Week 8: Stuff

This has been a long week. On Sunday Danielle arrived. I was not sure we would get along (to her credit neither did she) but we got along great. The first night we tried so hard to be responsible and sleep; but after trying to just sleep we decided to just get up and watch a movie. We started it at midnight. Three AM we were finally asleep. 6:15am came quickly. I will say that for so little sleep we functioned quite well. We had a student (for the internet's sake I will call her Susan) that we worked with. We met at McDonalds and talked about the day. On Monday she just observed, but Tuesday she started teaching and by the end of the week she had taught Memory Verse, a Song, TCC, and the Missionary Story. She did a great job!

I really enjoyed having Danielle with me. We did all kinds of crazy stuff. We dyed our hair twice. She wanted purple, but it turned out red; so we added blue. She now looks like the USA flag threw up on her. We both thought it turned out great. It also dyed my hands; I love the new look.

We also went shopping. I found this amazing coat that I wanted to get so bad, but I am a cheap person (thankfully) so it had to stay in the store. 

We did get Susan a Bible. At the beginning of the week I ask her to bring her Bible the next day and she told me she did not have one. We got her one and put her name on it. The look on her face was priceless. She loved it. 

This week is TCE 1. I have all my lesson plans DONE and now I just need to prepare and teach them. Please be praying for safe travel to Oklahoma City and back. Also pray for the instructors. Pray for my lessons to go well and to pass my practicums. Pray that I will not get sick (I am not feeling great today) 

THANK YOU! :)

Week 7: The Strenuous Trail

And I mean literally. When it is about 90 degrees and you are sprinting up a "strenuous" trail, it is strenuous. This was taken before. Wednesday we went hiking at Mt. Nebo state park. We got there around 10am when it was not too hot. (It was still really hot).

If you have not caught on, I like to stand on the edges of cliffs. 

Sometimes I like to climb them too

Or sit by them

And sometimes I just have to break dance on them. 

Ok, we all know I couldn't do that. 

Then what am I doing? 

hmmmm...

At the end of August people from all over come and hang glide off this mountain. These are the two places they jump off. 

As you can tell, I really wanted to fly too. Maybe someday...

Obviously this week has been full of lots of fun, but there has been lots of work too. Monday, Tuesday, and Friday we attended and observed clubs being done by a few students we trained in June. They did a GREAT job. We were very impressed. There was two groups of teens that each taught two clubs. Over the course of the week we got to see all four clubs. While there were no salvation decisions that we know of, there were definitely seeds planted and I know that the student teachers learned a lot. 

TCE 1 is coming up! I have 4 of my 5 lesson plans done and am feeling a lot less stressed. Thank you for your prayers. 

This weekend's CYIA was cancelled/postponed due to only having one student signed up. Although this is sad it also freed us up to study this weekend. Also, next week we will be teaching clubs and having this one student learn "on the job" by watching us, getting coached, and then actually teaching.  

Prayer for this week:

-Finishing my last TCE lesson 

-Getting studied up to teach

-Energy teaching two clubs next week and training a student 

WeeK 6: Memphis

"If I take one more step, it'll be the farthest away from home I've ever been." -Samwise Gamgee

"I have no idea what you just said, but I think you just invited me to play the bass in front of all these people."  The next few minutes were panic filled. I didn't know any songs off the top of my head; even if I did it would be on keys and no one would know it. I racked my brain for solutions. I almost got up and left. I didn't know what to do. What if I had misunderstood him? But then the lead singer called me up. I hopped onto the stage. He asked my name and what blues songs I knew. I said I didn't know any. He asked if I knew how to play the 5 string bass. I said no. He motioned at the bass player and said, "give her your bass." he handed me a beautiful purple 5 string bass. He told me the chord and how long to play them, then we jumped in and did a song together. 

Another few items  crossed off my bucket list. Going to Tennessee and  being randomly called to preform with a band. However I did imagine singing. I also did not foresee playing blues with a secular all black men band. Best day ever.  

 This was just part of our day trip to Memphis. We also went to Bass Pro and Central  BBQ. 
Then we went to the National Civil Rights Museum. The museum was an extensive history of the black people from slavery in America to the present. It was very interesting. I did not know most of it. The museum was in the motel that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in. There was so much to read and learn. I want to go back again some time. 

After that we went to Beale Street where I got to play bass with a random band playing in an open air venue. That was great fun. Then we went to BB King's Blues Club. There was a live band playing. They were really good. After hanging out at the club for a few hours we drove home. I slept most of the way home. 

The other days of the week we got to observe a 5-Day Club being conducted by CYIA students who attended training a few weekends ago. They did a great job. We could tell that they had worked really hard on each part. We were very Impressed. 

Well, this week has potential to be a very stressful week. We have another Church CYIA training to teach this weekend on top of what I need to get done for TCE 1. I need to finish 5 lesson plans and a devotional by the 22nd of July. I am getting stressed. 

Prayer this week: 

To be focused on writing lessons

To get my lessons done

To be prepared for CYIA (I will teach about 5 hours this weekend)

To not be too homesick

Thank you all so much!

Weeks 4 and 5: CYIA of Arkansas

CYIA of Arkansas is over. The first year was a great success! 

Last Monday we had a cleaning day to clean the staff house that we would be staying in. 

We had a great cleaning crew that helped us clean. They saved us a ton of time. 

We had 15 students show up; it was pretty great. 

The club week was crazy, but it was really great to see how the students grew and got better at teaching. Each day we could tell that they were getting more confident. 

That's all for now. Sorry it is so short, check my Facebook page for more pics and stories.