Merry Christmas!

Ants and sillybandz...

I hate ants. I think they are now one of my biggest fears. Last night, I stupidly left cookies out on the table in Tami and my room. Between the window and the cookies, sat my laptop. Of course, the ants coming from the window COULD have gone around, but no. They marched straight through my computer and to the cookies and back. Almost 24 hours later, there are thousands of ants still inhabiting my computer. I set it in a box for 20 minutes, and when I came back it was full of ants. I am covered by ant bites and can't believe how many thousands are in my computer. Hopefully I get them out before they do any damage...but how much damage can ants do..right? On the plus side, it's 9 pm and we still have power! That's a nice change from the power being off 8-12 every night for the past two months.
I know I should write more, but it's really just the same thing every day. Though I still like being here, its becoming tedious and repetitive. Its funny because today I was reading my journal (that I kept for like a month when I first got here) and I used to think everything was new and exciting. I guess its because it was. I remember thinking that lesson plans would be so hard and teaching would be hard too, but that's the easiest part of being here in Palau. The thing they don't warn you about is boredom. They don't tell you that a small thing like ants and destroy your day or not being home for Christmas will make such a big impact. I just wish I could be at home sometimes, but I know that wouldn't make me happy. Being here makes me happy. It just takes a little reminding. The kids make it all worth it. Whether its kindergartners swarming me at recess, first grade asking for piggy back rides, hugs from third graders, boy talk with sixth graders, or just my own kids telling me they love me, I love them all!
Today I was in such a bad mood, and just kept trying to get the ants out of my computer while the kids were doing their work. Shayne kept asking the same question over and over and over after I answered every time she asked. Right when I was about to snap, I went back to my desk and sat down. A second later I feel a tap on my shoulder and Daichi is standing there holding a sillyband in the shape of a heart. He just puts it in my hand and walks away. It was funny how something so insignificant could make my day so much better.

13 days and counting

This year is full of new experiences. So far in the past 5 months:

1. I wrote out 16 science tests today, by hand, because the copy machine has been broken for a few weeks.


2. I haven't had power in the evenings for more than two months.


3. I kissed a jellyfish.


4. I've learned to scuba dive, and now it's one of my favorite things.


5. I've taught someone something that they'll remember forever.


6. Complete strangers turned into best friends.


7. I have seen myself change lives.


8. I have been completely alone.


9. Been close enough to a water snake to lick it.


10. Slept all night outside in a hammock in the rain.


11. Swam with the sharks


12. I've drank coconut juice out of a fresh coconut.


13. Eaten the brain, eyeball, and liver of a fish we just caught.


14. Achieved inner peace and contentment.


15. Realized that I love kids.


16. And soon, hopefully touch a shark!

In just 13 days I'm leaving for Manila in the Philippines! I am so excited to get to have the experience of seeing a new country and take a little break from school. There is a tiny island called Donsol off the coast of the Philippines which is home to the whale shark. The biggest shark on record, these giant animals only eat krill! So of course, I have to swim with them. The best part is that if the sharks let you, you can even touch or RIDE them! How amazing is that? That list of the new experiences I've had is so small but it's fun to think of all the new things I've done. I'm sure that in another 5 months, the list will be tripled, if not more. I can't wait!

Catch up

Due to the lack of motivation, you can obviously tell that it's been a while since I've blogged. In part with the lack of power in the evenings, I've actually just been busy with teaching and other reoccurring things. I really should keep up the habit though, and I'm sure you avid readers are waiting for another post, so here it goes. It might be a tad choppy and long, so this is my apology in advance.

1. Today, as per our agreement, I subbed Jeanine's kindergarten and she taught my kids math. All was going smoothly until Kai dropped Gian Gabriel's toy car down into the rain gutter. All 9 kinders gathered around and deliberated on how to get it out. I brought out a long stick, and Kai came up with the brilliant idea of hitting it down the gutter and trying to push it out the other end. Inch by inch, minute by minute he struggled to push it closer and closer toward the hole. Finally his hard work paid off, and the toy car was free! The other kinders cheered and hugged Kai like he'd just won the Olympics, and all he could do was scream "yea!".

2. At one of our weekly visits to Emimalei I decided to order something different from the menu. No, this is not the interesting part, in case you were wondering. The next day after eating there, I woke up and couldn't open my eye! It was completely swollen shut and the other eye was half closed. I talked to the principal and he told me to take the day off. The next day it was even worse, so he took me to the hospital where they diagnosed me with an insect bite. Though the clinic is a nice facility, they actually had no idea what they were talking about. I was prescribed zyrtec and later found out that I had an allergic reaction. Apparently my vegetables were cooked in sea food, and never trying it before, I didn't know I was allergic. Eventually the swelling went down, and I returned to school with one eye closed and one eye open.

3. Ichiro, one of the boys previously mentioned when I did special blogs on my children, got 100% on his spelling test. This is most likely the only 100% he's ever received and he couldn't believe his eyes when I handed back his test. I was so proud of him! After going back to my desk, I saw him excitedly show Mizora. Instead of showing off her perfect score as well, she gave him a huge smile, high five, and said "great job!". I was so touched that even though she could have told him that she gets 100% every week, she didn't. She just enjoyed his happiness with him.

4. I know we're not supposed to have favorite children, but I do. Among those adorable few, is Makani. He is always leading the class and is pretty much the most adorable kid I have ever seen. He used to have a little mohawk, but sadly that's gone now. Anyway, last week in our spelling test I saw him throw a note. Of course, I had to go get it and see what it said. "What's the answer to number 1?" it said. I was livid! Of course I dragged him out the door and right to the principals. We didn't get that far though. As soon as we got outside the door he sat down and said "teacher, I'm so sorry. I didn't know the answer so I needed help". I knew he was wrong, he knew he was wrong, but I just couldn't send him to the office. I used that opportunity to explain to him what grace was, and how God gave us grace when he died on the cross. Then I explained how I was giving him grace too.

5. There are two new SM's here from Germany. They're already a couple, but because they're not married they have to live separate. That means that the girl, Rebecca, will be moving in with us. In case you didn't know, we live in a shoebox. There isn't enough room to stretch in our rooms, let alone walk around. But, because they don't have another place, she moved into Tami's bedroom. Of course, this meant that Tami moved into mine with me. Needless to say it's very cramped and full, but it should be a fun adventure for both of us.

6. The power situation. First, let me say that we have full water back which is such a blessing. Unfortunately, we have no power in the evenings and at random times during the school day. It was supposed to be fixed in the middle of November, but we found out yesterday that it might not be fixed until next March. Sleeping without aircon and showering in the dark isn't so bad, and is actually starting to become a habit. The only problem is that I can't talk to anyone back home anymore because that was our skyping time. It's sad, but on the other hand, it does get me to go to bed early!

