Brief update.. but not so brief

So, I have been putting off writing on my blog long enough!  The past few months have been somewhat busy, so I hadn't really had much time to sit down and write.  Fortunately, today is somewhat of a holiday here in Nicaragua because yesterday was the local government elections here and most people are off.  Therefore, since some of my teaching plans have changed, I have time to sit down and write this!

Let me start out by telling you a little bit about what happened in September:
1) I experienced my first earthquake (it was in Costa Rica but the aftershock was felt here)
2)  San Cristobol (the biggest volcano in Nicaragua) erupted. We didn't have any effects from that here in Leon but several communities around the volcano had to be evacuated because of the ash.
3)  I finished teaching my first course at the university.  Teaching 24 students ages 13-30s for 4 hours on Saturday morning is rough, but it was a good experience!
4)  I stopped going on Thursdays to teach English with La Isla in Chichigalpa.  Paying for transportation to get there and back was adding up, and I felt like it was something I needed to move on from.
5)  Tamara and I started going out to El Paraiso during the week to visit the women and talk to them about future projects.
6)  Tamara, a few other missionaries, and I met together to talk about working together to minister to the street kids and pray for them.
7) I translated a week for Ridgepoint Church.  It was a small group of 6, but such great people!  We did street evangelism, a pastor's conference, and a clown conference.  I got to translate the clown conference; it was so much fun!  Through the street evangelism, I met a 15 year old girl, Lissette, that lives on the street and started trying to get to know her and minister to her.

8) I got ENGAGED!!! Luis asked me to marry him on September 25. It was so sweet... he set up and cooked a romantic candlelight dinner in his office.  He hid the ring in the dessert.. strawberries and chocolate!

At the end of September, I went home for about 2 and 1/2 weeks.  It was so strange to be home after making Nicaragua my home for 3 months.  It was great to get a break from the heat, not have to sweat all the time, and take hot showers.  I had a wonderful time visiting with my family and my friends.... I feel like the trip was worth it just for that.  I got to go to Huntsville, AL with my dad to visit my aunt Martha and uncle Rick and see my cousin Molly and meet my new beautiful baby cousin, Mackenzie!  I was able to spend good quality time with my mom, my dad, my brother, and my grandparents; we celebrated my granddaddy Fox's, my brother's, and my mom's birthdays. I am so thankful for that time with them!  I also was able to spend time with some of my best friends.  I was fortunate enough that I could go to Carson-Newman College homecoming and see all my friends from college! 

I also got to share a little bit about Nicaragua at the Senior Citizen Center in Coalfield and at my grandparents' Sunday school class at First Baptist Clinton.  It's such a blessing to be able to share my experiences and what God is doing.

On the way back to Nicaragua, I made a brief visit to see my friend/ aunt Lily in Miami, and I had such a wonderful time with her and her husband, Howard, and daugher, Ivanna.  They are such great people, and I am so thankful to have them in my life.

I got back to Nicaragua October 18, and I have been busy again working with Tamara and her family, teaching English, and working on wedding plans!!!!  I am living with Tamara now, and Tamara and I have been going out to El Paraiso once a week to teach sewing classes.  Our goal is to teach the women in the community how to make things to sell so they can provide for their families and communities.  So far, they have learned how to make reversible headbands and the beginnings of using the electric sewing machine.  It's going to take more time than we thought to teach them to make things, because although some know how to sew by hand or a manual machine, that electric machine just gets away from them!!!

I started another Saturday class at the University.  This time I have level 14 students, the last level in the language school.  I have about 10-11 students, and they are so smart and motivated!  It amazes me that some of them just started studying English about 1 year and 1/2 ago, and now they are practically fluent!! I am enjoying working with them so much.  So far I have only taught about 2 classes because we had a day off this Saturday (due to elections) and next Saturday (due to high school exams).  I might have another opportunity to teach classes during the week Mon.-Thurs. for 2 hours each if they have enough students to open another class.

I also have been helping Tamara and her boys off and on with their Spanish, although not as much as I'd like or they need.  They are leaving to go to the United States next week, November 13, so my time teaching them is limited.  I am still teaching Tamara's house helper, Patzy, English when she is able to take a break, and I hope to continue to do that while the family is gone.

A lot of my plans will change when the family leave, but Luis and I still plan to go out to El Paraiso on Sundays and at least one other day a week.  Luis has been preaching every Sunday, and it has been amazing to see how God has been working in his life.  Just over the past few months, God has released him from so many things including worry about work and debt.  Unfortunately, his business has not gone well and has decided to close it down for the moment, but maybe in the future, he will open it up apart from his business partner.  He has been looking for jobs, but jobs are so hard to come by in Nicaragua, especially Leon.  He had been so stressed about figuring out how to pay his bills and finding a job, but he kept trusting in God.  Now, we can claim that the $9,000 that he owed for his debts is completely gone!!!  He had owed on his motorcycle, which he sold, but the business shut down.  He had owed for the business loan he had, but his partner told him not to worry about it.  He is completely free from financial debt, and it was God's doing!  He's still looking for a job. He had several opportunites in Managua (2 hours away), but those doors have been closed (I say thankfully).  Now, he might have an opportunity to work as a supervisor at a popular restaurant chain here in Leon!!! We are hoping and praying this will work out!

Thankfully, Luis and I have had a lot of time to make wedding preparations.  We have set a date:  March 25, 2013.  We already confirmed with the church and the reception site.  Our reception will be at the popular El Convento hotel, and they take care of the set up and catering.  We have met with the florist and picked out our flowers.  We've talked to a suit shop about making Luis's suit and renting suits for the groomsmen.  In the US, I ordered my dress and picked out my bridesmaid dresses!  I am so excited that things are coming together so quickly and so easily!

Well, I believe I have summed up the majority of what has been happening.  There have been some great things going on, and at the same time, I know there has been a spiritual battle happening with me and those around me.  I have been having some personal health issues and bad acne breakouts which have really worked on my energy and self esteem.  Nevertheless, I am learning what it means "to be content whatever the circumstances." (Phillipians 4:11)  Sometimes it's so easy to let our happiness depend on how we feel, what we are doing, what we have, or what we don't have.  However, happiness depending on circumstances is not true joy; true joy only comes from Jesus.  I am having to look to Him for joy, strength, and self-significance.  And looking at Jesus, one can't help but be joyful in knowing that the God of the Universe loved me from the beginning of time, made me for who I am, saved me from the sin that tries to strangle who God is bringing me to be, chose to have a personal relationship with me, and is preparing me not only for blessings here on earth but for an eternal inheritance that includes a storehouse of blessings in His Holy dwelling place.  So from now on, I am going to hold to those promises and search intently to look into Jesus's radiant face.. and all these other problems will dissolve.

Thank you for reading another novel, haha. Please pray for us here, including our health.  Milagros had dengue fever, which is contracted from mosquitoes, last week, but thankfully, she is completely better.  One of the kids in the other house, Juancito, can't walk or talk and lately he has been really sick with pneumonia and a throat infection.  Also, Ingrid, Luis's sister, has had several complications; supposedly she had a "stroke" today, but I don't really know if that's what happened since she is only 18 and she is already home from the hospital.  Anyways, please pray for her.

I will continue to remember you and everyone while I am here in Nicaragua.  Love you all and God bless.