This morning was terrible. I was angry at the speakers for everything they've been teaching and the way they do things. I didn't even want to worship or listen to lecture. But then I really got to thinking and praying about it. God's really been teaching me that it's okay for them to do things the way that they're doing them. We're all human and none of us has all the truth. So one denomination is not in any way better than another. We're all equally sinful. This doesn't mean that I'm comfortable doing the things that they do yet, but at least I can let them do what they do and know that we all love Jesus. We all serve the same God. We all believe that He is the only way. I don't have to be angry at them for silly little things they do. Who cares if they worship an entirely different way than I do? I can just accept the way they do things. They are no worse than I am for the things that they do. No one has all knowledge except God.
Sorry for my whole rant yesterday. This has been a crazy week. It's been all up and down and just plain tough. But I've learned so much. It's good to challenge what I actually believe. It's been hard and I'm exhausted from it, but it's still great. I love having to actually think about what I'm learning. I mean, I did that to some point back home, but here it's completely different. I love that it's not a huge deal if I don't believe what everyone else does. God still loves me. And about that - God loves me. It's crazy to think that the creator of the entire universe, as big as that is (watch that video I posted a few posts back. honestly. do it.), loves little me. He loves me enough to write my entire DNA code. It would take 96 years to read one person's code. Isn't that ridiculous? Just think about that for a while. He loves you. So much. And really. Watch the video.
On a lighter note, there is a crazy cockroach that lives in our room. It just came out again but went into the cupboards somewhere. All of us are too scared to kill it cause it's so huge, but it moves too fast to get someone else to kill it for us. It's probably like 2 inches long plus the antenna. Ew. At least they don't bite or anything. But I'm pretty sure we need to find ourselves a gecko. Or 10.

I'm going to Haiti!!
Just got back from ice cream sundaes, dance party, and finding out our teams! It's going to be the best! I'm so excited!

We found out our outreach location options on Friday. I'll either be going to India, Mexico, The Philippines, or Haiti and Dominican Republic! I'll know for sure tonight. I'm so excited to find out! I have a pretty good idea of where I'll be going, but nothing's final yet.

Last night was crazy! I've been trying to become more comfortable with all this hearing God's voice and prophesy and stuff, so last night we had the option to go on a "treasure hunt". Basically, you go out around town and ask God to show you people to talk to or to give you words for them or whatever. It was definitely a lot different than anything I've ever done. We talked to a guy from Oregon who wanted to sell us some weed, a guy with some emotional problem (we think he was skitzophrenic) and a service dog, and a girl who was depressed and was praying for someone to talk to her. I experienced people speaking in tongues for the first time, which has been raising a lot of questions and people are trying to tell me that everyone can speak in tongues, but that doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. The point of spiritual gifts is that everyone has a different one and then they serve each other. So it just doesn't make sense that everyone would have one. I don't know. I'm going to study some more on it.
We've been studying the nature and character of God this week. Today we talked about how God is so great, more than we can even comprehend. We are so small and insignificant in this universe, but He still cares for each of us individually. Isn't that crazy. Just think about it for a minute. It's amazing. If you want to watch the video we watched, click here. It's part 1 of a series, but if you watch it, watch until the end. It's just amazing to think about the universe God created.
My work duty got switched today. I was cleaning the classroom with two other girls, but it was only taking us half an hour every day while everyone else's work duties take 2 hours, so they switched me to the office. It took us 20 minutes today. So, I'm not quite sure what the point was, but okay. Maybe different days will be different. We're taking care of orders people place on the photogenx website and answering emails and stuff. It should be fun.
I'm learning so much and we barely have any time to process what we're learning, so it's a little overwhelming, but still great. I love learning and thinking and having homework to do again. Is that weird? Probably.

Meet Tim. Some guy we met at the beach found him and he was a little upset when the guy tried to pick him up (which is illegal). So Sharon and I just hung out with him for a bit and watched him swim around. Amazing how many animals live here!

Classes are great! We have a different topic each week and this week it was hearing and obeying God's voice. It's something that I've never really put a whole lot of thought into. YWAM is super charismatic, which I knew, but I guess I just wasn't prepared to jump into it so quickly. I've never experience anything like it. People actually hear God's voice. The more I think about it, it seems okay and pretty biblical, but I'm really just not used to it. Or prophesy. It's crazy. It's hard to explain my feelings about the whole thing. I think it will take some getting used to.

Worship is really charismatic too. I'm used to people just singing and maybe raising their hands when they're really into it, but people here dance and shake and all this stuff. It's a little weird, but more freeing. I love seeing people really meaning what they're saying and just on fire for God. I'm definitely not used to doing it myself yet. I'll dance a little, but that's about as far as I'll go. Maybe I'm just really aware of people around me.

We all have work duties every day. It's scheduled from 3-5 but mine never takes that long. I clean our classroom (sweep, mop, dust, empty garbages, etc.) with two other girls and it usually only takes us around half an hour. I kind of feel bad, but then again really thankful for the extra time to just rest for a while.

The food has gotten a bit better. It's all loaded with preservatives which isn't the greatest, but we've been having more rice and plain meat. There are a lot of Koreans here so we have asian food pretty often, which is usually okay to eat. I found a health food store which makes me relieved. I didn't think they would have anything. Obviously, it's crazy expensive, but I'm glad it's there just in case.

Some of the lectures from class are available online if you're interested in what I'm learning. Click here if you want to.

Just arrived in Kona today! It's so beautiful, but a lot more humid than I thought it would be. There are birds and flowers everywhere and it's just so gorgeous!

My flight was so great. There were three girls going to school here in the row in front of me, and then the guy next to them didn't want a window seat so he traded with me and we all ended up sitting together, which was fun. I'm usually so scared of flying. Like I usually hold Kirsten's hand and squeeze until she can't even feel anymore. But this time it was so easy. Even when there was turbulence I wasn't that worried at all, which is so strange for me.

Registration was crazy. They aren't the most organized bunch of people here so it was a little confusing, but still fun to meet everyone. It's super overwhelming trying to remember everyone's names and everything. We went to Walmart and Starbucks after dinner tonight. It's 1 1/2 miles to the walmart which isn't bad at all, but in flip flops it's not too comfy. I'm so looking forward to sleeping and getting started with everything tomorrow!

1 week until I leave! It's so weird how it came up so fast. These past few weeks have been such a blessing. I've gotten to spend some time with people I haven't seen in a long time and I've gotten a few big jobs which is so exciting!! In the past week, I've raised over $1200. Crazy, right? God works in amazing ways.

I'm so ready to leave right now, but it's so weird. I'm going to miss it here, but I know there are amazing things waiting for me in Kona. Kind of a mixed emotion about leaving. I'm so ready to get out of my parent's house and start my own life, but I always thought I would stay close to home. I think the weirdest part will be not being able to see certain people all the time. Mostly Kirsten and Anna. They have become a part of my everyday life and we just understand each other so well that I think I'll really miss just hanging out. Thank God for Skype.

Please pray for me as I'm getting ready to leave. The goodbyes are going to be hard. I'm also really nervous I'm going to pack too much or the wrong things or completely forget something really important or something. Honestly, everything about this is hard. It's going to be so great though. I just know it.