July

Sorry that I haven't posted any updates in awhile. It is hard sometimes to remember to get in touch when things are pretty busy here and when the internet comes and goes...but enough excuses :)
July has been a good month thus far and it is crazy for me to think that it is half way over, which means only a little over 2 weeks left her in Argentina. Since the start of the month I feel that each of us are forming close relationships with families and individuals. It is exciting to see them growing as we spend time talking, going shopping, eating, and watching movies together. We had a fourth of July party with one family and it was so wonderful to treat them to dinner and spend time helping each other with english and spanish.
Yesterday we got back from our week vacation in the province of Cordoba. We spent some time relaxing in the beautiful Villa Carlos Paz. It was great to get away from the big city and climb a mountain. I didn't realize how much I missed Flagstaff and Tucson until I was hiking up the mountains in Carlos Paz. Since we are only here for two months at first it seemed silly to take a week off, but in reality it was absolutely necessary. The trip really allowed for reflection and relaxation. It is definitely going to help me focus on the last two weeks here.
One of our friends from Argentina was able to join us in Carlos Paz. His name is Elias. I felt that it was great to have at least one friend with us and I think that he was able to see God's love working through us as we interacted with each other and with him.
God has been teaching me a lot during this trip as well and working to improve my character. While in Carlos Paz I was challenged to deal with conflict with a teammate and I was making this a huge deal in my mind that I was sure for the rest of the trip we would not get along and I would be constantly feeling upset about it. But God allowed for me to approach that person and talk out our issues in a loving way. It is really easy to count people out when you feel like you don't have to love them, but it is even worse to try and resolve differences when you know you have to love them. I think my perspective on conflict is changing through this experience.
Now we only have 16 days left and this is exciting and scary to me. Part of me wants to just rush through it so I can be home, but the other part of me realizes that doing this would be selfish. I want to strengthen my friendships with the people here in Argentina. Our goal in being here is to get people thinking about God and helping them to know who He is, and if that is to have any impact in their lives we have to build trust and friendship. And we still have time for that. Hopefully I can focus on right now and not think about the next school year too much while I still have time here in Argentina.