5.5 weeks

Buenas Noches,

It is so hard to believe that I only have 5,5 weeks left. Where has the time gone. It seems just like yesterday that I was so worried about coming to Bolivia and not knowing what this whole experience was going to be like and before I know it I will be going back to the US.

I have been completely blown away by God's faithfulness over the past 8 months. This year of teaching in Bolivia has been a very hard experience but God has remained faithful throughout the whole process. Here are some examples.

1. Teaching has been hard. It is my first year of teaching and I have a pretty difficult class. Even with it being my first year of teaching and having these students there have been so many good things that have come out of this. God has given me some really fun times with my class, times where we can all laugh together and have fun. Times where I might have said something funny by accident and it allows all of us to be silly. God has given me so much encouragement through other teachers at the school. There have been days where I get discouraged and feel like I am doing something wrong and God will bring friends around me to tell me that I am doing a good job. So while this year has been a challenging one in the classroom, I can now say that I will miss my class.

2. I have fought with being sick off an on during my whole time in Bolivia which has not been fun. But even through the sickness I have only missed 1.5 days of school. God has given me the strength that I need and the ability to continue teaching.

3. I was so nervous about finding friends when I came to Bolivia. I did not want to leave my family and have to met new friends. What if they did not like me? What if we did not get along?

All these fears were put to rest within the first few weeks of being here. I found friends who had the same interests as me, who understood me, who were goofy, who loved God and who wanted to hang out with me. I found life long friends. I know that the hardest part of leaving in 5 weeks is that I am going to be leaving these lovely ladies and that I will not be able to see them everyday. I get teary eyed thinking about saying goodbye to them. God has been so so faithful in his provision of such great friends!

The list can go on and on and I know that I have mentioned a lot of this before, but these are some of the thoughts that are in my head when I think about only have 5.5 weeks left.

Thanks for listening!

Adios! - Rachel