WEEK 28: PVT!!!

UHHH JUST GOT TO SEE MY PARENTS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 7 MONTHS!! This week was our PVT (Parent Vision Trip) and it was so sweet.

       Mondays in Guatemala are my team’s sabbath, so we rested today.

       Tuesday morning, my squad packed up our clothes, cleaned our rooms at the base, and hopped on the chicken bus to head to Antigua. When we arrived at the bus stop, we walked 20 minutes to Lemon Tree Hostel, which is where we would stay for PVT. Everyone got their stuff in their rooms, then they told us our parents were ON THEIR WAY. We went to the back of the hostel where there was a pretty, secluded area where we would eat and do worship. Most of us were pretty nervous especially since we thought they wouldn’t be here until an hour an a half later, but we still ended up waiting 30 minutes haha. Finally Mom and Dad showed up and I ran up and gave them a biggg hug. Thankfully we had some time before dinner to hangout. First thing was dropping off my huge load of laundry at the laundromat lol, then we went to their hotel so I could grab the things I asked for from home. We walked to the square to get some ice cream and then we sat and talked on a bench. We then walked back to Lemon Tree for dinner and worship. All three of us were so tired, so they went back to their hotel right after worship and I konked out.

 

 

PRE-PARENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reunited after 7 months ❤️

 

 

 

 

       Wednesday, Mom, Dad, and I met up at 8:45am and we walked around Antigua. We went to the arch, Starbucks, then picked up my laundry. We met up with the rest of the squad at the parent hotel, then we bused to the base! Our parents got to see where we’ll be staying for the rest of our time in Guatemala, and also got to get to know the people who are leading us. For our ministry at the base, there was a huge soccer tournament with a bunch of different stations, which included an obstacle course, face painting, bingo, Play-Doh, coloring, and more. The squad and their parents got split up to each stations. My parents and I were technically on the coloring station, but we ended up jumping around. One thing was I was recruited to play in a girls soccer team because the other team cancelled. Ava, Sophia, Alia, Kat, Avery, Emily (Lexi’s Mom), and I did in fact end up losing 1-9, BUT IT WAS REALLY FUN. Everyone helped to clean up and set up for dinner, then we ate all together. We worshipped, then Liv, Aliya, and Grace spoke about the gospel which was so good. After tearing everything down, we left the base to head back to Antigua.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       Thursday was our first day of ministry just with my team and their parents. We had the opportunity to go to Parojas for house visits. There was a little orientation with Aderkee first, then we prayed and chose our groups. Mom, Dad, and I ended up going with Emery, Gretchen, and their parents with Alyssa. We did ATL, and ended up coming across a woman and her two kids. She’s actually 27 with four kids and one on the way, and we got to talk to her for two hours. I got to see my dad get really involved with her story and he gave her a really good word for her and her husband. She makes beautiful table runners by hand and sells them, but it takes her about two months to make a full one. It was so sweet to be with this group of people for my personal first house visit. I’m learning to step back a little bit and not try to control specifically during ministry, so even though I didn’t feel like I connected super well with her, God was very present and speaking through other people. We came back to Antigua and Mom, Dad, and I went to McDonald’s for a snack. I also had the task for my mom to chop off my hair. LOOLLL. In the hotel room, I gave her my little eyebrow scissors and told her to cut off a few inches. It was about time because it was super dry at the ends and I was just hanging onto it just to say I had long hair. After dinner at the hostel, I actually got to lead worship with Emery, Jaylynn, and Lexi. I would have NEVVVEERRRR imagined that I’d be leading worship in front of my parents. It was crazy. It was also testimony night for my team and the MOGs, so I told a testimony from my birthday. I went way out of my comfort zone today with Mom and Dad, but it was really beautiful and freeing. I can feel where God has worked on my heart for fear of man. That night while I was getting ready for bed, we met this girl our age named Ava who is also traveling for a gap year. She grew up in the Mormon church, and she actually heard us worshipping and sharing testimonies. She already knows Jesus, but doesn’t KNOW Jesus, so we got to minister to her a little bit. She wanted to come to one of our sessions, so we invited her to come to tomorrow night’s!!

