First day on the race and I have translated a testimony, a sermon, and given a testimony IN SPANISH.

I’ve gotten to sing worship music in Spanish, ride in the back of pickup trucks, and eat pupusas on the side of the road.

I nearly kissed an iguana, and had a really great incident with a deflated air mattress.

The mountains and volcanoes here are breathtakingly beautiful. Our translator is going to take us to one of them, and I’m really looking forward to it.

I’ve gotten to hug Salvadorian little girls and hold the pastor’s daughter on my lap in the car. The kiddos’ yelling chorus of “HELENA!!” makes me smile. They definitely know my name here, because I’m the only one who speaks Spanish in the team. Today the pastor's daughter, Keren and her little friend Nelson made me a precious card. Check it out.

Every time we come back to the church there is more food and more beds provided. As it is, all of us have BEDS. We have fruit loop cereal bars and fruits galore for breakfast. God has been astounding us with abundant blessings. The people in this church are so loving and generous.

 It’s taken what feels like forever to have INTERNET because their little plug-in modems don’t work on our computers, but now we are staying at the pastor's house and they have wifi... PRAISE THE LORD!

I've enjoyed “hokey pokey” showers, because the water is cold! You put your left arm in, you put your left arm out (lather) you put your left arm in and shake it all about. There will most definitely be a video about this.

Here we have sodas and juice in plastic bags. We accidentally spilled them everywhere during lunch yesterday, and I couldn’t breathe from laughing so hard.

I had in my possession a bag of coke, and I have pictures to prove it. No seriously, coca cola in a bag.

Yesterday, we went on a retreat with the church leadership to a city called Tonacatepeque (I know what you’re thinking, and I say Amen to that, it’s a long word). I heard a wonderful sermon, by Pastor Luis, and I will hopefully get to write a blog about it. Un bloguito. ;)

Aside from funny, random, silly stuff, there is much growth.

I cried during feedback last night (of course), because my team is so encouraging. Their constructive feedback: don’t forget about yourself, take time for yourself. They said I have humility and infectious joy. They said I was approachable. I praise God for putting me in such a loving team.

Now we’re halfway through our second full day on the race.

Today we worshiped in the morning and will again in the afternoon.

My team gets to work with kiddos and youth this month, which are my forte. I am so excited to see how God works through me and Team Tharros.

Please be in prayer for our safety, health, spiritual growth, and for the language barrier to be overcome.

Love you guys & leave a comment!!