Goodness me! So much has take place since the last time I wrote. I don’t even know where to begin! I guess for now I’ll just focus on a recap of my sweet time in Guatemala. I know many want to hear about Thailand so I promise to start working on that as I travel to Laos to get my visa tomorrow!! Its so weird to think that I have already been in Thailand a month now! Time sure does fly by!
Things I was able to experience:
– Sweet heavenly coffee that can only be from Guatemala.
-Guatemala’s Independence Day! The streets were filled with families out and about, but Antigua was the sight to see! Each street was packed with hundreds abound hundreds of people waiting to watch the parade come through. Over one thousand civilians participating dressed in Guatemala’s national colors white and blue decorated the sight. Loud music and whistles was all to be heard. Schools had come with their students and run around the Antigua with a torch lite and kids following. Traffic was moving a foot every couple minutes. Public transportation was packed!! My bus had over 74+ people in it! (Which according to the bus rules 34 people is the maximum allowed for safety…ha! Who needs to listen to that! One more always fits…)
– The traditional Guatemalan birthday celebrations as two of my housemates had birthdays. “Boom, boom, boooom!!!…” At 5:45am we were woken up by the terrifying sounds of firecrackers going off in the backyard! Guatemalan tradition has it that your friends come to your home at 4:30am and set off a string of firecrackers to wish you a very happy birthday (after waking up to what sounds like gun shots- I don’t know how many people actually wake up super happy. It’s more like pure terror and confusion). All the friends then gather into your kitchen as you serve them breakfast. Yes, you, the one who was born on this special day, get to make and serve the very people that woke you up at 4:30am with the thought that you are being under attack up. A little messed up if you ask me, but I loved it!!!
– Very few outsiders get the chance to go inside Zone 18 (the poorest and most dangerous place in Guatemala City) and I had the opportunity to serve there 4 days of the week. I was able to walk inside one of the neighborhoods and see the conditions most live in. I stood in a home where the house was built on the side of a trash dump. I walked outside of the home and I was stepping on old tires, toys and chip bags. If there was to be a massive rainfall chance are the house would be no more than the trash its foundation is made over.
– “Antigua, Antigua, Antiguuuuaaaaaa!!!” Aww the sweet adventure of chicken buses!! One of my favorite things to do. Between the fast turns (and I mean fast! Going about 40mph on curves going down a mountain! Ridiculous! You would slide off your seat if you didn’t have a good grip) and jam packed seats (“one more can always fit!” Guatemalan motto) one would feel like they are on a roller coaster or the last ride of their life!
– Being away for Thanksgiving didn’t keep us from celebrating it, it just gave us an opportunity to meet Cali’s (our van driver and Guatemalan grandpa) family and share our American traditions with them. 
Lessons learned:
– I switch from all the languages I somewhat know without a second thought when trying to communicate with someone who doesn’t speak English. First Spanish, Portuguese, English and then to sign language and by then they are so lost and confused we just join into laughter.
– A big pan of hot brownies can be devoured in less then two minutes with the help of only six girls!
– I also was reminded how much I hate being away from my family and best friend for so long! It’s not as much fun experience new things without all your buddies experiencing them too.
– The first couple weeks were rocky at times, but I found that I will always love living in a full and busy house
– The best seat in a 15 passenger van is the aisle! You can lay down (if you are short like me) and sleep like a baby every time. If the windows aren’t open it can be smelly, but when the windows are open it’s glorious!!
– I found out that I really miss my old job at The Loft where I had a excuse to dress up and match!!! Ahh the glory days!
– I now can cook for 14+ with full confidence that I’ll make the right amount of rice to feed everyone. ( y’all have no idea how hard that is to do haha!) 
– You read about it all the time about living in the moment. You listen to songs about it. You see quotes in ugly little picture frame lining the walls at TJ Maxx. It’s one thing to know about it and try to live it out, but it’s another to actually have the mindset of living moment by moment. During my time in Guat God was teaching me how to live moment by moment.
I am the farthest thing you can get from a teacher, let alone English teacher! (Vise-Versa?) I have never been one to be able to explain things to people. Having dyslexic i learned to adjust and by doing so I do not process the way a majority of people do. I look at an algebra equation and can tell you the answer in a couple seconds…of course depending on the level of the question. Now ask me to show my work or explain my steps I will get myself turned around upside and side ways in a matter of seconds. You get me? (Doubt it, but just pretend for a second haha!) so all that to be said, I am an awful teacher. So having a majority of my ministry being teaching it was very difficult. (Here’s a little secret of my future post….I am teaching English again and tutoring English where I am stationed in Thailand! Yes, I wanted to cry when I found out. But it is all okay.) I began a mindset of “just make it to Friday night, just Friday night” “It’s Sunday!! One week down ____ to go!!” And by doing that I was missing out on all the small fun moments and memories I was making because I was just living to make it to the next check point. God revealed to me to live in each moment is not an act you do or just a thought in the back of your mind rather it is a choice a decision you make every minute of your day. I would remind myself whenever I began to lose focus on the activity at hand. I wrote it everywhere until it became a habit. A habit I want to stay with me until the day I go into my grave “moment by moment, crazy girl”
Tour Guide Leah
Antigua
Oh Antigua how you have such a special places in my heart. The streets are madeup of brightly colored dainty shops. Each vary from cute little boutiques to one of the best cups of coffee one can have. My house was only about a 30 minute bus ride away from this lovely town which gave me plenty of opportunities to explore every nook and cranny. Rainbow café was one of our squad’s favorite coffee shops to visit. It was a small place filled with sweet employees. Bagel Barn is also a great place to go for good wifi and to have a fancy and yummy bagel. My friend got a bagel with bacon, avocado, tomato and some other amazing stuff. Ahh soooo good!
