Friday, July 15, 2016
Saturday, June 11, 2016
All Jesus wants is to love me, So, what now?
This
one is long so bear with me!
I
was talking to my awesome missionary sister Faith, and she said the awesome-est
piece of truth, “All Jesus wants to do is love you”. And it clicked. I had come
all the way to the jungles of Peru so that I could FINALLY realize that all
Jesus wants to do is hold me and love me. Really?!! Of course, yes, He has
given me a missionary heart that has brought me all the way here with His help.
He has called me by name to the jungles of Peru to a small Pueblo called Picota to love, love, and love and pour
out my heart for His people by bringing them the Gospel, but He has brought me
here to love me too.
So I began to open up my heart a couple weeks back. And He worked quick! He has
reached a part that I didn’t even know was broken. So, I want to talk about Doña
Melba.
Doña
Melba was my nanny when our family lived in Nicaragua. Pretty much she came into
my life ever since I was born. I grew up with her by my side and since my
parents worked, she took care of us all day, everyday. I remember thinking she
was my second mom. She was so gentle and loving.
One
day, I cut myself accidentally, it was the first time I tried to cut lemons by
myself. I was stubborn and wanted to do it myself, and as I started to cut, the
knife slid against the lemon peel, I’m guessing, not being very sharp (but
sharp enough to cut me. Of course!) And it went right into my index finger. The
cut wasn’t big, but I saw blood and that was all it took. I cried as if I had
chopped my finger off and she came quickly to my aid and I felt a sense of
relief and security letting me know I was going to be ok! Moms can do that,
right?
Another
time I got grounded, because I did something “horrific” to my brother probably.
I wasn’t allowed to play with my toys. I mean, if you want to break a kids
hopes and dreams of a happy childhood tell them they can’t play with their
toys. Anyway, as you can imagine, my heart was broken, really! I felt like it
was. I was moping around and Doña
Melba said with a smile, “It’s ok, you can play with your toys, but don’t tell
your dad!” I gave her the biggest smile I could possibly make and ran to our
toy room, she was a hero to me that day.
Doña
Melba would always feed me tomatoes and avocados with salt, until I was full up to my
ears! She would sit with me patiently and talk to me about everything and
anything! She would let me wear my “soft socks” in secret, so I didn’t have to
wear the “regular hard socks” that felt weird against my feet.
We moved to Mexico when I was eight and would later move to Florida.
I remember the day we said goodbye to her. I thought, “Why doesn’t she just
come with us?” but she was older and had health problems, she couldn’t just leave
her family and home. I said my goodbye and gave her a big hug as she stood
resting on the doorway of her house. When we drove off, I looked back with tears rolling down my face. I don’t really remember
much after that, except that I cried everyday praying I could see her, hug her, and be with her again. I would think of ways to send her
money or things she needed. One day, I walked into my parent’s room to tell
them how I felt and they told me she had passed away. I ran to my room and
cried myself to sleep. I think what hurt the most was that no one was there for me, like
she would have been. I had lost my second mom.
I
became angrier at God for not only taking her away from me the first time, but
a second time. I didn’t know how to grieve and I didn’t. I just kept thinking
of her less and less as time went by, but still just as angry. It was in a high
school retreat with a local youth group that I decided to let her go, for good. One of the activities was to have
alone time with God. I didn’t know what to do so I sat on the dock looking out
into the lake at sunset, (dramatic I know, but it happened!) and I said to myself, "I think its time to move on, I need to let you rest." I just pushed my feelings aside and didn’t think about her from then on.
Now,
here is where the story gets interesting, about 6 years after that, I sit here
writing this blog. Why? Well, Jesus has opened up this part of my heart and is loving me through it. He understands that I lost my mom the day I left Nicaragua
and the day she passed away. I always carry a picture of her with me. Some days it’s
hard to look at and some days it’s easier, but I am finally facing the fact that she
passed and I didn’t really get to say, “Goodbye, I love you with all of my
heart and soul, see you in heaven Doña Melba.” I have talked about it with my
mission partners, Andrea and Dulce whom have helped me immensely, I have prayed
about it, written poems and letters and will made her a super cool frame with
sunflowers to put her picture in. I am finally allowing myself to grieve and talk about it more and more.
Missions
has been one of the best and hardest times of my life, because I am faced
with the reality of many people around me that have lost loved ones and that
are all trying to heal and survive as I am. I know in my heart that Jesus has
called me here to tell them, “All Jesus wants to do is love you”. And I know it’s
true, because he has shown his faithfulness, loving and tender support as I begin
to look back and remember not with sadness, but hope that I will see Doña Melba
one day. Grieving her is not about forgetting her as I once thought, it’s about finally realizing, someone you love and care about so much is gone, but that one day you will be with them for eternity!
As I talk about her more and more, it gets easier and easier and I know
she is looking down at me with her big brown eyes, her big heart and beautiful smile, with a proud look on her face.
Monday, April 18, 2016
10 New and Fun Experiences in Peru!
1. We live in an abandoned bakery.
It is a very interesting set up. We
have one big room where we all sleep which was used to store bread. It’s awesome,
we live in a room that is made to be fresh and cool!! The sinks in the
bathrooms opened with your foot so you would not contaminate anything, which we
had to fix before moving in. Right next to our room is a big open space which
holds an industrial size oven!
2. I hitched a ride on the side of
the street.
The driver ended up being the
judge of Picota, his name is Yuri. He is from Lima and had been here about two years.
He had air conditioning in his truck, PRAISE JESUS! It was the first cool air I
had felt in a week when I first got here. And above all if was a free ride!
Usually people charge about 4 soles per person, but he gave us the ride for
free!
