June 29, 2014- Caroline- City Beautiful

Wow. Is about all I can say. Wow that this trip is almost over and wow about how memorable this trip has been. One thing about this place are how amazing the people are. They are some of the most generous, loving, giving, accepting people I have ever met. I mean, I speak zero Spanish.. And to come here and quickly be accepted by all the people and the kids is one of the best feelings in the world. Today, for example, we got to go to church for the 2nd time, and honestly church doesn’t feel like church, it feels like a party. From being greeted at the door by these sweet ladies, to worshipping in all Spanish, doesn’t make you feel like your in church. It feels like a celebration, a celebration of not only Jesus but of the people and how blessed we all are. A since of community is so strong here and no matter if your Dominican or American, we are all seen the same in Gods eyes. Before coming here, I continuously would pray to God that I just wanted to experience him and to just get that “ah ha” moment. But what God has taught me on this trip is all I need to do is open my eyes. I have realized that God is everywhere, from the moment I wake up to when I close my eyes at night. I have gotten a chance to see the beauty of all of God’s children and to see life in a new light and to experience new things and I couldn’t be more thankful and blessed. We also got to go to a new village today to play volleyball, which for me, got me all excited because volleyball is my favorite! Playing and laughing with all those kids and Dominicans made me truly enjoy the sport more, and it made me realize that you don’t need technologies or devices to have fun or interact with people. Simply just doing something together makes it more enjoyable. I could go on and on with more and more stories of what I have seen, learned, and experienced but I would be sitting here for another two weeks just typing. With this being my first mission trip, it has been everything that I have ever prayed about and couldn’t be more blessed and humbled.