Unlike all of my sisters I had NO fear of water.
I was ready to get in that water, not sit there and read about it.
All the reading we had to do was just boring, but when the final test came, I was glad I did read that book. Tatiana, our teacher, said that if we get a 100% on our score , she'll buy us ice cream! So the test began. Everyone was quiet. We each had 50 questions in our booklets.
I started at the end- the 50th question, at all the harder questions where we had to use our Recreational Dive Planner tables. I had trouble on some of the questions But when the test was over, with out telling us Tatiana, our teacher, hopped on her bike and peddled away . When she came back ,guess what she had... Ice cream!!!! But the sad thing is none of us got a 100% :-( my score was... A 98 I got ONE questions wrong!
Now that the exams were over, it's time for the fun part - for us to get in the water! I tried on a couple different wet suits. The first one was too small. The 2nd one was too big, but the 3rd one....you guessed it, it was just right! We sized our flippers and mask and got equipped with our tanks ,the BCD( buoyancy control device), our weight belt, and the most important part, our regulators. I'll skip all the boring stuff of waiting on the dock, getting into the boat....WAIT...I can't skip the getting into the boat part! Rewind! It was my FIRST time in my life I've ridden in a boat! It was awesome! We went kinda slow on the way there because only one engine worked on the way there. I didn't mind going slowly because I could look off the edge of the boat and see the coral and colorful fish through the clear water. When we stopped and put on our gear, it was time! I was going to take my first breath under water! Bonnie was the first one in with her mask, and tank in water she slipped right off the edge of the boat into the clear, beautiful water. Once we all got in , we started swimming to the shore of the empty beautiful beachside. We stopped there so that we'd have 2 feet of water over our heads while we knelt down and did our exercises before we went on our dive to 40 feet. During the exercises, a tiny 2" tall seahorse swam up to us. Tatiana said that was very unusual to see and her first time in 3,000 dives to see one come up to a person. I got to hold it in my hands!! Underwater everything looks 33% bigger, so it was even smaller- an infant! And I saw a jellyfish! It was so see-through! At 40 ffeet under I saw a seaturtle , colorful fish and corals, sea fans, Christmas tree worms that look like a christmas tree an inch tall that live on a coral, but they fold up into the coral if you snap at them, and even garden eels with 1/2 of their body in the sand, their top 1/2 of their body waves with the movement of the water. They look like tons of grass, but as Tatiana and I swam over them, they pulled in their heads and disappeared into the sand because they're so shy. Then I felt the tap on my shoulder and saw the "thumbs up" sign and that means "let's go up"!
The next dive we had the boat was super fast. We had 2 engines then. I felt like we were flying across the ocean! We did the same thing with exercises, then going down under. We landed in a small patch surrounded by coral and lots of Caribbean fish. This time our exercises were fun ones! We got to float up and down in the center of the water with only our breath. Tatiana called it the "buddah position". Another fun exercise we did was the teacher turned off my airtank and I kept breathing until I felt I couldn't breath anymore! I gave her the "out of air" sign and right away she turned the valve and I was breathing full breaths again! Then we went down 40 feet and today it was a little more murkey, but I saw something called a "donkey dung"....eewwww! I didn't name that one! It's a sea cucumber. It looks like a humongus (foot long) dark seagreen catapillar. I got to feel it! It felt slimy! I also saw angel fish, and ,you know, all the 'normal' caribbean fish. Oh, it was beautiful. Like my sister Stephanie said, "Shallow pool, thou satisfieth me no longer. "But mom says a shallow pool didn't satisfy me even when I was little. She said I was a fish.
So that was MY diving experience. It was the BEST experience EVER!
Until next time,
Andi
Friday, August 8, 2008
Ending another Schoolweek - by Denise
Friday is here and we feel it! We're glad to have finished another week of progress in Spanish school. We're on lesson 11 of 18. We need lots of practice speaking now. This week we made homemade pizza twice! It was good. It'll be even better when we get Mozzarella cheese instead of Quesillo on it! We have only enough pepperoni for one more pizza, so we're conserving until a special day. Tonight we will eat fajitas! A lady from church gave us 3 big avocados grown in the 'bush'. We're going to make the flour tortillas and use chicken with a fajita seasoning packet (thanks Zachrys!) My mouth is watering already! We'll let you know how the tortillas turn out. I've heard they're more difficult than the corn which we're good at making now.
