what happens now?

hey everyone. i've been home for almost two weeks now. what a journey i have been on. incredible, life changing, and focusing. i've been substitute teaching in local schools up here in michigan and if that hasn't done anything else, it has made me realize how much my heart felt at home working in the dominican.

i'm not sure who all is still reading this but i will try to keep updating how i am doing. i know that i'm not on the mission field anymore, but i'm planning on going back and maybe you want to know how that is going. right now i'm planning on having a meeting with brook brotzman sometime in october. if you don't remember he's the president of G.O. Ministries.

until i write again.

two sundays left

yes indeed, sunday morning. i'm about ready to head out the door. it's almost 9 in the morning and i'm playing guitar for church again. church starts at 10 i believe or 1030. or actually since we're in the dominican republic it's whenever we get around to it. lol. here i am in my new church shirt. i bought it for 90 pesos which is a little less than $3. thank you thank you. it has been a great last week here. and i say last here because like you all know, i'm heading to the batey's for 5 days next week. which is going to be even more fun. there will be lots of kids and people that have never had any type of sports activity organized for them. this is the ultimate kind of play. not playing to look good, not playing to win anything, no ulterior mortives, but these kids are going to be playing just to play. and this will also be a new place that i've never been to. how exciting.
also today, the coaches of the 5 week league that just finished are playing a game against another team from a place called pueblo nuevo. so that's right, i get to play. i am literally bouncing in my seat waiting to play. please Lord, don't let church go long. lol
last night was a blessing. it was a busy day before that. we helped paint one of the missionary's houses on the inside. and then we had the celebration for the basketball league. the kids got medals and each coach picked the player with the best attitude on the team to be the mvp and that player got a really nice jersey. people donate a lot of sports stuff to Will and these were new, extremely nice jerseys. and then everyone watched a slide show that Will put together. to music, lol, not just some slide show.
anyway, so after a long day me and some friends went out to eat pretty late. it was romano, carolina, leandro, and me. we walked to this small restaurant place, which was outdoor. we ordered and talked about all sorts of stuff. it was just a great night.
okay, i'll soon be with you all telling you about my time and how much i want to come back to live here and work here. pray for me for that, and just pray for me in general.

i love you all, thanks for reading.

the end, of the almost end

yes, that's right, this is the end of my second to the last week. i have one more week that we are going to be spending in the bateys doing sports with all ages of people. it will be quite a ministry opportunity. the pastor there, william, has told us that the entire community is very anxious for us to get there. our group is up to thirty people. the only americans are Will, his wife Audrey, another missionary Jackie, and me. there are three other women going, the kitchen women, marisol, karmin, and jessica. and the rest are dominican men. some work for G.O. others have been coaches in our 5 week league we just finished. and some are just guys that we want to use this opportunity of being together for a week to get to know them.

this past week i have spent a lot of time washing laundry. i've probably told this before, but when teams from america come down here they usually leave clothes to give to the pastors so the pastors can give them to people in the community that need them. well, someone has to wash those clothes before we give them to the pastors, usually an intern,.....me. when there were other interns here it wasn't so bad. someone to help, someone to talk to. but this week i kicked it into a higher gear and it's almost done. besides that, i've been able to spend time with some of the guys on the street. also, Will has been playing in a local tournament at the park. someone decided to have a basketball tournament between the different areas and streets. and last night Will's team lost the finals series so it's all done. it was fun to watch. to learn more about basketball terminology. to watch more dominican basketball, because it is different. and to spend time with a few of our new workers like my friend Alan. he speaks english, he's a great guy, he's about 6'3" or 6'4", and he's very very intelligent. but he's never even been to the airport.

my spanish keeps improving every day. i learn something new and i try and use it a lot.

today we are helping Jackie paint the inside of her apartment. then in the evening we have the party for the basketball league. all the kids are supposed to come and we'll hand out awards and trophies to the coaches and then there is a slide show that Will put together. the kids love. even the 18 year olds. it's gonna be a lot of fun. and i have to get ready for music tonight for youth group and tomorrow for church. so there is practice at 2 and at 4. i really love playing in church. i've learned more guitar since being down here. then i hope to go out to eat with Will and Audrey for supper. if you can just take a moment and thank God for those two, they really have been a blessing to me. then youth group at 8 if we get back in time.

i love you guys. thanks for reading. one more week left. and then i'm home. for a bit at least.