Apprehension

There is a time when one realizes that they are actually going to do something that you has been in the planning stage for months. For me, that time is now. It suddenly hit me today that in a little over 48 hours I am going to be in a different country and speaking a different language. Now, I have done my fair share of traveling and have been in many countries where I didn't understand ANY of the language, but for some reason I am more nervous about leaving for Ecuador than I ever have been before. I speak enough Spanish to get around, but teaching in Spanish is going to be a completely new experience. I will be okay for the actual presentations- I'm just worried about the end when I have to answer questions. Not only will I have to understand what they are saying, but I will have to know the answer and formulate it into a way IN SPANISH that they will understand. Both simplifying and translating will be a little difficult. This must be the point where you just do everything you can and pray for the rest. It is guaranteed that I will need quite a bit of help over the next month. The most interesting thing has been to try and decide what we can bring down to the people there. We are taking a lot of humanitarian kits for the community, teaching materials, and a bunch of stuff for the orphanages. Maybe because we have been doing so much thinking about how we will be able to serve, but I already have a great love for the Ecuadorian people. I really am very excited to leave, and I know that it will be a great experience. Stay tuned for all of our fun adventures!!!

On a new note, I have left my family in Georgia with my brothers as pre-missionaries for the last time. Bryan is going into the MTC while I am in Ecuador, so the airport goodbye for quite some time. Next time I see my brother he will be speaking Russian! I can hardly believe that my family has grown up so much. I feel like I am going to wake up and realize that I am still in middle school and this was all a dream. I don't know who gave us all permission to grow up because it is happening way faster than I ever imagined that it would. Although, it is a good thing that we have such great opportunities. Now, that I have covered my nostalgic quota for the day, I'm putting up some pictures of my family and some pretty pictures from my plane flight back.