August 4th: A Much Needed Date

Scavenger hunt date at Balboa Park in San Diego. So happy to be married to this good man who wants to have adventures with me

August 4th: Missionary Blessings

These awesome young men came and shared a message with us about how God’s love is manifested through prayer. He always listens and guides us to what’s best for us (even if we don’t think it’s what we want sometimes).

What a blessing to know we can completely trust Him.

They also gave me a much needed blessing.

I love God’s missionaries so much. Their presence brings peace and healing to the heart.

Don’t ever hesitate to reach out to your local missionaries if you have questions or need prayers. They love to listen and to help how they can.

August 5th: Waterpark

After one of our friends at our internship chipped her tooth (in half) landing, after flying off this slide, I wasn’t too excited about going on it again, but Dallin and some friends braved it anyway. They got a little hurt at times but no chipped teeth.

I left the pool after only an hour to go pick up Bill at the airport, so the orphanage adopted my kids while I was gone. They named them Santiago, Juan, and Carlos.

We are really feeling at home here

August 10th: Finishing Up Our Second Internship

Finishing up here in Tijuana. We have some awesome friends here for a service trip right now and it’s been so good to see friends from home again. And to have other people get to help and love the children.

We leave Sunday to our land in Quintana Roo, and I’m already dreading the goodbyes.

These kids and this place feel like family now and I really, really hate to leave them. It’s going to be rough.

If I can put a group together for October 16 or January 2, we can come back then. Anyone interested in meeting the most awesome kids and getting to serve together? Let me know!!

August 11th: Temple

I can’t tell you how much I love the temple. I feel God’s presence so closely there. I love Him and His gift of temples on Earth for these latter days. We sure need them.

August 13th: Please Share God's Love, It's So Needed!

We leave tomorrow. I felt totally numb this morning and then someone said something kind to me which got me started on randomly breaking into tears all the rest of the day.

I love these kids here with an intense love that God has blessed me with. They each deserve a loving family. I so wish they could each have one.

Please do your best to share God’s love guys. Wherever you go. Starting with your family. People are so thirsty for it. Some are dying slowly because of the lack of it. It’s so desperately needed in this harsh world.

August 14th: Martin, the Orphanage Director

Martín, the director at the orphanage we visit, has had an eventful life (living on the streets, living in an orphanage, and now being an orphanage director, to name a few) that has blessed him with a lot of wisdom about what’s important.

He loves, teaches, and respects the children he serves and he is respected and loved by them and those of us who have the privilege to know him.

One of my favorite things to do was to listen to his stories and perspective when he had a rare moment to sit and talk.

Here are some of the lessons I want to remember (I will probably come back and add to this list as more come back tomorrow my mind). I’m just paraphrasing his words:

—I have seen people do this work for a variety of reasons, but If you keep your motive and focus on helping the kids, God will 100% back you up and you will see miracles. If your focus shifts to anything else, it will get a lot harder.

—You’ve done the hardest thing, you left your comfort zone. Now you’ll witness beautiful things.

—There’s a very tricky and fine line between the time to give to your own children and the time you give to the other children in your care. Be careful, I have known many resentful children of parents who gave too much time to others and not enough time to their own children.

-- (To the volunteer group): There’s a promise to orphans in the Bible that even if they are abandoned by their parents, God will always be there. One of the ways he shows up for them is through people coming to spend time with them and serve them. They will learn what Jesus’ love looks like through the love you show them.

—God is a little crazy. Sometimes he waits until the least opportune time to bring something to pass, when it doesn’t make any sense to do it. This helps you not take credit for it yourself.

—Every time you give someone money, it takes away some of their motivation to work. It also makes them think less of their potential. Give them opportunities and believe they can accomplish great things on their own instead.

—It’s good to be a little nervous so that you are motivated to work hard, but not so scared so that you are paralyzed and afraid to move forward. This will be a great adventure with God.

— (To my Family): I hope you suffer some in this new adventure, but I also hope you have much more happiness then suffering. We don’t grow much without some suffering.

I also had a few opportunities to talk to his kind wife, Sary. She adviced me to take time away from everyone every week with just my family to give them undivided attention. She also told me to take care of myself so that can have the energy to care for others.

I am so grateful to this couple and the work they are doing to help some of God’s favorite children. I felt a portion of His love for the children and for this couple while I was there and it ovewhelmed me.

We are forever changed because of their examples of faith and courage to sacrifice our own agenda to follow God.

I wil put a link to a video where he talks about the orphanage in the comments.

Pics: we said a tearful goodby to the kids yesterday. Here are some sweet memories we made that I hadn’t posted yet. I miss them so much already, especially when I think of their tearful faces asking me not to go. It hurts.

We hope to pay their love forward. It is our “why” to this whole endeavor