A wonderful weekend!

This has been a great weekend here in Cuenca.Wonderful weather, good times with friends (praise the Lord) fun in the sun, and church this morning!

Friday night, I met up with a group from the school, what Im now calling the regulars, (Jamie and Peter from England, myself,and Iris, Raban, and Tonja from Switzrland.) We all went to Cafe Tranquilo for a late dinner around 9,30 (sorry, this computers keys are really funny!) then hung out there until the live salsa band came on at 11,30. Us girls got up and danced in the aisles and had a blast. Then we all left there around 1,30 or so, and I headed home while the rest went to a discoteque.

Yesterday we went to the desert, which was surprisingly,a lot of fun. After driving around a while and looking at some sites and lookout points, we went hiking. We hiked up the mountain (desert mountain) then down into the canyon, then back up, then down into the river basin, where we swam and ate lunch for a couple hours. Then we headed back, and last night, we ate dinner at an Italian place, and went to a house party. There is a group of hippie teachers that Peter from our group knows, mostly from the States and Europe, and they had a bunch of students, and us, over. I went home about 11,30 because I was exhausted!

This morning was church with the missionaries. It was really different from my home church(es) but it was good. We sang, and listened to personal testimonies of how God was working in the peoples lives, and then had a message about obediance and disobediance in relation to our faith. This afternoon then, I hung out with Jamie in the park down by the river. I did my homework and we talked and listened to music, then went and got some pizza. I got to listen to his whole life story, haha. Fun times.

Now, Im going to head home and finish my homework. Tomorrow starts a new week at school, so maybe new students. I am going to make a concentrated effort to talk to more people in Spanish this week! English has been the language of the weekend! Haha.

The Lord is really answering my and your prayers this weekend. I have been very blessed with stuff to do and people to hang out with. Even though I dont have a Christian friend here, I have been able to have conversations with both Jamie and Iris about my faith, and Iris is wanting to go to church together next Sunday! The Lord is good, and moving in wonderful ways! So thanks for your prayers, and keep them coming! Continue to pray for my safety and health, still having a bit of an issue with foods. Also, pray that I will get more opportunities o share my faith here!

Thank you friends! Love to all, and I hope everyone is doing well! -Lauren