I woke up at 2am this morning so incredibly sick! Fortunately today the leaders were given the morning off until 3pm to rest up for tomorrow when we will be driving all day to Northern California. I had great plans for my day, mind like going to see the Queen Mary that is within walking distance from our hotel, but all of that changed at 2am. I ended up in bed all day in misery unable to eat or move. Fortunately by about 10am the worst had subsided, but I stayed in bed feeling weak and achy. As 3pm drew near I got up and began to get ready. As I went to meet the van I ran into Danny, our speaker, and he, too, had been up all night super sick. My part in the presentation is to translate for Danny as he gives his testimony so we were both hoping that neither of us got sick on the platform or collapsed from weakness! Praise God, we made it through! I know many of you were praying for us and I am so grateful for that.
The kids performed at Arleta Assembly of God. Again, they did a great job. This church has a wonderful heart for missions and 13 more children now have new sponsors!
I will ask you to keep the kids in your prayers. Some of the girls, especially, are beginning to get homesick. They return to El Salvador on Tuesday, so we are in the final leg, but I think they’re all getting a bit tired and when one started to cry it had a trickling effect through the rest of them. They’ve having a great time but they’ve been here now four weeks and I think they’re all missing mom and dad a bit.
One of the girls, Raquel, had her birthday today. We wanted to celebrate so after the service we headed to Baskin Robbins to buy an ice cream cake. The plan was to take the kids in for a snack and celebration all in one, but when we went to get the cake the lady inside said she was closing the store and we couldn’t stay inside to eat it. This became one of those silly scenes that I’m sure Raquel will never forget. We took the cake back to a bench in front of where the vans were parked. We had the cake and some plates. We quickly realized that we didn’t have a knife or silverware. Lee, the director, found something like a Swiss Army Knife and used it to cut the pieces. It was quite a sight to see a group of 18 standing on the sidewalk of the streets of LA eating an ice cream cake with thier hands. I’m glad it happened that way, though. It was one of those times that although the situation was just crazy, we were all laughing about it and I’m sure it will be one of my fondest moments of this trip.
~Tona