Pinto and Rain

Costa Rica. Home of beautiful beaches, whales, rainforest....LOTS of rain, and LOTS of PINTO!
Oh Pinto. It's become a little joke here. Every morning we had the same thing for breakfast--pinto (beans and rice) and eggs (scrambled or fried). Or we could have toast. We actually had a lot of options, it's just that pinto was a constant.
So I'm in San Jose right now. We fly out to Quito, Ecuador tomorrow where we'll be for a few days before heading to the Tsa'chila community in Los Naranjos. I'm super excited to meet my host family and to figure out who I'm staying with!
Costa Rica was a great way to start the trip. We had some great seminars and did some awesome things. After I last blogged, we went kayaking in the mangroves! So fun. My kayak partner was Mckinley and we had a grand time. Seriously, we probably had too much fun haha. We sang and laughed hysterically because we had to duck to not hit branches and we got stuck and there were bugs and it was so great.
We had a really neat ceremony last night. We lit candles and talked about what we hope to gain from this year, a powerful moment in Costa Rica, and someone we wanted to thank from our time in Costa Rica. We're already becoming like family, I think. I mean we'll definitely be family by the end of this. But it's been really fun having conversations and getting to know people.
Thanks to everyone who continues to lift me up in prayer--please continue to do so! I was able to listen to a sermon by David Platt today, which was great. It was on the freedom that comes from grace, which is something the Lord has really been showing me this week. He taught from Galatians 1, and I was so encouraged. Platt said that the gospel is FREE and that it is FREEING. Praise God! Because I don't talk openly about the details of what the Lord is teaching me, I've been journaling a lot. It's going to be really neat looking back at what God teaches me this year.
So anyway. Ecuador is going to be great. We're going to be doing reforestation--planting trees in the morning! So fun haha. And we'll be bathing in the river. Yayyyy! With snakes. I won't have a lot of internet in Ecuador. Sooo this is goodbye for now! Please pray for endurance; grace to love Christ, the gospel, and everyone here more; that I would be diligent in taking my malaria pills and in applying sunscreen (haha); and that I would be bold with the gospel.
I love you guys! You are all so wonderful, and I am really grateful for your support.
PS Check out my facebook for pictures!

Orientation!

Sorry it's been so long since I've blogged! I only have a few minutes, so here's what I've been up to!
1. Orientating--I know this isn't a word, but we've been doing various team building activites (Bucket of Dreams--crazy.) and having discussions. Seminars are really interesting--everyone wants to be here, so our discussions are meaningful.
2. People--my program leaders (PLs) are awesome. Like so great. It's gonna be a fantastic year with them. We're all a "nomadic family" (as my PL Loren says haha). Everyone is so nice, and we're laughing all the time.
3. Surfing--honestly, not a big fan. I am SO NOT GOOD at it. I was getting killed by waves and my swimsuit was bothering me and I never got up. However, I'm really glad I tried it. It's just one of those things I'm glad I did.
4. Rainforest hike/waterfall--we did a hike up to a waterfall. It was SO humid and hot, we were all POURING sweat. So great. Then we jumped in this really cold pool underneath a waterfall. It was amazing. We ate lunch there too!
5. Ziplining--we did that today. So. much. fun. Holy cow. Half the fun was the people who are in charge of the zipline business. And the trip up the mountain. We were ALL in the back of a truck that essentially had no back. All 19 of us. So crucial.
6. The Man Cave. This hasn't actually been something I've been doing. However, I hear things from the Man Cave EVERY. NIGHT. We only have 3 guys on this trip (not including our PL, Scott). They form the Man Cave. And they all get along SO well, it's absolutely adorable. And totally ridiculous. And LOUD.

So basically, i'm having a great time.
Some prayer requests:
-that when I'm lonely or homesick, I would continue to go to God's word. I am hoping to have quite a bit of Scripture memorized by the end of this. Pray that I would desire to study the Scriptures.
-that I would love my teammates, regardless of any circumstance.
-that I would remain healthy and well rested.
-the same for my teammates.
-that I would be a humble servant to those around me.
-that I would always enjoy and appreciate God's creation around me!
-that I would love Christ and by his grace, become more like Him.

I love all of you & really miss ya'll! Thanks for your prayers! Hopefully I'll put up some pictures next post. :)
PS Sorry for any spelling errors, this was typed so quickly!
PSS this PSS is for Raisinets. You should totally be here. :)

Safe and Sound in Costa Rica!

Sooo I´m here!! I´m on the computers at our hostel--we´re only staying here for a night. I´m updating this because everything is in Spanish and no one can figure out the at symbol, so we can´t get on Facebook or email. Encouraging right? :)We go to the coast tomorrow to where we´re staying the rest of the time. Everyone seems really nice & we´re having a good time! I was on the same flight to Miami as Connor, so we got to talk. I sat next to Mckinley and Kasha on the flight to Costa Rica and we had a good time. They are super fun! Okay, I´ve gotta go eat DINNER. I´m hungryyy.
Love you guys. Miss you already!!
PS--Annetta I missed my phone today.
PSS--Jaron this PSS is specifically for you. Thanks for the Raisinets!!
PSSS--SB i almost cried when I read your thing. I love you.
PSSSS--Mom and Dad (and Josh and C&C). I love you lots and miss you tons. Mom, could you send this update to people?
Byeeeee.