Day 2-3

Hello!

I know it's day 3, but I haven't had the chance to blog about it yet!

So yesterday I've experienced something that I haven't felt in a long time! During worship, Jaime reminded me that worship is our hearts connecting with God. It truly is. It's more than a bunch of lyrics and instruments. It's about a love encounter with Him. During that moment, I felt a strong pouring of God's love for me. It was amazing. I felt this rising confidence in Him, knowing that His plans are great and far beyond whatever I imagine. A new and stronger sense of trust in God developed within me. To be completely honest, before this trip, I was scared and nervous. In fact, I still am. But that night, God reminded me that He has me in his hands and that He would never leave me or forsake me. Last night at worship was such a blessing. Tears streamed down my face and I couldn't even stop them.

This past year, I've been struggling so much with what I want to do in my life and which career path to take. It was such a struggle because I had trouble hearing God's voice. It was frustrating because the Bible says "my sheep hear my voice". Surely I'm His sheep.....right? BUT notice how he says "sheep" and not lamb. It signifies maturity. I learned about this one Sunday and it made me realize that I'm nowhere near being mature in my relationship with Christ. Despite all this, recently His voice has been much clearer to me. Ok well I kinda digressed a bit....hahah. Ok well back to the subject :P. God has been teaching me that all this stress and worry just furthers proves my lack of trust in Him. You see, when I stress, I REALLY stress.....haha. I've been learning that through struggle and weakness, comes strength. BUT one's own human strength is nothing compared to the power of the mighty God. My life has truly undergone an unbelievable transformation, so how could I not trust God and have complete faith in Him?

Anyways, I've been doing really well here. My roomies are tons of fun! It's amazing how close we've gotten over 2 days! We stay up pretty late at night just talking and being silly haha. oops....mom....you're probably reading this and find this unacceptable....haha. We finally have finished training for our drama! I'm so excited (and nervous still?)! We're flying to Guatemala TOMORROW!!!! (: YAYYYYY.

ps: mom, one of the leaders was able to buy a memory card for me for $14! much better than overnight shipping for my card at $33, right?

Ok time to go to FUAGNEM (Fired Up and Going Nuts Every Minute)soon!
I miss y'all!

Love,
Michelle

In FL!

Hi everyone! I'm finally in FL, yay! I've had a major bump in the road as some of you may know. My flight was CANCELED because it could not leave the SD 11:30pm curfew for some reason. I was pretty upset about it and thrown off by it. But I decided that I could react in 2 ways. I could stay upset, or I could move on knowing that it had already happened and that there was nothing I could do about it. Glad I picked the second (..well, for the most part :P). I'm so excited! In a way, it hasn't hit me yet that I'm here...hahah. The people and the food here are awesome! The hotel that we're staying at for training has a jungle like theme! It's really pretty! We had auditions for the drama of the "Toymaker" and I was cast as a mime haha. Ok well, time to do devos (:! See y'all soon!

Love,
Michelle

Team Blog

Hey everyone!

don't forget to check out my team's blog to read about their experiences as well!

http://team1guatemala2010.blogspot.com/

TEAM ONE!!! represent!!! haha.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

in a couple more hours.... I will be on my way to FL for training. It still hasn't hit me that I'm actually going to GUATEMALA. I'm soooo nervous and excited at the same time. Please continue to keep me in your prayers! the LITs (Leader in Training)arrived 2 days ago in Miami! I still have some last minute packing to do! I can't wait to see what God is going to do over there and how he will use me. This is definitely going to be a life changing trip! Thanks for the prayers, everyone!

Love,
Michelle

Hey guys! This is from my discussion board with my team! I really like it because some people have discouraged me from going on this trip because of all the costs and such.

A missionary was asked by a volunteer,
"Wouldn't it be more helpful for your ministry if I just sent you the $2,000.
it took for me to get here? That much money would go a long way in a Third World country."

The missionary answered, "The money would be helpful, but when you come, you bring the Holy Spirit with you. You bring light to walk in darkness.
That is something money will never be able to do."

[Words from Missions Mobilizer B.W.]

prepppp

So today after church, the fam & I went to a bunch of stores to buy supplies for the trip. I also bought lots and lots of string so that I could make bracelets to bring for the kids there! I heard that they LOVE that kind of stuff :D! I'm soooo excited!!!

Some of you have been wondering what I will be doing there exactly in Guatemala....so here's what a typical day will look like:

(note that this is after our 2 1/2 days of training in Miami, FL)

-breakfast
-devotions
-dress up in our drama costume
-board the bus with the team
-first stop: school-present the gospel (through our drama) and invite students to accept Jesus into their hearts
-testimony: give testimony through an interpreter and invite people to accept Christ, etc...
-in small groups of 3-4, ask the local villagers several questions en espanol, and see if more want to commit their lives to Christ
-second stop: a busy neighborhood, same routine
-LUNCH: pb&j time!!!
-third stop: a local park, same routine
-fourth stop: open air market or another school
-after 4 destinations, return home, clean up, get ready for dinner
-evening service at 7pm, testimonies, worship, etc.

-also, there will be work projects in between. and that's a wrap!
(this is from neverthesamemissions.com)

I have been keeping in contact with some members of my team which is good because it makes me less apprehensive about the trip!

God is going to do mind blowing things on this trip!

ok well time to continue making some more bracelets (:

Love,
Michelle

Hello!

Hello friends/family!

I am fairly new to blogspot, so bear with me here for a bit (:! This is officially my blog for Guatemala. My trip is from June28-July11, 2 weeks! I am SOOO excited for Guatemala! I seriously cannot believe that I will be going there in about 2 weeks! I can't contain my excitement! I can't wait to see what God has in store for me there! I'm so ready to be stretched and used by God! Thank you so much for your support for me going on this trip! Please continue to pray for me so that God prepares my heart for this trip! Thank you!

In Christ,
Michelle

LOOOOKKK! this is my shirt for Guatemala! it's supposed to say "never the same" on it but my webcam mirrored the image haha