MONTH 4 & 5 IN AREQUIPA!

Hello!!! I can't believe I've been here now for almost half of a year. It's incredible how quickly time passes when you are constantly learning and exploring. I can say without a doubt that the time I have had here is irreplaceable. I really miss everyone at the church, my family, and actually every friend I have that is somewhere besides here. This is me giving you all a hug. *hug

I'm going to add some pictures (by "some" I mean "probably a whole ton") of the last two months. It has been very busy and at times a little stressful these last two, but I am happy to report that I grew a lot and saw God's love in all of it! See you at the bottom of the page with another mountain of writing.

These are some of my friends...well I mean painted outlines of my friends. I promise my friends are real... I love having this canvas in my room because every day I get to wake up and see a reminder of those around me who are great examples of how to be a loving person. In the same way that I outlined each friend in a different color, they each are unique and teach me different human values. patience, peace, kindness, joy, self control .... you've heard these attributes somewhere before I'm sure. But seriously! What am I without these friends of mine who grow with me? I would not be half the person I am now without them. Thanks friends! And thanks to ALL of my friends everywhere!

I saw 3 rainbows 3 days in a row. Thank you to the rainy season for creating the perfect weather recipe for beautiful rainbows at sunset.

Please join us on a journey of making the famous Adobo for the church:

Okay...so a little background...adobo is a special dish that can virtually only be found on Sunday mornings. Considered a special treat, adobo is a delicious soup that contains a mountain of onions, so many herbs, other yummy ingredients, and pork! Of course Caily and I had to make it for the people we love even though we were warned several times that it was a difficult recipe to make. To our surprise we pulled it off! But really this was an experience I will cherish forever. I am so happy I was able to serve those who I love in this way. I was blessed to learn another recipe from a different culture, cook with caily, and fellowship and commune around the table with other loving souls. What an experience. Thank you Patty for the recipe and thank you God once again for the power of worship through the enjoyment of your (very flavorful) creations.

let's see- we have 1, 2, anddddd 3 fish in the house now! New roommate Benito.

trout on the left and escribano on the right

our friend Noemi! She's from Germany and she has been working for a school in Arequipa. She is a very sweet friend I'm glad to have made. She's like our little sister.

Here are some pictures of lunches with friends. Caily and I got to have lunch with Iza and just a few days ago we had Katie and MariaNelly over for soup.

Always climbing with the friends! I have been accepted into this community and I'm glad I can spend valuable time with each climbing friend I've made.

Creatures

A sunset of course

A neighbor's flower

a little bit too tall for me....

Caily and I were blessed to bring some goodies to the girls at the orphanage for Valentine's Day. Caily has gotten to know all of the young girls at the orphanage very well and she came up with the idea to make earrings to sell for the girls and to teach them this skill. Caily has a lot of good ideas. Also, if anyone wants a pair of earrings....let me know lol. maybe we can figure out how to get them to you.

I found a bookshelf in Avelino! and got it home on a baby taxi.

We stumbled across a spectacular firework spectacle on our way home one night. In the Plaza de Cayma.

Just some pictures and videos of the beautiful sights outside here in Arequipa! We got to celebrate our friend Lilo's birthday with the whole climbing community!

Gonzalo

Cai Cai

Gonzalo and Rocío ( they are siblings). we celebrated Rocío's birthday last week.

The HULA students have arrived. HULA is the study abroad program I attending in 2020 through Harding University. It has already been very sweet to have the students in Arequipa. I've been so excited to meet all of them and we have already made some memories together! We ran in the Cayma Marathon ( I did in fact NOT run a marathon, but a 5k). It has been really sweet to see them here because it helps remind me of the time I had here in Arequipa 4 years ago now :)

church at Paty's house with a few of the students!

pretty pictures from some walks/runs

another sunset in Arequipa

Okay, now that we are at the end of the pictures...I want to try my best to communicate to everyone exactly what I have learned in the last two months, what has been on my mind/heart, and some new opportunities to come.

I was just telling Caily today that it's been hard for me to imagine how to describe everything I've been learning here about God and other people and missions during the last two months, but I will try to give you some bits and pieces. This is why my newsletter is rollin' in a bit late...sorry!!

To start off, I've been tired recently. Tired in my body and tired in my mind. I think this could either be some form of culture shock or simply because I have been using my brain more than normal hahaha. Either way, I am tired, but I am not sad. I am not sad, because in the times of struggle and in the moments I feel I can't or don't want to go on, I have received an abundance of encouragement from friends, and even strangers! My friends Gonzalo, Fabrizzio, Rocío, Lou, and Caily of course have encouraged me so much over the last month by telling me they can see my progress in spanish. I was having a rough night about a week ago specifically pertaining to my spanish classes. Without speaking this out loud my friends recognized my struggle and told Caily to pass along the message that they would always be happy to help me out with spanish. I just love this simple "I got your back", because it shows that my friends see me and care for me and want to help me. They are really lovely.