7. Speaking of family, my mom was here last week! We just had the best most amazing time. I wish that I could write and explain every detail, but I'll just have to give you the basics. She got here at 2 am, so we had to wait around at PMA from 2 pm to 2 am on Friday because the boys are the only ones with a car and Austin offered to pick her up. After a long day of waiting, she finally arrived. We took her back and showed her our apartment and after talking for another two hours, went to sleep! The next day was Saturday so we went to church and potluck. On Sunday we went to Sams and she took a refresher dive to practice. We got to go all around the dock and it was lots of fun. We saw tons of fish, and even a three foot giant shrimp! Monday and Tuesday she came to school with me! I took advantage of her superior teaching skills and kindly let her teach my class. Luckily, she loved it. We did tons of Thanksgiving crafts with the kids and they learned a lot of phonics and spelling. Then on Wednesday we had our own little Thanksgiving party. In the morning Austin's class came in and we made home made playdough for them. Then we made cornucopias and dressed up as pilgrims and indians. At lunch, everyone brought in food for our huge feast! It was so fun to see them all dressed up in their cute little outfits. After lunch we had an indian vs. pilgrim war which they absolutely loved! Thursday was our actual Thanksgiving, and we were invited to eat dinner on the roof of Surangles (the biggest store in Palau) with the Whipps family. Before that we went to the Dropoff and swam in their amazing pool for free! Oh! I almost forgot. I got my hair cut. It is completely the shortest it's ever been, and I'm still not quite sure how I feel about it. It is much lighter, but I think it'll have to grow on me. (hehe, get it) Anyway, after swimming we came back, got ready, and headed over to Surangles. The view from the top is AMAZING! You can see so much of Palau, and we even watched the sunset! They gave us such a huge feast of food and it was so fun hanging out all together. Afterwards we watched a movie on Surangles life and how he made Surangle's. Friday, Jeanine, Tami, my mom, and I went on a jellyfish lake tour! We started off going to an amazing snorkeling spot where we fed the fish. Then we went to jellyfish lake and my mom just freaked out. She loved it, and even kissed a jellyfish! Then we went to another spot where we went snorkeling again. My mom said it was the most beautiful place she ever saw in the whole world, even more than the Great Wall of China and the Pyramids of Egypt. I'm not sure if I agree, but it WAS pretty spectacular. Then we ended the day by going to milky way and putting the sulfury sand all over our bodies! Saturday we went to church, and originally planned to have a picnic. We went to PMA so the boys could join too, but forgot that the boys don't have power from 2-6 pm, so we were stuck with cold Thanksgiving leftovers. We still had lots of fun getting coconuts and talking until sunset. There are supposed to be three coconut sticks, but Victor broke all of them trying to get my mom coconuts. Of course she gets the idea to stand on his shoulders and try to reach the top. It actually worked, and we all enjoyed coconuts! Sunday was the last day that my mom was here, so of course we had to go to the rock islands! All the SM's got up early and we went scuba diving! Because my mom was flying that night, she snorkeled with Tami. It was amazing! We saw SO many fish and amazing coral. We even saw some spotted manta rays, turtles, and some big sharks! I was kind of behind the group, and as I was swimming I saw a sleeping shark in the sand. He was probably about 8 feet long and even had a barracuda sleeping beside him. I, being me, tried to sneak as close to him as I could without waking him up. FAIL. When I got about 12 feet away, he opened his eyes and looked at me. I don't even know how scared I was at that moment, but I didn't moved a muscle. He started rising off the ocean floor and began swimming away. Then, he turned back around and starting swimming towards me. I swam away SO fast. It wasn't until after that I realized that I actually wasn't left all alone, but that Austin was behind me watching. As I swam away from that shark, I noticed another one above me. After that, I hurried to catch up with the group. At the second place we dove, everything went great and the diving was amazing. When I got back up, I got to hear a story from my mom about her and Tami snorkeling. Apparently they didn't notice a shark that was 3 feet away from them until he was almost under them. My mom of course freaked out and hid behind Tami, but they just swam around and eventually it went away. Unlucky day with sharks I guess. That night all of our Palauan host families threw a dinner for us and then I had to say bye to my mom as she headed back home. I feel so blessed that she got a chance to come and meet everyone here (they loved her) and see Palau. Palau is really one of those places that you can try to explain, but it'll never come across right. No one will ever understand how beautiful it is here and how amazing my kids are. It's a privilege that my mom could come and see it all. It's great that I can now talk to both my parents about Palau and they will have an idea what I'm talking about.

8. Last, but not least, Christmas vacation. While my mom was visiting here we worked it out so that I can spend Christmas vacation in Manila! I am so excited to get to travel to a new place, and there are so many fun things to do there. Were starting off the coast of the Philippines on an island called Donsol. It is renown for being the only place in the world where you can swim with whale sharks! I told everyone back home that before this year was over, I was going to pet a shark. Now, I get to live that dream, and I might even get to ride one! You see, whale sharks are the biggest type of shark, but they only eat krill and other plankton. It's pretty much my goal in life right now, so I'm so excited! Another thing we'll get to do is take a firefly tour. There is an underground cave full of millions of fireflies that we can boat through and enjoy. It sounds magical to me. It's also one of the only places in the world with a volcano with a perfect cone shape. If I'm lucky, I'll get to ride a donkey up to the top and see the view from up there!

Headed to the hospital again...

The hospital and I are getting to be quite close. Today when I woke up, my eyes were swollen shut and my lips were swollen and covered with tons of red bumps. Initially I planned to go to school like normal, but once Tami saw me she convinced me to skip. When she went down to let Jesse know, he told her that they were going to take me to the ER. To pass the time I looked up my symptoms online and am pretty sure that it's an allergic reaction of some sort. The only thing I can think of is the water. Last night when I went to get some water out of my water bottle, I noticed that the bottom of my water bottle was covered in dirt. I'm the only one who drinks tap water, and just keep refilling the same water bottle over and over. Anyway, I found out that the dirt was actually on the INSIDE of my bottle and it was just settling from the water down to the bottom...mmmm. So here I am now, waiting to go to the ER yet again. Sometimes I feel so pathetic here, like my body can't take the things I want it to. All I want to do is be healthy so I can teach, especially this week because it's almost Thanksgiving and my mom is coming!

