Week 5...Nonstop

Here's another update from down here close to the border! After the Missouri trip we had about 2 days of rest and then we were hard at work again with a Disciple Now that we held here at UTRI for a local youth group. Some of the staff here at UTRI is really involved at the church, and I think it's super awesome because the church is Spanish-speaking. I love going to the services on Sunday mornings because the sermons and songs are all in Spanish. It's so cool to be able to understand another language. :-) The Disciple Now went really well, the kids were awesome. Sometimes it's nice to spend time with teenagers and kids...I wasn't there that long ago and it's nice to remember what it was like.

This week, we're heavily involved with a VBS at the same church. The kids are adorable! It's so fascinating to me how they are all bilingual already...I'm slightly jealous actually since I've been in college for 4 years to learn Spanish and I'm not nearly as proficient as them. They have such beautiful spirits! Lately I've really loved being around children...they are so innocent and fun!

I am slightly sad at this point, though, because I have to leave this place in 3 days. :-( I love these people and I love being here. It's going to be strange being in a non-Spanish speaking place again. I hope I have the opportunity to come back at some point. The plans for the week consist of continuing the VBS, spending time with everyone here, and throwing a bridal shower for one of the staff members here at UTRI that's getting married in August. We're all excited about that!

Hope everything is going well for every up there in the North, lol. I'll post again next week to let you guys know how the last week went. Lots of love!

Dios se bendiga,
Amelia

Week 4...Lots of love :-)

Another week has passed, and it's been quite an exhausting week! We made the 18-hour road trip up to Missouri just fine and continued doing things nonstop for the next week. The majority of our time in Missouri was spent ministering to people in Springfield. We helped one of UTRI's sponsor churches minister to people downtown, and we spent quite a bit of time with them during a 16 hour prayer/praise service they were having on Sunday. All in all, it was a very fruitful week. I can honestly say that I've never felt God's love as strongly as I felt it this past week, and I'm so thankful we were given the opportunity to go up to Missouri and do what we did.

My job, for the majority of the week, was leading worship/playing music/singing/doing whatever they needed me to do with music, lol. I played more music this week than I have in quite a while. The calluses on my left hand are now awesome from playing the guitar so much, and my endurance for playing the piano nonstop definitely increased substantially, lol. It was pretty awesome! I learned a lot about leading worship and using music to help people feel God's love. The next few weeks, I'll be playing even more music, so I'm excited about that, too!

UTRI is going to be helping out for the next week and a half with a Disciple Now for youth and a Vacation Bible School for children. The church we're going to be working with is a Spanish-speaking church, so there are going to be opportunities for me to practice quite a bit. It's going to be a busy week and a half, but I'm excited to see what's going to happen.

I can't believe that time has flown by so quickly and this 6 weeks is almost over! I love the people that I work with down here. The other girl interns are like sisters to me, and we've bonded so quickly! I can't believe that I'm leaving in 9 days! :-(

I am excited about what's waiting for me at home, though. I'm going to be moving in with my bro and another close friend, and from what I've heard, Frank found us a super nice apartment. I'm going to start planning the road trip of a lifetime with my buddy, Ellen...Route 66...St. Louis to Los Angeles...it's going to be incredible! I'm also going to be helping my chica, Amanda plan her wedding. So...I know that it's going to be an awesome rest of the summer back in Tennessee, but I'm still really going to miss UTRI and all the people here. It's definitely been one of the best summers of my life so far, though, and I know it's just going to continue to get better.

Hope everything is going well for everyone wherever you are. Miss and love you guys!

Paz,
Amelia

Week 3...Tired...

Hello, hello...things are continuing to go well down here...it's just been a really tiring week, lol. We had another team here from Tennessee so we went to Mexico quite a bit, which I love, but it's definitely tiring. We built more picnic tables and helped out at the orphanage again. This time we did quite a bit of digging...I think I've shoveled more this week than I ever have in my life, lol. The orphanage is digging a new septic tank area, so we worked on that for a while. It was great to see the kids again, though. They are so joyful and fun to be around, yet they have so little. It's just so humbling.

This week all of UTRI is headed to Missouri! We're leaving on Tuesday morning bright and early for the 16-hour drive. I'm pretty pumped! It'll be nice to see a change of scenery, and I love road trips, so it'll be great! We're still not 100% sure what we're going to be doing up there, we just know it's going to be street ministry. I think I'm going to be taking my guitar and setting up on the street corner to play with a few other people from the church up there that we're going to be working with. Springfield, MO is apparently a pretty artsy town, so people jamming on the street isn't anything new, which is awesome! I'm super excited! I think the tentative plan is to have a coffeehouse type thing close to where we're going to be playing and giving away free coffee. I'll let you guys know how it goes! I just have to learn about 20 songs between then and now...lol...

In other news...one of my best friends, Amanda, got engaged this past weekend, and she asked me to be her Maid of Honor! I'm so excited for Amanda and her fiance, Tim. It's going to be craziness, but I can't wait to help them out in any way I can! :-) Yay!

So...all is going well. I'm halfway through the 6 weeks, still having a blast, but missing everyone from home. I'm looking forward to these next 3 weeks, but I'm also looking forward to being back home and enjoying some summertime in TN! Hope everyone is doing well. I'll try to update again next weekend!

Here's a link to some pics!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2072351&id=52702346&l=1a01862f9b

Mucho amor,
Amelia

Week 2...Growing

Week 2 is officially over down here at Alamo, TX, and what a week! We had a team here this week from Missouri, and they were tons of fun...7th and 8th graders! We went to Mexico three times this week. We did some work at an orphanage, built some picnic tables for an elementary school, and helped serve food at the dump. All of these things are so humbling. I love being able to help these people. I spent a lot of time translating and playing with the kids. They have so little and yet they are so joyful and loving. It's a time of growing for me right now. Being down here really puts everything into perspective, and God is teaching me a zillion things all at once but I wouldn't wish for it to be any different. I love being down here and working with the teams and the UTRI people. They're all such amazing people. I don't know how I'm going to say goodbye in 4 weeks!

Right now we're all enjoying a few days off. Yesterday we walked to a local pool and caught some rays...the summer tan begins! :-) Today we're going to do some laundry at a nearby laundromat and then maybe rent a movie or go to the drive-in theater. Lots of fun! It was awesome to sleep in this morning after being up before 7 every morning this week...not exactly what I'm used to, lol, but it's been awesome.

We have another team coming in on Monday, college kids this time. It should be pretty amazing! I can't wait to see what's in store. I'm sure I'll be going to Mexico quite a bit. Hope all is well with everyone. I'll update again next week! Miss everyone!

Dios te bendiga,
Amelia