After a long day of traveling...

I am absolutely exhausted.  I'm sorry I haven't been updating much, I've literally had no free time when it's not after curfew :P.  I will attempt to give you a quick run-through of the past few days...

So Tuesday and Wednesday we trained....and trained, and trained, and trained some more.  But it was still super fun and we had a lot of fun together as a team getting to know each other.  Yesterday we finished training earlier than any of the other teams so I just hung out with my roommates and some other people from my team.  Everyone on my team is so much fun and the roommates I had in Ft. Lauderdale and I grew so close in such a short amount of time.  I was supposed to have a lobby time of 7AM, but around 10PM last night, Barbara (one of my leaders) came in to our room and informed us that our flights were changed, so we had a lobby time of 3:30AM.  At that point, I still had all of my packing to do, and a shower to take, and all that fun stuff, so I only got two hours of sleep.  NOT a good idea...

This morning, my roommates and I went down to the lobby and I was informed that, once again, my flight was changed.  A bunch of us were on the same flight down to a city whose name I can't for the life of me spell.  It's pronounced guy - a - keel.  We had a layover there, but then after that, I was on a flight with 10 other people, none of whom are on my team.  Needless to say, that wasn't exactly the news I wanted to hear, but I dealt with it and got on the bus.  After quite a few unfortunate events, my morning was already awful once we got to the airport, but it only got worse. 

Out of nowhere, I felt ridiculously sick.  I was nauseous, lightheaded, and I felt like I was going to pass out.  It was the worst feeling ever.  I wasn't even able to stand up.  Thank goodness I have amazing team leaders who carried my bags and prayed for me.  I was given a bottle of water, and then once we got through security I got some yogurt at a little restaurant (which I left in the pocket of my backpack and then exploded all over the place so I had a sticky mess to clean up when I got to the hotel).  Times like that really made me appreciate having loving team leaders and really made me appreciate my parents. 

I ended up getting along really well with the girls from other teams who were on my flight, and we had a lot of fun in the airport together.  God sure has a funny way of working things out, but I'm thankful for that.  After a ridiculously long day, I finally arrived at the hotel.  It's freaking GORGEOUS.  Everything is huge and the rooms are amazing.  It's crazy to think this is my home for the next week or so. 

I ate dinner, talked to an awesome friend from last year for a bit, and then had an amazing conversation with one of my roomies.  I'm so thankful for the people God has blessed me with.  I'm also thankful for God's amazing timing.  Last night, there was a message about perserverance.  Boy, did I need that today!

Well, tomorrow is our first day of ministry.  Please pray for my team as a lot of them are still traveling here, and won't arrive until late tonight.  Also for culture shock, because everything is SO different here.  I'll post more about the culture differences later on, but right now, I need to get some sleep (my roomie is currently falling asleep on the computer table next to me). 

I love you all!  Thanks for all the prayers and support.  God is good. 

-Heather

Floridaaa!

I made it to Florida yesterday around 2:30PM!  My plane landed at 12:25, then we found the leaders who took us to baggage claim.  Then we had to walk all the way to the other side of the airport with our luggage which, as you can imagine, was SO much fun :P.  Once we got to the other side of the airport where we would catch our bus, Lahni attacked me and I saw a few other people I know, and met a lot of new ones!  It was so amazing to see familiar faces from last year and meet all the new ones.  The bus ride was about 45-50 minutes long, but it went by quickly because we were chatting together the entire time.  At check-in, I saw some other good friends from last year and met a few people from my team. 

We had pizza for dinner in our rooms, and I got to know my roommates a little bit (and they are all amazing).  Then we had FUAGNEM.  Oh my goodness, I had almost forgotten how amazing the worship was.  No distractions, just worshipping God with all you have.  It's incredible.  Then Susie Shellenberger introduced a few people and showed us an amazing video representation of the Gospel.  I'm pretty sure it was the best video I've ever seen. 

ANYways, then we got to know our team a little bit and had drama casting!  It was exhausting after a long day but still a lot of fun.  I was casted as a photographer, so I get to wear suspenders and a tacky shirt ;D.  Fun stuff :).  I didn't get to sleep until a little after midnight because my roommates are just as talkative as I am (we get along very well ;D). 

Today we have team time at 8:15 and then drama training begins.  I'll give you all an update as soon as I can :).

Love you all! 

-Heather

It has come.

Day 10 - Pray for the entire trip in general, and pray for any anxiety the missionaries might be having will go away. 

I don't have much time to update, considering I have to leave in 30 minutes.  But I'm going to say this.

I cannot believe the day has come.....but it has.  Later, I'm going to see Lahni and some amazing other people.  I can't wait!

More later...sorry for the small post. 

NEVER THE SAME 2011!