Real missionary

I feel like I'm a real missionary. Living around a power and water schedule helps me empathize with people who never have water or power. We wake up and try to get ready, no power. When we get home we try to make dinner, no water. At night we try to skype, no power. It's rather annoying, but it could be worse! At least we have power most of the school day, so that means AC! Oh bummer, no water after school, guess we have to go out for lunch!
In other exciting news, Jeanine has started teaching my least favorite class, math. She only has a half day because it's kindergarten and she really wants the chance to actually teach kids things. From the few times I've subbed for her, I can completely understand how she would be frustrated. They just can't have coherent conversations like my 2nd graders can. So, it worked out that she would love to teach my math. That is such a blessing because, though I don't mind, I really don't know how to be so creative when teaching math. In most other classes I can teach them the material in at least two or three ways, but not math.
Though I'm still in love with teaching, it's really wearing me out. I start the day off so happy and excited to see my kids. They've even started lining up in front of my door in the morning, and I never told them to do that! By mid-morning I'm usually toning down my hyperness, and by lunch I'm just normal. After lunch, their antics begin getting slightly annoying, and I don't like that feeling. Things that would normally not even get my attention start to drive me crazy. I hope that it's just this week, because I haven't been getting much sleep. Hopefully I'll be back to my chipper self soon.
I wish more things would happen. I want more pictures of things and more things to write about, but honestly there isn't much to do. We do have a list though, of everything we want to do before we leave Palau. That should be fun to work on! I'm also trying to plan something for Thanksgiving for my kids. Today I asked them if they knew the story of Thanksgiving, and none of them did! I told them all about the pilgrims and indians and the first Thanksgiving. I also started planning a Thanksgiving meal for them, and also a battle, where some of them are indians and some are pilgrims. It should be a blast!

If you're wondering where I've gone...

So things got interesting after 1 pm. Last night one of the generators in Airai blew up somehow. Apparently there was a huge fire and all of Airai lost power. To try to put out the fire, the firemen depleted the water supply here in Palau, resulting in no more water coming out of the sinks. This means no flushing the toilet, no taking showers, and no washing dishes. By morning we thought it would all be back to normal, but unfortunately the water was still all gone. At around 1 pm today we lost our power. Because Airai has no power, the government decided that Koror could share their generator with them so we can both have power. This is a problem that can only be fixed by a new generator, so for at least another month we will share with Airai. That means that from 8 am-2 pm Koror has power, 2 pm-8 pm Airai has power, and so on. It should be interesting to have no power from 2pm-8pm, because that's when we do our cooking and other important things. Today we literally just sat around and stared at the ceiling. We also got to take a nice walk in nature and there was even a breeze! It's just so bizarre that a whole island can literally use up all their water source on putting out a fire, or lose power for a month. Needless to say, life is always an adventure.

Paradise

Saturday is always sunny here. I'm not quite sure why, but the sun is always shining as we leave our apartment to head over to the church. Church this week was extra long. It was the last day of the prayer meetings, and the sermon was all about health. It was interesting, for the first hour. The second 45 minutes was very long and I just wanted to go eat! Once church was over, I realized that I was supposed to skype my parents in only 10 minutes. Luckily, Jeanine brought me back some food from potluck.

I'm so happy that I got to talk to my parents. After that we played games and relaxed until sundown. Then we started cooking! We were invited to go to a celebratory harvest party and a lady's house, so we had to make something to bring. Though I'm a HORRIBLE cook, we made some delicious mashed potatoes with onions. Once we got to her house, we found out that there was no power. Apparently the generator had blown up, leaving Airai with no power and a small fire. So, we headed back to Eunices house (which is literally across the hall from our apartment). It was so much fun talking to the ladies and other girl sm's. It was nice just finally getting a girls night and some great food! We had green beans, potatoes, and some sort of squash casserole, plus apple crisp and pumpkin pie! Oh yea, and everyone loved our potatoes, so MOM I CAN COOK! Just needed to throw that out there.

This morning we woke up early, me at 5 and Tami at 8, and went to Surangles. We bought stuff to make lasagna and other stuff. We're trying to cook now. Hopefully it lasts longer than the puppy did. I'm also getting ready for my mom to come visit! I'm so happy that she'll be here for Thanksgiving. It will make it feel so much more like home.

It's funny, because most SM's that have been here in the past say time goes by so slow at the beginning. Not for me. These past 3 months, plus some, have flown by. Even though I miss home like crazy, I will want time to slow down. I want this year to last as long as possible! I love being here and I love everything about Palau. I will be SO SAD when this year is over. It hurts to even think about it. On the other side, I can't WAIT to leave for Christmas break. I will be so nice to just have a break from school forget grades. But how much can I really complain? I'm in paradise.

On to the child of the day...This is Ichiro Matsutaro. This is his second year in 2nd grade, and he's doing so much better this time. He has the most beautiful handwriting and is one of the most creative kids in my class. He started this year telling me, "I don't know how to read". Two days ago, he read a paragraph in class. Sometimes I hesitate to call on him because I don't want him to feel bad, but he was great! He also did a whole math page on his own with no help! I was so proud of him, and he was so proud of himself. It was such a great feeling. Anyway, he is really funny and does this thing where he pretends not to understand me and then laughs with such a goofy grin on his face. He was the only kid who's parents didn't show up at our parent-teacher conferences. I gave him his grades in class and you should have seen his face light up. He's never gotten grades like this before!

Starting the weekend!

This is Kylie Whipps. She is the first kid in my class that I met in Palau. The first Sabbath here I helped her pass out forks during potluck, and I never knew she was in my class! She is so sweet and completely hyper. Her Grandparents own Surangles, the biggest store here in Palau, and her parents own Mason, a part of Surangles. She reminds me so much of my sister Janelle. Her desk looks like a bomb blew up and scattered her stuff everywhere, and even though I make her clean it at least 8 times a day, the next minute it's totally messy again. She is really loving and runs and jumps on me any time she sees me, no matter where we are. "Teacher, can you help me" is her favorite thing to say, but I don't mind.

Today was randomly different than most Fridays. Instead of teaching 2nd grade, I switched Jeanine and taught Kindergarten. It was her idea, because she wanted to have kids that actually listened to her. Great... It was quite fun actually. Though now I know I'll never be a Kindergarten teacher, it was still fun to get to play with the adorable kids. We started with Bible, and just drew rainbows! Then we did a page in reading where we learned that G is a the beginning of goat, gate, and green. For math we practiced counting 1,2,3,4, and 5 objects. Then it was snack time! After that came recess and my 2nd grade was out there. They all ran up to me and told me how much they missed me. It was cute! After recess we went back in and learned the letter T for phonics and drew pictures of more things. It was fun, even though they were not the best listeners, but at least I got some nice cereal for snack.

