Atenas!

This weekend I drove with another EMI couple that is studying at the language school to the city of Atenas. The city is appoximately an hour to an hour and a half northwest of the San Jose. On Saturday was a party to celebrate the leaving of all the interns that had been in the office during the spring and summer. It was fun, because we all met at a retreat center to each lunch, swim, play frisbee and soccer, and go traverse a nearby stream to see a couple waterfalls. At one of the waterfalls we were able to climb up on the wall and jump off into the pool, which was a first and a really fun experience. At the goodbye celebration, I was able to meet all the full-time staff and their familes.

This morning I attended one of the local churches in Atenas, and probably the church that I will be a part of here in Atenas. The people were very nice and the message was really good! The blessing was that I understood most everything that the pastor said. The Lord has been good to help me with my comprehension the entire time I have been down here. This afternoon, I was able to run by the office to see what it is like and to leave my big luggage here at the office so that I can travel light between now and when I return to Costa Rica. Below are a few pictures of the office. Hopefully they will give you an idea of where I will be working and participating in the engineering aspect of the ministry for the next four months.

Here is the outside of our office! We are on the corner of a shopping center and right across from the Atenas' central park.

These are the stairs I go down after entering the office to enter into the general meeting area.

Here is the general meeting area where we will have morning meetings and prayer times.

The next room over from the meeting area is where all the desks and offices are located. This is one side of the open area.

This is another view of the same side of the office. The office has a large open area that is divided into three sections where most everyone sits and works.

Here is one of the two actual offices found at the EMI Costa Rican office.

I am now halfway through the language school and I ask that you pray for me in several ways:

• That I can continue to learn Spanish, but not let it be all consuming. It is very easy right now to let learning Spanish take up your entire day, and that is definitely something that I do not want.
• That I can continue to effectively communicate with my host family.
• It is strange hearing my Tico family calling me a missionary. That is not something that I would ever have called myself. So please pray that I understand what it means to be a messanger and follower of Christ. In reality, you and I have always been and always are missionaries for the Lord. I feel like we very often forget that fact. Pray that I daily remember that I am a messanger of the Lord.
• The day seems to go by quickly. Pray that I set aside more time to spend reading and journalling. I get tired a lot here because I am constently studying and learning, so at times I find myself falling asleep when I sit down to read in the evenings. I am getting more adjusted, but it is still difficult.

Thank you all for your prayers and support! It is my hope to post some pictures of the language school and some of the area where I live.