Home Sweet Home :)

Sorry it's been so long since my last blog! this past week was BUSY with homework, and this one looks like it will be just as busy! Tuesday we visited two more possible service site locations, which gets me excited for classes to be done and service sites to start! it was a VERY hot day, driving with the windows down through South Africa makes it all better :)

i had my first D-Group on Tuesday night, it was fun for all of us girls to get together and talk about what we want our group to look like (a D-group is like a small group) We did a work out video together and then of course, had some chocolate :) i'm excited to see how God is going to work through all of us being in the group together! they are all such sweet girls and i cant wait to get to know them better!

On Wednesday we had Ladies Night at the Keg and Hedgehog down the street from campus. It was fun for a bunch of us girls to go out to dinner and just hang out! All the girls in our chalet wore dresses that day, making it a "Mo-Jo Dress Day" (Mo-Jo short for Mojalefa, our chalet name). They are all so much fun and i love living with all of them!!

The rest of the week was working on papers pretty much and hanging out when we wanted a break :) One morning some of us girls from Mojalefa went to go walking in the reserve, but when we got there the EVIL monkeys were at the gate! there was about 5 of them, so we opted not to go in. Once we started walking away, literally 25 more monkeys started jumping out of the trees at the reserve entrance, right where we would have been if we had gone in! We could not believe how many there were and that we COULD HAVE been standing there! The monkeys have been crazy this week, always waiting outside our chalets and everywhere on campus making noise and messes of the trash cans. Thankfully there is usually a boy around to scare them off, or we get the paintball gun :) We also did star tripping one night, where you look up a star and spin around as fast as you can for 30 seconds and then someone shines a flashlight in your face and you fall over, sounds weird but it is so fun and HILARIOUS to watch!

Saturday was DURBAN DAY! We went shopping at a shopping center near the beach for a few hours, it was fun to see all the jewelry and fun paintings! Then we headed to the beach which was INSANELY hot!! first thing we did when we got there was get some ICE CREAM! :) it was delicious and exactly what we needed to cool down!

Then we all just laid on the beach tanning and going in the water, which was so refreshing! It was so much fun to be at the beach and all hang out soaking in the sun and seeing the people around us.

Then we all packed up and drove home, and it started RAINING! which turned into a THUNDERSTORM :) which i love!! the lightning here is beautiful because it turns the sky purple! we were all singing along to music and enjoying being together on the drive home, it was a good ending to a fun day!


Everyday i am blown away at the place i get to stay and that i get to be here for a whole semester! God is SOOO good and is showing himself to me in so many ways each and every day! I see him in his creation here, the scenery, the culture, and in his people. When i get to go in the reserve and see the sun shining through all the plants i just can not stop smiling and being cheerful that i get to be here!
We see zebras a lot in the reserve now, and they have definitely become my favorite animal! their patterns are so intricate, and they are such peaceful animals! they always travel together like a family and pose for our pictures :) seeing them in the morning is such a gift from God and a reminder of how creative and fun God is with his creation!

On Sunday I went to the church that i went to two weeks ago again. It was so good to be there again and be welcomed into their church! When we got there they seated us, and they seated me with no one else from our group next to me, which my initial reaction was wanting to be with people from APU, but once i got to my seat the lady sitting next to me greeted me with a warm hug and smile. Then i started worshiping with all the people in the church, lively music, so much energy and a lot of dancing and clapping! It was an amazing experience to be sitting next to someone i had never met before, yet feel so comfortable and close to her after worshiping with her! The pastor then started preaching, telling us that he had prepared 4 sermons for that day and had only decided which one to preach when he was sitting there worshiping, it was an awesome experience because the sermon he chose fit so closely with what God has been teaching me! God is working in ways that i never even thought of and showing me so many things about myself that i need to give up to him so that He can fill me up to be able to pour out to others! I cant wait to see what else he is going to show me and teach me, but He does it in his timing :)

So for now, South Africa is my "Home Sweet Home" away from home, and even though it is hard to be away from all of you, i know this is exactly where i need to be :)