After school we went to Emimalei to eat as per our tradition, but I just got some coffee. Trying to save money for Manila and all that. We came back and cleaned our apartment. After we were finally all done, we were about to relax when we noticed that our apartment smelled HORRID. Remember our short stint with a puppy? [Note:Well, I don't remember what I wrote on here before, but Austin gave me the puppy I wanted and I was super happy. After having him (his name was Dozer) for about three days, he had peed everywhere, destroyed tons of stuff, and cried all night. He also started getting violent (Rottweiler) and it just was not as fun as we thought it would be. He even chewed my computer power cord. After the three days I decided that Austin could have him back] Anyway, when the puppy peed all over the place, I used an old shirt to clean it all up. Then I put it in the wash pile to be cleaned later on, and didn't think about it again. Apparently today, Jeanine used that shirt to mop the floor. Our apartment was covered in puppy pee! So then we had to go to the school, get a mop, and clean it all again. It was quite the inconvenience, but at least our apartment is clean!

After that we decided we really needed a reward, so we went down the massage place and got massages! It was such a nice Friday treat and felt so good! It was pretty cheap too. Compared to the $150 I paid for one this summer, it was the best deal ever. Then we bought some ingredients for potatoes, because the lady that took us to yoga invited us to a harvest party tomorrow night. That should be something else fun to do!

Jeanine and I were talking last night and we decided we need to do more things here. We made a list of things we need to do before we leave, like invite over our host families, go to all the churches in Palau, and visit Peliliu. Its fun to plan things that we want to do so they can actually happen.

dao shi shi, shao shi shi

I am turning into my mother. I would just like to proclaim to the world that I am now realizing how similar we are, specifically because I am teaching. I call my kids sweetie like her. The kids from 6th grade come to talk to me about "life" and "love advice". It's just ridiculous how similar we are without me trying in the least. Fortunately, she is a fantastic teacher and amazing person, so I'm doing pretty well. Just thought I'd share with the world my current realizations.

On another topic, my class was in charge of chapel today which went really well. We sang Blind man, This Little Light of Mine, Jesus Lover of my Soul, and Jesus Love is Bubbling Over. At first we were supposed to do a skit. It was all about this class that gets an assignment. They are supposed to draw a picture of someone they hate and then pin it to the board. Then they got to throw darts at it and try to mess up the picture. In the end, the teacher takes away the pictures of the people the kids hate, and there is a picture of Jesus underneath. The skit was too short so I asked Mesikt, an elder in the church, to come speak for our chapel. Once he got up to speak, the first story that he told was about darts, and throwing them at people he hated. I was so surprised! He didn't know anything about what we were planning to do, but still delivered the same message. When I told him, tears came to his eyes as he noted its importance. There must have been someone there today that needed to hear the message about being nice and not hating others.

The rest of the day went on as normal, but after school we went to yoga for the first time! I assumed that it would be really easy, but it was a bit more difficult then I expected. It was fun to get out and do something active instead of just sitting around. As soon as we got back we got ready for our Micronesia:All the Islands of the Sea meetings. We went and sang and it was really fun!

So, I've decided to steal from one of my good friends Beth, and do a blog on every one of my kids. This is Mandy Kuo! She is the sweetest, most adorable 2nd grader on the face of the Earth. I love her with my whole heart! Every day she clings to me and hugs me and kisses me any asks for "piggy rides" or "huggy rides". She just loves me so much, and it's so fun to run around with her on my back. She is also extremely smart! She always gets the answers the first time and usually gets 100%. She sits quietly in class and gets along great with the other kids. She taught me "dao shi shi, shao shi shi" (except its written WAY differently)in Taiwanese, which means "big gorilla, small gorilla". RANDOM! Today one of my kids brought a fake spider left over from Halloween to school, and they tried to scare her with it. The first two times it didn't work, but the third time she scream and it scared her so much that she started to cry. It was so sad, but still extremely cute.

Mom's coming, mom's coming, mom's coming!

Affirming my choice to be happy, I got a package today! I've been waiting for the package Redwood sent me for a few weeks now and it's finally here! I was surprised how quickly it brought me to tears just knowing that people put together a box for me, and it was so much better after I opened it! There was a tape recorder with the Redwood kids singing Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas, and America the Beautiful. There was also a DVD with a video of them and I got to see my sister! That was quite exciting! Just hearing them talk brought me back to the feeling that I was home. I also got some amazing food and cool stuff that my kids will love. It's just what I needed after a long, rainy day.
Though were not doing a skit, my kids and I practiced singing today because they have chapel on Wednesday. After Bible I attempted to teach them counting money in math, but some kids really can't see that a quarter and nickel are NOT the same size! After Math they had Palauan so I got a break! After running up to the apartment to grab breakfast, I just sat in the gym and stared out at the kids playing. They are all so happy and stress free. I really love the kids here. Every time they see me they scream "Hi Miss Chelsea!" or run to give me a hug. Weather it's a kindergartner, 3rd grader, or even an 8th grader, they still make time to say hi and give you a smile. After that my kids came out of Palauan and they had recess and PE. For once, no one got hurt in kickball! One boy cried, but you can't win them all. After PE, I realized that unfortunately, my AC was not working today. Luckily, it was what the kids consider a "cold day". They all came to school in heavy jackets and boots. There was MAYBE a light breeze and it was a rainy 80 degrees. I laughed to think of what they would do in Washington. The other annoying thing about the rain is that my roof leaks right over my desk! Too bad today the grades folder was in that spot...oh well. At least it wasn't my computer. Anyway, we started phonics in a AC-less classroom and then spelling. Lunch time! The best time of the day! Not really...but I got a nice hot pocket from my Palauan mom and my kids didn't spill any food! Did I ever mention that I got two new kids? Daichi and Ivan came last week, and so far so good, so that's a blessing!
After lunch I gave them a quick recess before starting social studies where we drew pictures of animals in the forest. Then we did reading and dreaded skilpack. I only gave them one page today, but it still took them 20 minutes. Then they had their last recess to get all their energy out! Some girls from 2B came over and we had piggy back time! Then we went in and did handwriting, and a long language assignment! They complained, but they all got it done and did it's correctly. I had them read science in their heads and quizzed them before they could clean up to go home. Then I went into the gym to do PE for Tami's 6th grade class. They didn't want to play soccer, but eventually started playing after I promised free time later. A few of them just came and sat beside me and we talked about life and stuff that I could never talk to my 7 year olds about. It was really fun and they even asked me to be their teacher! I think it was a joke...
As I write this all it seems like my day was so short, but it was not at all. Even though I enjoy what I'm doing, it still does not go by as quickly as I would like. On the up side, the package came and I even cooked myself dinner. Usually I just have some crackers or juice, but today I made ramen. Don't laugh. I know it sounds weak, but I cut up meat and mixed it in and vegetables too. It was quite scrumptious. MOM, I ATE A VITAMIN. Just letting you know. Oh, another thing I'm excited for: my mom is coming here in 18 days! That is my fuel right now. Mom'scomingMom'scomingMom'scoming!

