First Day in Leon

So.. it's like midnight here in Leon, and I can't sleep for thinking about such a great day I had today and all the many exciting possibilities that I may have to serve here.

Mom and I got in late (almost midnight here) last night to the hostel.  I am staying at Harvest House in Leon, which is a hostel right beside Tamara's house.  It is really nice, and the owner, Jason, has done a wonderful job with remodeling it and making it feel more like a home than just a place to stay.  I have a room in the back of a house with a full/queen size bed, a closet/shelf rack to put my clothes and other personal items, and my own bathroom.  I also have access to a full kitchen with all the cookware and utensils provided.  The hostel has a lot of little spots to just sit and relax; I have already chosen a hammock that acts more like a porch swing for a future quiet time spot.  I really like it here so much so that I think I will stay here at least until the end of September, instead of till the end of this month like I had originally planned.

This morning, Mom and I got up a little before 9:00 (I know that's impressive for those of you who know how late I can sleep).  First thing I had to do was go buy water because Mom and I were dying of thirst!  We got cleaned up and unpacked all my things. While we were unpacking, Tamara came over with Milagros, her almost 3 year old Nicaraguan daughter.  For those of you who haven't heard of Milagros, her name means "Miracles" and she truly is a miracle.  Tamara has had her since she was about 4 months old. She found her in the hospital here in Leon, and she was very small and malnourished.  Tamara brought her home to take care of her and stayed with her ever since then.  Milagros has had a lot of complications, which includes infantile seizures and impaired vision, and last August, the doctors told Tamara that she would never be able to walk.  However, they must have not known that she lives up to her name because she walked in with Tamara to come see me in my room!  She has been walking by herself without having to hold on to walls or anything else for almost a month now.  She is a true testament of how with God all things are possible and faith and prayer is the most powerful regimen to any problem!

My friend, Raquel, and my boyfriend, Luis, came over around lunch time, and we ate lunch with Tamara in her house that was prepared by her help and my wonderful friend, Patzy.  After lunch and visiting, Raquel, Luis, Mom, and I went exploring Leon.  First, we went to see Luis's new office for his business, I Feel Nicaraguan.  It's so nice! I could tell Luis was so proud of it!  I also got to meet his business partner, Edwin, whom I really look forward to getting to know better!  After visiting the office, we went on a tour of the Cathedral of Leon, the biggest cathedral in Nicaragua and the third largest in Latin America.  We got to go on the roof that overlooks the city and the land around it. Supposedly, you could see 11 volcanoes from there, but I only saw about 5, which is still really cool.  Finally, we went to my favorite souvenir spot in my plaza, La Plaza de Carmen, and let Mom look at some jewelry and meet my friend who runs the place.

As you can imagine, after an afternoon like that and walking around, we were beat!  It's pretty hot here, although it's not as hot as it has been in Tennessee.  However, there's no air conditioning, and after walking around the city, our feet hurt and ankles started to swell.  So Mom, Raquel, and I rested a little bit and ate dinner at a little house/restaurant down the street, while Luis went off to work out at the gym.  It was really good to use that time to catch up and talk to Raquel.  It was funny seeing Mom and Raquel trying to communicate, even though I translated for them most of the time.  I am so glad to have her as my friend and look forward to hanging out with her more.  We already talked about doing a Bible study together, and I pray that God will show me where to begin.

In the evening, Luis came back to the hostel to take Mom and I to his house to meet his family.  I was so excited to see his family again; I love them so much! His mom was so sweet to us; she had made us fried chicken and rice (even though we had eaten already but we took it to go) and she made a drink with my favorite Nicaraguan fruit- pitaya.  (Pitaya is a purple fruit that supposedly comes from a cactus.)  We had a great visit with his mom (Margarita), his sisters (Ingrid and Cynthia), and his little 2 year old niece (Natalia).  Natalia entertained us most of the time; she is so precious!  She is a bundle of energy and a handful, but she is super smart!  Luis taught her to say, "My name is Natalia" in English and German.  What melted my heart though was to see that she remembered me and can now say my name right.  Before, she called me "Carne" which means "meat" in Spanish, haha.  Now, she says my name so clearly, and her mom tells me that she asks for me all the time when I'm not there.  We had a really good visit with Luis's family, and I thank God that I did so well translating between my mom and Luis's mom.

Well, we came back to the hostel around 9:00 pm but went over to Tamara's house beforing coming back to get ready for bed.  I got to meet Tamara's newest house guest, Freddy, who is a 10 year old Nicaraguan boy.  Freddy was homeless by himself, and having met him before through a friend, Tamara invited/convinced him to stay at her house.  He's been staying for a week there, and I can tell that God has a big plan for his time there and for his life.

I feel like I could write so much more, but my computer battery is about to run out!  A few quick things you are probably wanting to know:

1.  Things have been wonderful with Luis and he has been so sweet with my mom.  Last night, he was a little bit nervous to speak English today, but today, he showed all around Leon and took such good care of her!  It's been so wonderful to share time with both him and Mom!  It's made me love him even more!

2.  Prayer request: 
Tamara is in the process of trying to adopt Milagros, which is a long process and very risky because the government can take Mila away at any time. 

The first group come on Thursday.  Some will be working on a Sunday school building in a community called El Paraiso, and others will be doing VBS/evangelism/dental.

I have so many projects I want to start like helping Patzy, Luis, and Raquel with their English, helping Tamara's boys with Spanish, going over to help the kids in the other JCM house, starting a Bible study, etc.  I know I can't do this at once or much of it while the groups are here!  I just need patience and direction to know what to do and when to start!

Pray that Mom continues to do well and that she will get used to the heat.

Pray that I will stay focused on Jesus and connected to the Vine.  It's really hard for me to find time to do my quiet time and read my Bible or pray.  This is the most important thing for me to do because I cannot do anything if I am not near to the Lord and enabled by His Spirit.

Well, that is all for now.  I think I am going to try to sleep a little bit before starting a new long day.  I hope everyone is doing well and is blessed.  Hasta pronto!  Later!