Settling In

Life in Londrina is starting to feel a little bit more natural...just a little bit, but it's progress. I'm beginning to get a bit of schedule. Of course I still won't know until after I begin taking Portuguese classes what my days will really be like, but for now it looks like I will go to the seminary office with Gwen in the mornings and help her wherever she needs me. She's the treasurer for the seminary and has been a little behind on the books, so I'm sure there is a lot I can do to help. During the afternoons, she comes home so I will do that with her and I'm not sure exactly what I will usually do during that time. Maybe go to class, maybe not...almost every evening has an activity, whether it is a prayer meeting at church or the seminary, etc.

Last night I went to the Wednesday night service at Igreja Missionario Central. (Central Missionary Church.) It was so great to be there. To me, it felt like a combination of the size and community of Cross and Crown, combined with a little of the style of Heart and Soul. We sang a lot of songs I knew, in Portuguese, which was a lot of fun. I love to practice my pronounciation in singing, it's a little bit more forgiving and easy to hide behind. ; ) I met a few more nice people, and Pastor Jhonatas asked me to sing for communion on Sunday. My voice is still recovering from my cold, but I hope to be better in time to do that. I can't wait to get involved with music. That is always a place where I feel like I belong.

This morning I went with Fran Noah to WEBB, the language institute. I sat in on an English class and talked with the director about opportunities for me to study. Hopefully I will begin that in the next week or two. I'm really anxious to be in a classroom setting, learning Portuguese. That will be a huge help to the skills I already have, and I'm starting to realize how graceful God has been to enable me to understand as much as I already do. We also discussed the possibility of me teaching a conversation class or two, as they will need some help in October. I'm not sure if I will be available for that, it's up to Gwen and others here with OMS, but it would be a great opportunity. After class I went to Fran's house for lunch to get to know each other a little. That was wonderful, and I look forward to getting to know the rest of the missionaries here soon. I guess I'll see them all by Monday during the weekly prayer meeting.

This afternoon was the biggest blessing, and I had time to myself. I have really needed that as my introverted nature was beginning to scream at me to squirrel myself away somewhere to think. I sat on the porch in the sun (thankfully it hit 80 degrees here today...finally!) and wrote in my journal about the last few days of my time at Lar and my first few days here with OMS. The sun was shining today and that always helps me feel a little bit better about life. Today I felt great about everything I'm doing and beginning.

At times I'm sure I'll be lonely, because it's just me and Gwen here and I have yet to meet someone my age who speaks a word of English. But it will be good for me to really have to learn Portuguese as a result. It's amazing to have the internet and still be able to be so in touch with people. I also talked with Alex on the phone today for over an hour, which was so great. I'm glad she won't stop bothering me with her persistant phone calls. : )

You can be praying for my continued recovery...I've felt a lot better today, and I hope that only continues. Also pray for me as I'm meeting people and getting used to the city and the schedule, etc. There are a lot of adjustments to make, but I can say: so far, so good!

Love to you all!