What a phenomenal experience living and attending Spanish school in Antigua for the last two months has been! My time in Antigua has certainly challenged me mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, but it has already been one heck of an adventure with my missionary class and we haven’t even made it to the Finca yet…
During the first weekend of September, we had a new missionary retreat in Antigua led by two current missionaries at the Finca, a Franciscan Sister at the Finca named Sor Magdalena, and the founder of the Finca, Zulena. This retreat made our group of missionaries SO, SO EXCITED to join the Finca community at the beginning of October and to begin forming relationships with the kids, tías, Franciscan Sisters, the staff, and, of course, each other!
The new missionary retreat also allowed time for our group of missionaries to get to know one another on a deeper and more intimate level, which is such a gift considering we will be living together in extremely close quarters for the next 14+ months. Our time in Antigua has been full of studying in cafes in the afternoons, attending mass and cooking meals together on Sundays, lots of AMAZING conversations and laughs, many random trips to Cerro de La Cruz, and realizing there is ALWAYS time to grab a beer or a pastry together throughout the week. I am extremely grateful every single day to embark on this crazy adventure with a fantastic group of missionaries that challenge me to become the best version of myself. I love each and every one of them so much already, and I’ve only known them for two months!
Luke and I live with the same host mom, Carmen, so I am so grateful to get to spend quality time with him throughout the day, including during meals and walking to school or a café. Luke is honestly the most knowledgeable person I have ever met in my entire life, and he truly teaches me at least one new thing every single day. LIFELONG LEARNING!
Kristen & I first met in the Atlanta airport as we luckily completed our initial journey to Guatemala together. I am so grateful for Kristen’s deep passion for teaching, and her pure heart and incredible compassion for others makes her an absolute rockstar of a teacher! She is going to make such a phenomenal impact on so many kids’ lives at the Finca just by being herself.
Megan is always willing to study in a park with me throughout the week, and I am so grateful for that! Her life experiences in general and more specifically as a nurse in Chicago prior to coming to the Finca have led her to always be willing to have important, deep conversations at any point throughout the day. Those remarkable conversations have led us to further growth as a community!
Karen was fluent in Spanish prior to coming here, so I am incredibly grateful to be able to ask her for help when our group is struggling to communicate with Guatemalans in the market, a restaurant, or a cafe. Karen is also recently engaged, and her commitment to the Finca and to her spiritual growth before her wedding challenges me every single day to reevaluate my own commitment to living God’s will for my life.
Molly, Drew, and their three young children (ages 5, 3, &1) bring an abundance of joy and energy to our missionary community, and I am so grateful for them every single day. It is quite literally impossible to have a bad day when you get the opportunity to interact with three amazingly joyous children every afternoon! Molly and Drew are a stellar example of what a loving marriage should look like, as they talk about how their goal is to help their spouse become the best version of themselves and ultimately make it to heaven. Their marriage inspires me to love others on a deeper and more intimate level within the present moment!
I am beyond excited to continue forming relationships with all of these awesome people, as well as the current missionaries at the Finca that we will meet in about 8 days. EEEEEEK, SO EXCITING!
Our missionary community will embark on a quite lengthy bus journey to the Finca next week! Please pray for our safety as we travel to the Finca, especially as we cross the border into Honduras, and be assured of my prayers for you.
God Bless!