Mi Familia en San Juan!

The other day I was playing the card game Uno with my brother, Fabio and his cousin, Jessi. Since I still can’t say complete sentences in Spanish, its always funny so we just laugh and have a good time. During the game my mom, Olga, was making dinner in the kitchen and came out and said, “I just had to tell you that I have been listening to you guys talk, and Lori you’re speaking so good in Spanish.” This made me smile and I was really encouraged.  The next day, as I was eating dinner with my mom, she shared that there have been a lot of students that have come and lived with them in the past, and that Fabio, my brother never talked to them. She continued, saying that he loves me, is always excited to see me, and wants to talk to me all the time. She also said that Jessi, Fabio’s cousin also loves coming over to see me and hang out, too. I love playing cards with them and it’s always a great surprise to come home to find cards and bracelets and candy they’ve made for me! The Lord is truly working through me and building strong wonderful relationship with people here like my brother.

Another HUGE blessing is my relationship with my mom, Olga! Some of the best times I have had here are sitting at the table and just speaking Spanish with her. We have such a precious relationship, and I thank God so much for it! One day she told me that she prayed for me to learn Spanish fast so that we could talk together more. Another day she was not feeling well, so I mopped for her while she shared stories with me in Spanish. Sometimes we pass each other and don’t say anything but just giggle and smile. My dad, Vinicio, is a teacher at my Spanish school and always asks me if I need help with homework. He also has the funniest stories to share and I can’t tell you how much I love them!

Please pray for my family here in San Juan! They are Catholic and I am still trying to learn enough Spanish to share more with them about my beliefs in the Lord. My family here is wonderful and I praise God for them and His amazing faithfulness!  

God's Provision!

Right now I am listening to one of my favorite songs and wanted to share it with you… 

“If I never get to see another rainbow, or share another laugh with a friend. If I never have another prayer that’s answered, or have another blessing come my way, Father I will still have to say… You have been good! Yet I am in wonder how could it be? In SO MANY WAYS YOU’VE Been GOOD TO ME!” If suddenly it all were ended, and your blessings disappeared, looking back over a lifetime, the evidence is clear! You have been GOOD! Yet I am in WONDER how could it be! In so many ways you have been good to me!”

There are so many things that I am thankful for right now, and I am truly in wonder of God and His PROVISION! God is so good and I am so blessed to be here in Guatemala learning a new language! I feel like I have waited my whole life for this time to serve my Lord Jesus as a missionary. I so believe that being a missionary is the BEST job in the world! It is such a joy to be the Lord’s servant and have Him work through me in so many different ways! I feel the POWER of prayer daily over me, from when I wake up in the morning, until I lay down at night. Seriously, I have tears in my eyes thinking about the support that I have and I praise God for each of you.

The biggest story I want to share is about the LORD’S PROVISION! Yesterday during class my Spanish teacher, Diana, shared with me some things that were really difficult to hear. First of all, my teacher is the only Christian teacher with the school we attend. She has an incredible testimony and has shared powerful stories about how the Lord has worked in her family’s life and provided in times of incredible need. A few months ago God told my teacher’s dad to start a project for children with no food. Their whole family fasted and the Lord revealed to the family through dreams and visions how to start the project.  Now this dream is a developing ministry feeding nearly 150 kids daily who otherwise would not have food.

Yesterday Diana was telling me that her family is experiencing spiritual attacks from the devil and some financial difficulties as a result of her husband recently loosing his job. Diana has had dreams of demons chasing her in a forest and stabbing her in the back, and her younger brother has also had dreams of demons attacking in the night. One morning Diana’s daughter came to the breakfast table and said, “Mom, look God provides for us, I just found $3 in my room.” This made me cry. But, the whole time my teacher was sharing she was smiling and telling me that God is good and that He is our Provider. Well, I wish I could share ALL the details but let me just say that some people and I came together and were able to help my teacher. And when I gave her this gift, I looked into her eyes and said “Dios es Provider!” Wow, I have read so many times in the Bible about how the Lord has provided for His people, and have shared how He has provided in my life. But the power of saying, “God is our Provider” in another language and another culture was truly powerful. God can use anyone, in any culture all over the world! I just feel so blessed to be used by Him, and be apart of the mission field and GOD’S PROVSION! 

