage being too heavy. I prayed that it wouldn't be because I couldn't afford to take things out and I couldn't really rearrange anything because my bags were packed. And I had those air-suction bags that once the air is sucked out of them you don’t want to open them up until you need them. . I was able to meet up with a person that was going to the same lace as I was so that I was very nice. After my mom dropped me off I headed inside to weigh my suitcases. My first one went through fine. Which I knew it would but my second suitcase is the one I was really worried about. I put it on the scale as I was instructed to and the weight went from 50 lbs. to 45lbs. I was amazed because I knew that bag weighed MORE than 50!! I'm not kidding! It weighed more than a bag of our dog food! (I was of course praying it wouldn't weigh that much) Seeing that weight on that scale just released so much off of my shoulders. I was so happy! Praise God! Remember: WORRY IS BAD FOR YOU!!!

After all of that I went through security and everything else I arrived safely at my gate. When I went to sit down there was a guy sitting diagonal from me, I didn't think nothing of it. I just thought I wouldn't mess with anyone and no one would mess with me. Well I was wrong. lol I was sitting there texting a few people when he causally moved his belongings over to where I was sitting then he eventually sat down! I didn't know what to do! I was told you're not supposed to talk to strangers; well he was talking to me! So of course I don't want to be rude I responded. He touched my Honduras bracelet and asked if I had ever gone and for what, so I told him. By this point I was very nervous because I didn't know what to do!! We sat there for a little bit and then I saw that they were checking people in so I used that excused and left. I just didn't know what to do! lol I watched the movie taken like a year ago, and so I definitely don't want to talk to strangers in an airport. Eventually after I checked in I called my mom so I wouldn't have to go sit down by that guy. I asked her what I should do so we ended up talking for awhile but then we had to hang up. The plane still wasn't loading at that time, so I decided to call my dad hoping that call would last awhile so I didn't have to go sit down. Yea. That call lasted like 2 minutes! Then I decided to call Ms. Nina and that was also 2 minutes long! After that I just stood around 'texting' people (aka: trying to make people think I'm really texting) A few minutes after that we loaded the plane which calmed my nerves so much! I had the seat by myself so it was very nice!

The flight in general went very smoothly. I can now say I like flying into San Pedro Sula way better than flying into Tegu. The landing was so much smoother and not as scary! While on the plane I meet up with a man that is with CAM International (The agency the school is with) and he was going to the same place as I was going, so we went along to the immigration checking stuff and then we went on to meet up with our ride. The people here are nice. There are, I believe, 3 gringo families, and 2 single gringas, and 1 single gringo? gringo. There are other Honduran families and young men and young here as well. (Gringo is us, the people from the States)

I am now living on a seminary school campus. It is very nice. it has a little pulperia (store) and a little shop called 'The Hope Store' which sells products such as purses, fresh roasted coffee, t-shirts, candles, hammocks, and Hondurian souvenirs - all made through fair trade here in the country. This place has a sports court, a library, a little laundry, and schools. (Plus more) It’s a nice beautiful place. And somewhat quiet, there are the occasional car horns but that's expected because we're on the road leading into down town Siguatepeque. I can tell you more about this place when I find more things out. I'm still learning about it myself. (:

Well I better go. (: Adios for now! Until next time!