Week 5 - ELF

Hola amigos! okay im already done writing in spanish. maybe next week. I need some white in my life. a lot of beans this week. A LOT!

So this week i experienced some things that caused me to sympathize with Buddy the ELF and when he went to New York. Twas a week of reminders, some subtle and some unsettling, that i am not in the north pole anymore.

1. My first experience has happened gradually over the course of the last couple weeks. I have come to realize that people dont wear sports gear to support a team they like. They wear the clothes that they have and dont care or even know whats written on them because it is all they have. So when i have said "Oh i love your shirt. Do you like the bulls?" and they reply "Who is bill" (all in spanish of course) i realize that i am an idiot. 

2. Do you ever wonder where all the merchandise goes from the teams that lose in a championship in the United States? Well some goes to nicaragua haha. The other day i saw a guy wearing a spurs 2013 champions shirt. I dont know what is real life anymore. 

3. I saw a man throw a cat 20 feet. that is all.

4. "The yellow ones dont stop" is elfish wisdom that i have come to live my life by. Taxis here do not stop. If you are in the street you will be run over. On the main road in esteli there are probly 50 dead dogs on the side of the road. 

5. This past sunday, while we were inviting people to church at about 730 in the morning, a man tried to break in to a nearby house. The entire neighborhood came out to kill this guy. A group of about 30 people (some were kids, some were naked, and some were naked kids)  chased this guy for like 3 blocks.

Like Buddy, i have come to realize that i am a long way from home. My candy cane forest is a dirty jungly Nicaragua that unfortantely doesnt have gum stuck everywhere that i can eat. Buddy learned to love his new home as have I. Buddy says "the best way to spread christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear." Though i am not literally caroling down here in Nicaragua in the middle of july, i am working hard to help families hear Jesus' jingle and to realize how great life can be when God is a part of it.

Buddy got lost in New York. I am getting lost in nicaragua. I have learned that getting lost is a good thing, its how we grow and learn to trust in god. There is a scripture in Matthew that i read this week that really impressed me.  

39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. 

Im having a great time and love all of you guys. TAKE IT SLEEZY!!!!