Yesterday was special. We have a friend, Erin, who we mentioned before that we met at the beach, who had a birthday this week. She came over and ate a wonderful pasta/tomato sauce/cheese dish with us (made by Amanda). Then we all had some birthday cake: strawberry with cream cheese frosting. (also made by Amanda) Our cake pan is double wide, so Amanda made the thin cake, frosted it, and rolled it up like a jelly roll , and we froze it. Everyone ate a cold sweet slice of the cake. Yum. Very refreshing in this heat.
Next week we're invited to go to Erin's home in the Cays. The Cays are 12 islands about 30 minute boat ride away from Utila. Erin stays in Utila with her Grandmother during the week for school, then rides the boat home for the weekend. She says about 300 people live on her island. We're looking forward to that experience with her family. Well, that's about it for right now. Very routine at the moment. After our homework is done, we might have to fit in a few hours of snorkeling since it's been over a week since we've gone to the beach!
Adios!
Yesterday was special. We have a friend, Erin, who we mentioned before that we met at the beach, who had a birthday this week. She came over and ate a wonderful pasta/tomato sauce/cheese dish with us (made by Amanda). Then we all had some birthday cake: strawberry with cream cheese frosting. (also made by Amanda) Our cake pan is double wide, so Amanda made the thin cake, frosted it, and rolled it up like a jelly roll , and we froze it. Everyone ate a cold sweet slice of the cake. Yum. Very refreshing in this heat.
Next week we're invited to go to Erin's home in the Cays. The Cays are 12 islands about 30 minute boat ride away from Utila. Erin stays in Utila with her Grandmother during the week for school, then rides the boat home for the weekend. She says about 300 people live on her island. We're looking forward to that experience with her family. Well, that's about it for right now. Very routine at the moment. After our homework is done, we might have to fit in a few hours of snorkeling since it's been over a week since we've gone to the beach!
Adios!
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
??????
So, we got a comment from "friends" on Amanda's 16th Birthday post.... we think we know who it was.... but we would LOVE if we could know for sure. If it was you.... PLEASE let us know!!! :D
Thanks!
Thanks!
Finally I'm Posting! Warning-not for weak stomachs! by Denise
Well, here I am again. This time I hope to finish my post. This has been such an amazing experience with my girls, much more than I imagined it'd be. That first week, I was so thankful to have Erin Dietz here with us during all of our adjustments to a new culture and surroundings, and new school schedule right away. It felt strange, but wonderful, sitting in church where we didn't understand anything the pastor was saying.
So much has changed now! Utila is like a small town. Soon you get to know just about everyone! Pretty fun! It reminds me the small town life in Nebraska as a child, and in Justin, TX too, when Stephanie and Amanda were babies. The main street has shops and homes and booths with people selling food right on the edge of the street. Most shops and booths have doors open and are so tiny that you can say 'adios' every time you pass by. (they say 'adios' in passing here, not 'hi' like we do in the US) We feel 'at home' here with our new friends and routines. The good thing here is that you get to see your friends frequently since everyone is outside in the open. We'll REALLY miss that when we leave. The lady from the Post Office knows us too and told us on the street that our letters from Pompa (my dad) and Kristina had come, and the boxes from the Zachrys! Thanks for the mail and packages!! It was like Christmas!
The girls told you all about diving. I was hoping that if I had Stephanie sit in on all the classes that she'd want to try it. Yea! I am not fond of deep water, although I've enjoyed water skiing in the past. I was so excited to try my first dive! I made sure all of us took motion sickness pills. I have to take them on flights too. We had to wait on the boat while the captain tried to get the 2nd engine started. Up and down we rocked with the exhaust of an engine in the air....oh....'please get us in the water!,' I was thinking. We finally got in the water and had to be on our knees in about 5 feet of water to do practice drills. The currents were so strong that I rocked back and forth for 40 minutes. Needless to say, once we finally dove 40 feet I was so dizzy that I hardly noticed the beauty of the reef. It made me dizzy even to look to try to find my instructor who I was supposed to be following. Once we ascended and I reached the waving surface of the Caribbean, I could hear everyone talking about the wonderful things they saw, while I was throwing up. I felt wiped out for the whole next 24 hours. I DID like the ability to breathe underwater and what I did see of the reef was so colorful that it looked like Disney's Submarine ride.......manmade.........amazing that it's real and alive!
