What a weekend full of blessings! The Palacios Family were so welcoming and loving towards me! I absolutely loved every moment with them. They wanted to give me a weekend full of typical Chilean activities and food, so I really got to experience Chile! Saturday, we first celebrated Father’s Day with a huge breakfast (waffles, bacon, eggs, and fresh bread) which was sort of Chilean, and then Cecilia and Pamela took me all over Santiago! We went to Santa Lucia where the “White House” and downtown area is and climbed a famous mountain/hill which was so beautiful! We ate some Chilean peanuts which were coated in sugar and butter and then went shopping in a vending market! A fun time that was! They also took me up another mountain where statues and a catholic church were; Catholicism is the main religion in Chile. I tried Mote which is a peach drink with rice; not my favorite dessert I may say! Also ate my first Chilean ham and cheese empanada; nothing like the ones at Taco Bell! It was so much fun being at the top of those mountains and seeing Santiago. It was sad you couldn’t see far though because the air was full of smoke from all the pollution. Saturday night I went to a young adult’s gathering at their church, which is where my mom served at during her mission’s trip! It was a neat experience to see all the work my mom did in person! Sunday morning was church and celebrated Father’s Day more! I got to see Giovanni, whom stayed with my family for a while when he visited Iowa. The church has an area of pictures from our churches past mission trips there and when I saw them I just started crying. It made me miss my family and church family so much! Thank you Lord for the loving and amazing church family you have blessed me with! I don’t know how to explain my experience at the church…but it was a blessing. After church the Palacios made me a Chilean barbeque, full of sausage and all those meats whose names you can’t pronounce! Also, there was the typical Chilean salad (tomatoes with onions on top with lots of salt and oil), corn with mayo, and 3 Leches ice cream! Yummy! It was hard to say goodbye to them, but we are planning to see each other before I leave one last time!

As I reflected on my weekend I thought about what God showed me. He really showed me that He is my STRENGTH! At those times when I missed my family and home the most, He was my comfort and strength. He also showed me that there is no need to worry about what is ahead. So often I worry about what is next and what I need to prepare for, rather than just BEING. This weekend I had no idea what was next and I could just focus on being and enjoying life. I thought about how difficult it is to just BE in the U.S. because life can get so busy and we get caught up in planning ahead while what we need to do instead is TRUST God will direct us and supply our needs. Jeremiah 29:11

Happy Father’s Day again Dad!!! God sure blessed me by having you as my father. Thank you for being such a godly and loving man. I love you and miss you so much!! Enjoy the snickers ice cream!