Visiting the capital

The fish Ben and Austin caught

Cha Cha...

Finally getting some pictures to upload!

yes, that's the real color of the water


my little angels :]

At the Milky Way :]

Legit face when a crab pinched me

Jellyfish Lake is amazing

Where your treasure lies

Once again my doubts and fears are short lived. How could anyone be unhappy in Palau? I've come to the realization that my kids need me. Parent teacher conferences went so well and it was really helpful to hear all about my kid's backgrounds. I loved meeting their parents and hearing their thoughts. I even got a "thank-you" for being such a good teaching. It's nice to be appreciated. I've also realized what amazing friends I really do have. Though I'm not there with them this year, they make an effort to keep in touch and it honestly makes me happy. I'm having this amazing experience that's changing my life, and I know that it's meant to be. I feel that I am here for a reason, even if it's not what I wanted. I know why I'm here. God wants me to change someones life, but it might be someone who is SMing here instead of someone who was already here. It's funny how sometimes our purpose is right in front of us, and we try to force something that isn't right for us.
I've always been the kind of person who likes to know what's coming in the future. At this point, being a missionary is the greatest satisfaction with life I've ever had. I really love having this chance to do something for someone other than myself. I love getting to know new people that made the same decision as me. I love walking down the street and waving to people because the whole island knows me. I love jumping into the water in 90 degree weather and feeling the same temperature. Things work out. If I had never come here I wouldn't know how much I love education. I wouldn't have realized how much my view on America could change. Just living with two Europeans for a year has totally flipped my view on American and how other view us. It really changes priorities and I can see what has value and what is supposed to have value. People. Experiences. Lives. Those things are important.

Alone in this fight with herself...

It's funny how sometimes you can feel completely right, like you're doing what you are meant to and other times it seems like making all the wrong decisions led to this place where you shouldn't be. I know that I need to be here in Palau. I've known since Sophomore year of high school, when I told my dad one day I'd go to Palau, that eventually I'd end up here. But as a missionary? What am I doing here? How is my small contribution doing anything at all for the people who live in Palau.
I'm being torn into. I have exactly half of me that has a sickening, sinking feeling that I made all the wrong decision. Maybe I shouldn't have broken up with my boyfriend. Maybe I shouldn't have taken a year off of school to come to a place that doesn't really need me. Maybe all my friends already forgot who I am. Maybe life goes on, weather or not I'm there. I feel so invisible. My sister turned 18 and I missed it. My friends are making new friends and I'm sure that I am just a lingering thought of the past. My life last year was perfect. I had great jobs, great friends, great boyfriend, and a great track for a great career. Now what do I have? I have 16 wide-eyed 2nd graders, the expectation of perfection, and uncertainty. Why did I give up my old life for this?
"Alone in this fight with herself, with the fears whispering If she stands, she'll fall down". This is what just played through my computer. I am battling myself because the other side of me is wrapped up in Palau. I am completely in love with everything about it. This is my home. I love the people, I love the weather, I love the island. As I told my dad when he came to visit, I feel that Palau is a little closer to Heaven than the rest of the world. Not literally, but there are so few distractions and so much more time for God. That also means that there is a lot more time alone with yourself.
I feel like I'm not doing enough. Should I be giving Bible studies? Should I volunteer to feed the poor? Why don't I feel like someones only hope for salvation? Why don't I feel like I'm needed?

Battling the enemy

Sweat mixes with smell of fear as he prepares for battle. His tiny eyes assess the war zone. Though defeat is certain, a small, lingering thought of victory gives him hope. The plan is simple; pretend to be dead until the enemy felt comfortable, then attack. As he lays in wait, he thinks to himself how good his plan is. Though laying on his back exposes his most vital organs to the enemy, he is ready to flip in a moments notice. Staying still in one position so long is relaxing, and after a few minutes he drifts off to sleep. Then, the senses are pushed to the max all at once. Hearing:a piercing scream that threatens to deafen him from the start, rupturing his eardrums in an instant. Seeing: a stream of liquid pours down on him, filling his eyes and burning his sight away forever. Feeling: a flood so massive covering his body, so all he can do is writhe on the floor, trying to flip on to his stomach as he is plastered to the ground. Smelling: is nose is filled with liquid, causing his breath to sputter and stop suddenly. Tasting: the poisonous spray fills his mouth, lungs, and the rest of his body, trying to end him as quickly as possible. Though he should be dead, for the next five minutes he twitches and tries to move, causing the enemy to repeat the screaming and spraying cycle. The hard life of a cockroach.
For the past six days, each morning there has been a lone cockroach laying on our kitchen floor. We don't know why it happens every morning, and we don't know why there is always just one left behind. Though they appear dead, we spray them to be sure and always find that they are not. Comparatively, these cockroaches aren't as bad as the ones that sprint across our kitchen counters, hoping to get to safety before we spot them and destroy them. Ah, the life in Palau. In other news, yesterday our traditional Friday trip to Emimalea was slightly different than normal. After finishing with lunch, Tami and I left Ben and Jeanine so we could run over to the bakery and get some bread. While picking out what we wanted a man came and started talking to us. He was...very friendly. He asked about where we were from and once he heard San Francisco, proclaimed that he lived there for 20 years and loved the "city of love". At this point a VERY angry woman came out of the back room, and he introduced her as his wife. She promptly responded by punching him in the face as hard as she possibly could and stormed off. Then, after getting over our shock, we went to pay. Once we got to the counter there was a lady there, and she told us that she would pay for everything we wanted, and for us to get more stuff. Apparently she's a member of the Koror SDA church and just wanted to do something nice for us. It was cool!
Today, Saturday, was pathfinder sabbath at church. It was actually amazing what a great job they did, especially Jeff and Misty for leading it out. They have put so much work into the pathfinders, and you can see how it's changing the kids. There were probably 60 kids ready to be inducted into the pathfinder club. After church Tami and I went to PMA with the guys and got to hang out. It was lots of fun because Victor and Chris just got a new puppy! It's the most adorable thing I've ever seen! Her name is Novea. It was so fun playing with her, and she was just so cute! Then, one of my student Shayne, let me play with her puppy Choco. After Tami and I took a nap, and when we woke up, Austin had ANOTHER puppy. Where are they all coming from!? I decided that no matter what, I was keeping the puppy that Austin had, even though his tail got cut off. Poor puppy. Apparently me wanting to keep the puppy made Austin want to keep it too, so alas, I still have no puppy. Not to worry though, I will get one soon enough. I even got permission from Jeanine! I even already picked out a name...