By our 2nd dive, I took medicine again, and hoped it'd be better. This dive was again to 40 feet. I had Tatiana as my partner this time. She's wonderful! A tiny(size 1),lively , pretty, not bilingual, but quin lingual(5 languages) , energetic, fun,kind, intelligent, lady who is owner of the dive shop and our personal instructor. Even though I was already dizzy, she led me by the hand, so I was able to look around at my surroundings while we swam, and I saw fish, sea fans(my favorite huge, lavender colored leaf-looking plants), and what amazed me most was looking forward into the ocean and seeing the water go on forever. I have to admit that I did picture what it'd look like for a shark to swim toward us through the dark waters ahead, then I just focused on where we were and on the fact that Tatiana has done this for 14 years and over 3,000 dives and is just fine! When we reached the bottom, and she had me stand there, the movement of the water made me feel so sick again. I found out that at 40 feet under the ocean, you can throw up with a regulator in your mouth! Actually, I did that 2 times under water that day, and once in the boat. Whew! Amanda heard me say that I will NEVER be doing this again! The dizziness stayed with me again for a day-kinda like feeling like you're still roller skating after taking off your skates(I'm dating myself). It was hard for me to decide if I should finish my certification with my last day of diving.Why? I'd never do that again on purpose! But it was under the water that was fun and fine, so I waited until the boat was ready to leave before I got on ( no exhaust and rocking) . When a boat is speeding through the water, I'm fine; it's the rocking that gets me! I stared at the beach (stationary landmarks) as we rode in the boat.Tatiana made sure we got me quickly into the water. That dive was my favorite!! I'm SO happy I didn't quit! When you're not sick and dizzy, underwater is so much fun! I was able to look all around at 60 feet under at a boat 'wreck',the corals, sea worms, cool fish of all colors and shapes- God is SO creative! My favorite part was when we dove to 40 feet under to a sandy patch and got to stick our fins into the sand and we all did forward and backward flips. It felt so free and looked so neat underwater to watch Stephanie and Amanda do their tricks too. There was a bicycle down there. Next time we go down, I'm going to ride it- or try to! The girls rejoiced with me that I finally had a dive that I didn't get sick on! Woo-hoo! Andi and Bonnie were waiting for us on the dock when we returned. I hurried out of the boat - but once I hit the dock.......you guessed it.........I didn't want to get sick in front of everyone, so I ran to find a restroom and threw up again! Oh well! We have 2 more "fun dives" that we can use later. I'll probably save my "fun dives" for when the Weber family comes here in September. I told the girls, " I've had enough 'fun dives' for now" Ha. Honestly, it really was worth it all!
On a ministry note, Tatiana said that she'd been talking about us to the lady at the Methodist church and she wants to introduce us because the lady might want us to do a Bible Club for kids or youth. No details yet. Sunjam is going on here, and Tatiana is in charge of that too. She'll introduce us when Sunjam is over - about Aug 12 or so. The girls told you about our other instructor, Leon. It's so exciting that he seems interested in knowing the gospel -seems like for the first time! He, Tatiana, and a few others want us to offer a class on sign language. I've asked them to introduce us to deaf people here. There's only a few- the main one lives in the Cays(keys), little islands nearby. I hope we get to do that. We do have a VBS scheduled for the last week of August at the Baptist Church. I'd asked the Pastor's wife if she could pray about being available to teach a new believers class to disciple the women who will want to learn more, and Jose to pray about the same, but for men. Pastor Julio said last night that all that is in place and ready now for new converts, so now we just wait for the harvest. Pray for God to draw in the ones he's calling and for God to use us in it where He want us.
Our landlord has lowered the rent for August and September so it fits into the budget! We'll know the balance of our budget better once we get home and see what other monies I've saved on other bills. Thank you to you who have donated to this ministry and trip!! We notice every bit and really appreciate it! We're amazed that we're here!
It is SO encouraging when we get on the blog and see comments from you! It really makes us feel we're not at all alone in this, and that you're a part, sharing this experience with us. We feel closer to each of you, too. It's cute how all of you are getting to know my Aunt Becky and Uncle Ed very well! You're amazing Aunt Becky and Uncle Ed! Thanks for all your daily loving encouragement on the blog! :-)
We've learned how to make some good food here. We look forward to trying the new recipes out on all of you when we get home!