 

       Friday morning we had a little time to hangout, so we went to the fancy Taco Bell for lunch. At 12:15pm, we left for ministry at Reindom, which is actually the ministry my team is going to be with for the rest of our time in Guatemala! We arrived, the kids greeted us, and my team introduced ourselves. For today there were a few different tasks, which included serving the kids and bringing them juice, teaching the youngest kids about fruits, playing soccer with the middle aged kids, and attending Bible/English class with the oldest kids. I’m so encouraged with the foundation that these kids have with the Bible. They’re so sweet and I’m excited to pour into them for the next 6 weeks. We came back to the parent hotel and hung out until dinner. Ava showed up for the session, and Gabe actually shared about repentance. The night was closed with surrender and worship. Mom and Dad headed home, then we got to talk to Ava! Carter, Alia, and I went through the beginning of creation and the fall, and she was super encouraged and curious. We ended with praying for her and her family and that she would be a testament to how God met her the last two days. I really want to be able to see her again when we come back for debrief because she’ll be here for a little more in Antigua.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       We had our adventure day on Saturday! We were up early for breakfast anyway, so at 8:30am, Mom, Dad, and I took an Uber up 2,000 feet in elevation to Hobitenango. A lot of people got to do ATV rides up there, but they were filled up by the time we tried to sign up, which was okay because we were able to do everything on our own clock. We had no idea what to expect when we got up there, so we just walked around a little bit. We ended up finding a random, dusty trail with a small sign with “Hobitenango” on it, so we just started walking. It became an intense incline really fast. We all three heard some music coming from far away, so we looked and saw what looked like a face and a hand engraved in the side of the mountain. So we continued trekking up steep trail, which turned into a road, which turned into Hobitenango! Low key when we asked Chat GPT fun things to that a lot of people don’t know about in Antigua and it came up with a Hobbit themed excursion, I wasn’t expecting much at all, but it ended up being super cool. The view up here was absolutely insane. We took lots of pictures, went on a huge swing, and ate some FIRE lunch. Around 2:00pm, we got back to the parent hotel and konked out for an hour, then set out to shop around the town. For dinner, we went to a taco place next to live music and we all three chatted and processed a little about our last day being together. We finished dinner and headed back to Lemon Tree for the last session. Gretchen lead us in some awesome worship and we listened to team Radiant and S&L’s testimonies. Tonight we didn’t have a curfew with our parents, so Mom, Dad, and I went out to McDonald’s for McFlurries. We ate our ice cream and processed the week, then Mom pulled out a picture book with blessings from her and Dad and a bunch of notes from my friends and family. It got me GOOD. We had a really, really sweet time. They dropped me off back at my hostel and ended up all three playing guitar together with my new guitar that they brought me. We said bye, and although we’re all a little sad, it was really awesome and quick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        Sunday morning, my squad packed our bags to leave for debrief! At 9:30am, we hauled our big packs and day backs (and I had my guitar 🥲) 20 minutes across the city to the buses. The bus ride was SO perfect with the beautiful views of Guatemala. We drove for about four and a half hours until we got to our debrief location. When we got to the camp around 3:00pm, and everyone settled into their rooms. I went out with Naty, Caleb, Brandon, and Lexi for dinner in the nearest town. I got an insane burger HOLAY. We came back to the camp, and had some worship at 7:00pm. We had an awesome little dance party at the end, then we sang happy birthday to Caleb because he’s 20! He did end up getting cake in the face, poor guy. It was pretty funny though lol.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       Dude I’m PUMPED for this week of debrief. Seeing my parents again was amazing, but praise God because I’m still in it for the rest of my race and I’m locked in for the last two months. I loved getting to worship with them and step out of my comfort zone in general with them, and I feel like I was finally able to appreciate who my parents are and what they’ve done for me. I’m excited to have this next week as a reset with a few things that I’ve needed to do, but also to just rest, rest, rest in God.

I’m feeling so optimistic and joyful, and so very grateful for all that the Lord has blessed me with.