This is ME on my birthday with my wonderful chicken pinata!

Mi Cumpliano!!!

Así que solo tenía mi cumpleaños el 21 de enero, y quería compartir ¿por qué un brithday en un país diferente es tan divertido! Aquí están los top 10 razones de por qué me encantó...

10. Me desperté en petardos fuera de mi puerta a las 6:00 de la mañana en mi cumpleaños!
9. Me golpeó un pollo piñata y sudado porque era tan duro en mi cumpleaños!
8. COMÍ chocolate cake con mis profesores de español en mi cumpleaños!
7. Mi maestro traducido Christian español canciones para mí durante la clase de mi cumpleaños!
6. Todos mis amigos y yo alquila scooters y obligaron a alrededor de la ciudad y tuvo algunas aventuras locas el fin de semana de mi cumpleaños!
5. Me fui a hablar con mi familia en skype sobre mi cumpleaños!
4. Me da una dulce cuchillo de Misty y un imponente camisa de amy de Gaute sobre mi cumpleaños!
3. Salí y tuvo un último spegetti cena con algunos de mis mejores amigos nunca!
2. Hablé con Jessica Sorrel sobre Skype (uno de mis mejores amigos, quien se encuentra en Perú ahora)!
1. Y la mejor parte de mi cumpleaños fue deslizarse en la montaña en mi scooter y frenado para estimado vida en la noche oscura!


Okay here it is in English! :) So I just had my birthday on January 21st, and I wanted to share why having a brithday in a different counry is so much fun! Here are the top 10 reasons why I loved it...

10. I woke up to firecrackers outside my door at 6:00 in the morning on my birthday!
9. I hit a chicken pinata and sweated because it was so hard on my birthday!
8. I ate chocolate cake with my spanish teachers on my birthday!
7. My teacher translated Christian spanish songs for me during class on my birthday!
6. All my friends and I rented scooters and drove them around town and had some crazy adventures the weekend of my birthday!
5. I got to talk with my family on skype on my birthday!
4. I got a sweet knife from Misty and an awesome shirt from Amy from Gaute on my birthday!
3. I went out and had an amzing spegetti dinner with some of my best friends ever!
2. I talked to Jessica Sorrel on Skype (one of my best friends, who is in Peru right now)!
1. And the BEST part of my birthday was sliding down the mountain on my scooter and braking for dear life in the dark night!

Life in Gaute...es muy bieno!

So I've been in Guatemala for a little over a week now and it's been awesome! I've already learned a few things and was inspired by one of my friends to put them into a top ten list... so here it is!

10- If you don't eat everything on your plate- they start to give you less food...
9- It's no big deal to see chickens wandering around the school...
8- Pedestrians do NOT have the right away...
7- Buses have NO maximum capacity...
6- Dogs are everywhere and fight constantly!!
5- If you aren't fluent in Spanish (like i) you do a lot of charades to communicate with the people you live with, especially at dinner...
4- As you learn Spanish, your English gets worse!
3- Fireworks go off often- anytime of the day or night... and sometimes right outside your door!
2- ¨Papas Fritas¨ are the best words in Spanish that I have learned...which means french fries.
1- The best time to take a shower is the middle of the day because hot is relative.. meaning it's not exactly a hot shower but more like an almost lukewarm shower (and when i say almost lukewarm- i mean on the cold side...)

Seriously, Guatemala is great! It's beautiful here! The family I'm living with is really amazing! My mama cooks the best food, and knows exactly what I need, it truly is a blessing. I don't have a whole lot of time today to tell everything but God is so good!! He has been teaching me so much!! I have been reading in my chronological Bible and LOVE it. Sometimes I don´t want to study Spanish and just read different stories from the Bible!

Some things to pray for are...
-For fluency in Spanish! I'm picking it up and can understand a whole lot more than before so that's good!
-My family that I'm living with! They are not Christians and every meal time I sit down and just talk about everything, and we have already talked about God, which is awesome for as little as Spanish I know right now.
-My health!

Love you Family!
Thanks Ellen!