As of Late

Hey y'all! Just wanted to give you a quick update of what's been going on this past week =)

Last Saturday we started out with visitation, which is always interesting when I'm with Jake or Justin. They definitely keep me entertained, haha! But I am always thankful to have a guy around when we walk through one of the areas with more gang activity. After visitation we came back to the house for about an hour, then returned to the church for a work day. I wish I had pictures to share from that! We got soooooo filthy! Lol. We were scraping paint off the side of one of the buildings. Since it never rains here, the paint isn't exactly water proof, so we would scrape it, get water on it, scrape some more & it would just kind of melt off. Somehow, most of the paint got on me. That always happens! I always end up all dirty from either a paint fight, or just because I have very clumsy moments. Haha!

 This is my new roomie, Sarah! She got here a few weeks ago & has been a HUGE blessing & encouragement to me. She'll be in Tacna for 8 months, helping out with the ministry. I am very, very thankful for her =)

 Monday was Halloween in the States, Dia de los Muertos here. Because of all of the things that go on during the night here, we had an activity to keep the kids and families off of the streets. The girl in the picture there is Claudia; she is super sweet & so patient in teaching me Spanish! Haha =) Everyone was feeling a little crazy this evening, but we had a ton of fun.

 Volleyball tournaments! 'Twas great fun =)

 Those who weren't playing volleyball just kinda chilled & talked. Michelle entertained Maddie, which made for an adorable photo op =)

After volleyball, we returned to the church for snacks, wii, and a movie. It was a great time of fellowship!

This past week has been a little crazy school-wise. My midterms have been kind of dragging out. Everyone back at N-land had all of the midterm fun at once, but since I take tests a few days later than they do on campus, I had papers due last week, & now all of my tests are this week. So staying on top of lectures while also participating in everything else here has been a bit of a challenge. It's all worked out though. I only have 2 more tests to take, then I'm done until finals!! I can't believe I only have one month left here; the Lord has taught me so much...but it's been in ways I never expected. He has given me a deeper burden for youth, and He's really sharpened my focus as to what I would like to do with my degree once I get out of college. I am so thankful for how the Lord uses even difficult situations to accomplish His will, and I am very, very excited for the future =)

I do have some prayer requests if you all think about it. Please continue to pray for Abbey & Mrs. Earnhart. They have been in the States getting tests run at Mayo Clinic for almost 3 weeks & still do not have any solid answers as to what's wrong, let alone how to treat it. Their tickets to return to Peru are for the 15th of November, but it's looking like they may need to stay longer. So please pray for wisdom & peace for them.
I would also ask you to pray for me  as I try to keep my focus right. The Lord is dealing with a lot of things in my life right now. Some hurts from my past that I didn't realize were still affecting me, God has been bringing them to light & compelling me to deal with them & not hold onto that pain & bitterness & it's honestly really hard to deal with on top of everything else that is going on right now. So I would appreciate your prayer with that =)

Thank you all so much for checking in & keeping in touch with me. It means more than you know! I hope that you have a fantastic weekend!