Wow! It's been a while since my last update, but as always, the end of the semester has been full of projects, presentations, and exams. I'm happy to say however that I took my last exam today. The semester is oficially over for me!! At times it seemed like it would never end and at others it seemed like it was coming way too fast, but it's definitely been a great 16 weeks! I finished well in all my classes and am just waiting for final grades to come in within the next week. I'm also still waiting on my visa, definitely not happy about that. I started the visa process with the lawyers and the immigration office in August and am still waiting for them to release the visa. The ridiculous thing is I have to give it back to them when I leave the country, which is in 12 days...it appears that I'll get it and a few days later give it right back. Pretty pointless, but what can you do?
So, since my last update I've done a lot of things. My favorite of all was my visit to Costa Rica!! We had a long weekend at Tec in the middle of November so I took the opportunity to visit Teban, his family, and friends from the church there. I got in late Thursday night, and Teban met me at the airport with flowers. :-) The next day we headed to the beach with his dad and Goldie, the dog. I think she's a little jealous of me, but we got along great, hahaha. After a fun day walking along the beach, talking, and taking pictures, we headed back to San José and spent some time with his family at their house. We couldn't resist the opportunity to make a little music, so I played guitar and sang while he played piano and drums :-) The next day we headed to San José to visit a museum and walk around downtown for a while. After some time at the mall, we headed to his house to have dinner with the family. His mom fixed my favorite foods- arroz con pollo and arroz con leche!! She surprised me! I met his brother and his girlfriend and some more of the family that night. We had a good time! On Sunday we went to the church at Tres Ríos, and I was able to see so many of my friends that I met there this summer. We were so excited to see one another again. Pastor Odi had me greet the church, for which I was totally unprepared but thankful that my Spanish came out right. It was such a blessing to be there with them again. God is growing his church there; I saw so many new faces. They have 50-60 people now, and 100 received salvation just a few weeks ago during three nights of the production "Heaven's Gates, Hell's Flames" that was held at and put on by the church. They are continuing to prepare for all that God is doing. Keep them in your prayers as they are buying their own sound system and looking for their own building to meet in (they're currently borrowing a sound system from some missionaries and renting a building in the community). After the service, we went out with some friends from the church to get lunch, watch a movie, and to our surprise, see a concert put on by a Costa Rican group that we like! The next day was the day I had to leave and the day of Teban's appointment with the US government to try to get a visa so he could come to the States for Christmas to be with my family and me. However, they didn't give him the visa because they said he doesn't have enough ties to his own country. It was sad and disheartening for both of us, but we know that the Lord's plans are the best. We're going to continue to trust in him. We thought the plans we had were perfect. We couldn't have imagined anything better, but we're excited about what the Lord has for us because we know it's going to be greater than anything we've been able to imagine!
After I got back from Costa Rica, I stayed plenty busy with final projects and presentations. One final project ended up being 28 pages (thankfully it was with a partner!), and I wrote another essay that was 10 pages long! I'm glad to be finished with those!
As you all know, yesterday was Thanksgiving, and at first I was a little bummed that I wasn't going to be able to spend it with my family. However, I have to say this Thanksgiving was probably my best ever. Let me explain what I mean...The night before Thanksgiving I was reading the Word and reflecting on all the many ways God has blessed me and been with me this year, and I have to say I'm absolutely in awe of God's goodness. I was writing a prayer of thanks in my journal, and I could hardly write as fast as my mind was going. I thought about where I was in January- completely surrendered to the Lord, still recovering from a major heartbreak the year before- and where I am now, at the end of the year- an example of God's mercy and compassion, blessed with so many new friends and people that have deeply impacted my life over the course of this year. Wow! The Lord gave me the opportunity to serve him in Costa Rica this summer and blessed me with an incredible guy that has a heart for ministry and service to the Lord. The Lord was with my family and me when we lost the most important member of our family- my MawMaw. It hasn't been easy since she's been gone, but I know each of us has felt his presence lifting us and strengthening us. I'm thankful for the memories and daily reminders that I have of her. Everytime it rains I think of her because she loved to turn the tv off and listen to the rain. When I hear wind chimes blowing in the breeze, I remember the wind chimes she kept outside and inside her house. The Lord has been here with me in Mexico while I've been away from family, friends, and everything I've ever known. He's given me Christian friends who've encouraged me and at times have spoken words that came directly from the Lord. He's blessed me with a great semester at Tec and given me so many opportunities to improve my Spanish. He led me to a church where I've been able to serve him by playing guitar and drums and even by leading a devotional...in Spanish! He's shown me that I can do ALL things through him, even the things that at times seem impossible. I remember when I first heard the words "study abroad." I was in my first ever Spanish class, and my teaher, Mrs. Depew, was talking about her study abroad experience in Spain. I remember thinking: that's so cool, but I could never do that! I could never be away from home and friends for that long! That's not for me, Lord...and look where I'm at now! :-)
So, back to Thanksgiving and why this has been my best one yet...the next morning (Thanksgiving Day) I could hardly study because I was so excited about the day's events. At 1:00 I connected to Skype so I could talk to my family. Most of my aunts, uncles, cousins, and my PawPaw were gathered at our house to have dinner so I was able to talk to family that I haven't spoken with since July! I was with them for 2 hours and had such a great time. It was so great to hear all their voices and the Southern accent that I love so much! I think I can hear it better now more than ever because I've been away from it for so long. It was also great to see everyone's smiling faces, to share jokes about who was going to do the dishes (my job every year), and most of all to see that my family was all together for the first time since my MawMaw's death. I know she would be so proud of all her kids, grandkids and great-grandkids for continuing to take time out to be with one another as a family. After that time with my family, it was almost time for Thanksgiving dinner here. Some friends from the States decided to organize a dinner for the Americans who are here in Mexico, so each of us brought a dish to spread together with the turkey and dressing. We celebrated with friends from South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Barbados, the Netherlands, and probably others, haha. I was thankful for the opportunity to share our tradition with them and really felt the importance of that day like never before. Maybe because I was away from so many of the people and things that I'm thankful for, I was able to appreciate them in a new and greater way. After dinner, we went to the church for our weekly prayer meeting. Can you guess what the topic was? The guy who shared with us has also studied abroad in another country and shared some of his experiences with us and tied it all in with what God taught him during that time. His message really blessed me because he talked about how the Lord showed him as well that he was always with him and that he was the same God in Chile that he is in Mexico. I've seen that here in Mexico with the youth at the church. We serve the same God who meets us wherever we are in the world! We're going on a 2-day mission trip to another part of Mexico next weekend with the youth, so we were making the final plans for that and for our Christmas party next week! Overall, my Thanksgiving was very special and unique, and I hope after all that you guys can see why! :-)
Well, I have 12 more days here in Mexico. I wanted to travel, but the process with my visa is still pending so I prefer to stay close to Monterrey so I can get everything worked out before I go. I'm going to have a great time here though. The good-byes have already started because some of the international students are already leaving...it's going to be hard to say good-bye to them and friends from the church. I'm looking forward to being home and seeing my family and friends though so I'm sure it will be bitter-sweet. Well, I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, and I'll be writing another update soon since I'm finished with the semester!! Woohoo!! I love you all!!
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