I know it's been a while

I know as time goes on, my blogs are few and far between, but honestly there isn't much to share. Don't get me wrong, Palau is spectacualr. It's just repedative. Each day I wake up, go to school, go back home, eat lunch, tutor, and either go to basketball or church meetings. Life isn't exactly boring, but it's just predictable. This last weekend I decided to change that. Saturday after church and a nap, Jeanine, Tami, and I went with Austin to go surfing. Unfortunately it was too far away, so we ended up swimming in a channel nearby that one third grader informed me was sewage. Lovely. It was still fun, and quite refreshing. That evening, we decided to go out to eat at RIC which was a great time and only made better by our hyperness. Tami and I sprinted down the road singing "we are soldiers", "ain't no rock", and numerous other Christian songs. It was quite enjoyable. Needless to say, we were extremly awake and found ourselves sitting on my bed at 2 am not wanting to go to bed...we at least I didn't. I finally convinced them that we needed to go swimming. Because they're not needed, let's just skip the details of that evening and go on to the next morning.
After going to bed at 4 am, I thought I'd be able to sleep in on Sunday, but sadly this was not the case. I woke up at 7 and waited for Tami and Jeanine to wake up until noon! Then we tackeled the extremly hard task of cleaning our apartment. Let's just say that no human eyes should ever have to see that. It took us about 2 hours, but it was finally livable again. Then we went on a shopping excursion to Surangles and got some clothes! Lots of fun! I suppose we got other boring things like food, but no one wants to know about that. We also finalized our plans for Christmas break! Tami, Jeanine, Austin and I have decided to go to Manila! We originally wanted all the SM's to come with us, but most of the rest have plans. Carl even has his whole family coming to see him! Anyway, we decided that we wanted to go to Manila and started talking to a travel agent to work that out. I'm super excited because I've never been to the Philippiens before! It should be an adventure for sure.

Warning: This is not a drill

Yesterday was the best day I've had since coming to Palau! Enhanced by the fact that my dad was here, it was exciting and spectacular. We started off at 8 am and headed down to Surangel's dock. We were supposed to leave (my dad, the other sm's, and I) at around 8:30, but didn't actually leave until 10! There was engine trouble so we just sat around and talked and walked to Sams for a while. Even though we waited for a while, it was still a nice little break. When we finally got the boat started, we headed off to the Milky Way! It was amazing! It was the first time I've been there and it wasn't really what I expected. It was a lagoon of white, sulfur-like, sand that covered tons of the ocean floor. It was fun to rub it all over our faces and arms and other people! Then, of course, we started a sand fight! I was having such a good time, and just hit Jeff in the face, when suddenly I felt a venomous, shooting, pain in my foot. Hundreds of tiny spikes were sticking out of my left foot! Apparently, a crafty sea urchin was hiding under the sand and decided to shoot my foot with his spines. It was quite unpleasant pulling all the thorns from my foot. It almost felt like having lye in my veins, and you could see red tracks as the poison moved through my system.
After that wonderful adventure, we headed off to shark island! We docked and let a few people off for lunch, and the rest of us went to drop off a few boys to go spear fishing and head to jellyfish lake! It was fun hiking up and down back to the lake, and I couldn't wait to show dad the jellyfish! It wasn't a bad day, with the sun just peaking out from behind the clouds. There were tons of jellyfish, so I got to take tons of pictures of my dad and I playing with them! Right as we started swimming back to the dock it started pouring rain! There was tons of sheets of rain pounding down on the lake, making it look really cool! When we left jellyfish lake we headed to clam city. It was about this time that I noticed that my foot was turning black. Nelson said not to worry about it, so I just ignored the pain and kept having fun. There were tons of giant clams at clam city which we got to enjoy. Our last stop was cemetery to feed the fish. There were even more than last time! They were swarming all around us and bumping into us all the time. For some reason, we all felt this stinging feeling all around us, so that kind of killed the fun and most of us got out of the water.
Oh man, the way back to Surangles dock is a whole different story. As we got ready to go back, the rain picked up and started pouring. This created waves in the ocean like I couldn't even imagine. We started off sitting on the floor of the boat, but with the boat bouncing off the ocean, our backs were not feeling so great. One bump even threw me so high in the air that I could have been standing. The waves finally got up to 10 feet and we were just trying to coast through without flipping the boat. Everyone was piled onto everyone else, holding on for dear life. It was one of the craziest and scariest moments yet. Sometimes the boat would even get so low that it would almost submerge for a moment, and then pop back up. We took a video, but it's basically just us screaming at the top of our lungs and the rain pelting us. I've never been that we before from the rain- we could have been swimming. Then, the second we got out of the huge 10 foot swells and back to calmer water, the boat ran out of gas! We had a reserve packed, but thank goodness that we didn't run out in the middle of the ocean, or we'd all be dead. That's how crazy the waves were!
After that long adventure we finally made it back to SDA. I got to hang out with my dad a little more before he had to leave to get ready to go to the airport. Even though I was really sad to see him leave, I was super happy that I could share that day with him because it was so incredible! Plus, now I have someone to confirm what sounds like a made up story- it's not!
Lately, I've been praying a lot for the future. Mainly because I don't know what kind of things are in store. Whether it's the near future, going to Yap, Japan, or Manila for Christmas break, or the further future, what to do with the rest of my life and how to accomplish all the things I want to. I just feel like life is SO SHORT. It's funny because people who were SM's here in the past said that the time goes so slow until Christmas, and then it goes fast. For me, it's already flying by and I can't imagine it going any faster then it is. I don't want it to! I want it to take as long as possible for it to get to tomorrow. Even though I miss Walla Walla so much, nothing in the world can compare to today, last weekend, and all the amazing memories that are waiting for me to make.

What is love? (Baby, don't hurt me...)

