Prom Dresses, Tiny Bugs and Lots and Lots of Chocolate

It’s Wednesday afternoon and there is no place on earth I’d rather be at this moment than right here. The weekend was very enjoyable. I actually played softball (I know, I know, please remain calm. It was only temporary insanity) and attended several church services on Sunday, including Missions Emphasis night at church. We decorated the sanctuary with international flags, Joni spoke about her call to Uruguay, Lyle preached, and I got to sing “Revelation Song” in English and Spanish. We are also still fitting girls for prom dresses (there have been a few stragglers). We have zipped up, zipped down, hung up, taken down, buttoned, unbuttoned, and gently tugged our way through 75 prom dresses for almost 40 girls. We’ve said, “Ah, que linda!” (Oh, that’s lovely!) “Oh chica, eso vestido es muy hermosa para ti!” (Oh girl, that dress is very beautiful for you!) and “Eh, Yo creo que el otra es mejor” (I believe the other is better) more times than we can count. Needless to say, it’s been fun, and we’re very excited about seeing the culmination of our dress-fitting efforts this Saturday!

The number of kids coming to lunch every day is still increasing. It’s been fun to greet them every morning by name and to learn about their lives. The condition of some of the children is still heartbreaking. Yesterday, I was holding a young girl when I looked down and saw quite an infestation of lice in her hair. We’re not going to stop holding these children no matter how dirty they may be, so we bought some lice shampoo to use as a preventative measure. I wish I could take each of them and individually take the lice out of their hair – unfortunately, this is only what they’ve always known.

We are in the middle of our last week of Resplandecer and it absolutely could not be going better! Monday was makeup day, so the girls came over and had a great time with all of the donated makeup samples. Tuesday was Service day, which far exceeded our expectations! The activity was serving a meal to the kids luncheon at church, and we really didn’t think we’d have a turnout – but all of the girls came and served wholeheartedly. It was such a sweet sight to see them putting the Esther attitude of servanthood into practice!

Joni, Claren and I have spent half the night yesterday and most of this afternoon preparing for our long-awaited chocolate night! We are indulging the girls with more chocolate than they could ever long for (and having a really, really good time in the process!) We’ve made almost 60 cupcakes, brownies, cookies, and many other chocolatey treats. We absolutely can’t wait to see the faces of the girls when they walk in to our elaborate chocolate spread (that is, if the majority of this chocolate actually makes it to the table!) I’m sure you’ve all noticed by now that we’re not suffering too badly on this mission trip. Before the end of the trip, I’ll post a few of the exaggerated stories we’ve concocted to make it sound like we’re really suffering for Jesus here. But as for the chocolate, baking and eating - it was said best last night: “If this is missions, then here am I, Lord – send me!”

So appreciating your prayers – there are far too many stories to relay here!