With love,
Denise
So much has changed now! Utila is like a small town. Soon you get to know just about everyone! Pretty fun! It reminds me the small town life in Nebraska as a child, and in Justin, TX too, when Stephanie and Amanda were babies. The main street has shops and homes and booths with people selling food right on the edge of the street. Most shops and booths have doors open and are so tiny that you can say 'adios' every time you pass by. (they say 'adios' in passing here, not 'hi' like we do in the US) We feel 'at home' here with our new friends and routines. The good thing here is that you get to see your friends frequently since everyone is outside in the open. We'll REALLY miss that when we leave. The lady from the Post Office knows us too and told us on the street that our letters from Pompa (my dad) and Kristina had come, and the boxes from the Zachrys! Thanks for the mail and packages!! It was like Christmas!
The girls told you all about diving. I was hoping that if I had Stephanie sit in on all the classes that she'd want to try it. Yea! I am not fond of deep water, although I've enjoyed water skiing in the past. I was so excited to try my first dive! I made sure all of us took motion sickness pills. I have to take them on flights too. We had to wait on the boat while the captain tried to get the 2nd engine started. Up and down we rocked with the exhaust of an engine in the air....oh....'please get us in the water!,' I was thinking. We finally got in the water and had to be on our knees in about 5 feet of water to do practice drills. The currents were so strong that I rocked back and forth for 40 minutes. Needless to say, once we finally dove 40 feet I was so dizzy that I hardly noticed the beauty of the reef. It made me dizzy even to look to try to find my instructor who I was supposed to be following. Once we ascended and I reached the waving surface of the Caribbean, I could hear everyone talking about the wonderful things they saw, while I was throwing up. I felt wiped out for the whole next 24 hours. I DID like the ability to breathe underwater and what I did see of the reef was so colorful that it looked like Disney's Submarine ride.......manmade.........amazing that it's real and alive!
By our 2nd dive, I took medicine again, and hoped it'd be better. This dive was again to 40 feet. I had Tatiana as my partner this time. She's wonderful! A tiny(size 1),lively , pretty, not bilingual, but quin lingual(5 languages) , energetic, fun,kind, intelligent, lady who is owner of the dive shop and our personal instructor. Even though I was already dizzy, she led me by the hand, so I was able to look around at my surroundings while we swam, and I saw fish, sea fans(my favorite huge, lavender colored leaf-looking plants), and what amazed me most was looking forward into the ocean and seeing the water go on forever. I have to admit that I did picture what it'd look like for a shark to swim toward us through the dark waters ahead, then I just focused on where we were and on the fact that Tatiana has done this for 14 years and over 3,000 dives and is just fine! When we reached the bottom, and she had me stand there, the movement of the water made me feel so sick again. I found out that at 40 feet under the ocean, you can throw up with a regulator in your mouth! Actually, I did that 2 times under water that day, and once in the boat. Whew! Amanda heard me say that I will NEVER be doing this again! The dizziness stayed with me again for a day-kinda like feeling like you're still roller skating after taking off your skates(I'm dating myself). It was hard for me to decide if I should finish my certification with my last day of diving.Why? I'd never do that again on purpose! But it was under the water that was fun and fine, so I waited until the boat was ready to leave before I got on ( no exhaust and rocking) . When a boat is speeding through the water, I'm fine; it's the rocking that gets me! I stared at the beach (stationary landmarks) as we rode in the boat.Tatiana made sure we got me quickly into the water. That dive was my favorite!! I'm SO happy I didn't quit! When you're not sick and dizzy, underwater is so much fun! I was able to look all around at 60 feet under at a boat 'wreck',the corals, sea worms, cool fish of all colors and shapes- God is SO creative! My favorite part was when we dove to 40 feet under to a sandy patch and got to stick our fins into the sand and we all did forward and backward flips. It felt so free and looked so neat underwater to watch Stephanie and Amanda do their tricks too. There was a bicycle down there. Next time we go down, I'm going to ride it- or try to! The girls rejoiced with me that I finally had a dive that I didn't get sick on! Woo-hoo! Andi and Bonnie were waiting for us on the dock when we returned. I hurried out of the boat - but once I hit the dock.......you guessed it.........I didn't want to get sick in front of everyone, so I ran to find a restroom and threw up again! Oh well! We have 2 more "fun dives" that we can use later. I'll probably save my "fun dives" for when the Weber family comes here in September. I told the girls, " I've had enough 'fun dives' for now" Ha. Honestly, it really was worth it all!
