There's a river where the road used to be.

It's invierno here in Gua (rain season), and it rains everyday. It's the loudest rain I've ever heard... and I love it. 


Today, we met our host families. We're staying with Don William and Dona Lolita; they're adorable. The host families are super attentive and care so much that we are comfortable and feel welcome. 


We also had orientation today where we went over the do's and don't's during our stay here: Do work hard and play hard. Don't be stupid. Pretty simple.


I was really excited after learning more about our stove building project. Because of the stoves Kelly and I are going to build, a family will save thousands of dollars and  their health will be dramatically improved. It's cold splash of water. I was initially skeptical of this project because I wanted to work with children, and to be completely honest stove building sounds boring. I trusted Kelly's discretion in the matter, though, and I'm so grateful that I did. Realistically speaking, we weren't going to be able to make that drastic of a difference in children's lives in five days, but with these stoves we are changing families' life in an intense way!


It's an important lesson to be learned: It's so great to want to serve, but make sure you don't walk into an opportunity or situation with an inflexible agenda. Be willing to do what needs to be done. People can be surprisingly selfish in their service, and they get away with it, too, because technically, yes, they are serving, but man, sometimes it's important to set aside your desires, ideas, and sometimes even your gifts (because I GUARANTEE that I am better at teaching than stove building) for the greater good.


See a need, fill a need.