3. I ride motokars everywhere.
A motokar is a hybrid of a
motorcycle and a wagon? It has space for three people in the back and a small
trunk to place your things. Which has come in handy for all the traveling back
and forth with fans, shelves, and I even saw people back there!
4. I eat mini coconuts.
5. I climbed up a waterfall.
We were in Sauce, a city that
revolves around a lake about an hour away from Picota, and we went on a hike.
Now, if you know me I don’t hike. That’s it. Anyway, it was a pretty big deal. We
went up and down and around until we got to this tinny waterfall and were all
like “that’s it?” and the guide goes, “no the water fall is over this
waterfall. Well, it didn’t seem tiny to me anymore. Cause now I had to climb
it! Well it went, half me holding on to a rope, half being pushed up and pulled
up. It was not graceful at all whatsoever, but I made it through!
6. I ride in the back of trucks, very
fast trucks at that.
When we head to Tarapoto to get
some groceries and don’t want to spend too much on a taxi, the cheaper option
is riding in the back of a truck. As
they go by, we signal them to pull over, get inside and headed out. The ride is
BEAUTIFUL! There were mountains everywhere and a huge river that runs for miles
beside us. We always have to hang on for dear life because they go fast. The
fun part is always the speed bumps!
7. I rode next to 2 chickens my first
time riding a truck.
It was scary people! The chickens
were hanging from their feet and were super close to me. We made a sudden
movement and they started freaking out and flapping their wings, so I started
freaking out too. Here’s the picture to prove it.
8. I experienced a city power outage
at night.
This one may not be as cool but,
it has quite a story. Andrea and I had traveled to Picota when we were living
in Buenos Aires, to the Priests house to get internet, take showers, and buy
some fans for our rooms. Once we got to Picota, we bought our fans and headed
to the priest’s house were we just relaxed the rest of the day. Well around 8
pm, when I was in the shower the power went out. The power didn’t come back for
a while so we headed home, and the city has no emergency lights. It was pitch
black! Thank God for cellphone flashlights, because we walked and walked in the
dark to look for a taxi. Just imagine two girls carrying heavy fans, a towel on
their heads, and no light anywhere. God sent an angel and a taxi stopped for us
as we were walking around. I mean what an adventure! We got home and 10 minutes
later the light came back on.
9. I HAD PARASITES.
This one is not as fun…actually it
wasn’t fun AT ALL! But, I can say that I had them. I got tested, and you can
probably imagine how that goes, so I’ll save those details for obvious reasons.
I had to wait an hour for the results and when I did I found out I had THREE! So
I began to take the pills, which were for seven days and it was baaaad… so bad
that I could barely eat for a whole week. Now I’m fine, but I’ll always think twice
about not washing my vegetables again!
10. I ate a worm! Actually, two.
This one is the coolest one I
think, because it’s what you expect to do when you head to missions in the
jungle right? I was walking toward a store to get a snack and I saw a worm in a
tree. It looked super yummy considering I hadn’t had breakfast or lunch. I
looked around and really, no one was looking, so I grabbed it and ate it just so
I could write about it now. JUST KIDDING! The one that I ate was cooked, and
not wiggling around! I was walking to a store and the lady that owns it was
sitting outside with her mom. They were snacking on chips and something else I couldn’t
make out. I asked what it was and she grabbed one and said it’s a “gusano.” She
put it towards me to scare me and I’m pretty sure I made a face of shock and disgust.
They both laughed and for some reason I said, “Can I try one?” which really, I didn’t
mean, but she offered it to me so…. I ate it and it was super weird, but not as
bad as you think! Later, Andrea and Dulce joined me and I had another one with Andrea.
That I did, just so I could say I ate two.
The adventures Jesus takes you on, right?
Sunday, February 7, 2016
Missionary Training and the Land of Llamas!
The 3 months of formation passed by in a flash, some days it
seemed like a never ending forever and some it seemed like we had been training
for a week! And well now, I am at my mission post! (Apparently the three months
passed way too fast because I never seemed to have time to blog, opps…)
The mystery won’t continue any longer, I am in PERU! Praise
Jesus! He has called me to love PERU this year. I live in a small pueblo called
Buenos Aires about an hour and a half from Tarapoto which is about an hour
plane ride from Lima. (No llamas in this area of Peru, it was a sad day when I
found out too).
We arrived last week and have been working on settling in which has been an
adventure. We have a small and beautiful house with four rooms, a living room, a
kitchen and an outside bathroom. I’ve been praying to Mary and St. Francis to please protect me from the bugs and small animals at night as I adventure my way to the bathroom. We have found a roach, a huge moth, and a billion crickets so far. PRAY FOR ME!!
Our house! |
I have also been working to make my room homey and a
space where I can relax after a long day. Andrea my mission partner/sister from
another Mister* helped paint my room a really nice sky blue. I have been putting up pictures and different
things around my room to make it feel like home. It’s super scary at night, but
I was able to sleep real well so Mary has Got my back! Cause I haven’t had to
get up to go to the bathroom too often!
So far it has been a beautiful and nice time in Buenos
Aires, which, fun fact: the town was called something not-so-nice in Quechua before
and a priest that was ministering here some years back changed the name after his home city in Argentina, Buenos
Aires. When I had gotten the letter contained the place I was going to be
assigned to, I was very confused and thought they had made a mistake because it
said Buenos Aires, Peru. But lo and behold here I am! I have been met with
smiling faces and welcoming people. Jesus has placed in my heart peace and a
surety that he is with me, and that he takes care of me. And will continue too!
Here I am Peru, get ready!!
Jesus*
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