AHH! Hey Everyone,
So lots has been going on here. We spent last week handing out fliers for our ESL program all around Udine, mainly putting them in mailboxes, and leaving them in bars. So pray that we get a big response.
This week we also had our SEE staff retreat out in San Lorenzo, at SBI. It was a really fun time, where we talked about what our end goal is and not getting lost in the means. I got together with my ESL team, Bethany, Maureen, Becky and Sherry, and we talked about how our end goal is evangelizing and how our means is teaching english, and learning Italian, it was a really fun time.
This morning at 7am, Clare and my mom left for Florida. I got to say goodbye to them but I already miss them.
Well I dont have a lot of time, I'm a little sick, so I've got to get some sleep, but I just wanted to update you all on a little bit of news I just got, I applied for the Valencia Community College Nursing Progam for Fall 2009, I ended up having to go to a meeting the day I left for Italy. The meeting was at 10am and my flight was at 1pm, so there was a big debate about if I could go or not, and if I would have to leave early. Well our earlier flight ended up getting cancelled and we left at 5pm instead. So I got to go to the meeting, and had extra time, where I found out I could apply for the Nursing Program that very day which I did, well I got my LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE TODAY!!!!!!!! My dad just emailed me to let me know. I am SO EXCITED! And so amazed by God's sovereignty with our flights being changed so I could go to the meeting and find out that I could apply that day! :) Well I am so excited, and I wanted you all to know! :)
So I will talk to you all soon!
Love,
Alyssa
Friday, January 30, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
"...'Pace A voi, Pace A Voi', disse cuesto Salvatore..."
Hey Everyone,
It's been a little while, we've been pretty busy though. This past week, after getting home from Paris, Bethany and I had some stuff to do. We got our bus passes, and worked on getting me a cell phone. Friday night to went to a party, hosted by the Well's a family from the Church here in Udine, for the party we went to Citta Fiera (the local "mall") and had a scavenger hunt where we were broken down into teams and had to search the mall for 4 people, who would look different then normal. It was pretty fun, I got to meet a lot of new people, and had A-may-ing pizza. One of the people I met was Beth an R.D. (resident director) at SBI, the school. She very graciously drove us to and from the party. She totally reminds me of my cousin who I'm really close with, Alaina (miss you Lanie!). Yesterday was Bethany and my first day of work. We had to be at Becky and Sherry's (the other two ESL teachers, they are so great!) apartment where we got together and handed out flyers for the classes (Beth and Pete helped us out) we walked all over Udine putting flyers in mailboxes and trying not to get locked into apartment complexes (on Friday Bethany and I handed out flyers in out neighborhood, a different part of Udine, and we got locked in an apartment complex and were contemplating jumping a fence when an Italian man walked by and hit a button that opened gate,he had a good laugh at us). We passed out flyers from 9-1 and then got some pizza, and met up with the Waltis, Clare and my mom, we hung out with them for a while, then Bethany and I walked around Udine until it was time to meet up to do flyers again at 4, we did that for another hour or so and then hung out with Beth until youth group.Youth group was great, it's led by Mierko,(i probably spelled that wrong) and his wife Miriam, they are so sweet, they speak Spanish and Italian, so I usually speak to them in Spanish, the youth group last night was small, about 12 people, but it was great.Mierko spoke on Revival, and how we are part of a body of believers and how we need to wake up, clean up, and get dressed to go out and preach God's Word, we may only be a finger in the body, but we can wake up the next finger till we wake up the hand and so on. he spoke from Romans 13:11-14. He also led worship last night (in Italian), and the title of this blog is lyrics from my favorite song. It means "Peace to you, Peace to you, says our Savior." It goes on to say "No come e mundo da" or "not like the world offers". We have a peace unlike any other! After youth group we went to gelato, and hung out, I absolutely LOVED it. I am so excited to be here with my Italian brothers and sisters. Please pray as I continue to build relationships here, not just with those at the church but with the students. Also, please be praying for the people those who received flyers this week, (we are handing out more tomorow), thats people would be interested and come sign up, that God would bring those he wants, and that God would open their hearts and prepare them for us being able to share the Gospel with them! I miss everyone back home and I'm praying for you guys! :) I'll post pictures soon of stuff here, I keep forgetting to bring my camera out around Udine. bye! :)
