=Siempre supe que tenias un gran corazon= ( I always knew you had a big heart…from a greeting card)
Usually, once a week we have the afternoons free to do ATLs. An ATL (ask the Lord) is when you get together in small groups and pray and go where you feel God leading you. No preassigned destinations or goals. Just go and do Gods will. Monday was just our day of ATL. So my group got together and started praying. One girl in our group, Amy, just had been remembering the relationships we had started to form with the locals. Remeber my friendship with the ladies at the ice cream parlor? Those kind of relationships. So we decided to take off towards the moutains and go in the direction of the ice cream parlor. When we got ther they told me I should go in and talk to her. However, earlier in the day I was saying, jokingly, that I bet God will lead me to ice cream. Also, I didnt have any money. So I declined and we decided to keep walking and praying.
Right next to the ice cream store is the local school. As we were walking by the school I had said that I wanted to go in and look around. I was told by the rest of my group that I would not be allowed to because there is an iron fience and we would probably need a pass or something to go in. However, the gait was open. When we reached the gate I just froze. I also had to go to the bathroom really really bad (remember the title of this blog?) at that moment and was wondering if I could go in for that purpose alone. I was still just standing there, probably with a dumbfounded look on my face, when a random guy came over and said we could come in and look around and do whatever we wanted. When God opens doors for you, you should probably go in. We spent the next 45 minutes going around to each classroom and praying for all the students and teachers and employees of the school. It was one of the most rewarding things I have done since coming to Nicaragua.
After that we came out and sat on a bench trying to figure out what we should do next. We saw an elderly lady sitting in her house, I thought she was cute. I waved but she did not wave back. After a bit she got up and looked out the door like she was expecting someone. Another girl in the group, Sarah, said that she wanted to go and talk to her. We were at her house talking to her for an hour and half. She was the sweetest lady. Her name was Marina Gomez. She did not speak any english, was close to deaf, and thought that I was fluent in Spanish. It was quite an experience. When we finally told her we were missionarys, she was so excited, she said that we could live with her, and her husband could sleep on the floor so that there would be enough beds available. She was so sweet. She showed us pictures of her family. We told her we would come back and visit. I cannot wait! She was so excited just to have us come in and have someone to talk to, it didnt even matter that could not speak back. Doing ATLs are incredible.
one quick story: So on Friday our house flooded. The drain that carries out the water from the part of our house that does not have a roof over it was clogged. The whole floor flooded and came into our rooms. Thankfully we were home and could move all of our things. Two guys came from El Puente came with a long pipe to unclog our drain. Turns out it was a dead mouse, 2 rags, and 3/4 of a nerf football that caused our house to flood.
I look forward to hearing from you all! If you want to write a letter feel free to send it to:
Annie Valenziano
In Care of Charles and Sarah Kaye
Apartado 123
Granada, Nicaragua
I will be sure to write you back! see you all at christmas
Annie Valenziano
From Nicaragua.
lol. That is amazing Annie. Seriously, that last part of the flooding made me laugh because…how random. haha.
But I can’t say enough how much I love the work God is doing through you guys. That’s amazing that you have opportunities to go do things like that. Can’t wait to hear more. 🙂