Catch Up!

The team has arrived!

Concert in Grano de Oro

So, I have not been able to blog much recently because once the team got here we have been very busy! On Saturday the 21st, we had our concert in Grano de Oro and it was a major success! We were blaring music, dancing around screaming our lungs out for the Lord. After multiple worship songs the team did their skit and it was very moving. Even with the music in spanish I got chills watching, so I can not even imagine how much it touched all the locals who speak the language. The concert concluded with a long time of prayer and I was very touched at how many people were brave enough to go to the front and be prayed over by Marlon and Jessica. A lot of us from the team went up and Marlon prayed over us as a group and I knew God was speaking through him. At this point, I knew God had amazing plans already set out  for this week and I was very excited to see what happens next.

Sunday church and VBS!

On Sunday we had a normal church service and it was so awesome seeing all the team members experience this worship and sermon for the first time. The worship here is so different compared to what we are used to in America and everyone loves how they do it here. People are constantly dancing and jumping around proclaiming their love for God. They have no shame at all in living their life for God which is exactly how it should be. These people are very inspiring and although we are here to make a difference in their lives, they are impacting ours just as much. After the church service we had some VBS activities and served lunch. We made hot dogs and served them with some papas (potato chips) and cookies! Pretty American style lunch, but they enjoyed it! Once everyone was done and left we cleaned up and changed into some sporty clothes because the kids in Las Nubes asked us to come play futbol (soccer)! Playing soccer with Costa Ricans is probably one of the most fun/scary things I have ever done. These kids are not afraid to run a girl down or kick them in the shins.. However, I still loved playing and we are actually going back to play more today! After just two days here God had done so much for our team and plans to do more.

VBS in Grano de Oro

So Monday and Tuesday of this week we drove to Grano de Oro and the youth did a puppet show acting out Daniel in the lions den for one day and a skit acting out David and Goliath the next. The kids LOVED both of them. After the show we set up 5 stations and had little activities for the kids to do. After bring here for three weeks I´ve learned enough spanish to communicate some with the children so that was definitely new and excited for me as compared to last year. However... I am no where near to fluent yet! The kids were a variety of personalities from extremely shy to yelling every word they say. They had so much fun both days and that alone made the long drive and all the stress in preparation worth it. God calls us to let everyone know He loves them and that is exactly what we did for those children. We played games, laughed and spoke spanglish... always making sure to say "Dios te bentiga" (God bless you).

Here and now

So it is now Wednesday and it is our "off" day. However, we are still doing tons of work preparing for tomorrow in Plantanillo, doing laundry, cooking and cleaning. So even though we have a day to spend at the house, we take any spare time we have to take care of things that need to be done. While this morning has been all work... we have later today at 3 to look forward to for play :) We are going back to Las Nubes and playing soccer with the youth! I´m very excited and a little nervous because these kids are seriously intense. Either way, I know it is going to be fun. So this is all the basics of what we have done so far; however, I honestly couldn´t put all the amazing things God has done into words. The best thing is that I know God has so much more in store and I am so excited to see what else he does and our lives and these kids lives. I will post again at the end of the week and let ya´ll know how the trip concluded and all the amazing stories that happened.  Until then, Hasta Luego!
Also, below are some pictures from the past few days!

 

My Baptism!

Acts 2:38 - "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. "

While being here, I learned a lot about baptism and how it is what people do when they are ready to give their life to God and be cleansed of their sins. Jesus says that when we are baptised our sins are washed away and forgotten to him. Now this does not mean we can go be crazy every day and then get baptised every night to wash it away. No, it is not that easy. And the more I learned all of these things the more I felt kind of silly for being baptised at 4 months old. I mean what sins can I have washed away at four months old?.. "sorry mom and dad for crying too much" was the only one I could think of.. Therefore I decided that I have come to a time in my life where it´s time to grow up and commit my life to God because it really shouldn´t be any other way. Marlon and Jessica said they would love to be the ones who baptise me and I can´t think of anywhere better to be baptised than in this beautiful country. So yesterday (July 16) we walked down the mini mountain they live on and crossed the street and walked to the river. Licy Celeste and Michael came as well for moral support :) Of course the river was FREEZING, but it was definitely worth it. After the baptism we stayed in the water and Marlon prayed over me and who I will become. Then of course I had to swim around.. The water here is sooo much cleaner than Lake Houston.. It was very refreshing! So it was definitely a day to remember. Later that night Marlon and Jessica wanted to celebrate so Marlon used his new man made grill again and grilled up some Red Snapper fish and more ribs, And inside Jessica and I made some delicious guacamole and Michael made fresh lemonade! I have learned a lot in my time here so far, and I hope to learn even more. I know God has a plan for me as well as for all of you, so don´t be afraid to let go of whatever is holding you back and give your life to Him, because only then will you be truly happy.