It's been a little while, we've been pretty busy though. This past week, after getting home from Paris, Bethany and I had some stuff to do. We got our bus passes, and worked on getting me a cell phone. Friday night to went to a party, hosted by the Well's a family from the Church here in Udine, for the party we went to Citta Fiera (the local "mall") and had a scavenger hunt where we were broken down into teams and had to search the mall for 4 people, who would look different then normal. It was pretty fun, I got to meet a lot of new people, and had A-may-ing pizza. One of the people I met was Beth an R.D. (resident director) at SBI, the school. She very graciously drove us to and from the party. She totally reminds me of my cousin who I'm really close with, Alaina (miss you Lanie!). Yesterday was Bethany and my first day of work. We had to be at Becky and Sherry's (the other two ESL teachers, they are so great!) apartment where we got together and handed out flyers for the classes (Beth and Pete helped us out) we walked all over Udine putting flyers in mailboxes and trying not to get locked into apartment complexes (on Friday Bethany and I handed out flyers in out neighborhood, a different part of Udine, and we got locked in an apartment complex and were contemplating jumping a fence when an Italian man walked by and hit a button that opened gate,he had a good laugh at us). We passed out flyers from 9-1 and then got some pizza, and met up with the Waltis, Clare and my mom, we hung out with them for a while, then Bethany and I walked around Udine until it was time to meet up to do flyers again at 4, we did that for another hour or so and then hung out with Beth until youth group.Youth group was great, it's led by Mierko,(i probably spelled that wrong) and his wife Miriam, they are so sweet, they speak Spanish and Italian, so I usually speak to them in Spanish, the youth group last night was small, about 12 people, but it was great.Mierko spoke on Revival, and how we are part of a body of believers and how we need to wake up, clean up, and get dressed to go out and preach God's Word, we may only be a finger in the body, but we can wake up the next finger till we wake up the hand and so on. he spoke from Romans 13:11-14. He also led worship last night (in Italian), and the title of this blog is lyrics from my favorite song. It means "Peace to you, Peace to you, says our Savior." It goes on to say "No come e mundo da" or "not like the world offers". We have a peace unlike any other! After youth group we went to gelato, and hung out, I absolutely LOVED it. I am so excited to be here with my Italian brothers and sisters. Please pray as I continue to build relationships here, not just with those at the church but with the students. Also, please be praying for the people those who received flyers this week, (we are handing out more tomorow), thats people would be interested and come sign up, that God would bring those he wants, and that God would open their hearts and prepare them for us being able to share the Gospel with them! I miss everyone back home and I'm praying for you guys! :) I'll post pictures soon of stuff here, I keep forgetting to bring my camera out around Udine. bye! :)
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Bam Bendy!
Hey Everyone,
It's been a couple of days, but we've been gone, in Paris. :) My mom, Mrs. Walti, Clare, Hannah and Bethany all took a three day trip to Paris (kinda like a mother-daughter/Hannah's 16th birthday trip). We had a blast. It was kinda crazy, because normally when we go to Paris my dad is in control of the map and directions, but since he wasn't with us (I missed you Daddy!) we kinda had to figure it out for ourselves. Which led to many funny times, such as our first night trying to get to our hotel, we asked 2 men on the street for directions, all of the sudden 6 french men are surrounding us, we were very confused, until we come to find out that they were meeting 6 girls at the same spot and they thought we were them. Interesting. Our hotel was very sweet, and we enjoyed our nights there, whenever we came back to the hotel, we would sit and talk in one of the rooms, and look out the window. We actually got into some really good conversations about the Catholic church, which is so prominent here. We went to Notre Dame one day, and saw a women on her knees on the cold hard marble, praying to a saint. I was so saddened. Because she looked so hopeless, she was praying to this saint with a thirst and desire you could just see in her eyes, for something more, she was looking for a hope that can only be found in Jesus Christ. Yet here she was in this hollow, dark, and hopeless church. I just prayed silently for her (i know like two words in French, seriously), and I couldn't help but be so sad. At the same time though, I was SO grateful that Christ has saved me, that the scales have been removed from my eyes and I know the Hope, Peace, and Joy that can only be found in Christ, I have been brought into the light, and how much I want others to know this great Salvation I have been given. If anything it made me SO excited for the ESL classes and this oppurtunity I have.
We had some other crazy times in Paris, like me getting stuck on the wrong side of the Metro (subway) turnstile, and having to sneak under it, while wearing a trench coat, boots, while a man behind us was hitting a button for Security to come get me. The Metro was quite an expierience, as signs took us to nowhere land, and sometimes we had to push to get on. It was nice coming back to Udine and not having to superhero leap to make the train. I also fell down the Metro steps helping Hannah with her bag and I got frisked at the airport. This was just one day(But you know me I just laughed) . We also had a stuck in the bathroom moment (faulty door mechanics) and silly new catchphrases that came from lack of sleep. Oh and if speed walking ever becomes an Olympic Sport, sign me up.)It was so great though being together, getting to be with mom, and everyone, and just having fun together. It was a really sweet time together. I miss everyone back home, and will update soon, Bethany and I have bus passes, cell phones and other things to get in the next few days, we also start work soon. I'll definitely be updating less when that starts, but I'll let you know how it goes. Love you all a ton!
