Argentinian Birthday Asado

Today we went to church and heard a wonderful message on Hebrews 8. Even though it was in Spanish, Alanna translated just enough for me to understand the basic, and it was a home-run.

After that, we came home and the preparations for the asado (BBQ) were already in full swing. Tables were put together to make one long table, places were set, kids were playing, salads were being made and brought to a table, meat was being cooked, and a cake was being frosted. Last night, Alanna and I began put together a pumpkin salad. We cubed some pumpkin, put it in a pan, and added chopped garlic to it. It was put in the oven and cooked until the pumpkin had absorbed the garlic flavor. This morning we added garbanzo beans, oil, salt, and some kind of strong, great tasting crumbly cheese. It was DELICIOUS.

All the salads were brought to the salad table and everyone put their desired salads onto their plates.

The layout!

Then we sat down to eat all our delicious food!

After we ate, we sat and talked and just had a great time. :)

Brenda

 Javi, Guillarmina, and Alanna

 The leftover meat... Yum. #not

Julietta and Alejandra

It's Miguel's 57th birthday!

 Miguel with his wife and daughter

 Being prayed for over for the year to come

 Cake!

 Brothers!

First Week = Down.

I have done so much this week, I'm sure I'm going to forget something in this post.
On Monday, Alanna and Tamara invited me to go with them to the central, and of course I accepted! I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see more of this city that I am growing fond of so quickly.
We took a bus into the central, hopped off, and I found myself in London... Had we gone through a magical wardrobe on our way here? I did a double-take and realized that, no, we hadn't. (Obviously not,  but it was fun to dream that such a wardrobe could exist.) Everyone was speaking Spanish, calling out "Cambio!" to exchange currencies, and the shops were much smaller. But the architecture is very British, giving me the feel of being back in London. I did a little research and discovered that Brits came to industrialize and become landowners, as Argentina was part of the United Kingdom's informal empire (an independent nation that Britain had economic influence in, that was outside the British Empire. *quoted*)

Pink government house!

National Bank of Argentina

I love the round window things

En la calle...

London, no?

This is actually a clock tower the Brits put here, it made me think a little of Big Ben.

Tuesday I started doing work duties. I learned how to clean the kitchen. When we got to the last part, the floor, we swept and then it was time to mop. I discovered that they don't use a mop like we're used to. They use a rag that been soaked in soapy water and put it on something kind of like a giant squeegee (that's a funny word. lol). Then you push it across the floor to clean it. Bam. You're done. Well, you've gotta squeeze out the rag, but seriously, how easy was that? 

On Wednesday and Thursday, I got to talk to two friends and my mom and little brother and sister! I loved seeing their faces and hearing their voices! It made being here that much easier. I got to hear about my college group and how my friends that attend are doing, and just talk to Taylor. I got to talk to Jamie and hear about the last few months of her life. I haven't seen her since DTS ended in March, so it was amazing talking to her the way we would in our room in London. Then when I talked to my mom and siblings, I think I laughed the whole time! We had such a great time talking and catching up about life. E and C have started and art and science class, and I loved seeing what they made and what they had learned. I got to see all our pets and hear how they're doing as well.

On Friday night, we all took a bus to another YWAM base here in Buenos Aires for a huge meeting with worship and a message. It was SUPER cramped on the bus, it was not possible to not be always touching somebody. Then we got on, you guessed it, another cramped bus. It took a good hour and half to get there, but it was so worth it! We had a great worship time, the message was translated for me by a guy from South Carolina (which was cool hearing an American accent in real life), and great fellowship. On they way home, the first bus wasn't cramped and we got to sit down, but they second was just as cramped as the first two. No surprise to me, my feet were swollen and hurting this morning. I had to wear my sandals all day today, which was not as big of a bummer as some would think! I love wearing sandals, and my weren't cold at all today. It was wonderful.

This week has been odd. I've gone through so many emotions and had so many thoughts... It feel like I'm an abridged version of Lord Of The Rings, if that's even possible. See what I mean? I'm tired every day, just from listening to Spanish and trying to understand all day, and transitioning back in to community life. Plus I've been missing my family and friends. 

But I'm really missing my London DTS classmates. To me, it feels like they should be here. They should be here learning Spanish and discovering Argentina with me. But they're not. They're back in London or their hometown or where ever God has placed them. They're not here. It's hard letting them go. It's hard letting God be the only one who truly gets me. Right now I'm in a place where I have to learn to let Him be my only friend. Oh, I have friends here. I know that without a doubt I have friends. But none of them know me like Jamie does. Like Kelley does. Like Chelsea, Simon B., Simon R., Ariel, Steph, Josie, Ole, Tina, Matt, Mariya, Martin, Seba, and Cass. I miss you all. But "every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. 

