Tico Tuesday, March 2nd

Happy Tuesday!

Most people who go to serve as missionaries go to the Instituto de Lengua Espanola, which is on the far opposite side of San Jose from where I live. At LAM orientation they deemed my Spanish good enough to be able to go straight to my assignment here in CCI. I will confess, that made me very happy. But, I have made a few trips to the school to visit people I met at orientation. This week I made one of those trips with extra joy and excitement because not only did I get to see everyone I know there, but I also got to see a couple that is very dear to me. Jack and Mary Anne Voelkel came to share at their alma mater. I first met them at my LAM orientation when Jack was the interim president, but we also have a lot of common because both of them have served with InterVarsity as well. A couple pictures and stories from orientation on the blog...

May God bless and keep you this week,

Carrie

So yes, I adore the Voelkels. I have adopted them as another set of grandparents. Abuelito Jack has such a gentle spirit. He and Mary Anne's love for one another and the Lord are so evident! And Mary Anne is such a good example of one who prays. God has knit them together and they make a fantastic team. They are both full of wisdom, encouragement and insights… I could go on, but instead I'll just tell you that you should meet them. (Yes Jack is the InterVarsity Ask Jack) And I do acknowledge that they are people and that no person is perfect. But God in his wonderful grace loves us still.

Anyway, Orientation. That was a while ago now. Before I started this blog, in fact. 10 days of sessions on how to raise support, face various cultural issues, and get to know the LAM and how it works. It was great. 10 days seems like a long time, but that way it wasn't too intense and overwhelming. And it meant lots of time to get to hang out with Kiki-who I adopted as my Cuban mamita, Dick & Sheila (the missionaries in residence that stayed in the hotel with us) and my fellow orientees. LAM Headquarters are in Miami and thus known as the MSO, Miami Services Office. The people there are SO great!!!

I was part of a pretty small orientation, and 80% of us were under 25. Norina, who was 59 (but didn't act or look it) helped boost the average age. Jijiji. More on her in a minute.

My roomie was Heather (top R), a sweet girl with a love for children. She is going to serve in El Salvador and is still raising support. The link to her blog is here. I would encourage you to support her in any way you can. She would love to start language school in August! (and she can't go until she has more support). She like to laugh a lot too and we got along swimmingly... especially since I swam every morning in the huge beautiful pool of our hotel! Jajaja.

Billy was our only guy. Praise be to God he is on the field already-he actually beat me here! He serves down in Peru with Scripture Union. He gets to help host teams and do all manner of cool stuff down there. (Next to him are Abuelito Jack and on the bottom right Danny Levi, the wonderful LAM Pastor to Missionaries)

Lori (top L) and I haven't really kept in touch, but I know she is still raising support too. She is going to serve down in Colombia, I believe at a seminary. You can find biographies of and donate to all of us at http://www.lam.org/, which has recently gotten a lovely facelift.

Then there's Norina. She is a hoot. An amazing woman who has pretty much been through it all and more than anything wants to serve God with a great get-kids-off-the-street ministry (Open Arms Foundation) in Colombia. She ended up not being a missionary of the LAM, but that's ok. We are missionaries for God, not people or organizations. And, so she's actually already at language school. We've gotten to hang out very briefly a couple times, but yesterday since I was around all day between the morning and afternoon chapel sessions (Jack and Mary Anne are the speaker for Spiritual Emphasis week in which they have chapel every day and evening sessions as well), she and I really got to hang and and bond. We had a blast! Then, she invited me to stay the night with her so I wouldn't have to go back and forth all across San Jose. And talk about a humbling experience-this 61 year old lady gave up her memory foam bed (that she brought from the States) for me!!! I tried to persuade her, but she was too insistent. She put amazing Egyptian cotton sheets on there too and one of those wicked soft blankets I love so much. I felt like a princess!

The morning session was great (as were the morning and afternoon sessions yesterday) and unfortunately I couldn't stay. I loved what I got though. And today before heading out I got to hang out with my dear abuelitos for a bit and tell them about life here. I'm excited for my next trip to the States in August because Lord willing I will get to see them when I see my parents in Arizona! YAAAY!!!

Ok, well I feel like I ended up making this an ad for the LAM. I'm ok with that, and I'm sure they are too. So, if you're interested in serving God in Latin America, meeting any of these people or going to language school...let me know or just head to the LAM website!! :-)

PS Oh and I got to meet another fellow LAM missionary! She is a really really cool girl named Cadorsil and ella me cayo muy bien (she made a really good impression on me/I liked her right away). After language school she is going to Paraguay to serve as a social worker. She needs more support too. :-) Http://www.lam.org/