". . .it was a time of happiness and joy. . . .

" . . .it was a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor." Esther 8:16

Wow. So much has gone on in the past week. We have been busy!

Our region participated in a volleyball tournament last weekend. We lost - yet we still all had fun! We made T - shirts that said "MAC Attack" on the front and on the back we were each an item on the McDonalds menu.

You can see Travis getting his game on in the picture on the left and Abby, Janna, and I showing off our cute shirts below!

Thursday was a wonderful Thanksgiving day. The kitchen staff here at ILC cooked a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving meal and we enjoyed spending the day with our FPO family. That evening, our regional leaders invited us to their home for some more Thanksgiving food and fellowship. It was an awesome time. Thursday night - Tina, Janna, Jessica, Stacy, and I went to a midnight madness sale in Williamsburg. Here are four of us dressed in our jammies and ready to go - they were supposed to be giving away free pajamas for the first 500 people that came in their pajamas. However, we were too late. But it was still fun!

Friday, we went to Washington D.C. with the intent to observe internationals. We road the metro and made our way into a hispanic community within D.C. As soon as we walked into the neighborhood, you had the sense that you were in another country altogether. Many of the people we came in contact with spoke no English at all and many store signs and flyers were all in Spanish. It was a touching time for me.

As we were walking down the street, hailing greetings to passerby's in Spanish, it was if God spoke ever so softly to my heart: These are your people. Tears reachced my eyes as I felt the strong burden he was placing on my heart for the Hispanic peoplegroup. As I spoke with ladies in my broken Spanish the burden just became stronger. It had been so clear to Travis and I that God was calling us to Mexico City and in our hearts we knew we were to minister to those people. However, that day I felt God not just giving me a burden for lost around the world but a LOVE for the Latino culture and most importantly the people who are a part of it.
While we were in the neighborhood, we did some prayer walking and witnessing. To the right is a picture of the neighborhood. Our group met one young lady at a laundry mat and she prayed to receive Christ! What a joyous occassion it was!

Travis and I were also were able to spend some time in Union Station while we were there. Below is a picture of us in front of the Christmas Tree. We had so much fun!

This week has been full of joy and fun. We praise the Lord for all his blessings and we thank each of you who have been praying for us and ask that you continue praying as this week will be a tough one in our training.

". . .it was a time of happiness and joy. . ."