It's been a couple of days, but we've been gone, in Paris. :) My mom, Mrs. Walti, Clare, Hannah and Bethany all took a three day trip to Paris (kinda like a mother-daughter/Hannah's 16th birthday trip). We had a blast. It was kinda crazy, because normally when we go to Paris my dad is in control of the map and directions, but since he wasn't with us (I missed you Daddy!) we kinda had to figure it out for ourselves. Which led to many funny times, such as our first night trying to get to our hotel, we asked 2 men on the street for directions, all of the sudden 6 french men are surrounding us, we were very confused, until we come to find out that they were meeting 6 girls at the same spot and they thought we were them. Interesting. Our hotel was very sweet, and we enjoyed our nights there, whenever we came back to the hotel, we would sit and talk in one of the rooms, and look out the window. We actually got into some really good conversations about the Catholic church, which is so prominent here. We went to Notre Dame one day, and saw a women on her knees on the cold hard marble, praying to a saint. I was so saddened. Because she looked so hopeless, she was praying to this saint with a thirst and desire you could just see in her eyes, for something more, she was looking for a hope that can only be found in Jesus Christ. Yet here she was in this hollow, dark, and hopeless church. I just prayed silently for her (i know like two words in French, seriously), and I couldn't help but be so sad. At the same time though, I was SO grateful that Christ has saved me, that the scales have been removed from my eyes and I know the Hope, Peace, and Joy that can only be found in Christ, I have been brought into the light, and how much I want others to know this great Salvation I have been given. If anything it made me SO excited for the ESL classes and this oppurtunity I have.
We had some other crazy times in Paris, like me getting stuck on the wrong side of the Metro (subway) turnstile, and having to sneak under it, while wearing a trench coat, boots, while a man behind us was hitting a button for Security to come get me. The Metro was quite an expierience, as signs took us to nowhere land, and sometimes we had to push to get on. It was nice coming back to Udine and not having to superhero leap to make the train. I also fell down the Metro steps helping Hannah with her bag and I got frisked at the airport. This was just one day(But you know me I just laughed) . We also had a stuck in the bathroom moment (faulty door mechanics) and silly new catchphrases that came from lack of sleep. Oh and if speed walking ever becomes an Olympic Sport, sign me up.)It was so great though being together, getting to be with mom, and everyone, and just having fun together. It was a really sweet time together. I miss everyone back home, and will update soon, Bethany and I have bus passes, cell phones and other things to get in the next few days, we also start work soon. I'll definitely be updating less when that starts, but I'll let you know how it goes. Love you all a ton!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Udine!
So yesterday we had our first tour or Udine. We were able to sleep in (very exciting)! After that we bundled up and headed out...Clare, Hannah, Bethany and I all walked to the bus station, with our tickets (I didn't know where the ticket went and got a little confused). We took the bus into the center of Udine. It was very interesting, people stare at us because they know we are Americans. We walked around all over learning our way around the town, we stopped at one of the Walti's favorite hang-outs Sabrina and Luke's Bar, and I got an amazing coffee thing. We then met up with the rest of the Walti's and my mom, for lunch at Pizza Jolly. We then met up with some of the Walti's friends from Italy. I really miss everyone SO much back home, it's still not real to me that I'm going to be gone for so long. I'm really excited to get started with the ESL classes. But also really nervous. Whenever I've gone on missions trips I can always speak the language, here I'm kinda lost. I understand a lot of Italian but I'm not confident in speaking it. It's a bit of a challenge overcoming fear of man and just speaking the language (the only way I'll really learn). Please pray for me as I try to learn as much as I can, also, for homesickness. I know that the Lord has sent me here for a purpose and it's definitely not for me to be scared and fearful. Please pray that God would give me a boldness to step out of my comfort zone. There's a song on my blog called "I'm Letting Go" it talks about that very thing. Anyway...I'm so excited to be here! Love you all sooo much (in a non-awkward way) and miss you all.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Reunited!
Hey Everyone,
Here I am in Italy!! With the Waltis! We arrived in Venice Italy today at 2:15 pm (Italy time so for your Americans it was 8:15am. It was so good getting to see the Walti's again, unfortunately two of your bags were lost in transit. They had been left behind in Paris (where we had a connecting flight). So AirFrance gave us 100 euros (like 150 dollarsish) to get what we needed, so in spite of our lack of sleep, we headed to the local piazza to get some clothes. I even got to try out my Italian on an unsuspecting fitting room attendant. :) It didn't go too bad! We are supposedly getting out luggage tomorrow, so we are praying it arrives! Other than that our travels were pretty uneventful, other than random Justin Bobby look-a-likes at the airport, (for those of you who don't know who Justin Bobby is, don't worry), the occasional man trying to enter the ladies room, and some funny movies on the plane, we had a very peaceful trip. Thanks for your prayers! It's now 10 pm in Italy and I am extremely tired and about to turn in, in my amazing loft room that I share with Hannah and Bethany, I already set out my book area and put up pictures. Talking with the Walti's in person face to face has been great, getting to see the places they talk about all the time, and just getting to talk to them about the ESL classes has been great. I am so excited for the classes to start and so in faith for what the Lord has planned! I'll update more tomorrow about Italy. love you all! :)
P.S. Thanks so much to everyone who has been praying for me, and those who came to me with encouragment my last Sunday at church and at the Prayer Meeting. Also to everyone who came to Crane's Roost Monday night to say goodbye and pray, Thanks so much! I got on the plane to Italy so encouraged by all of you and so thankful for God blessing me with such a wonderful church family!