Love (noun, verb)- Deep, enduring, passionate, emotional regard.
Did you know that in the Bible the word love is used 508 times? FIVE HUNDRED AND EIGHT. If people didn't notice the pattern, I don't know how many more times would help. In Matthew 22 its says that the greatest commandment is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart. And the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself". God gives us the most important thing in our life. He tells us what life is all about. Love. It's not about the logistics. It's not about the way she dresses or the way he talks. It's about God, you, and others. Love for God means you'll respect the laws He gave you, the 10 commandments. Love for others is a different thing completely. He didn't say to love your family. He didn't say to love your friends. He didn't say to love other Adventist. He didn't say to love people that think like us. He didn't say love the people who love us first. He said love your neighbor. Your neighbor is anyone you are "near", which is everyone you have in contact with.
Sometimes I want to go to the extreme. I want to sell my stuff, drop out of school, and go to Africa. I want to meet people, tell them about God, and help people who need it. What is the point of life if not to bring as many people close to God as possible. Sometimes it seems so useless to be in the American lifestyle. People learn in school to get a job. They get a job to get money. They get money to buy stuff. In 100 years, stuff will have no meaning. Things are just things, what can they do for you? Imagining a life where I wouldn't work to get money to get things is crazy. It's not what people do. Is it what God would want? I struggle with this because there are parts of the United States that need someone to share God's love more then in Tanzania. I could be so much more beneficial where I was and I didn't even know it. Why is it so hard to be a radical Christian? I could, right now, go out on the street and tell people that Jesus loves them and died for them. I could invite strangers to church. I could use all my money to buy Bibles and pass them out in the street. But I don't. What I want to know is why I don't. What stops me from being a radical Christian. I never have the urge to invite the cashier at Surangles to church. I don't plan on telling my bank teller that God loves him. What is the reason that is so hard for us? People have screamed the name of Jesus until they couldn't talk anymore. People have been burned alive for refusing to be silent.
It's scary to think about these things because I might actually do something about it. It's possible that as you read this, you're thinking that I'm crazy. You're saying to yourself "This girl is taking it a little too far. You can just minister where you are. What kind of person would say these kind of things?". It's possible that you disagree with every word I type. To say these things to myself makes them real. What would the people I know, the people that are reading this, think, if I never came home. What would people say if from Palau I kept moving around the world. They would call me crazy. "I can't believe she did that"! Though this is most likely not going to happen, I like to ask myself "why not?". I also like to remind myself of these moments whenever I can. I like to remind myself to live radically for God. What is sharing God's love? Telling people about it! Living out the life that God wants us to have. Life is too short not to love people.

Paid in love

Having my dad here is such a spirit lifter! It feels like I'm at home, which is both happy and sad. It's happy because I love being home and I love having part of my family here with me. It's sad because I wasn't missing home at all until I saw my dad, and now I do. I guess it's just part of what comes with seeing family. After a long day of school, plus staff meetings, it was nice to go to Emimalea and eat a nice dinner in a place I get to share with him. My kids love him! He brings them lollypops every day and they just adore "Miss Chelsea's dad". Of course his hilarious stories in chapel don't hurt. Everyone from Kinder to 12th grade love to hear about the giant pig in the road and how he threw up in his regulator.
Yesterday a woman came up to me that I met at the beginning of the year. The first week of school I talked to her about finding an english tutor for her daughter, a junior in high school. They're Korean, so she's trying to learn english better for some ESL test at the end of the year. After talking to her mom for about 20 minutes, I became the caretaker for this girl. As it ended up, she needed somone to tutor her daughter from 6-7 pm every night, and then just hang out with her until 9 pm. I honestly didn't know what to say to her, but decided that's what missionaries do, so I said yes. It should be interesting teaching english when I don't even know all the rules. It should be even more interesting hanging out with an exchange student from 6-9 every night, but who knows what will come out of it.
Sitting in staff meeting today, watching the Harry Wong video, I realized that I love teaching. I can't wait to see my kids in the morning, I love watching them understand new concepts during the day, and I look foreward to their goodbye hugs every afternoon. I love planning new and exciting things to do and ways to help them learn. It's really exciting to see other teachers copy things I do in class! Dina had me teach her De-Bug, and today I saw Joy sending her kids on a treasure hunt! I just feel like I matter here, and its a nice feeling to have. Unconditional love is a nice feeling. I know I'll have that from my family forever, but these kids don't have to love me, but they do. No matter what they do to get in trouble or if I give them extra recess or not, they always have hugs and "I love you teacher" for me. Today I recieved an apple, ham sandwhich, cheetos, and strawberry cookies. The life of the teacher is a blessed! Maybe not paid in money, but love and food is priceless!