Tip: if you ever go to a market always cut the original price they offer in half. And then, slowly work your way up if they won’t go down to half way. 5 quetzales at a time. Never go for the first three offers. They will never sell anything if they are not making a profit so no need to feel bad cutting the price down. Markets are made for bargaining.
Tikal: “The New York City of Mayan ruins!” Yep! That’s about it. It’s just any other ruins just much much bigger than most haha!
Rio de Dulce
Oh! And did I mention the boat ride to get to Livingston!! Oh my goodness! To die for! My favorite part of the trip! Okay, now picture this… There you are sitting in a small boat that holds about 16 people and a young boy around the age of 14 years old is driving the boat. You begin the adventure sailing across a gigant lake that is lined with these incredible house decorating the shore on either side. Each house is different from the other. Themes very from a mansion styled with a modern look to a small little hut made out of rioting wood and palm frawns to make the roof. As you go along you get to see the clouds rolling in over mountains that cause a beautiful shadow to fall over the judges ahead. After about 35 minutes you enter into one of the most beautiful places ever seen. On either side of you are massive cliff fronts and juggle towering over you. The sight looked like the one from the movie “End of the Spear” when the plane is flying over the juggle. So magnificent!! As you go along you see a restaurant that only one who has a boat can get to. Most people stop to rest in the natural hot spring that the restaurant accompanies. At one point we stopped to see an area covered in huge lily pads and a sweet elder women came up to our boat in a canoe selling drinks and food. From a canoe!! So cool! I kinda what to do that now as a job! Words cannot describe the sights I saw on just an hour and a half boat ride. So blessed!
Livingston
As soon as you pull up the dock you will automatically tell that it is very different than most of Guatemala. For one thing those who live on the island are descendants of African run away slaves generations back. The natives speak another language that is a mix of something…I honestly have no idea. But it has a twang of Spanish in it and sometimes English words with a bit of an Jamaican accent….yeah, I don’t really know, but it wasn’t Spanish! I didn’t have much opportunity to adventure around sadly. We did eat at a small/sketchy restaurant where my friends ordered the towns speciality…soup with a whole fish (yes, eyeballs and scales included), crab, shrimp…well basically the whole ocean! Okay, a bit of an exaggeration, but it had like six different types of seafood cooked inside it. Let’s just say I was praising The Lord I decided to be cheap and pick the meal with French fries and a salad. Super healthy I know! Right after lunch we went to see the main reason people visit the lovely town of Livingston. The place where the Caribbean Sea and the Rio de Dulce collide. Between the judging on one side and the endless sea on the other was a crazy sight with the sunsetting in the background was beautiful. Too be frank with you I was a little disappointed because I thought it would be just a tad bit more beautiful with all the hype concerning the location. Then again I had a migraine so maybe that’s why. I don’t really know. The boat ride there was worth it hands down!
Lake Atitlan
As we came around the curvy mountains it all made sense. Lake Atitlan…owns up to every little bit of its title of being the 13th most beautiful lake in the world! Not only is it surrounded by mountains sparkled with colorful little towns and a volcano, but the water is crystal blue! With the warm sun hanging over head and the cool water underneath one cannot resist jumping in. I had the opportunity to go cliff jumping, kayaking, hiking up a mountain to watch the sunrise over the lake!
Prayer Request:
I have been having a migraine everyday and it’s really challenging and painful. Please pray for complete healing!! And that I will rely on Christ strength when all I want to do is sit in a dark and silent room.
Being blessed with God’s passion for those I am teaching and having joy in teaching. It’s easy to lose focus and lose sight of our purpose when in a ministry that you have no passion or skill in. Please pray that I will continually be reminded that I am there not to just teach English but to share the love of Christ with everyone I meet. Many of whom have never heard the gospel before.
My comfort zone has been pushed far past my limits and I am so grateful for it. Though these next couple months will be super challenging in every way I am excited to have the opportunity to rely solely on Christ. Pray that I will have joy in the times that I would normally have given up or just glided through. I want all I do to reflect Christ.
Thailand has only 1% of believers. Most people I will run into will have never heard the good news of Jesus Christ before. Pray that Christ’s name will be proclaimed here and that many will come to know The Lord.
Since we have arrived at our new house none of us have been able to get a restful nights sleep. Please pray that we can sleep soundly through the night with no nightmares or uneasiness. We all appreciate it!
Though I may no longer be located in Guatemala please continue to pray for Engadi Ministry. So much is being done there and the founder Nathan Hardeman has such an incredible vision for Guatemala City. “Engadi is dedicated to ending the of death and violence in Guatemala City one child at a time. Boys from impoverished, broken homes too often seek purpose, belonging and a reason for living in the gangs. These gangs are the roots of the most severe problems in the communities including drugs, extortion, and violence. We want to create a brighter future for families who fight to survive in Guatemala’s violent slums.
That begins by raising up boys to become men of character and influence. And you can help!” Please be praying that the government will allow them to finish building the boys homes on their ranch and that the neighbors next to the property will come to know The Lord. Also pray for God’s blessings abound Engadi and the founders family. If you would like to know more about Engadi Ministry here is the link to their website http://engadiministries.org
I am now officially done keeping you. Sorry for it being so long, but it is nearly impossible to fit three months into a short little post! So there is just some of the incredible opportunities I had and memories I will cherish forever! I hope you all have an absolutely gorgeous Christmas and New Years filled with memories and laughter.
Merry Christmas from the Lavished Warriors!!
