Happy reading...

Sorry it has been a couple of weeks. I promise you we have been very busy. Since I last posted, Jill and I have had many adventures with lots of language learning thrown into the mix. Our first trip that we went on was to Lake Atitlan and Chichicastenango (or Chichi for short). We really enjoyed this trip because most of it allowed us to experience their culture in a very unique way. We were able to ride in a lancha (or speed boat) across the lake which took a good 40 minutes. It was neat to be completely surrounded by volcanoes in a little dinky boat. As sketchy as the boat was, it definitely added to the excitement. Then once we arrived in the new little pueblo, or town, we went to visit one of their Mayan gods. Honestly, it was pretty creepy. Basically they took us back down this alleyway into this dumpy room with a very loud band playing instruments above us. This god was basically a wooden carving about 3 feet tall, wearing about 50 different ties, with a cigar stuck in its mouth. And we had to pay 5 Quetzales just to see it. You won’t find any pictures of the god because that cost more money. So we walk in and all these men are sitting in the smoky room surrounding the god and a lady gets on the floor and starts praying for him. I did an ‘in and out’ kind of viewing because it was pretty odd. But nonetheless, I was able to see one of the Mayan gods. Then, I think my favorite part of the trip was dinner on Saturday night. We went to this family owned restaurant where the 3 daughters played the marimba. The marimba is basically a huge wooden xylophone, and very popular here in Guatemala. It was so fun watching them play because we could tell the girls really enjoyed it! The rest of the weekend was pretty enjoyable. We went to a market and bought some different things, nothing too incredibly riveting. Then this weekend we went to the beautiful Semuc Champey. The car ride was a little too much being 10 hours each way, but I’d say the experience was quite worth it.
Here is a list of the crazy fun things from our adventurous weekend (most all of these pictures can be found via Facebook):

1. We slept in a tiki hut!
2. We hiked up to a view point to see the beautiful turquoise pools.
3. We swam in the pools and slid down from one to another on little slippery mud-like slides.
4. We tubed down the river.
5. We swam through a dark cave while holding candles, our only light! There are no pictures of this because I was afraid my camera wouldn’t make it, but it was incredible! The cave was pitch dark and some parts we couldn’t even touch the bottom, we were just treading water and trying to hold the candle up. We were in that thing about 2 hours. How nice it was to see daylight after the fact.
6. We met a very eclectic group of people who kept us constantly entertained.
It was a great weekend.

Then two weekends ago, Jill and I decided to stay here in Antigua. It was very relaxing and we found a really neat church to go to. It was most definitely planted here by people in the states, but it is called Iglesia del Camino, or Church of the Way (or path). Really, finding this church was an answered prayer. Since I have been in Guatemala, I have found it very difficult for some reason to sustain a healthy relationship with God. It is almost as though I had not been acknowledging him in my day to day. Before we visited this church, I did not even realize the distance I had created between me and Christ. When we arrived at the church and began singing, the words hit me like a ton of bricks. It was so refreshing to feel His presence again and rightfully acknowledge him. It completely caught me off guard how disconnected I had been when we started singing. I am so grateful for that day and have been trying so hard to sustain us since. I have realized very quickly that on days where I feel down or discouraged no one can revitalize me like Christ can. I’m not sure why I continually turn to other people or other things besides my relationship with Him, but I’m so thankful that He never gives up on me.
Well that is what has been going on so far. We have about a week and a half left and I am desperately trying to retain and take in as much Spanish as possible. Please be praying that I can absorb all that I’m being taught. Please also be praying that the Lord will rightfully prepare me to arrive in the Dominican. I have really high expectations for my time out there and truly want to be the very best I can be for those people and children. I also want to know how I can pray for you. Leave a comment with a pray request if you wish. If you have read all of this you must love me very much! I promise to continue keeping you updated and know that I miss you all.

Hasta pronto,
Audge