Muchas Cosas

This is a town called Livingston that is only accessible by boat. They speak a different language here called Garifuna - this was one of the coolest towns I have ever visited.
Rio Dulce
One of many spider monkeys in the jungle!
Rio Dulce
Mayan Ruins called Tikal
Another Pyramid
And Another pyramid
Castillo De San Felipe
Castillo De San Felipe
My host parents who are actually the ages of my brother and sister.

Hello to all,

The past few weeks have been so busy and such a time of learning for me. My Spanish doesn't ever seem to change but I know that it must be improving - I am my harshest critic. So this is a prayer request right off the bat - please pray that my Spanish would improve but more than that pray that my attitude about my Spanish learning would improve. I am a bit of a perfectionist and each time I make an error I get down on myself. Please pray that I would be freed from the bondage of worry in this area. I am learning new words and new tenses everyday so I am confident that my language skills will get better in the future.

Also, I have been learning so much about my relationship with God. It seems crazy to me but there never quite seems to be enough time to truly go before the Lord each day. I find myself not being as bold as I know that I want to be and that I am able to be. When I went to Thailand for 10 weeks I learned so much about the power of prayer and also about the need of the body to come together in prayer. We have 11 missionaries going to school in my group and it seems like we would be really united in prayer but so far that hasn't been the case. I am hoping that in the next few weeks I will able to share with these other missionaries about the power of prayer that I have experienced in Thailand and that we would become a prayer focused group. Please pray that we would become more united and more bold in our witness in this place.

Also, I have been able to grow closer to my family here in the last few weeks which is so encouraging and also FUN! On the 26th of December they have a festival in our village where all of the families dress up and dance in the streets of San Juan. My family is joining and asked if I would dance with them ;) Of course I said SI!!!! We are all dressing as pirates and we have been having meetings once or twice a week to practice dances. One night as we were practicing I showed them the electric slide and also the Cupid Shuffle. I didn't think much of it but then they asked me to bring music for it and at the next meeting I showed them the steps and I had the entire family doing the cupid shuffle in the kitchen of their house. IT WAS AMAZING!! I can't describe to you all how fun it was but knowing that I was dancing with a Guatemalan family in their kitchen some how brought joy to my heart ;) We are now doing both dances at the festival! Also, my host mother, Damaris, told me that her niece, Alexandra called her the day after we practiced to tell her how much fun she had. I was really encouraged and also just delighted. I am now fully a part of the festivities and I hope that I am growing closer with this family. I just recently went on a 3 day trip (which I will not even attempt to describe because it was wonderful beyond words) and when I returned Marco Alejandro came up to me smiling and said "Raquel, Hola." My heart was so full of love for this little 5 year old boy as he reached up his arms for a hug. As we hugged he looked at me and said "te extrane" which means "I missed you." My heart swelled ;)

I want to thank you again for all of your prayers and letters of encouragement. I am not able to express here all of the small struggles and victories that I go through each day that I am here - but I will tell you that there are many. As I receive your emails I am encouraged each time and the Bible says "A person finds joy in giving an apt reply - and how good is a timely word." Proverbs 15:23. I am not able to write back to all of you when you email me but please know how much each reply touches my heart and how in moments of weakness God uses your words to comfort me. I miss you all very much and I am excited to see how God will continue to use me here and use your prayers!

In Him,

Raquelita

If you want to see more pictures I have an album up on facebook and here is the link to it:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2627613&id=4922382&ref=mf