Letting God Do His ‘Thing’

I apologize for not writing the last couple months and I know I said for my 6^th month anniversary, I was going to answer any questions you guys sent me through my email or Facebook but unfortunately I only received two. I was hoping for more, hence this is one of the reasons why I didn’t write for the past months but there is still time to send me questions. When I receive enough I will answer them but for now, I will just keep writing my blogs just as I was before.

Ok…I want to be HONEST with you all, so here goes…These last couple of months have been very challenging for me, this is also the reason why I stopped writing my blog for a bit. In all honesty, I just wasn’t in the mood to write. I didn’t feel like there was anything good to share even though there was. I’ve been going through a roller coaster of emotions and events. I won’t go into detail, because I don’t think it’s right if I do, but let’s just say that I’ve been struggling with letting God take control of everything that is happening in my life, here and back home. It’s like I am fine with letting God do His thing but then sometimes, I’m like, woah woah woah, what just happened here? This wasn’t supposed to happen God? Especially when it hurts emotionally. Things that I never expected to happen or wanted to happen for that matter, happened. And what I dislike the most is that there is nothing that I can do about it, not anymore at least, just let it be, and let time heal everything. I’ll be honest and say, that the waiting part is the most difficult, I just want the pain to go away and fast but the reality is, is that it can’t and it won’t, so I’m stuck with dealing with myself right now. But besides all this I know that in the end, everything is going to be alright, because it always is and I will be a stronger, wiser and better person that has overcome a great challenge. This is the hardest lesson and test God has given me thus far and I want you all to know that I am grateful for it. And I’m letting God do His ‘thing’…lol.

Well, enough of that, it’s not all bad, just know that missionary work is not all rainbows and unicorns…haha… and it’s not suppose to be, right? All in all, I am still so glad and happy to be here in Bolivia. For the first time in my life, I am so sure about something, and that is that I’ve made the right decision on coming here, no matter how hard it’s been, no matter how many times I’ve wanted to give up, no matter the sacrifices I’ve had to make and no matter the blood, sweat and tears I’ve shed (…and I mean this in the literal sense…). I know God wants me here right now, and I’m going to try my very best to make these last few months the best ever!

So much has happened here. In March we celebrated Steph’s birthday! We made her cake and celebrated her day at the sisters’ house with dinner. She really enjoyed it; I think her favorite part was when all the kids sang her Happy Birthday! Also, Adam Rudin, our program director, came to visit us. It was really great seeing him again! In March we also got to experience Holy Week. We had adoration and did the Stations of the Cross out in Okinawa’s only paved road. It was pretty neat but our Easter Vigil mass was my favorite. I will never forget all those candles being lit up and how beautiful the church looked. It was wonderful.

In April, we were asked by Sor Ely (she is the high school principal) if we could join her and the senior class of San Francisco Xavier for mission week. Mission week, consisted of splitting up into three groups and travelling about 3 to 4 hours to get to three, very rural little communities. I was in the first group alongside Judy and a professor from the high school. We were in charge of 14 students. The teens had to work at the school with the kids of the community. They played games with them, sang songs and taught them in the classroom. It was a great experience for the senior class. They learned to give back and make a difference. I had a great time with them but it wasn’t easy. There were no beds so we slept on the floor and the amount of mosquitos was unbearable. The most interesting part of this whole experience was bathing in an outhouse (which smelled really, really bad). There were no showers, so the only thing we had was a white bucket, which we filled up with cold water, (that’s all there is) took it into the outhouse for privacy and used a bowl to scoop up the water. Boy, was that an experience. I will never forget that, and also the fact that we almost didn’t make it back home. There was a huge storm and all that rain caused the roads (dirt roads) to become slippery and dangerous. So it took us 9 hours to go back home instead of 4. Luckily we got home safely.

We recently finished our first trimester here in school. OMG! Was that something? I now have complete respect for all my teachers and for any one who is a teacher right now. GRADES ARE A PAIN IN THE…you know what! And I don’t know if Bolivia makes it that much harder…lol. Finding out how we were supposed to do grades was like pulling teeth… every teacher was telling us something different. They grade out of 70 here…idk why but that’s just how it is…but getting them to tell us exactly how they wanted them was just confusing…I mean even our principal didn’t exactly know, the only thing she cared about was if the font size and font type was the same…WHAT?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! You can careless about the content and the grades, but when the font and the outline is not exactly the way you want it, it has to be redone?! Oh lord…(Culture Clash Alert: this is somewhat of how Bolivian culture is…there are so many other things that really confuse me though, and I don’t think I’ll ever understand but I’ve just learned to accept them, can’t do anything else). Anyway…we got them done, one way or another…and we are really glad that’s over with. Now we know what to expect next time.

