SLACKER! I know that is what I am, sorry. It has been way too long since I have put an update on here. But I guess if you know me then my slacker quality doesn’t surprise you. So let’s see, what have I been up to in the last 10 days or so.
Quite honestly, nothing new has been going on. About the only thing I can think of is Mother Theresa orphanage. I would include pictures for you to see but we are not permitted to take pictures there. This orphanage is quite a bit different than the House of Moses. There are many more children at Mother Theresa and some of them are very sick. When you enter the room where the young babies and toddlers are, you are hit with such a repulsive and foul odor. The first time we went I literally started to gag and had to exit the room and was unable to go back in to play with the small kids that day. We have figured out that the best day to go visit is on Friday because on Thursdays they do a thorough cleaning that helps reduce the stench. When we went this past Friday there was a baby that was hooked up to an IV. A lot of the children here have HIV/AIDS or their parents died from it. The baby that was hooked up looked so sick. He (or she) was very thin and cried constantly. I tried to console him by rubbing his belly or holding his hand and talking to him but none of it worked. All I could do was pray for him and ask the Lord to comfort him. I think it is impossible for me to leave that particular orphanage and not cry about it at some point. I don’t know what gets to me most…the pain that some of them have to endure alone, the thought of them dying there, or the fact that those babies and children are innocent and are not there through some fault of their own. I know our God is sovereign and that is what comforts me. Over the last 3 weeks there has been a certain verse that God has been throwing at me from many different directions. It is Romans 8:28 and I think it applies to my orphanage visits. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Praise God that He knows so much more than I do!
But don’t get all depressed about the Mother Theresa orphanage, not everything about the visit is sad. The toddlers are a lot of fun. They really enjoy it when we sing to them. We have sung everything from “twinkle, twinkle little star” to “what a mighty God we serve”. Also, every song we sing we put to a fast clap…the kids really like this and clap away with us.
Mother’s day weekend was a pretty eventful one. That Saturday there was a triathlon held and many people in our mission competed. Stephanie, Mallory, and a new friend named Annette competed in the team category. Stephanie swam, Mallory biked, and Annette ran. I am very proud to say that their team won and brought home the gold medal and trophy. Also, James Strange (our treasurer), David Kizziah (journeyman 9 hours north), and Chris McIlravy (journeyman that just arrived) competed in the team event. James biked, David ran, and Chris swam. They came in second and did very well. And Alan competed in the individual race. He not only won the competition but he set a new record time.

first row: James and Cindy Strange (Cindy is my supervisor), me, Annette
middle row: Mallory, Alan, Chris, David
back row: Tommy, Stephanie

So today is May 18. Two things come to mind about today. The first being that it is my half birthday, I am now officially 23 and a half. The other being that one year ago today I graduated from college. CRAZY! How can that be? A year has already passed? I have been a semi-grown up for a year now. I can’t help but wonder what I will be thinking one year from today. Will I be as excited to be here as I am now? Will I be making plans for my homecoming back to the states? Who knows, I guess time will tell.