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Today begins our last weekend here at MLC. I can already feel a lump in my throat! It is amazing how attached I have gotten to people here over the past seven weeks. Ryan and I both have grown very close to the people in our small group: Brad and Cassie (who also live in our quad) John, Tina, Rebecca, Katie, and Joshua (John is our group leader. They served in Portugal and are now going to Brazil.) Jayson, Christie, Arwen (the Xtreme Teamers) Arwen and I graduated together from Ouachita. She is a native Texan. I also have grown very close to the Fore’s-Michael, Cynthia, Christopher, Joseph, Carilee, and Jennilyn. (The Fore’s are going to Brazil, and they are the family that had to leave because Cynthia’s dad is in the hospital.) Of course I have also grown very close to those in our quad: Brad and Cassie, the Pirkle’s-Vance, Susan, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Sarah, Caleb, and Phillip (Zimbabwe) and the Worthy’s-Charlie, Shannon, Micah, and Emma Grace (Italy). I have also grown to love Bob and Lourdes. They are in the Masters program (which means that at least one spouse is over 50). They call Ryan and me their adopted kids! (Don’t be jealous Mom-they mean well!)

Of all the relationships I have made here at MLC, I have become closest to Shannon Worthy. I only have a few very close friends, but I have made a new close friend here at training. Shannon and I have been able to spend a lot of time together, and lately we have become very comfortable with each other, become real with each other. I have really connected with Shannon. She is such a good mother. I have learned a lot from her by watching her with her girls. I hope and pray that Shannon and I will be lifelong friends. I am planning a trip to visit them in Italy!

Before we came to MLC, I told Ryan that I wasn’t going to make any real friends here. I thought we were going to be here too short of a time to get attached to people and then have to leave. I am so glad that didn’t happen. I am so thankful I opened myself up to meeting people and making true friends. I thank God for relationships!

We talked about language learning all morning today. One of the things I’m really excited about our time in Peru is learning Spanish. I’ve always wanted to learn . . .

They told us that this should be pretty much our focus when we get to Peru. Because if we can’t speak the language then we won’t get very far.

So, from now on. This blog will only be in Spanish. Bueno? Bueno.

Just kidding. HA!

If you can’t tell, Ryan and I have really fallen for Micah and Emma Grace. (Charlie and Shannon’s little girls that live in our quad.) I’ve decided that someday I need my own Emma Grace!!! Because we live in such close quarters, we see them all the time. I’ve even gotten to babysit them a couple of times by myself when Charlie and Shannon went out.

The Worthy’s rooms are right next to ours in the quad. Only a door separates us, and Emma’s room is right behind the door. Lots of nights Emma lays in her crib and yells “Mommy.” She comes up with a kinds of reasons to yell for Shannon to get her in the room. Emma will throw her dolls or pacifer out of the crib, and then yell for her mom to come in there. Well the other night, Ryan and I set our camera (it will video for a few minutes) by the door and recorded Emma yelling. We did it like six times, and we just laughed and laughed. We realized that we really don’t have a life!!!! So when we get back to Little Rock, if anyone wants to listen to Emma Worthy yelling for her Mommy, we can hook you up!!!!

Well, Ryan wrote below about all our eating out this week! I have been so proud of myself for eating healthy/small portions since we’ve been here, but I officially blew it last weekend and this week! All my hard work has gone down the drain!!! I was actually telling a difference in my clothes, etc., but now I’m back to where I started. My downhill spiral came even further when our kickboxing teacher tore her ACL playing ultimate frisbee, and she had to have surgery. She has been recovering the past couple of weeks. I guess I need a new start–Peru!!!! Surely I will do okay in Peru, since I’m not “chomping at the bits” to eat guinea pig!

It’s the last week and we’re scrambling to make the most of it. We spent Saturday with the Worthy’s at Potomac Mills (apparently the original of the Mills outlet malls). Monday night we went out with Bob and Lourdes. We ate at the Cheesecake Factory. Tuesday night we ate dinner with David and Janene, our regional associates. We went to Casa Grande, fittingly Mexican. Then last night we had a quad outting to Cheeburger Cheeburger (hold the s). I (Ryan) didn’t go, I was sick in bed. Tonite, cafeteria. But who knows what tomorrow holds!!!

