God is so good

Hello friends,
What a great day it has been! In the US usually Mondays are my least favorite days but here in Bs As they are my favorite. I have tango and grammar on Mondays, the earliest starting at noon so I get to sleep in! But this is not really relevant to what I want to talk about today. I want to share the ways God has blessed me since being here:

First, He has blessed me with such an opportunity to be able to do two things I love: travel and learn (I know Im a nerd for saying I love learning but it's how I was raised thanks to my parents taking me to museums and historical places, as well as putting an emphasis on reading as a better alternative to watching tv). By being here I have realized how much traveling and learning have affected how I approach new situations: ready to try new things, eating new foods, meeting interesting people, going to historical places. I did not experience much "culture shock" being here and also have not missed home all that much (of course I still miss my family and friends, my room, and my car, but overall I feel like I can adjust easily to new places). I find myself wanting to do my oral production homework (listening to Spanish tv or songs) and read my history assignments just because I'm fascinated by the content (I usually just hope that I can understand what I am reading).  This leads me to my second blessing:

Through prayer (your prayers for me too) and through trying to speak Spanish with my host family and within the walls of FLACSO (my school) my Spanish has improved and I have received 2 pins (these are little rewards) for speaking Spanish! Praise the Lord! I no longer get headaches or feel like I need to take a long nap after 5-7 hours of class spent trying to translate. I find myself responding in Spanish to people speaking in English automatically. I also can have normal conversations now with my host family instead of them feeling forced.  Today Marta and I talked about the American school system compared to the Argentine school system, as well as how American society and media influence people's body images leading to many unfortunate health problems.

Argentina is so diverse and beautiful and I have been able to see a fair amount of it only in exactly 2 months

Church: I found [2] churches to go to. One is a contemporary church service (some of the songs I recognize) that has wonderful worship and is so lively and you can just see that people are on fire for the Lord. The sermon is over an hour long so sometimes we don't stay for the whole service, but regardless I love this church. The other, is a traditional Methodist church (the congregation is mostly age 40+) where the people are so friendly. This is the church where we met our Argentine friends, who we are hanging out with again on Friday! After the service people welcome us, ask us where we are from, and invite us to help serve in various organizations. *side note: I miss East Gloucester church (where I go to church at school: great worship and message) but I have not experienced this level of hospitality there. If I continue going to East Gloucester after graduation I would like to be more welcoming toward college students.* Here is a sample of the worship called Eres Todopoderoso (You are All Powerful) The video is not exciting but the song is great!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbznUS7-Ass

Church #2: I have been praying for awhile for my church back home. Many people have left the congregation who played major parts in the church community so the congregation has shrunk a little (part of the normal cycle of every church I guess) but today I found out that come July, we have a new pastor, who is actually our old pastor, who was great! He is one of the reasons I continued to go to church, youth group, and retreats in high school. These things added immensely to my walk as a Christian, bringing me to where I am today. The 2 pastors who are leaving will be missed, but I know that God has great plans for bringing this pastor back.

I have gotten more sleep here than I ever have in a semester at Gordon! I don't even need to take naps every day because I get enough sleep at night.

My parents are coming in 2 1/2 weeks! I am so excited to show them my new home and catch up with them (skype is great but not the same as talking for hours face to face). We are also going to Iguazu Falls when they are here, which is one of the 7 natural wonders of the world.

Even though there are definitely hard days and days in which I am so frustrated, overall God has been so faithful and I am thankful that I am able to be here.

Prayer requests:
-That my Spanish continues to improve to the point of fluency
-That I have motivation even on the 6-day weekend I have coming up (I have a lot to read for my history final which unfortunately is on the day before my parents leave Argentina)
-I pass my classes (need to get Cs which is a lot harder than it sounds because of the education system here and the language difference of course)
-I have a midterm in my Art/Architecture class and a debate about Peronism in my history class on Wednesday
-That I can get a syllabus and figure out when my final is in my history class so that I can possibly go home  a week early, therefore going to camp, my favorite place in the world, for the start of second session so that I can continue my ministry there. Going up to camp a week earlier than anticipated would allow me to see my sister (on the way up to camp, in Boston) and my brother at camp even earlier than expected! I miss both of them a lot and have not been able to talk to them much since being here.
-That I can be a light to those around me here and that my eyes would be opened to all that God still has in store for me for my time in Argentina.

Thank you for following me on this journey and please continue to pray for me here.

"For I know the plans I have for you...plans for good and not for evil. Plans to give you a hope and a future" -Jeremiah 29:11

"For I will be with you and protect you wherever you go..." -Genesis 28:15a