During the last two weeks:

I decided that I would just pack enough to last one year, on the hope of Mom and Dad coming to see me and would bring the enough to last the next year. Here is just a small example of what one would pack to move to Africa.

1. Lotion (lots and lots of lotion)
2. Ziploc bags (all sizes- these can be washed and reused)
3. Spices (This allows us to flavor our meat)
-Tony's
-Taco mix
-Spaghetti mix
-Mixed spices
4. Jell-O (a little dessert)
5. Ranch dry dressing (even though we can't eat salad's, for some reason we need salad dressing)
6. Toothpaste (two tubes= one year)
7. Sunscreen (haven't really gotten this yet)
8. Converters (for all the electrical stuff I am taking!)
9. Transformer (for all the electrical stuff I am taking that can't use a converter)

While packing to live overseas...one must evaluate their possessions and reject most unpractical things. Like the little knick-knack's, hard backed books, the ten pair of shoes in the closet, and owning more than two pairs of jeans. Since August, I have been going through my possessions and getting rid of anything I have not wore or used this last year. Some things I did keep, the first doll my dad gave me and the key chain collection I started in middle school.


Here are some fun pictures from the last two weeks:

Dad and Uncle Tom in front of the
Elephant at the Smithsonian

The Hope Diamond


Emily and I sitting next to the reflecting pool in front of the Capital






Emily and I on the Metro in D.C.

So a lot has happened in the last two weeks. Needless to say, this is why I have not sent an update.

The biggest thing is it SNOWED for almost two days here in Virginia!!! We received about five inches of snow. It was beautiful and very hard to pay attention in our sessions, when all we wanted to do was have snowball fights and slide down the many hills out here at ILC. I sat in front of the large window our Quads (apartments) have in the living room area and watched the sun radiate off the snow. It is amazing to realize what God means by washing us to make us as clean as snow. I also got to play snow soccer at night. There was enough light coming off the moon, hitting the snow to play. (It was a little slippery and all of us fell multiple times, laughing at each other!)

Only three days left at training. Now looking back time has passed rather quickly. I have made some amazing friends going all around the world. Most of us will never see each other again here on earth, but we have a common bond - answering God's call to serve Him overseas. We have spent time together learning about sharing our faith without destroying other cultures, how to guard our hearts from Satan, had safety training, and learned about our region of the world. We also learned how to teach illiterate cultures the Bible and how to disciple them when they can't read the Bible. It is called Chronological Bible Storying. We also practice during our small group worship times in the mornings. Sunday morning, Emily and I told the story of the angels telling of Jesus' birth in Luke 2. 8-14. I really like this method and hope to use it with new friends. After all the hard work during the day we got together and played hard. You could find me playing basketball, volleyball, dodgeball, soccer or any other activity where I might hurt myself!

Here are some more pictures of things I have done in the last two weeks.

Eat African food!
(hang-out with journalists)!

Celebrating Spencer's 23rd
Birthday! (guy in middle)

God has been good to me. One of my Bible verses to memorize while here at ILC was Psalm 16. 2 "I said to the Lord, "You are my Lord; I have NO good besides you." May I remember all of my life is in God's hands and I will rejoice in the life he has set out before me.

Praise: I have been cold free for two weeks!

Prayer: For the hard good-byes here at ILC and then a smooth transition onto the field.

Thank you for your prayers during this time. God has truly blessed me to take in an enormous amount of information to prepare me for his work.