Spanish, Spanish, and more Spanish

So, its been awhile. I am still here. I am still studying Spanish in Costa Rica.

Both Ashley and I have had some great opportunities to use our Spanish over the last few weeks. I got to help out some friends at an event called Super Match. I worked alongside missionaries with Palabra de Vida (Word of Life) here in San Jose to set up for an afternoon of crazy games in which about 200 Costa Rican youth participated and heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ preached. I was able to communicate (in Spanish of course) with the other helpers to coordinate the games and help make sure everyone was doing what they were supposed to be doing.

A few weeks ago, a family from our church invited us over to their house for lunch after the service. We spent 3+ hours eating, talking, laughing, and getting to know this family. It was such a fun time and it was all in Spanish. We didn't even have headaches when we got home!

Just this past weekend we visited friends of ours who are living and working on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. It was great to get out of the city and to see friends who were in our classes in our first trimester here. We used the public bus system to get there and back and on our return trip, Ashley sat next to a Costa Rican woman who has an abusive husband and a super cute 2-year old son. Ashley was able to listen to this woman share about her difficult life and was able to describe to her the hope that is found in Jesus.

These are just 3 short examples of opportunities we have had over the last few weeks to use the Spanish we are learning to communicate on a deep level with people we have come in contact with. This is all in addition to our everyday life of going to the store, paying the bills, and getting to know neighbors.

We feel so blessed to have this time to concentrate on learning Spanish and to learn more about the Latino culture. We are so excited to use all this the Lord is teaching us when we get to Honduras!