Welcome to the Hotel California

I'M IN CALIFORNIA!!!! AGAIN!!!!

So outreach has started, ladies and gentlemen! Yay! One part of DTS down, one to go!

We arrived in Orange County on Thursday, December 22 at 5:00 am and we have been enjoying the cold ever since :) The first day we were here, I was wearing shorts and flip-flops and I was not complaining about being cold because I had forgotten what it's like to be cold. Really. I had. Hawaii had taken that feeling away. But now it's back. It's cold here in California. I sleep in socks, which is weird! Ok, so Thursday was filled with sleeping, moving into our house, eating In-N-Out, and seeing Allan and Nicole! I went shopping with Allan and Nicole, ate yummy tacos, and opened Christmas presents from them and my parents. It was so glorious to be around FAMILY! I always forget how much I love my family until I'm away from them for long periods of time. Friday was the 23rd of December and we had an 8 hour Burn, starting at 8 am and ending at 4 pm. This was a time filled with constant prayer and worship and boy did I learn a lot and hear a lot from the Lord. Starting outreach off with prayer makes such an impact! When you pray, you're plowing and asking God to do the hard work, so that when you are working (or sowing) it's easy. Prayer is so powerful!

This is Matt and I. It has been said of us that we are like brother and sister.

Christmas dinner--outreach style

On Saturday, we hung out in the morning and I went to the bank and grocery store with Donald. After lunch, I started making Cream Potatoes for our Christmas dinner. We each made our favorite dish from our holidays with our families. So naturally,  I made a huge thing of Cream Potatoes :) we just finished them last night. Alex made sweet potato casserole, Matt made HamburgerHelper, Kristina made spaghetti, Donald made sausage and onions, Danielle made salad, Stephanie made stuffing, and I made green bean casserole. Healthy, huh?? Here's what the line-up looked like!! After dinner, we had a talent show. I read "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" outloud to the group. Didn't really know what else to do, so I read! Then after the talent show we opened Secret Santa gifts and gifts that our parents had sent us. Our leaders had emailed our families and asked them to send small gifts for us to open on Christmas! It was so special and fun and surprising! I talked to my family for an hour after our night of festivities. I miss my family :( but I'm glad that Allan and Nicole are so close by!!

Sunday, we went to church at RockHarbor and met up with Donald's dad and sister. The first church we went to was actually cancelled (for Christmas, weird, right?) so we went to RockHarbor instead. After church, we went home and hung out at the house. Then we went to Donald's house for Korean Bar-B-Que! It was SOOOO yummy!! I don't know how to explain it, but it was super good. Then, his dad offered to pay for us to go to the movies, so we did! It was such a blessing! We saw Sherlock Holmes, and it was so good. I love those movies!

Monday, we started the day with worship, then went to Irvine Spectrum for some shopping and ministry. I got super sidetracked by the sales! But after shopping, Alex and I sat down at a table and began to pray over the shopping area. (P.S. it was a successful shopping trip, incase you were wondering, which I know you were). Tuesday, we had a guy from the Kona base, Sam and his brother Daniel, come to our apartment and pray for us and encourage us. Intimidation has no place in this team! We can change the world, we can talk to people and pray for people and share Jesus' love with them. Easily. Fear is gone! People here are approachable, I just have to approach them.... We went to Huntington Beach and Donald, Matt and I walked up and down the pier. I took pictures of surfers in the water. There was like 100 of them and the waves were amazing! I loved watching how skilled and coordinated someone has to be in order to surf and stay in the wave. I think I could watch surfers all day long.

 Today, we had worship in the morning and then an hour of quiet time. I wrote 4 pages of just questions and basically conversation with the Lord. I'm seriously considering my next blog being those 4 pages. God just revealed Himself in such a different way today. Or things that I have been learning about in lecture really started to sink in and take hold of my heart. I have slipped into this blah feeling, I think because I'm scared to act on the things I've learned and embrace a new lifestyle, but I know that's not how God wants me to live. He wants me to be joyful and loving and serving and live a FUN life FILLED with Him. No being scared of being different! Change is good, especially this change that I've encountered. This afternoon we went back to Huntington to talk to people, but I had no luck :( I played volleyball with Danielle, Matt, and Donald and then we sat on the wall and told each other the gospel. And then we walked around, waiting for someone to talk to. Now, I'm here writing this blog post!!

How was y'all's Christmas? Please call or text or Facebook or skype me! I miss you all and would love to catch up with everyone!

LOVE LOVE LOVE