a few of my favorite things.

yesterday, it poured in Ecuador. Rain like love, I was so happy it felt like Oregon for a short minute. It put me in the greatest mood ever. I just really really love the rain. It's a strange obsession.

Really all in all yesterday was quite the splendid day, I worked at SVP in the morning, lunch, spanish class, showered in the coldest shower of my life. literally I got dizzy and started to go numb, and I even had my hair flipped over in front of me. Amber raised 600 dollars to go buy blankets for one of our sites where it gets really cold at night and were delivering those tomorrow morning. She spent 632$ and we got 53 really thick wool blankies! we then went to Mcdoanlds (it's a big deal here, and it tastes a lot better.) When we came home Paige and I had a heart to heart. We then walked in the rain to get ice cream, all of us girls cuddled up on the couches and watched a movie, and then we got two new volunteers! we stayed up talking, and even though I didn't fall asleep up about 2 which is unheard of I woke up at 6:30. my usual.

The man who started OSSO is visiting us right now, and he took a minute to share a thought and a story yesterday during lunch. It was truly profound and it took everything in me to not start to cry. He then had me thinking a ton, and I can't help but have a new perspective. I truly know and believe that Heavenly Father choose the strongest spirits to come down here and live in the Orphanages. They choose this trail because they knew they could do it and they would be a strength in everyones lives especially the girls who are volunteering. Heavenly Father knew how much I needed them, they give me happiness, they help me realize how excited I am to be a mom, they've taught me to love unconditionally, they put my priorities in place, they are helping me learn a ton about myself and the person I want to become, and most importantly, they let me feel the spirit every day. The spirit dwells with these children and I can feel how much Heavenly Father loves them. He's keeping a close eye on them and I know he can't wait for the day to embrace them, thank them for blessing his children, and tell them they're home, they have a family, and that they've made it. I am so comfortable with these kids, and at this point and time it's hard to think about home, what / who I'm missing, how sick I am or anything else, because my mission is here and now. These kids are the answer to my prayers and they knew how much I needed them. They greet me with a hug and a kiss, and they continue to keep a smile upon my face. I really don't know how to express the deep love I have for these kids, I never knew it would be like this. I now have 30 children, that I love more than almost anything.