On a ministry note, Tatiana said that she'd been talking about us to the lady at the Methodist church and she wants to introduce us because the lady might want us to do a Bible Club for kids or youth. No details yet. Sunjam is going on here, and Tatiana is in charge of that too. She'll introduce us when Sunjam is over - about Aug 12 or so. The girls told you about our other instructor, Leon. It's so exciting that he seems interested in knowing the gospel -seems like for the first time! He, Tatiana, and a few others want us to offer a class on sign language. I've asked them to introduce us to deaf people here. There's only a few- the main one lives in the Cays(keys), little islands nearby. I hope we get to do that. We do have a VBS scheduled for the last week of August at the Baptist Church. I'd asked the Pastor's wife if she could pray about being available to teach a new believers class to disciple the women who will want to learn more, and Jose to pray about the same, but for men. Pastor Julio said last night that all that is in place and ready now for new converts, so now we just wait for the harvest. Pray for God to draw in the ones he's calling and for God to use us in it where He want us.
Our landlord has lowered the rent for August and September so it fits into the budget! We'll know the balance of our budget better once we get home and see what other monies I've saved on other bills. Thank you to you who have donated to this ministry and trip!! We notice every bit and really appreciate it! We're amazed that we're here!
It is SO encouraging when we get on the blog and see comments from you! It really makes us feel we're not at all alone in this, and that you're a part, sharing this experience with us. We feel closer to each of you, too. It's cute how all of you are getting to know my Aunt Becky and Uncle Ed very well! You're amazing Aunt Becky and Uncle Ed! Thanks for all your daily loving encouragement on the blog! :-)
We've learned how to make some good food here. We look forward to trying the new recipes out on all of you when we get home!
With love,
Denise
Monday, August 4, 2008
¿Porqué nosotros aqui? Why are we here? ~By Amanda
I definitely believe that I am God's workmanship created in Christ to do the works that he prepared in advance for me to do (Ephesians 2:10)
In Utila my days are filled with joy, excitement, new experiences, fun, and learning, tons of new knowledge is finding it's place in my mind. We are in contact with so many people every moment of the day. Some who have lived here their whole life, some who came for a week.... three years ago, and others who are just passing through. Conversation usually starts with, "English?" then goes onto, "Where are you from.... What brought you to Utila.... What other travels have you gone on?" The people here are just amazing! Most of them haven't been to their real "home" in years. They only country jump. I love it! Each person has a reason for being where they are, whether it's, "I've been all over Central America but never Utila..." or, "A friends mentioned it so I came..." the reasons are countless. When I've been asked the question, "Why are you here?" my answer has been, "I'm learning Spanish." Which in all reality is the total truth. My family packed up and left to Utila, a place we knew nothing about for three months, to learn Spanish. In fact even one week before we were on the plane, we were still asking, "Are we going to do this or not?" But although it's truth... there's more. Why are we learning Spanish? Why this Island?
Yes, two years of a foreign language is a high school requirement. But as a servant to the Most High King, I know that God equips us with things He has a purpose for. But not only will he use our Spanish once we get home again, there is a reason that we are on this Island, seeing the same people, interacting, making friends. There is a reason we have the Zalaya's as landlords, Alma and Diana as Spanish teachers, Tatiana as a Dive Instructor, and those assistants on the boat(Zack, Leon, and Danielle)
As you all know, we came prepared with our Child Evangelism Fellowship Curriculum and the Jesus Film for whatever opportunity God opened, and will open. So far, we have a five-day club set for in the evenings at the end of this month. As far as the Jesus Film goes, we've still been praying about when, and where. Mom found out that for $25 we could play it all day in the theater here, just advertise a free movie. Pastor didn't think anyone would come... but even one life... one soul... We'll see what God leads us to do. But for now, we see even our very lives, living day to day, have been a light- a witness. Everyone at the dive shop has noticed we were different than they were, it's somewhat cute to watch them relate to us. One man, Leon, has lived in Utila his entire life. He speaks español y English. He noticed the bracelet that I was wearing. The one with the gospel colors creating it's rubber band. He said it was cool. I told him that he could get one if he was able to tell the story that went with it. ''A story? There's a story that goes to that bracelet?" I began to tell the story, but not knowing how interested he was in hearing it, I was giving a shortened version.... thankfully Andi wouldn't settle for leaving John 3:16 out of this important story, so