Fruit Market and Cookout

A late July 4th celebration.. July 14th instead :)

Every Saturday the side streets of Turrialba are filled with tents and carts and people for the fruit\vegetable market. Jessica wanted me to experience it and be more immersed in the culture so we went and it was definitely different! It was so crowded and hot but all the fruits and vegetables looked amazing! Every tent was something different and there were so many fruits I had never seen before! It´s crazy to me that most of the people working under the tent make a living off of these Saturday´s at the the market. Jessica bought lots of different fruits and vegetables and only spent about 10 dollars! When we got back to the house I found Marlon making a grill.. literally from scraps around the house. At first I thought it would look kinda weird and not work very well. I was wrong. He made a sturdy working grill with scraps in about 30 minutes! I was very impressed, and he was very proud of his work. So Jessica cooked up some new vegetables and Marlon made some BBQ ribs on the grill and we had ourself a very late July 4th lunch :) The whole day we joked around saying Happy Four!.....teenth... Ha we get weird sometimes. But after being out of the U.S for two weeks now it was nice to have a little piece of home and to share it with this amazing family :)

Church Work Day

People from the church came to help cement the walls in the church

Thursday the 12th men from the church came and helped cement the walls in the church and fill in some holes with plywood. I was very impressed to see how fast they worked! They finished everything within a few hours so now all that is left is to paint. While the men were doing the construction work Jessica and I decided to go weed her garden. It was literally FULL of weeds and we worked until they were all gone. I usually don´t like garden work but this wasn´t bad, except all the ant bites. However, garden work is actually a great stress reliever, who knew? After working in the garden we prepared lunch and made coffee for all the workers. Later that night we decided to change it up and had some Costa Rican pizza! It was pretty good but we had to add some more sauce and cheese, Texas style. At the end of the night I asked Marlon and Jessica more questions I had about the bible and Jesus, and of course they had all the right answers cause they are awesome :) So a work filled day turned into a peaceful night, I just love it here!

Our trip to Grano de Oro

Youth trip to Grano de Oro to pass out invitations for the concert in 2 weeks!

Yesterday we picked up some of the youth and all went to Grano de Oro to invite people to the youth concert coming up in a couple of weeks. This town is very secluded- 3 hours away from the city! So people here have to grow their own food and do everything themselves. So in a town with so little we figure spreading the word of God could do a lot! The best part about our trip yesterday was that the youth kids made what could have been a long boring trip the most fun few hours i´ve had so far! Although I can´t really talk to them much cause I speak english and they speak spanish.. We still found away to communitcate through being together and spreading the word. They are so funny too we were all constantly laughing because someone is always doing something hilarious. Once we finished passing out all of the invitations the guys were so pumped and excited they stuck their heads out the window and started yelling as loud as they could, so random! Fortunately I had my phone so I got Michael doing his cowboy yell and Josue being Tarzan, enjoy (:

Jobs as a missionary

     So many of you are probably wondering what exactly missionaries do since the Costa Rica Mission is not like UMARMY where people come together and fix up houses and build and all that. You see, mission work does not necessarily always have to involve building wheelchair ramps and painting houses. Our mission here is to spread God´s word to all the people we can. So the Obando´s have church every Sunday and youth group on Saturday´s and then two other church services during the week just to keep people focused on the Lord and worshiping whenever they can. Now, whenever we aren´t having church or hosting some activity for the youth to just come hangout and praise God, we are still constantly working. Although I am in this beautiful country, I am not on vacation. When not prepping for church, I am usually teaching pre-school to Licy, helping Jessica clean, Washing dishes [they do not have dishwashers here!] Preparing meals, running errands, workouts, reading the bible, or studying spanish. So for those who think we just lay around the house praying occasionally.. well, you are mistaken! Although we are constantly busy, I love every minute of it (:
    

Our trip to PriceSmart

PriceSmart [Costa Rica's Sam´s Club]

Our Journey to PriceSmart and why it was so memorable!

The Obando´s home and church is located a little past Turrialba up in the mountains, 2 hours away from San Jose. Therefore the closest store to them is Maxi Pali which is like a smaller version of HEB but also overpriced and never really has all of the things Jessica or Marlon want. So.. they discovered a place called PriceSmart that is located in San Jose and decided they want to become members there so twice a year they can make the long trip to this giant store they have heard so much about. Well, yesterday they decided we should make a trip down to San Jose so they can become members and go shopping for themselves and to get a lot of the things needed for the high school trip in two weeks! So we arrive and this is where the fun begins:
We walk into PriceSmart and it was like the Obando´s entered a whole new world! Obviously because I live in Texas this store was completely normal for me. Just another Sam´s Club is what it felt like. However, Jessica was ecstatic over finding fresh mozzarella and brownie mix, while Marlon was jumping for joy when he found some cans of clam chowder! It was so funny walking through the store with them and seeing their eyes glow every time they found something they hadn´t seen since they lived in Texas. We kept joking because Jessica would say "okay everyone stay focused... oh look pizza pans!" Then Marlon would make fun of her and be like "okay now seriously everyone stay focused... look giant bags of coffee!" This went on throughout our whole shopping trip! While it was very funny and we all kept laughing about it, this trip also made me realize how fortunate I am and how I take so much for granted living in the U.S. I pass cans of clam chowder and pizza pans every time I go to Walmart and don´t think twice about it.. while here finding those items is like winning the lottery. The Obando´s live a very simple lifestyle and are happy with what they have and don´t need all the materialistic things that so many of us get caught up in and are surrounded with daily. Living here and having the Obando´s as an influence has already changed me so much. They keep God in the center of all they do and trust in him to supply for them all that they need, which is how we all should be living! Originally I thought this trip to PriceSmart would be what changed the Obando´s life, when ultimately it changed mine. I am so grateful to be here and hope that these stories and experiences affect not only me, but you too.