One really cool thing about this orientation is that we have gotten to hang out with the XTREME TEAM folks. Since they are going to South America, they have been in our house church and small groups.

XTREME TEAM is a group that focuses on getting to the people in Peru that no one else can get to. Lots of people groups in Peru are isolated due to their geography, either far up in the mountains or deep in the jungle, where there is no 7-11, no Wal-Mart, no roads, no nothin’.

When the XTREME TEAM finds a tribe or village they will begin to story through the Bible, giving them a foundation of biblical truth. After the Holy Spirit draws some of them to faith in Christ, they help get them formed into a church so that they can reach their neighbors, even farther from civilization.

WE LOVE THE EXTREME TEAMERS!

To find out more about what they do, check out: http://www.thextremeteam.org/

I’m (Ryan) sick again! I’m starting to get over it now, but ever since Sunday I’ve been feeling bad. I hate being sick. I took the day off yesterday to try to give my body a little bit or recovery time. Again, our quad Doc, Vance, got me some meds. I’m currently taking the oral typhoid too . . . which is not helping the condition of my stomach.

But, it’s all good. I feel like I’ll be good as new soon. God is taking care of me. I’ve been reading through Matthew. Jesus healed all kinds of people. I think He’s healing me.

Friday night Ryan and I and Brad and Cassie went to the Fore’s quad to play cards and eat snacks! (The Fore’s are the family in our small group that play the violin and are going to Brazil.) We had a lot of fun. We had a spades tournament. The Fore’s two oldest are boys, and they played, but the girls colored and drew while we played cards. They are really good kids. Jennilyn is the youngest (seven), and she and I have become good buddies.

Yesterday, Cynthia (the mom) got word that her dad’s lung had collapsed (He is battling emphazyma), and he was in ICU. Cynthia was really upset. Over the past six weeks, our small group has prayed for her dad a lot because he is not a believer.

Today the Fore’s decided to go ahead and leave for Texas to go be with Dad and Grandpa. They had a long drive ahead. They were headed to Texas. It was really hard for me to tell them bye. I have gotten really attached to them. They have the kid of family that I hope I will have someday. I cried when I had to tell them bye.

If you read this, pray for Cynthia’s dad. Pray that he will remain stable and that his lung won’t leak, and pray that he won’t get pneumonia. Pray also for his salvation.

Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise~
Amanda

Some of the activities that were part of our D.C. “assignment” included observing internationals, listening for foreign languages, bringing an international closer to Jesus, and prayerwalking. After we fisnished our assignment, we had some time left, so our group went to the Holocaust Musuem. It’s hard to describe the experience. As I walked through the musuem, I was swirling with emotion. It was eery, sad, and sobering. At times I felt angry and confused. The museum itself is amazing. It is very well laid out, and a lot more family oriented than I expected. The more graphic footage and pictures are behind walls that warn you. I have visited D.C. twice before but never been to that museum. Some of the things I saw and read are absolutely unimaginable. Even though the experience was far from lighthearted, I am really glad we went.

Ryan wrote earlier about the persecuted church service we had. Instead of all meeting together for worship, we met in our small groups. We had to meet back in a bedroom with only a candle lit. In the scenario, all the Bibles had been confiscated, but we had two pages out of John to read. Since we didn’t have a Bible, we had to quote a lot of scripture from memory, and we had to sing very quietly. Some people were not part of the small groups because they had been designated as “police,” and different small groups were found out and taken to “prison” in the auditorium. After the service, we all met together to debrief our experience. I always knew that there are people being persecuted for their faith but that service (even though it was pretend and I knew it) really made it real to me. I have really been burdened to pray for the persecuted church. While I don’t understand everything, I know God is good and faithful, and he loves us.

I thought about the service as I walked through the museum. It is hard to think about what happened during the Holocaust, as it is hard for me to think that things like that are happening today.

Amanda