she took over. She asked him what sin was, to which he replied, "You're asking me? I don't know... maybe smoking and drinking, because it's bad for your body. God wouldn't like that, right?" Later when she got to Jesus, he was asked, " Who is Jesus?" again he said, "You're asking me.... umm.... " he looked down, and gave a little laugh, "uh, you kind of caught me off guard here, how 'bout you tell me." Once we were done telling him all the parts of the bracelet, he seemed to be thinking... he thanked Andi for the story, then said that his mom was a big church go-er, still is... so he's gone some, and he prays sometimes.... He said though that he believes there are four elements to life; Spiritual, Physical, Emotional, and Mental(intelligence) He said often times people focus too much time on one or the other. A strong man could be totally clueless to spiritual things, and one who was intelligent could be highly emotionally unstable ect. He said he felt as if he were able to find a balance to them all, he would truly find God. He kept talking, so we listened. Later Mom was able to tell him that in the Bible, Jesus grew in all the areas he was talking about. (Luke 2:52) It was a profitable conversation. I told him about Solomon, who was searching for the meaning in life. "The book of Ecclesiastes, in the Bible, is all about his journey finding the purpose of existence." We explained that he found the study of books to have no end, and that everything he sought was meaningless... "At the very end, he finally tells you what the purpose and meaning of life is. I'm not going to tell you though, because I would like you to read it. All of it. It's very good!" He seemed disappointed at that, but conversation carried on. We later remembered that he probably doesn't have a Bible. The next time we saw him, the time wasn't right. So we carried on normal casual conversation. But whenever God opens the opportunity again, we have Ecclesiastes marked in a Bible we'll let him borrow.
Prayer Reminders:
Tatiana & her husband Alfred
Leon
Josè - No fear, but strength to follow the passion in his heart to serve God in English and español.
My family - As God begins to work more in us, Satan will do his best to ruin our witness
I can't remember her name right now, but God does, she's a lady who has gone through a lot these past two years, and needs certain things financially. I think Mom will tell you more about her later.
Thank you!
DIVING!
our last dive, was by far my favorite! Mom didn't get sea sick, and it was to sixty feet. Because of the depth Bonnie and Andi were not able to come. But we saw so many cute fish, squids, and beautiful coral.... but my favorite part.... we went to a dive site called something moon... maybe moon walk, I can't remember for sure, but it's name came from the fact that it is one giant circular sand patch surrounded by the coral wall. there we did fun exercises like weightlessly floating, taking off our mask, reg, bcd ect. But, we also took our fins off, stuck them in the sand, and did flips! Front flips... back flips... it was SO much fun! Because we are in training we aren't able to take pictures, but now that it's over, we can rent a camera, pay for fun dives, and go back. That spot is only 40' so Bonnie and Andi can come too! I know, my story of diving isn't very detailed.... my main focus for this post was our mission. But I will tell you about the very first 'dive', we were under water doing exercises, I felt like it was difficult to breath, and the whole time I just wanted "real air" when we surfaced, we all checked our gages to see how much air we had used. Before the dive I had a little over 3,000 psi.... I was hearing everyone say, "I now have 1,500.... 2,000...." I just kind of laughed and said.... "umm" They looked and were like, "wow, you just held your breath for 40 min." .... so I explained it was difficult, and they switched me to my alternate reg.... but it's definitely a story to remember. :D
Anyway.... That's all I can say for now. I do love Spanish!
'Till the Sunrise,
Servant to the King,
Amanda
In Utila my days are filled with joy, excitement, new experiences, fun, and learning, tons of new knowledge is finding it's place in my mind. We are in contact with so many people every moment of the day. Some who have lived here their whole life, some who came for a week.... three years ago, and others who are just passing through. Conversation usually starts with, "English?" then goes onto, "Where are you from.... What brought you to Utila.... What other travels have you gone on?" The people here are just amazing! Most of them haven't been to their real "home" in years. They only country jump. I love it! Each person has a reason for being where they are, whether it's, "I've been all over Central America but never Utila..." or, "A friends mentioned it so I came..." the reasons are countless. When I've been asked the question, "Why are you here?" my answer has been, "I'm learning Spanish." Which in all reality is the total truth. My family packed up and left to Utila, a place we knew nothing about for three months, to learn Spanish. In fact even one week before we were on the plane, we were still asking, "Are we going to do this or not?" But although it's truth... there's more. Why are we learning Spanish? Why this Island?