Here I am in Italy!! With the Waltis! We arrived in Venice Italy today at 2:15 pm (Italy time so for your Americans it was 8:15am. It was so good getting to see the Walti's again, unfortunately two of your bags were lost in transit. They had been left behind in Paris (where we had a connecting flight). So AirFrance gave us 100 euros (like 150 dollarsish) to get what we needed, so in spite of our lack of sleep, we headed to the local piazza to get some clothes. I even got to try out my Italian on an unsuspecting fitting room attendant. :) It didn't go too bad! We are supposedly getting out luggage tomorrow, so we are praying it arrives! Other than that our travels were pretty uneventful, other than random Justin Bobby look-a-likes at the airport, (for those of you who don't know who Justin Bobby is, don't worry), the occasional man trying to enter the ladies room, and some funny movies on the plane, we had a very peaceful trip. Thanks for your prayers! It's now 10 pm in Italy and I am extremely tired and about to turn in, in my amazing loft room that I share with Hannah and Bethany, I already set out my book area and put up pictures. Talking with the Walti's in person face to face has been great, getting to see the places they talk about all the time, and just getting to talk to them about the ESL classes has been great. I am so excited for the classes to start and so in faith for what the Lord has planned! I'll update more tomorrow about Italy. love you all! :)
P.S. Thanks so much to everyone who has been praying for me, and those who came to me with encouragment my last Sunday at church and at the Prayer Meeting. Also to everyone who came to Crane's Roost Monday night to say goodbye and pray, Thanks so much! I got on the plane to Italy so encouraged by all of you and so thankful for God blessing me with such a wonderful church family!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
The Trip!
So, for those of you who don't know (or do), I'm going to be moving to Udine, Italy for 5 months! I leave January 14th and am so excited! How did this all happen? Well about 3 years ago this crazy family named the Walti's moved to Orlando, FL and began attending Metro Life Church, (my church :) ). I remember my mom coming home from home group saying she met this woman named Jeanette who told her , that her bean dip looked like rotten guacamole. Soon after I was introduced to this sweet woman and her family, Lee (her husband) and her kids, Bethany (now 18), Hannah (now 15), Jacob (now 13), Elijah (now 9), and Abby (now 5). God quickly knit the hearts of our families together. Hannah and Bethany became like sisters to me, pretty much every week the families got together and hung out, at our house, their house or Portofino (yea like Italian, weird huh?) resort out by Universal. Last spring the Walti's began going through some changes and were led to move out to Italy and serve in a ministry out there called Saints Equipped to Evangelize. They left September 7, 2008, with me promising that I would come visit for vacation sometime the following year. I had no idea how this whole trip would develop. But as I began talking to the Walti's they told me about oppurtunities for me to serve the ministry. One was to teach English to Italians, as an outreach program for the church out there. The teachers develop relationships with the students and through those relationships share the Gospel. I liked the idea, but wasn't sure how it would all work out. As it turned out I was finishing up my pre-requisites for the nursing program and would have a free semester before I could start the Nursing Program. So I had the time, now it was just time to take the time to pray and see if this was the Lord's will. As I began praying about it I began getting more of a vision for this trip. God has given me a heart to serve the nations and I had always had a desire to go on longer term mission trips. Money was the next thing, plane fare, living expenses, so on and so on. My mom began looking at flights for me and was able to find me a ticket for free with out families frequent flyer miles! Ok, one down what next? Well the Walti's graciously offered to let me live with them while I worked with ESL, for much less than if I had lived somewhere else. Ok great! Then I needed to actually apply for the program, and I got accepted! At this point I began to feel a real peace about the trip. On Thanksgiving the Twining's (our Worship Leader and his family) came over, we had a time of worship towards the end of the night and prayed for me as I made the decision to go on this trip. It was amazing, I began to actually get excited, finally seeing that this trip was becoming a reality. Fast Foward to today, I leave in 3 days, with lots to do, but I am very excited for what the Lord is going to do in me and through me on this trip. The fact that He would so graciously allow me to go and serve His purposes and bring glory to His great name is so amazing to me! Please be praying for me in this last few days before I leave!
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