Happy Birthday Erikaaa!!

hey there! well, in case you havent noticed from the title, today is Erika's birthday! (im pretty sure its her 29th, right erika?) Manhia organized a surprise party for her with a group of teens and pre-teens. She arrived fashionably late, haha, but we had a good time and it was cool to have a chance to show our appreciation for how much she does in this community. love you Erika! = )
Now back to the begining of this week. We've started having girls soccer on mondays so i played with Ingrid, Joyce, Lais, and Maninha. My team one, despite me, and we had fun playing. Tuesday was a regular Tuesday with school, playground, and the study which went well even though there werent that many people there, but Wednesday Billiam, Patrick, and I shook things up. Patrick had an eye appointment at 11:30, so naturally we had to skip the whole day of school and run errands with Billiam, errands that included eating icecream at Mcdonald's. =D Then after the appointment we went to Erika's parent's house for lunch and hung around a little while before taking Douglas and Amanda to their dentist appointments, then went to the mall for dinner at the food court. We didnt make it back in time for the service, but it was a good day of "family time" seeing as Billiam is leaving tomorrow for the rig.
Thurdsay was another, more relaxing day out for Billiam, Patrick, and me. Dont worry, we didnt skip school again, but afterwards we went straight to the beach (which was a longer drive than i thought it was) and road 4-wheelers on the dunes! it was soo cool! well, exept for the part that i almost drove into a river and got my 4-wheeler stuck, then Patricks died and we spent 15 min. in the middle of nowhere trying to get it to work. haha. For dinner we at the best, biggest, and most shrimp i've ever had in my life! we sat at a table right near the ocean just talking about everything from school to work to Grupo CEO to God's awesome blessings that flow through our lives! Thanks for the day out Billiam! = )
Friday we, of course, had our teen meeting and i gave my devotional. (at the begining of the day i didnt think i was ready for it, but the Holy Spirit really gave me the words to say. and you know what i ended up talking about? the Holy Spirit. God is so good.) Benjamin, Douglas, and Joyce all gave their devotionals as well. Douglas even had all his verses memorized! I really love listening to the Word through as it comes out of their mouths cuz it shows what God is doing in their hearts and lives. Next week is Patrick, Fabrissio (sp?) and Alane. Pray 'em up!
Saturday was another Vestibular Simulado test which was no fun at all, but afterwards Patrick, Douglas, and i walked to the mall (walk a long way in the hot sun to the mall might i add..) and got some ice cream. But when we had money left over, we decided we should go buy a 2 litre of coke and use our ice-cream cups to drink it! so we sat in the middle of the mall drinking coke out of plastic ice-cream cups. it was a memorable experience! haha.
Sunday was a good day of rest for us and Billiam gave a really good sermon on the different relationships God has with us: Father-children, Master-disciples, Friend-friends, Shepherd-sheep, Vine-branches. Everyone was engaged the whole time which is always encouraging!
This week is just another 7 days full of opportunities! People at school are starting to ask questions about God and the Bible, people at Grupo CEO are starting see how they can apply Gods Word to their very own lives, daily! and even though things are soo much easier than they were when i got here, i still need my Jesus to be my Rock every single day! Im starting to undertand the importance of truly "seeking Him in the morning" and how much God can do with me if i can really "cast aside my fear". Im so blessed to know Him!
thanks for reading this and i hope you'll be blessed through it! Thank you for your prayers!
Until Next Time,
Jo