Yes, two years of a foreign language is a high school requirement. But as a servant to the Most High King, I know that God equips us with things He has a purpose for. But not only will he use our Spanish once we get home again, there is a reason that we are on this Island, seeing the same people, interacting, making friends. There is a reason we have the Zalaya's as landlords, Alma and Diana as Spanish teachers, Tatiana as a Dive Instructor, and those assistants on the boat(Zack, Leon, and Danielle)
As you all know, we came prepared with our Child Evangelism Fellowship Curriculum and the Jesus Film for whatever opportunity God opened, and will open. So far, we have a five-day club set for in the evenings at the end of this month. As far as the Jesus Film goes, we've still been praying about when, and where. Mom found out that for $25 we could play it all day in the theater here, just advertise a free movie. Pastor didn't think anyone would come... but even one life... one soul... We'll see what God leads us to do. But for now, we see even our very lives, living day to day, have been a light- a witness. Everyone at the dive shop has noticed we were different than they were, it's somewhat cute to watch them relate to us. One man, Leon, has lived in Utila his entire life. He speaks español y English. He noticed the bracelet that I was wearing. The one with the gospel colors creating it's rubber band. He said it was cool. I told him that he could get one if he was able to tell the story that went with it. ''A story? There's a story that goes to that bracelet?" I began to tell the story, but not knowing how interested he was in hearing it, I was giving a shortened version.... thankfully Andi wouldn't settle for leaving John 3:16 out of this important story, so she took over. She asked him what sin was, to which he replied, "You're asking me? I don't know... maybe smoking and drinking, because it's bad for your body. God wouldn't like that, right?" Later when she got to Jesus, he was asked, " Who is Jesus?" again he said, "You're asking me.... umm.... " he looked down, and gave a little laugh, "uh, you kind of caught me off guard here, how 'bout you tell me." Once we were done telling him all the parts of the bracelet, he seemed to be thinking... he thanked Andi for the story, then said that his mom was a big church go-er, still is... so he's gone some, and he prays sometimes.... He said though that he believes there are four elements to life; Spiritual, Physical, Emotional, and Mental(intelligence) He said often times people focus too much time on one or the other. A strong man could be totally clueless to spiritual things, and one who was intelligent could be highly emotionally unstable ect. He said he felt as if he were able to find a balance to them all, he would truly find God. He kept talking, so we listened. Later Mom was able to tell him that in the Bible, Jesus grew in all the areas he was talking about. (Luke 2:52) It was a profitable conversation. I told him about Solomon, who was searching for the meaning in life. "The book of Ecclesiastes, in the Bible, is all about his journey finding the purpose of existence." We explained that he found the study of books to have no end, and that everything he sought was meaningless... "At the very end, he finally tells you what the purpose and meaning of life is. I'm not going to tell you though, because I would like you to read it. All of it. It's very good!" He seemed disappointed at that, but conversation carried on. We later remembered that he probably doesn't have a Bible. The next time we saw him, the time wasn't right. So we carried on normal casual conversation. But whenever God opens the opportunity again, we have Ecclesiastes marked in a Bible we'll let him borrow.
Prayer Reminders:
Tatiana & her husband Alfred
Leon
Josè - No fear, but strength to follow the passion in his heart to serve God in English and español.
My family - As God begins to work more in us, Satan will do his best to ruin our witness
I can't remember her name right now, but God does, she's a lady who has gone through a lot these past two years, and needs certain things financially. I think Mom will tell you more about her later.
Thank you!
DIVING!
our last dive, was by far my favorite! Mom didn't get sea sick, and it was to sixty feet. Because of the depth Bonnie and Andi were not able to come. But we saw so many cute fish, squids, and beautiful coral.... but my favorite part.... we went to a dive site called something moon... maybe moon walk, I can't remember for sure, but it's name came from the fact that it is one giant circular sand patch surrounded by the coral wall. there we did fun exercises like weightlessly floating, taking off our mask, reg, bcd ect. But, we also took our fins off, stuck them in the sand, and did flips! Front flips... back flips... it was SO much fun! Because we are in training we aren't able to take pictures, but now that it's over, we can rent a camera, pay for fun dives, and go back. That spot is only 40' so Bonnie and Andi can come too! I know, my story of diving isn't very detailed.... my main focus for this post was our mission. But I will tell you about the very first 'dive', we were under water doing exercises, I felt like it was difficult to breath, and the whole time I just wanted "real air" when we surfaced, we all checked our gages to see how much air we had used. Before the dive I had a little over 3,000 psi.... I was hearing everyone say, "I now have 1,500.... 2,000...." I just kind of laughed and said.... "umm" They looked and were like, "wow, you just held your breath for 40 min." .... so I explained it was difficult, and they switched me to my alternate reg.... but it's definitely a story to remember. :D
Anyway.... That's all I can say for now. I do love Spanish!
