the first week

This week has been amazing. Half of our team went into the mountains to do medical clinics. The rest of us stayed on the base. Bethany and I are staying in an amazing resort room that looks over the ocean. We love to sit in the hammock and just watch the waves. It is so stinkin´ hot here. We have been sweating the entire time.
The girls have been painting the house of Charles and Elli, two local missionaries who have lived here for 16 years. The boys have been cementing a new floor for the chruch in Cacalote. Pastor Bartolo is so excited about the new floor, it brings a smile to his face each time he looks at it. Last Sunday we went to church there and some of us taught the children´s ministry lesson. We made butterflies out of coffee fliters and clothes pins and the kids painted the wings with watercolors. It was so beautiful to watch them paint. Pasor Bartolo asked me and Matt to lead the children´s ministry each week. That is such a blessing for me because I was sad to leave the children´s ministries at the Grove.
In the little town of Cacalote lives Ernesto´s family. He has traveled the world and lived in Canada, London, Switzerland, and Mexico but he wants to raise his kids in a place without so much materialism. He has a flat screen TV which looks a little out of place in his hut of a restaurant/house. He has 5 beautiful children and they are learning English and speak it very well. Ernesto makes these mango smoothie drinks called liquados and is also an amazing pastry maker.
Matt´s really excited about getting to work with Manuel, Chepe, and Renaldo. He hopes they will keep him working hard will be able to build relationships with them. He also met a guy named Pepe who wants to help teach him Spanish. He is so eager to learn and his Spanish is getting better everyday.