These last couple of months I also got to experience…LICE! The most uncomfortable experience EVER! (How I got them…we will never know…I just know that I have to be careful whenever the kids hug me. =/) It’s already bad enough having to deal with the lice on my head and that extreme itchiness that is just unbearable but the thought of being contagious was not fun. This was when I really missed my washing machine and dryer =(. I had to wash EVERYTHING by hand! Also, to get rid of lice you have to wash with hot water. In Bolivia only cold water comes out of the faucet, no hot water like back home. So I had to boil the water every time. Washing took FOREVER! Also it took me about a week to get rid of the lice on my head. I truly appreciate having site partners. Poor Judy and Steph had to check my head for nits twice a day; I know it wasn’t fun for them. I felt like a child. Luckily, they didn’t get any lice, and I hope they don’t either. I am now paranoid with any little itch on my head. I no longer use my hairbrush, instead I use a lice comb everyday. I don’t want to go through that again.

Recently I’ve been thinking about how physically uncomfortable it is to be here. I mean, we deal with mosquitos every single day (I get bitten everyday), then there is lice (not fun), two days ago I found a tick on my ankle (luckily I caught it before it bit me…at least, I think it didn’t bite me…I can’t tell the difference between bites anymore, I always just assume it’s a mosquito…maybe I should start being more aware…heh…), then there’s amoebas in your stomach (which …I should probably get checked again, my stomach hasn’t been feeling peachy lately…). I recently found out there is this really, really tiny insect that falls from the trees and bites you (don’t worry, these aren’t dangerous), I caught a bunch of them on me while I was outside looking for nits on my head. I kept feeling bites, and I thought it was probably mosquitos but whenever I looked at where I felt the bite, nothing was there, until I looked closer. The thought of having insects that tiny biting my skin makes me reeeeally uncomfortable. Sometimes I wonder what else is out there that we don’t know about…eeeeek.

(Oh…and we recently saw a tarantula in our yard…a BIG one! …We ran! Life in Bolivia is never dull…we joke around saying that our life here would make a really good sitcom…)

Besides all that…I still like it here =)

In May, I got to celebrate my birthday! It was so wonderful! The kids at Colegio San Francisco Xavier are amazing. The whole school sang Happy Birthday and I was given a rosary, which was perfect for the month of Mary! I got hugs left and right! =) My site partners made me enchiladas (They were amazing!) and gave me my own Bolivian version of a TIGGER! =) The sisters made me a cake and sang Happy Birthday as well, and gave me a cute Bolivian wallet! I had a great birthday, it was simple, but perfect. I felt the love pouring left and right! As you all know, this month is also Mary’s month and so the little town of Okinawa prays the rosary everyday at 5:15am. Different groups lead the rosary on different days, and we’ve led it a couple of times already. Luckily there’s only been one time where we had to wake up at 4:30am and put some megaphones on the truck and drive around Okinawa waking up people to come to the rosary. Other groups do this every morning. Even though the hard part is waking up, I love participating in it once I’m there. We walk from one end of the road and from there we head to church while praying the rosary and carrying our Blessed Mother. It’s really neat. Right now, the whole school is preparing for the big day, May 24^th. I can’t wait to see what surprises are in store that day =).

Well…that’s that. I know it’s long…but I just had a lot to say. Tomorrow I will be here 8 months, which means, I only have 4 months left. =( I’m going to make the most of it. I am excited for the next upcoming months especially because I’m going to Brazil in July for WYD! WOOT! Two firsts, I’ve never been to Brazil and this will be my first time going to WYD! I’m so excited! And I’m going to see our new Pope! Pope Francis! I feel so blessed!

Being here can be difficult at times, but there are so many times when each day is a blessing! I’ve learned to be thankful for what I do have rather than complain about what I don’t have (Or about what’s crawling on me…lol). I am also learning to be patient with God. Most of the time I don’t understand His plan but I’m teaching myself to just go with the flow. (let me tell ya…it’s not easy…) All I know is that every challenge I’m going through right now, I am learning from it…and I think that’s how God wants it to be.

Praying for you all.

God bless,

Lorena