Mom. Maggots. Moment.

I apologize again for seriously slacking as far as blogging goes, but due to power outages and Internet failures, a temperamental computer and a crazy schedule, I've been writing more blogs in my head than have actually made it to the real world. 


Today I bring to you today's happenings in the form of three Ms. Mom, Maggots, Moment. Enjoy!

MOM.

Today I FINALLY got to skype with my mom!! :D
We have such opposite schedules as it is, so being in a time zone two hours behind with schedule changes and unexpected happenings occurring frequently, it has been very hard to communicate with her on a regular basis. I've been getting much more homesick than I thought I would have, so I was desperately wanting to skype with her! It was so good to see her face, hear her voice, and be silly with her while she took me around the house with her as she did stuff. It was just nice to have my mom again even just for a bit. Even though I'm almost 21, I will never outgrow needing my mom and it seems like as I get older I only need her more and more. 
I love you, Mom!! 

MAGGOTS.

This weekend we've been preparing for a group of 21 high school students and their chaperones to arrive for their week-long stay here. 

On today's agenda was cleaning the WHOLE orphanage and organizing lots of stuff. This ended up taking way longer than expected. We cleaned from 11am to 3:15pm, needless to say, we were pretty tired and sweaty by the end of it!

While helping Sarah clean out the trash cans I noticed that there were maggots in the bottom of one. And the other can had a bag in it that had leaked some nasty liquid that smelled like Chinese food we had the week before. It was nasty! 

Sarah finished her task of re-bagging all the trash and got carried off onto a new task - as was happening to all of us. I happened to notice a little later that the trash cans were still in the same place as before and hadn't gotten cleaned out yet... meaning the maggots were still there. I also noticed that "trash cans" had been erased from our chore to-do list and probably from the minds of everyone on the team eager to go shopping in Parque Central - our reward for our hard day's work. 

I am the kind of person who would rather clean something nasty to know it was cleaned right than to leave it for someone else to put off doing - like offering to clean toilets today - so I took it upon myself to tackle the trash cans - maggots and all. I used my trash can scrubbing time to reflect on some things about myself and about being a missionary:

- Sometimes you just have to get down and dirty in order to get stuff done - this may include maggots. 

- Raid does not kill maggots. I think large amounts of water do though. 

- I am not good at delegating tasks, I would rather just do everything myself to know it got done correctly. 

- I am also realizing how hard it is to try to do everything yourself. 

- I need a list when given a big task like "We need to clean EVERYTHING tomorrow," It helps me accomplish more if I know everything that's expected of me. 

- "Cara de misionera" was one of the best things I learned in Paraguay... "maggots... okay!" :D

- Sometimes you just have to take on the dirty tasks because it's the right thing to do. 

Overall, this experience meant more for me than just "I drowned some maggots today." It helped me remember why I am here - to serve others - and that's all that matters. I didn't expect my time in Honduras to include scrubbing nasty trash cans, but I did it with a smile.... or at least tried my best to. :)

Being a missionary means expecting the unexpected and putting a smile on your face no matter what - because you're doing it all for the glory of the Lord. :)

MOMENT. 

Last year while here in Honduras I met a boy named Sem. He sat between me and Marcie Thompson at church our first day in Santa Barbara. He taught us not to cross our legs in church and whispered a play-by-play of the service to me in Spanish that I was expected to repeat in English to Marcie. He was fascinated by my bilingual Bible and instructed me to read the English while he read the Spanish. He was my first Honduran friend and I was so sad when I had to leave that night, knowing I may not see him again...

Sem and I at church
Santa Barbara - March 2011

Right before school got out I started missing Sem a lot! I set this picture as the background on my phone and prayed for him everyday. I was hoping I'd see him again on my trip, but I knew that was kind of a far-fetched idea, as I had no idea where in Santa Barbara he lived or even what church we went to that night - let alone if he still went there. I had told a couple of the girls here about him and showed them his picture, so they knew how much I wanted to see him!

On our first Sunday here, we went to the church just up the hill from the orphanage and I met a boy named Luis that reminded me of Sem. It made me really happy and I felt a peace from the Lord that even if I never met Sem again, it was going to be okay...

After cleaning today we ended up going to Parque Central to do some shopping before dinner. As Bekka, Shelby, Katie and I rounded a corner, I noticed a little boy sitting on the curb outside a store. He looked up and I stopped in my tracks. "That's Sem!" I told them. Shelby and Katie got excited with me - "Really?!" they asked. I was so excited and started smiling at him. He looked at me and even Shelby noticed his eyes light up. I was tongue-tied in amazement that I was actually meeting him again and was trying to get some kind of sentence to come out of my mouth when a lady came out of a store and said something to him. In silence I watched as he walked towards a taxi with an older lady, opened the door for her and climbed inside. My heart broke a little as I watched him get in, knowing it was too late for words. I smiled and waved at him and he stuck his head out to give me a big smile and to wave right back.

I can't guarantee that Sem truly remembered me, some random gringa he met at church over 16 months ago, but it's okay. God answered my prayer and that's all that mattered. I love that kid so much and I only knew him for a couple hours. And now I'm going remember this moment forever. 

God is so good to me and I can't even believe it. I don't deserve such great happenings in my life, yet He continues to bless me everyday. 

Thank you all for your support of my missionary endeavors. I am growing closer to the Lord everyday and I am so thankful for the woman He has molded me into today. 

I will try to post a few more stories soon!

I love you all! God bless!

Cassidy :)