"So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a special place in my heart. You share with me the special favor of God, both in my imprisonment and in defending and confirming the truth of the Good News. God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus. 

"I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God."

Phil. 1:3-11

The First Few Days...

I've been here 3-ish days, and already God is moving. Either I'm learning Spanish way faster than I expected, or I just know way more that I thought I did. But either way, I'm able to carry on a pretty good conversation. I'm even teaching a girl named Julieta (said"hoo-lee-ē-ta") how to play ukulele! Music notes here are not distinguished by "A, B, C, D, E, F, and G." They're called "la, si, do, re, mi, fa, so" respectively. It's harder to teach because of this, but once we got a little chart down on paper, we were flying! She's learning Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours."

On Friday, the leader of YWAM Argentina came and spoke to us. He taught us about a heart divided between God and the world. Alanna, who is from New Zealand, translated for me. Matthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." It really spoke to me. I have been a bit worried about how I am going to pay for outreach (January - March), airfare to and from Argentina, and transportation around the city. But I cannot be so worried about money. I cannot let it consume me, because otherwise I am obviously not trusting God with it, and that basically equals serving money. I don't want to serve money! God is the one I want to serve.

On Saturday we went out a church where we had worship, a message, and then went out to do evangelism. The worship was awesome. I knew two of the songs! Listening to songs in Spanish really paid off. :p The message was very spirit lead. I could understand most of it, which surprised me. Being able to understand the language helped a ton to get the message, but the fact that I could actually feel what was being said more than the actual words... That's what really impressed upon me that it was spirit lead.

After that we prepared to out for evangelism, then we walked out of the church to go to a park where we were going to do women's make-up and talk to them... But it started raining as we walked! It wasn't bad, but once we got to the park, we had to find shelter, and fast! It started pouring eventually, and I got suuuper wet.

This is our shelter... It was successful for a while because it blocked the rain from blowing our way, but useless when it started pouring... We found shelter in the entrance to an underground station.

This morning I visited an English speaking church with Alanna. It was nice to have a break from all the Spanish. The church service was much more structured than I'm used to, but afterwards we had coffee and pastries, awesome fellowship, and a time to talk about the message we received. I really enjoyed the people there and the time I spent talking with them. The pastors are from Texas, and it was fun to hear their accent! I hope to go back to that church with Alanna, but I also want to explore the other churches JUCUM (YWAM) Capital Federal is involved with. I want to explore this city for all it's worth!


Here are some pictures of the house I am living in. I have no roommates yet, but I'm excited for them to arrive in about two weeks!

door handle

brick walls!!

"hallway"

stained glass window (outside)

that's the stairway behind me

stained glass window (inside)

more hallway

view from my room. :)

Romans 8:38-39 (MSG) "None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us."

Arriving at the Adventure

It doesn't feel real. It honestly feels like I'm in a dream that I am able to control. Except... more real than that... Oh, I don't know. I'm just really not used to it yet.

I had a good flight from LA to Houston. Listened to music, read a bit... I would have watched movies, but I had to pay. That was new for me.

The flight from Houston to Argentina was a blessing. They had one of my favorite movies... Karate Kid! I watched it, slept a little, watched the rest of it, listened to music, slept a bit, had some dinner, slept a bit, ate some dried mango... Did I mention that I slept a bit?? I never sleep on planes. Or cars or trains. but especially planes. But God blessed me and allowed me to sleep enough that I don't feel too deprived!

As I was walking through the airport to get my bags, I noticed that English was under the Spanish. My heart language is now the secondary language here! It feels odd.

I just wanted to give you guys an update on how I'm doing. I'll talk atcha later!

2 Timothy 1:7
"For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline."

The Power of Traveling Into a Book

Today as I was picking up one of the boys from school (that I nanny), I saw a young girl reading a book called "Just Ella" that I had read at about the same age. I have read this book multiple times since, and it still holds a place in my heart. I wanted so badly to go up to her and tell her that she is going to love the book and read it over and over and love it as much as I did... But I didn't. I knew she would think it was weird.

But it made me stop and think about how books and stories can cross generations and still hold adventure, love, and that feeling of being in a totally new world, even after most people can forget about them. The classics will always be there, of course, but what about those books that aren't in the papers? That aren't on the "Greatest Books Ever Written" list? Someone has read them. They still hold a whole world waiting to be explored! I love going into these worlds and getting to know the characters. I'm sure they all influenced who I am today. My favorite books were always the ones with the strong female lead. The ones who took charge of their lives and situations and flipped them around! The ones who fought for what they knew to be true! What they knew was right! Sometimes I just want to make people read these stories. I want them to love them as much as I do. I don't know where that would get me, but I would love to see someone smile because they're reading a fantastic story that makes their heart race and grows their heart and mind. 

Seeing that girl reading one of my favorite books... I'll never forget that moment.