In the past few days

Sorry for not writing sooner but it's been a busy week.
Thursday- School went on a like normal, but after school we had a staff party. We celebrated all the birthdays in the months of July-September with a delicious potluck and cake! I got to play basketball with some of the staff kids and other staff. We also just got to talk and hang out until badminton. They school always lets the community use the gym for badminton on Tuesdays and Thursday and they came and kicked us out. We decided to stay and watch for a little while and a lady came with a parrot on her shoulder. She was feeding him straight from her mouth! And she set up a little line for him to sit on and watch her play badminton. When we finally got up to leave, the parrot flew over and landed on my shoulder! I didn't expect that at all and it made me freak out just a little because he wouldn't get off! We decided to go to Jesse and Hayley's apartment and play Rook for a while, but I only got to play two hands because it was time to go to the airport to pick up my dad! I was so excited all day and we were finally on our way. Waiting by the gate for him to come out was so stressful! I told Nelson and Mesikt that I was going to be calm and play it cool, but as soon as I saw him I ran and jumped into his arms! It was such a happy reunion. Later, Mesikt told me that most Palauans had never seen such a display of affection, which made me laugh. I thought I was playing it cool.
Friday- My dad and I got up early to go diving! We waited in front of the SDA office waiting for Sams to pick us up, but they never came. Luckily, Nelson was there and offered to drive us. There was so much traffic for Palauan Independence Day. When we got there, we found out that my dad actually had to take a refresher diving course because it had been so long since his last dive. I got to dive for free, but it was just around the dock at Sams. It was fun to see my dad relearning some stuff, and actually being the more experienced one for once! The refresher only took a few hours and then we came back to Koror. We walked around and got lunch ad Emimelea which was delicious, and then I showed him all around Koror. We walked all around into shops and through a market they had in honor of Independence day. He kept saying how hot it was and I was laughing because it was so cool! Apparently the typhoons from Taiwan are affecting the weather, because there hasn't been much sun for the past 3 days. Then we came back SDA and I packed up some stuff to stay with my dad at PMA. We got to stay in the house set aside for the pastor which was super nice! Everything was brand new and it had great AC! The only scary part was that the pastor was murdered in that house, but lightning can't strike the same place twice right? RIGHT?! Anyway, after the initial fear was gone, I cooked a delicious dinner of rice noodles and big franks for us which was awesome! It was great getting to catch up and just have a family member here.
Saturday- We got up early, not by choice, and got ready for church. The reason we woke up so early was the dogs barking and the birds chirping back. It wasn't quite mellifluous (vocab word mom!). We did, however, enjoy a wonderful breakfast of fresh mangoes! Then we drove to Koror to go to church. Everyone was really excited to meet my dad and we got to have church together. It was fun to explain my routine to him and have him try to imitate it. In sabbath school we drew pictures of Noah and the ark, and he even drew one, with crayons! It was quite entertaining. After sabbath school we went to church were Louie Torres spoke until about 1 pm. Then we went to potluck! Being a visitor, my dad had to go first, and of course he needed someone to explain the dishes to him! It was one of the best potlucks ever! After potluck we were planning to go to prison ministries, but instead ended up sitting in the potluck room talking to Carl for three and a half hours. My dad knows tons of people from Southern where Carl goes, and that just opened a whole new can of worms. They also talked about some other great stuff about religion. When it finally got to be 5 pm, Nelson told us that my dad was moving to a house right by SDA, so we had to go get all of his stuff. On the plus side he let me drive! Driving on the right side of the car is pretty much the same as the left, except the windshield button and blinkers are on opposite sides. We got all his stuff and brought it to the new house he would be staying in, and when we turned on the lights, a GIANT cockroach was sitting on the floor. It took two huge stomps from my dad to kill him with a sickening crunch. After that we went out to dinner with Tami and Jeanine to Rock Island Cafe which was so fun. We couldn't stop laughing and just talked the whole time.
Sunday-Diving take two. We got up early and drove over to Sams to go diving. They were supposed to pick us up but we weren't going to risk it. We got all our equipment together and headed out to Ulong Channel. After a one minute briefing, we hopped in! The reef was indescribable. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever experienced in my whole life. There were millions of fish and at least 10 sharks! We just sat and watched them for a while, but they were still pretty far away and only about 4 feet long. We saw huge puffer fish and other fish that were half my size. There was so much sea life and beauty that I didn't want to go up. The current was really strong, so at our safety stop we were getting thrown around like crazy. After the first dive, we went to our second spot. It was basically just jumping into the ocean, and going down to about 70 feet to look at a reef. This reef started at about 30 feet and went down to like 150 feet. It was so incredible that it beat Unlong Channel! It was so full of life and animals! We saw so many colorful fish and a turtle! Near the end, there was a group of sharks coming near us. They were probably around 6 feet and looked like a in a scary movie. Of course, I had to follow them. At one point I got only a few feet from a big one, but then he turned and I saw his teeth, and that was the end of that. I realized that I was down to about 700 on air so we headed back up to the surface. For lunch we went to Ulong beach where Survivor:Palau was filmed! That was super exciting because I watched every episode of that show! It was fun to walk around and see where they lived. It was a fantastic day!

Challenge accepted

Today was the 13th Sabbath of the month. Until today, I had no idea that this was a special Sabbath, but apparently it's communion. After sabbath school with over 30 people in a giant, noisy circle, we headed up and found out about communion. Jeanine and I decided to try something new and sit up on the balcony, which we found to be really quiet and had a great view. The songs and prayer and all of the other rituals were the same, but when it came time for the sermon, it was short! He probably only talked for about 20 minutes and then we separated for the foot washing. Jeanine, Tami, and I all switched around and it was a really nice experience. We had a nice prayer afterwards and a big hug! Then we went back upstairs for the bread and grape juice, which was also a really nice experience. Ben introduced us to a man who he'd met during foot washing that had never been to an Adventist church before. Ben opened his Bible and showed the man why we did foot washing and why we ate and drank in church. The man was really nice and seemed really interested.
After church, there was a huge potluck. It was extra big because there were so many more people at church today than usual, but I'm not sure why. We had all sorts of good things like guava and tuna, rice noodles, lumpia, and egg patties. It was definitely the best potluck since we've been here! After we went back for a bit before prison ministries. I got to skype my family and it really lifted my mood. I was so happy to get to talk to them and see how they were doing. Then we headed down to the prison and got there just in time. We greeted the prisoners and sang some beautiful songs that they picked. Then Meskit talked about ants and being spiritually dead and I learned a lot. After it was over, we got to talk to the prisoners again before we headed back to our apartment.
We waited around for a while and then decided to go out to Rock Island Cafe for dinner with the boys. Getting there was an adventure. After they came here to get us, they couldn't get the van started again. They tried letting it coast down a hill, but it just wouldn't start. Then it started shooting off bright yellow flames right under my feet! There were sparks flying everywhere and little shots of fire randomly mixed in. After kicking the engine fore 10 more minutes, it finally started and got us there. We had a nice dinner, though Victor and Austin watched ESPN most of the time. Fortunately Chris was there to talk to, and it was a lot of fun! (Mrs. Tan, if you're reading this, Chris is sorry he doesn't give you more information. He wants you to know that he wishes you were here and he'll try to post more) After a delicious dinner, we got to relax in our apartment and have some good talks. It was a really nice day, only highlighted by the fact that my dad will be here in only 5 days! I am so excited, and everyone here knows it! During potluck I talked to Nelson about where he will stay, and found out that he's staying in the clinic behind the school. I just can't wait to show him Palau and do stuff with him. I want to go kayaking, scuba diving, and to the rock islands, and so much more. Sorry for telling you again, but I'm so excited!
Before I left California, my parents wrote about 20 Bible verses on index cards and hid them all around my stuff. Today during church, I took them out and copied them down into my Bible. They are such good verses that are really going to help me while I'm here. It's nice to know that the Bible has encouragement for when I am lonely or sad or discouraged. Oh, and a miracle happened today! Last week I asked all of my kids what SDA meant. I wanted to know who even knew what our church believed. A few kids knew, the daughter of one of the teachers, the daughter of the head elder, and the son of another elder. The rest just stared blankly and didn't answer. I asked them how many of them were SDA, and only 6 or so raised their hand. I found out that most were either Catholic or didn't go to church. I challenged them to come to our SDA church and told them that I'd love to see them. After I was done, when they went back to normal classwork, I stopped at Krystal's desk. I didn't plan to talk to her, but she was the closest person to me and I was impressed to talk to her. I asked her why she didn't come to church and told her that I missed her every Sabbath. She told me that she didn't have time and that her mom was always too tired to take her. I told her that I would love to see her if she ever could come by. Today, as I was walking out of the youth sabbath school, I passed the kids class. A waving Krystal stood behind the glass, smiling like crazy. It made me so happy to see her and she even stayed for church! If that's not God working, I don't know what is.