Another thing on my brain has been humans and human connection in general. In this city of one million I am constantly surrounded by a ton of people. People with stories. People who are alive and living their lives every day. I think about how I could have very easily never come to live here in Arequipa and never met some of the friends I have now. I see the pain and the suffering of the world on the streets. I see the pain and suffering in my friends' lives. I see the joy of the world on the streets. I see the joy of the world in my friends' stories and in their eyes. I've been seeing it all and it's a bit overwhelming. It's overwhelming to feel how big the world is and how many souls are living every day. I have been thinking about the unrest in the world. The wars going on. Refugees displaced. Humans without homes. The world's hunger for peace. I have a prayer:

"God, the mystery of life is something no one can fully understand, but that's what makes it beautiful. This is also what makes it terrifying at times. There are so many other lives on this planet and this makes it so much more confusing. Each person with their struggles, emotions, jobs, thoughts, families, and dreams.... but I can only really hear my own brain. I can't truly feel what another is feeling. I can't truly hear every thought in their head. But this is what can make life so beautiful. I only know what I am thinking, but I can choose to empathize. I can listen to others and hear their story. I can grow to learn them better, and thus get as close as possible to their thoughts and their hearts. I must do this because I will never be inside of their mind. Without the ability of being in their mind, I must know their heart so I may understand them as they are a piece of God's creation. Each person is a unique part of the whole. Everyone is worth knowing, everyone is worth loving, everyone is worth a smile, everyone is worth it. I want to wake up every morning and crave to be a friend to the stranger. Crave to know those deemed unworthy. I want to wake up every morning and think the same thing about you too, God. I want to be as close to your heart as possible so that I may know you better. As being distracted by a phone keeps a person from deeply understanding their friend, so do evil and my own temptations keep me from knowing your heart, God. I pray I wake up with a beautiful pain in my heart that pleads "God, God, God, I am Sarah. I am your servant. Here I am. Take me, use me, teach me, guide me, protect me." I wish to know you, but turn my simple wishing into a hunger. Thank you that you have a hunger to know me, your daughter. Thank you for placing every beautiful soul on this planet that I may be blessed to get to know even a fraction of them. Thank you for being the most perfect teacher whose lessons are in the form of knowing and loving human hearts. Thank you for teaching me the importance of human relationships and the importance of learning more about myself as well. You are the professor, the master of the study of human beings in all of our downfalls, beauty, nature, grace, love, and pure mystery. Thank you God, and humble me so I may focus on learning to research myself and to know others in your name. I hunger to do this so that I may radiate your love to the world. Amen."

I think of the pain and hate I have seen in the world, and I ask myself: "Why on earth would I add to that?" Unfortunately it can be easy to add hate to this world, but I must add love and joy.

Actually, I think this prayer sums up a lot of what I've been thinking about.

I have dreams to one day own my own space that I can transform into a community of love and hope. I don't know exactly what or where it will be, but this is my prayer. And it's amazing to see how God has guided me to learn what I've needed to learn and know who I will need to know to accomplish this in the future. I have been feeling extremely grateful for the opportunity to live here and experience a different culture, but especially to learn a different language. I know in my heart that this skill will one day be a huge aspect of my life's mission and of my dream. So thank you so much to all of you reading this who give me support and encouragement in any form. You are helping me help others by simply being my friend and sharing your joy with me. Thank you. I love you all.

quick side note: you may have noticed that there is no shortage of food pictures in my newsletters. This is because Caily and I have been cooking a bunch and sharing meals with our friends recently. I will reiterate my strong thoughts on the fact that humans are incredible and they can turn a basic necessity (eating/food) into art and into something beautiful. Learning about Peruvian cuisine has truly been an invaluable experience.

Okay now for some other things: I have some new opportunities on the horizon that I would love some prayers for. The one that will happen this weekend is a homestay with Manuela. Manuela is a member of our community, but I don't know her super duper well. I am though very excited that I get to stay with her for at least a week in her house. I would love prayers for this, because I wish to learn about Manuela and to learn from Manuela. Also, I pray to be a blessing to her. I will for sure let you know how it goes. The next thing I am looking forward to is starting an English class with some of the little girls who go to our church. Prayers for that as I hope to be a teacher and sister to them.

Prayers for my spanish learning please please. This is something very important to me, but I have been struggling recently. Thank you :)

Prayers for the Daggetts who are teaching the HULA (Harding University Latin America) group right now and who continue to be an inspiration and huge help to me always.

Prayers for Caily as she prepares to share her testimony with the students as well as with the girls at the orphanage.

Let me know any prayers you have. I hope everyone is doing well.

"for my friends, for nature, for my family, for food, for dreams, for peace, for humans, and for God, I give thanks"

peace,

Sarita (this is my new name by the way)