Happy New Year! I can't believe it is already 2008. So much has happened in the past year, it is good to look back and see where God has taken me over the past year. Part of me never really thought that I would be celebrating the new year in a different country. But I am so glad that I am here. I have learned so much and been able to do so much in the 2 months I have been here. I look forward to the rest of my time here. Today was another first for me. It was a great way to start off the new year. I took my first flight in a float plane! It was so great! It was amazing to see the jungle and the river from the windows of the small plane. We flew out to a village to drop off some gas for a missionary out there. It was really interesting to see the village and see how they live out there. And I was able to get some amazing pictures of the river from the plane. It was even more interesting than I thought it would be because the pilot....was a guy I went to Moody with. It was kind of weird to think that he was flying the plane, but he did an amazing job. He is a great pilot and will be a huge benefit to SAM once he is done with language school. Well, here are a few pictures from the flight. I pray that your new year is greatly blessed!

 Sorry it has been a while since I have posted on here. Time has been flying by. I am three days away from Christmas break starting! Very exciting. My roommate, Kelly, left today to head back to the States for her little sister's wedding. So I get to spend two weeks without a roommate. It is going to be a little hard since there isn't much to do around here. But that is ok. It will be good for me. I have found a church here that I will be attending. It is a Christian Missionary and Alliance Church. One of my neighbors, the Drochners go there and so I ride with them every week. It has been really good. I am starting to understand a little more of the sermons on my own but the Drochners still translate for me. They are great! Things are going well. I will be teaching 3 more classes when classes start back up in January. In addition to math and language arts, I will also be teaching 2nd grade science, 5th grade social studies and art for all the elementary. I am looking forward to staying busy and to the challenge of teaching more subjects. I pray that you all have a wonderful Christmas and that God will bless your new year!

This is my roommate Kelly, our nextdoor neighbor Chris, and me out for ice cream after the school play!

Currently Listening No Need to Argue By The Cranberries see related

A MONTH! I can't believe that I have been here for a month already. It is so crazy to think it has only been a month. So much has happened that I feel like I have been here longer than that. Sometimes it is hard to believe that it is almost Christmas since the weather here is nothing like what I am used to. Instead of lots of snow and severe cold weather I have 90-95 degree weather with the slight chance of some clouds and even maybe some rain. It is hard to get in the Christmas spirit when there is no snow. It has been a fun month and I am looking forward to more fun times here. There isn't enough time to tell everything that has happened. But maybe one of these days soon I will get around to writing a real post that actually gives some details. Please keep praying for me. I have felt the prayers from everyone over the past month and I know I will continue to need them. It is pretty hard right now not knowing enough spanish to communicate. Pray that I will be patient with myself and that I will pick it up quickly so I can get involved in a church here. Well, I have to run. Thanks again for your prayers!