goodbye STL humidity, HELLO San Diego sun!!

WOW! Words cannot describe how these first few days have been! maybe "busy"..but it's been so much more than that! Just to warn you, this post will probably be very long. But I HAVE to tell you what I've been doing! :)

MONDAY:

Traveled to San Diego! My plane ride was super good! Long, but good. I ended up sitting next to an old lady. At first I thought, "uh, old lady..this trip is going to be so boring." But I was SO wrong! We started making small talk before take off. I asked her why she was going to California and she told me that she was going to visit Lego Land with her daughter, son in law, and grandson. Then she asked me why I was going, and whether it was vacation or if I'm moving there. I preceded to tell her why I was going, who I'm going with, and other little information. She was SO excited for me! She ended up being a Christian and knew so much about Campus Crusade and the project that I was going on. Who knew that little old ladies knew stuff like that?? Then for the next thirty minutes I listened to my ipod and read my Bible. Then, out of nowhere, she tapped me on my shoulder to get my attention. I took my headphones out and she said, "Sarah (we exchanged names by then. Her name was Janet.), may I have the honor of buying your lunch on this flight today??" I was so surprised! Before I could say anything she continued, "It is in honor to serve someone who is serving the Lord this whole summer." WHOA! So, she bought me lunch! haha. We then spent a majority of the remainder of the flight sharing our testimonies (where she cried for a good 15 minutes) and sharing why we both love the Lord! It was so amazing! God is just too good. :) Before we got off, she told me that her last bit of advice for me was "To remain with the Lord and not fall astray. Life is too hard to be living without Him."

Once we arrived, I met up with about 5 other project people and we got on the shuttle to head to our condos. Once we got there, we were bombarded with staff members! Our luggage was carried to our rooms and then we had registration to begin. After about 30 minutes of sign-ins and paper work, I headed up to my room to meet my roommates! I live in Condo 3 (the biggest one, yes!) with 13 other girls. Yes, that's 14 girls to one apartment. There's two bedrooms (one with 6 girls and one with 8), two bathrooms, one kitchen (with microwave, refrigerator, oven, and dishwasher), and a small living room with two couches. I haven't taken any pictures of our room yet, but once I do, I'll post them for ya'll to see!

Then that night we had a pizza party as we all got introduced to each other. We had a chance to stand up, say our name, and where we're from. But since there's 120 of us, I only remembered about...10 people, haha. Then went back to our rooms, unpacked, and went to bed!

TUESDAY:

Woke up around 6:45, went for a run along the beach with some girls - which was AMAZING!, then showered and got ready. We had orientation from about 10-12. This was where we learned all the rules and whatnot. Then the good time began!

Soul-to-soul! Within project we are put in small groups of 5 (four students and one leader). Soul-to-soul is time for the each person to share their story. Not necessarily their testimony, but so much more! Every event, person, and situation that impacted their lives. This time was so great! Our group took around 7 hours to get through every girl, haha. We began on the beach, took a break, walked to a park, went to an amusement park (it was half off tuesdays!), got dinner, then finished along the beach. I absolutely loved this time together with the girls. It crazy how girls can spend just a couple of hours together and become best friends :)

We had dinner that night at a little mexican place called La Playa, home of the famous California Burrito. So of course, I had to order one. Steak, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole, and french fries. That's right, if it couldn't get any more bad for you, they added french fries. Mom - you would have loved it!

WEDNESDAY:

Job hunting day! Went spent from 10am-6 job hunting alllll over San Diego! CRAZY! And sadly, I only filled out 6 applications. Ugh. But I am certain that God will provide for us all.

Then that night we had our first "Teaching School." Here, we got introduced to how to "effectively share our faith." We were given tools (QuEST surveys and KGP's) to help us better share the good news. After only a 45 minutes lesson, we were then sent out on the beach to practice! 

Since job searching ran late, we were only given about 30 minutes to do this all. So sadly, my group of two other girls was only able to share with three girls. It was so cool though! It's so cool to see the Lord working in other's lives.

After that experience, I spent about an hour sitting outside our condos talking to people. The girls condos seem to be the place where everyone hangs out. The building has a huge patio in front. So at night, that's the place to be. I figured since I had spend the previous two nights unpacking or going to bed semi-early, I ought to be a little bit social! I still have been able to meet all 120 students, but I'm sure I'll get there soon!

THURSDAY:

So now, I'm sitting outside at an internet cafe :) In about 20 minutes, we'll be meeting up to pray, then sent out to job search for the afternoon again! Please continue to pray that God will provide in this area. Not only that, but please be praying for strength. Even thought we've only been here for a couple of days, we've been SO busy! I can already tell that sleep is not going to be something I'm too familiar with this summer. :/

I'll try to keep updating this as much as I can! Hopefully, the girls condos will be able to figure out a way to get internet connection through out neighbors. But until then, I'll continue to find time to head away to this cafe.

Love you all! Feel free to text me at any time! I may not be able to reply right away, but I will try my best! :)