woops

AHH I have been meaning to update this thing for weeks. I'm really sorry. This will probably be long. Bare with me.

Quick overview:

Work every Tuesday-Saturday. 6 am shifts have by far been the best part of my summer (yes, that is sarcasm). Overall though, I've love the people I work with. I'm really sad that I will be leaving them and probably won't see the majority of them ever again. Really sad is an understatement. I'm going to miss Jeanane (my second mother), Donna, Lori, Lori K, Yan, Zaya, Jason, Rocko, Jay, other Jason, Yani, Alex, Dimi, Illia, Kostia, Shay, Marietta, Kayley, Julia, and anyone else that I didn't mention. These people have been in my life for the last 2 months. It's so upsetting to leave them. What makes it harder is that they're sad for us to leave too.

Things that have happened since my last post:

Another social- it was "twinkie" themed. So OF COURSE we went all out. I would go as far as saying that we were the most original group there. Then again, I just really love my dgroup.

Gotta love Goodwill :)

The Fourth of July was a couple of weeks ago. Most of Kaleo went to Seaside, which is about 30 mins away. It was a lot of fun. We all hung out in the town and then saw fireworks on the beach. Once again, I think we should have gotten a bested-dressed award :)

Out on the beach before the fireworks started.

Last weekend was MISSIONS CONFERENCE. One word: amazing. It was probably my favorite thing so far. Todd Ahrend, who is part of The Traveling Team spoke and it was incredible. I also bought his new book "In This Generation." Get it, read it. 

After missions conference, I really wanted to just jump on a plane. Physically, I'm ready to go overseas. Mentally, I think I'm ready to go overseas, but probably not. Spiritually, I need to grow even more before I can go overseas. 

Kaleo people from Panama and Gulf Shores came here for missions conference, so when it was over on Saturday, we all went to the beach and hung out. It was really fun. We haven't done something like that in a really long time. It was great to just relax. 

On Monday I was able to go with some of my friends to Panera and talk to the Stumo Team Leader in Hyderabad, India. It was great to talk with someone who has been there for the last 5 years and is getting ready to head back this weekend. I learned so much from talking with him for only an hour and a half. I didn't realize until later that I chit-chatted with a real missionary. I find that so cool. I am so blessed to be where I am here as well as back in Fayetteville.

Let me introduce you to some of my friends that I met at work:

(there is a pic of all of the "Whataburger crew" from the 4th, but alas, it's not on my camera)

Me, Yan, Nika (Kaleo) and Zaya

Micah (Kaleo), Jason, Rocko

Yan, Jason and Rocko are from China and Zaya is from Mongolia. They're awesome and I love hanging out with them. They came to Stumo with us last Thursday. After, Emily, Kelsey, Yan, Zaya and I went to Books A Million and bought them Bibles. Yan asked us "Can anyone buy a Bible here? Even if you're not a Christian?" That was so heartbreaking because we are so blessed to live in America where anyone can buy anything whenever they want. Where Yan is from, you can only buy a Bible if you're a Christian, sometimes. That is such a reality check for me, because I am friends with someone who is interested in Christ, but knows nothing about Him because she has never been able to read a Bible. 

I think that's just about all I have to talk about right now. Rent is due next week, so bye bye paycheck! It's okay though, because even though I didn't raise all of my support to come here, I am SO glad that I came anyway. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made. 

Well, we're about to leave to go to Stumo right now. Hopefully I'll update before I leave IN 9 DAYS. That is crazy.

XOXO