Day 9

Day 9 - Pray for God to work in mighty ways and that everyone will be able to see His glory, and that He'll shine through everyone as we minister to the Ecuadorians. 

I'm a bit late again, but better late than never, eh? ;D

I can't believe it's TOMORROW.  Is that insane or what?  It felt like just last week when we still had 100 days to go, and yet, in 8 hours I'll be on my way to the airport. 

Well, I will see most of you very soon!  And the rest of you, I'm looking forward to sharing my stories :). 

Our God is greater. 

Two days' worth of prayer requests, again :P

Day 7 - Pray that everywhere we (the missionaries) go, people will notice that we are different, not only during the trip, but when we come home. 

Day 8 - Prayer for unity among the teams; that we will come together as the body of Christ to serve the Lord with all we have. 

It's unreal that I'm leaving the day after tomorrow.  In exactly 32 hours, I will be leaving my house for the airport.  I am so excited, and yet I feel so unprepared for some reason.  But I know everything is in God's hands :).

Here's a little something I randomly made a few nights ago. 

Day 6

I CANNOT believe we only have four days left.  AHH!  I'm so so so excited :D.  Anyways, here's the prayer request.

Day 6 - Pray that the lives of not only the Ecuadorians we will be ministering to will be changed, but that the missionaries' lives will be changed as well.

Today, some of my team and I are fasting and praying for the trip.  I'm skipping breakfast and lunch to take some time in prayer.  I can't wait to see what God has planned for us.  Love you all.

Day 4 and 5...

Once again, my insanely crazy life got a hold of me and I was hardly able to get on the computer yesterday.  SO here are two prayer requests -

Day 4 - Prayer for the preparation of the hearts of the Ecuadorians we will be ministering to.  Pray that their minds will be open to hear the Gospel.
Day 5 - Prayer for health as we're in Ecuador.  It is VERY common to get sick during one of these trips, but when you're sick, you're not able to give everything you have in ministry (well, you can, but it's very difficult to do). 

That's all for now :) 5 days!  WOOOT!  :D

Prayer request for day 3...I'm a little late, but oh well.

Day 3 - Prayer for the missionaries as we're all being spiritually attacked by the devil this week leading up to the trip. 

I have a cold and somehow managed to twist my knee a week before the trip.  And a lot of crazy thoughts have been going through my mind.  But I know it's only satan trying to mess with my head, and my God is stronger than him!  Satan only wants to get us down so we won't be at the top of our game when we serve the people of Ecuador for Jesus.  I know I'm not the only one going through spiritual warfare, so just keep us in your prayers!

Prayer requests 1 and 2...oops :P

Well, I forgot to post a prayer request yesterday.  HAH, my life is too crazy.  But here I am!

Day 1 - Prayer for the missionaries as we prepare for the trip.  Pray that everything would go smoothly.
Day 2 - Prayer for safety as we all travel to Miami on the 27th, and for the LITs who fly down on the 25th.  Also pray that flights will go as planned and nobody will forget their passport. 

Nine more days!  :)

Diez dias...SANTA VACA

Translation:
Ten days...HOLY COW

I CANNOT believe we only have 10 days left.  The rest of this week and next week is going to be crazy.  Later today I'm going shopping for supplies.  Tomorrow I'm setting out all of the clothing and supplies I need.  Saturday I'm going shopping for any clothes or other supplies I'll need.  I'm gone monday and tuesday.  Wednesday my friend, who is also going on the trip, is coming over all day.  THEN thursday, friday, and saturday are going to be spent finishing up packing!  The time is going to FLY by and it's still surreal to think I'm going to be in FL training with my team in a little over a week. 

Starting tomorrow, I'm going to try and post every day from now until the trip.  Each day, I will post a prayer request (there will be 10 prayer requests in all), so then we can spend each day before the trip in prayer. 

I can't wait to see what God has planned for us.  Love you all. 

20 days

20 days
480 hours
28,800 minutes
1,728,000 seconds
until our lives are changed forever.
Are you ready? :D

I am SOOOOOO unbelievably excited.  The littlest things will remind me of the trip and I'll get all bubbly and my stomach will explode with butterflies of excitement.  I can't wait to see what God has in store for us.

Team lists!

The team lists finally arrived yesterday!  I would have posted as soon as I got them, but I actually got the email while I was having a party at my house.  It was quite funny, actually.  My phone buzzed, so I knew I got an email.  As soon as I saw what email it was, I started jumping up and down and screaming because I was so excited!  Haha, I got plenty of strange looks from my friends ;D.  Although I'm a little dissappointed Lahni and I aren't on the same team, I do know a few other people :).  I know God has amazing plans for us this summer!

I am so excited.  Again, it's still very surreal that we have less than a month to go, but I can't wait until it arrives :).