Sabbath rest

Today was spectacular. I started off the day at 8, when I had to be at church to practice for song service. My foot is doing so much better and it's just a miracle how quickly it's healing up. Power of prayer eh? Anyway, started off practicing and finding songs to sing for sabbath school. Then we started sabbath school and it went well! I never thought that I'd be singing hymns! I had a lot of fun and it was nice to lead out the church. For sabbath school I went to the one that is all in Palauan, which was a great experience. I sat with some nice ladies who shared their lesson with me so I could read along in English as they talked about the lesson in Palauan. After sabbath school came church, and Meskit preached about being spiritually hot and cold. The sermon really touched me because it was so true. Before potluck I found Carl outside and went to talk to him and he told me the same thing. God really impressed our hearts today. After church we had another fantastic potluck, and there was macaroni and cheese! So good!
After potluck we decided to go to PMA to go hiking in the jungle with Victor and Chris, but we didn't decide until the bus was leaving! Luckily, June waited for us to change so we could go too! We took the bus 25 minutes from SDA to PMA and then headed out into the forest. Victor sharpened the machete so we could cut our way through the trees. We literally cut ourselves a path. It was pouring rain and we were under these big leaves in the mud! I felt how ants must feel when the look up at a clover or blade of grass. After sliding down a muddy hill we came upon a chicken farm! There were literally hundreds of adult chickens, not to mention the half grown and chicks! I really wanted to touch the chicks, but when I opened their cage, holding about 400, they all smashed in the corner! After that we cut open some coconuts and played in the water. We went back to the house and washed all off! We were so wet and muddy. Luckily the guys have lots of extra clothes! The thing about transportation in Palau is that we're not aloud to drive ourselves. Any time we want to go anywhere we have to have an actual driver to drive us. Unfortunately, those are pretty hard to get. I needed to be back at 6:30 for dinner with my Palauan family, and even though it was only 4:30, we started looking for a ride. While waiting the girls and I talked to Kofi, a two year missionary from Ghana, and some of the guys. Jeanine even got to play piano! By the time we finally got a ride back to SDA it was already 6:50, island time. Even though I was about 45 minutes too late for dinner, my family was waiting to take Ben and I to their house.
We drove 25 minutes back to Airai where Lisa and Uchel live. They had the biggest house I've seen in Palau! Way bigger then mine at home! They also have 10 dogs! Can you believe that!? TEN! They also invited their brother and sister-in-law, and their cute baby Clara. We had such a great dinner and grown up conversation! It was so much fun hearing about Palau. Uchel even showed us some fishing spears he had specially made and promised to help us get some and then take us fishing. It was funny because their youngest son, Ked, is in my 2nd grade class. Their other son, Sils, is in Ben's history class, so both their teachers were there! It was a great time and I learned a lot, and on top of all that we got food to go! Oh, if I haven't mentioned before, Lisa is the best "mom" ever! Every day she brings me a hot lunch at school and some water. How fantastic is that! I feel like everything that I need is provided here.
Tomorrow is Tammi's birthday, so were planning to go to the beach and watch the guys surf. Then maybe dinner out at a new place the scuba boat driver told me about. We also want to get up early to make her a cake! Lesson plans can wait... is becoming the story of my life. Oh well!