Ministry this week

Monday -- I'm gonna be honest - I started falling asleep a couple times in our conversation on Monday. We had about 2.5 hours to be on campus, and we talked to one group of people the whole time (4 girls), which is great, but it was really hot and humid as usual, and one of our friends shared for a long time without stopping (like an hour!!), so i didn't really have anything to say or do (except listen to the occasional translations), and i was really bored.

Tuesday -- Went sharing with the same friend (JoseAngel) who joined us the previous day, but this time he mostly just acted as a translator for me, so I was challenged to step up and lead the conversation (first time so far) and read the questions on the survey in Spanish (my accent is terrible!), but it was a great time to practice. We talked to some really interesting students (2 girls, 1 guy) from the architecture campus, which is my favorite! They have really deep thoughts instead of having the same answers everyone else has. My favorite 2 things were: one goal someone had in life is to write a book about spiritual things/a self-help book (most people just say that they have goals but never clarify them); (answer to question "If we were to die today and were standing at the gates of Heaven, what would you say to God to let you in?) if I arrived at the gates of Heaven, it would be because I was meant to be there (like she would already deserve it, so if she were standing there, she would already be allowed in). Anyways just a little more interesting, profound answers than other students typically have.

We got to have a SECOND conversation (at the engineering campus nearby - 2 guys, 2 girls), which has been a rarity most days, this time with a group of students who spoke English! So I was excited to not have to try to pronounce Spanish for the quiz and 4 Laws book. They were great to talk to and we had much more of a discussion than any of the other conversations I've had so far. I tried to explain the Gospel more quickly than normal b/c I knew we didn't have much time (we had to meet up to walk back by 11 so Kaitlin could get to her dentist appt by 11:30). I did that successfully, and then noticed it was 11:05 so I asked JoseAngel to explain and invite them to our weekly meeting, Tiempo Libre. However, he was unaware that we had to leave, and really wanted to share more about Jesus' sacrifice, and then really wanted to share more about how to receive Christ. I was antsy and told him to just speak in Spanish, and I kept thinking about having to leave and acting like I was going to. By like 11:10 I was like okay I REALLY need to leave, and he was like - ok, but this girl said she wants to pray to receive Christ, so I just had to go, and he decided to stay and talk with them. I felt bad for being late, but we ended up getting to the dentist right on time! Praise the Lord!

The best praise - I was SO hot and tired walking around when we first got to campus, but during the second conversation I realized that I wasn't tired at all, and I was very energetic and excited to talk to the students (I think because the first conversation was fun and energized me), so I had fun explaining the Gospel. Yay! :)

Wednesday - Brought soularium, which made things a lot more interesting and thus enjoyable. Talked to 2 groups again (didn't go through the 4 Laws either time...my conclusion after the same thing happening Thursday is that soularium takes a long time, but I still really like it). Kaitlin and I went sharing together again (we have every day besides Tuesday), and found a group of girls that we really love! One of the girls used the card with the picture of 3 (or 4?) people's legs who are standing around at a party to represent her friends, and then leaned over and hugged the 3 girls she was sitting next to and said "these are my best friends!" All of them were really cute the way that they paid such close attention to what we said -- even when I was speaking to them in English! (None of them spoke English at all, but they leaned in and smiled every time I talked to them). We were talking about friends and they said something about the way we are their new friends! My favorite part of the conversation was when (after we explained what our job is) we asked them what the greatest expression of love is, and they said "you being here and sharing with us." They had to leave before we could explain the whole Gospel to them, and a lot of them sounded very confused about spiritual things (one of them didn't understand the question "Which picture represents your spiritual journey so far?") So pray that these girls will hang out with us again! They really sounded like they want to, and 2 of them already texted us. Hopefully they will be our new friends and learn about Jesus! :)

Thursday - Just Kaitlin, Crystal, and I. Were a little late leaving (supposed to leave around 9 every day). Noticed the bus took a "wrong" turn. Bus kept stopping to ask other buses for directions. Had no idea where we were. Decided to get off when we were at a familiar place (hotel where spring break students stay) and catch another bus. Got to campus around 10. Really wanted to buy strawberry frappes (smoothies). Long line. Supposed to meet a group of people for follow-up. No sign of them. Did soularium with a group of 4 girls. Didn't have time to share the 4 laws. Each of us staff/JoseAngel (4 of us) chose a picture and shared what Jesus' Gospel message meant to us. Was a great way to share the Gospel! Had 20-30 minutes left before we were supposed to leave campus. Awkward length of time. Walked around. Saw a girl painted as a native girl and standing still as a statue. Took a picture. Noticed another girl painted. She successfully passed as a statue. Left campus. Went in the puppy store!! Got to be licked by a few really adorable dogs. Pretty chill day.