Hello!!!!

Just wanted to say hello and that God is really really good. mmhm. It's true. My roomie got baptized the other night right after she accepted Christ. It was such a big deal... that we skipped youth group and celebrated with ice cream, worshiped (danced in our room because dancing is not allowed where we live... dancing is frowned upon for many believers here because of the profane presence of dancing in culture) and then she was baptized that night. My roommates and I have all been baptized in the pool here at the Villa, so that's pretty special. 

My host family, the Garcia family, is awesome. Emily is the other girl in my church group, and about every other Sunday, we go to eat at the Garcia's house after church. Usually Emily and I ask if there is something we can help with, and since then.. we have been the "designated lettuce cutters". Our host dad says he is preparing us to be good wives. We-need-know-make-good-food-for-husband. Sometimes Emily and I even cut tomatoes, mango and onions. Maybe one day we will move up the food chain to a carbohydrate or something. 

So God is awesome, and He changes hearts. fo sho. There are so many people here (including me) that have had so much junk in their lives, and seeing them really HUNGER for Jesus and truth is one of the most encouraging things. We are all changing so much. So thank you for all of your prayers, guys. God hears them. 

Oh and real quick! So surfing... I went to the beach again this past Monday, and the waves were bigger in the afternoon than they were last week. Last year when I went to Puerto Rico for spring break, there were waves very similar to these in the sense that they were huge right by shore, and they were one-after-the-other.  So... when you slipped into the tossing of one wave, it usually meant you were going to stay for a couple more. Anyways back at Jaco (the beach we went to hear in C.R.) it was probably about 4 o'clock, and all of the really good surfers were out. So Andy (guy in GAP, awesome) and I stood there watching, and he definitely wanted to go, but not without me. I went in for about 10 minutes, and by the grace of God did not die (or get thrown under), but I was SO scared. Oh my goodness I was so scared. I was having playbacks in my head from Puerto Rico where I could not even catch a breath because of the waves I got thrown in.... and I definitely did not want to have that happen again... with a surfboard attached to my ankle.

So I was done for the day, and while it probably was the wise thing to do, the next morning during worship I was singing to this song "You're Love Never Fails" by Jesus Culture. In the song, there is a lyric that says, "and when the oceans rage, I don't have to be afraid, because I know that You love me." I've always taken that line figuratively for when there are bad things happening to me in my life, Jesus still loves me. While that interpretation is totally legit, God definitely spoke to me Tuesday morning. 

But, don't worry I am not going to be too stupid. I know pretty close to nothing about how to defend myself from waves, so I'm going to try and learn some tactics on "how not to drown" before I throw myself into anything too scary, hopefully.

Love you guys. Hope everything is going well back in the U.S.A.