'Till the Sunrise,
Servant to the King,
Amanda
Sunday, August 3, 2008
scuba,scuba,scuby-duby-duba here i go scuba, come on! ~by bonnie~
Before I tell you all about my dives I have to say something, WOW!!! I adore diving! but I'm so disappointed that I'm not fifteen yet, because I have to be a Jr. diver. That means I can only go down to forty feet and not sixty. What a disappointment.
Okay, Tuesday morning seven a.m. we are all on the dock of Parrots Dive Shop, waiting, and we waited there for a few hours until the Capt. John had the engine running..............wait a moment, this is a motor boat. I've never been in one of these. All I the boats I've ever been in are, a row b., paddle b., and a canoe. So this was a my First time on a motor boat! It was GREAT!!! I love them! I was so made for water! At around ten we did our ten min. swim or float. Then we got back in the boat and put on our mask, snorkel, and fins. Tatiana (witch means fairy queen) said okay who was number one? Well that was me, she said all right, put you weight belt on and jump in. Won't I sink since I have my weight belt on. Yes, you will, that's why when you jump in you will kick up and then straddle the BCD and you will float; so jump in. I was the first one to jump in with my weight belt on! Once we were all in the water we swam to shallower water (since we were in like twenty feet of water) put our BCD on and did forty min. of confined water session. It was really cool about half way through class a little reddish seahorse less than a inch tall came swimming right among us! After our session was over we went on another dive to forty feet, the stuff that I did see was just beautifull and breath taking. but......... I had this little problem, my mask just didn't like to keep the water out, it seemed to really like to be full of water at all times. So during my first dive I became an expert at mask clearing!
My second dive was much more pleasant. My mask love to be dry and keep the water out, if some water got in, it would let me clear it happily. We didn't see as many fish because it was dustier, the sand was kinda stirred up at the bottom. I love dive and I want to go on to be a Jr.adv. diver. This is even a course you could take in college! well that's all for now folks!
~Con Espinas viene Rosas~
*Bonnie
P.S.
I wanted to be able to see the wreak sights and dive inside them but they are to deep for my certification.
Okay, Tuesday morning seven a.m. we are all on the dock of Parrots Dive Shop, waiting, and we waited there for a few hours until the Capt. John had the engine running..............wait a moment, this is a motor boat. I've never been in one of these. All I the boats I've ever been in are, a row b., paddle b., and a canoe. So this was a my First time on a motor boat! It was GREAT!!! I love them! I was so made for water! At around ten we did our ten min. swim or float. Then we got back in the boat and put on our mask, snorkel, and fins. Tatiana (witch means fairy queen) said okay who was number one? Well that was me, she said all right, put you weight belt on and jump in. Won't I sink since I have my weight belt on. Yes, you will, that's why when you jump in you will kick up and then straddle the BCD and you will float; so jump in. I was the first one to jump in with my weight belt on! Once we were all in the water we swam to shallower water (since we were in like twenty feet of water) put our BCD on and did forty min. of confined water session. It was really cool about half way through class a little reddish seahorse less than a inch tall came swimming right among us! After our session was over we went on another dive to forty feet, the stuff that I did see was just beautifull and breath taking. but......... I had this little problem, my mask just didn't like to keep the water out, it seemed to really like to be full of water at all times. So during my first dive I became an expert at mask clearing!
My second dive was much more pleasant. My mask love to be dry and keep the water out, if some water got in, it would let me clear it happily. We didn't see as many fish because it was dustier, the sand was kinda stirred up at the bottom. I love dive and I want to go on to be a Jr.adv. diver. This is even a course you could take in college! well that's all for now folks!
~Con Espinas viene Rosas~
*Bonnie
P.S.
I wanted to be able to see the wreak sights and dive inside them but they are to deep for my certification.
Friday, August 1, 2008
I"M TOTALLY AMAZED! by Denise
I just realized the last time I blogged was "our first Sunday " here in Utila! It's time for MOM to post again! ..........There's so many exciting things happening that God is orchestrating by himself! ...........but I'm too tired now and am the last one to get the shower........so I'll tell all the exciting things later! Bye for now!
Denise
Denise
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