It's probably around 2? After eating lunch and I'm at the missionary's home with the chorus team :) Just chillin.
The coolest and oddly humbling thing to happen to you is being waken up by a rooster. This morning I have to say I was nervous that there would be a million and one problems but this day God has delivered in the way He promised He would to those who sought after Him. I was worried about going to the bathroom because of the low water pressure LOL but I farted a lot HAHA and it helped with not having an upset stomach. We ate a marvelous breakfast of eggs with bacon bits and cereal. Then we left off for the first church El Camino (or The Way) and I was really surprised that the bugs didn't bother me almost at all. I sweat a moderate amount and my pits were wet, but it was all good. I l<3ved the kids even though I was a bit discouraged in the very beginning when the kids weren't as responsive and laughed at my español or something but it got a lot better. The skit went incredibly well for so little preparation :) I met a boy who is 11, his name is Kendri. He was (is) so good. He is really a good boy even though he jokes around and is so fun! He tried tickling/attacking my pits LOL. SO CUTE. I also met a little girl, with two names :) Ana Mery (which she prefers) or Amanda. I thought she was so cute but then during group crafts she became very aggressive for la hega. and poms poms! I had a moment where I was scared because I didn't know what to do. But everything worked out and I feel so loved. Then we came home to the welcome of ICE COLD agua. <3_<3 It's the best thing I've ever tasted. My spanish got so much better! Just talking and now as a joke everyone calls me over to translate....and oh!Last night [when we arrived at the airport] 2 men from the church + Pastor Chun came to get us at the airport. Who I now know 1 is Soro and the other is Umberto. On the 2 hour car ride to *missionary's house* I decided to chat up with Soro who was driving and it really helped me to start speaking Spanish more. I love Soro! We talked about merengue + bachata + salsa and how much I <3 dancing, his family and my family (he has a daughter 13 Diana and a son Juan 3 ), baseball, aventura + Elvis Crespo, our favorite color, and how happy I am haha I kept saying, "Tengo mucho alegre" (tengo mucha alegria) I was so happy last night and the ride was never boring..So many new things to see even though it is night. Santo Domingo (where we were) has beautifully crafted houses but it is still not anything close to nice. The boys annoyed me with their ignorant comments in the car, but things are almost right now. When we came home after the morning service I was so happy. I am so happy. Marlenis had me read Ecclesiastes 11:9-10 because she believes it is the message from God for our team. Now we're getting ready to leave for afternoon service! Need to pray.
<3 Joy Cho
*Afterword*
Missionary's house: that is where we stayed for the duration of the trip and I mentioned it above btwn asterisks only because in my journal I said his address.
Marlenis is a member of the chorus team, and the oldest with 19 years. LOVE HER. mi hermana.
Reading back when I said the houses were not anything close to nice, it sounded very arrogant of me but that's not what I meant at all. I should have worded it better if I had more time. What I meant was that the houses, along with DR as a whole, looks very nice and pretty on the exterior, but if you look at the foundation and the structure, it is not as sturdy as it seems to appear. I feel that people don't really notice that even though DR has a lot of tourist attraction, and there is small very wealthy population, the structure in the country [PERSIA] is not as stable or well off as it may appear to some. We shouldn't just overlook that fact and not help their country because it appears "fine."
7:49 PM
We just came back from the afternoon VBS and I am sad + happy. First off, the time flew by so much faster.
10: ish PM
Just flew by yet it's been a day and it feels like I've been here for days. We just finished the missions seminar + worship. I feel so blessed and there's so much to write about but God is giving me the energy to write this. I prayed so much today [compared to how little I prayed before], loved the kids as genuinely I could, I didn't slap at bugs, or fan myself. And I don't say this in self-righteousness (for once...=P) but as a testimony to God's grace and how He provides so much. I saw many returning faces. Anaery, Kendri, Olga, Sarita, Lucy, Tiffani, and more new faces- Gregory, lloel, llona, Jorge Luis, Juan, + more! I have grown so attached to Kendri and Gregory especially =( But I was so sad and somber to leave everyone knowing I'd never see them again. But I got a picture with Gregory! So after VBS ended, our departure was being drawn out because I guess there is a lot of unsettlement in the village of El Camino iglésia and missionary Chun allowed a group of people to meet in the church. Later they
July 8 10:ish PM
learned those people were not spreading truths about Jesus and was causing disturbment in the community by also bringing in many from outside the community to the church. And so yesterday they came after hearing Missionary Chun banned them from the church and for a while no one knew what was going on and they had the [missions] team sit inside the church and after a while of them talking, they came inside to get their stuff + left. We got home and had
*Afterword*
My journal entries started getting very shaky starting around here. I had a harder and harder time pulling myself to write every night and so each new night I was trying to catch up on recounting the days I had missed. This entry ends without even a complete sentence..I really don't know what happened...perhaps I just quit writing? Or I wonder if something happened to the page because I do remember having to hurriedly tear out some pages. =( well I know that we had yummy food. I think my sentence went on to explain that when we got home we had the best tasting mangos I've ever tasted. Ever. They were delicious and prepared for us by the missionary's wife, Samoneem. They were delicious and gone in two seconds. Just incredible texture, and flavor! XD After that night we ate mangos as a whole, not cut up, but biting off from the core. And it would get all stuck up in your teeth but such an amazing experience :)
Also, disclaimer: my knowledge and accuracy of what went down that afternoon at El Camino church is very vague, but it is the gist of what happened. I'm sure I'm missing a lot of factual information. But this I know; God again showed Himself by protecting us and keeping us safe in a situation that could've gone a very different way.
Minor details: I spelled Humberto's name wrong ^_^ Umberto haha. He wrote his name in the dust on the car window and so I saw there was actually an H. And when Soro told me about his kids, I misunderstood. Dahiana is 13 and Juan is 14.
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| My journal! and the leaf I snapped off from a palm tree growing in front of the missionary's house. |
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