E-mail Sent August 11, 2006

To start off I thought i would just put the few e-mails that I sent home to my family and then I can pick up from their and fill in the rest with whatever I have missed... so Good Luck!!!

Gosh this place is incredible!!! It is such a blessing to be here! I am sorry that i have not been able to communicate more but there are many things that make it difficult to do so, but hey I am talking to you now so I am thrilled to share a little bit about my time here so far. It is almost a month since i have left home and it feels like its been ages and so many lives have been lived since then but I am learning and growing so much already. I arrived in Chuuk on August 8th in the afternoon. I am living on the Island of Weno (pronounced Weda) which is in the Chuuk lagoon, one of the 11 populated islands in the Chuuk state. It is about 3 miles by 5 miles by 4 miles big in the shape of a triangle a bit. It rained for the first two days that we were here, and barely let up a bit last night, but it was wonderful to wake up to a sunny day, but the sun brought the heat :) Everyone here has been so incredible. We have an apartment not to far away from the airport (then again nothing is too far away from anything on this island) But our place is huge! We are living in an apartment built into the school which used to be the old Home Ec classroom but now it is where i call home. Lincoln and I have been trying to make it feel more homey but there is not much we have to decorate with. Since there were no JV's there prieviously it is like starting with a clean slate which is good. But the school has been very accomodating with our needs to help us feel comfortable while we are here. We don't have a phone which is why i can't really call because it got disconnected so I am not sure when we will get one set up but I promise as soon as we do I will call you up! Another big issue the island has is power. There is none! We spend most of the day with no power at all which is really crazy. It goes on periodically for a few hours at a time but it is very uncertain how long it will last. They have set times like between 11 AM and 3 PM or 7 PM to 11PM but we just don't know, and sometimes it doesnt come on, but it hasn't been a problem at all really. We just make do with what we have and if the power goes off and its night time, we just go to sleep :) But besides the power problems the island is beautiful!!! The best thing of all though has to be the school! I am so excited to be a Teacher!!!!! I can't tell you enough, but God brought me to the right place and I know that I am exactly where i need to be! The greatest thing is what i am teaching!!! I am going to be teaching Religion to Sophomores, Music and Art, and an Intro to Theology course. I AM GOING TO BE A RELIGION TEACHER!!!! I couldn't have asked for anything better!!! It is such a huge gift!!! and I am sooo grateful for it! I have dreamed about teaching religion for the past few years now and thought that I was going to have to wait until i got back to the States but no sir, I am a teacher and I am living a huge dream as we speak!!! And i am loving it!!! Oh man its incredible!!! Life is such a gift and I am so thankful for it! I was thinking today that as i think ahead two years seems so daunting when I think about not seeing all of you and I miss you all a ton. But when i think about the experiences that I am having here and all that I have to learn I am so amazed at how short of a time that I have here, and how fast this time will fly!!! I have so much to learn from the Chuukese and I am so thrilled to delve in and start living this amazing life that God has set before me. Time will fly and next thing you know it I will be on that plane landing in LAX speaking like a native chuukese and looking darker than ever it will be excellent!!! But i can't thank you all enough because if it weren't for you, if it weren't for your love then i would not be able to be here, i would not know how to love, how to be doing the things that i am doing. and it is your love that gives me the strength to go on to move forward through anything and everything!!! I am so gratefull for all of you and I carry you with me in my heart, and I am glad to know that God is holding us together in his hand, and when I think about it that way we are right next to each other! I love you all so much and pray for you everyday!!! I can't wait to hear from all of you because it means so much when I do! Take care of yourselves and I hope that you are all enjoying life where ever you are in the world!!! I send you my love and my prayers! Hasta Luego y todo mi amor, siempre!!!