... Dear Elyse, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!

Oh my goodness... You won't believe the story I have to tell about the day I turned 19!

First, I woke up to a text message on my phone saying to look up my name on youtube.com and I would find many video's dedicated to me from some of my closest friends in the states!  You can do the same if you'd like to... Just go to youtube.com and in the search engine put, elyse purtilar.  So after I had tears in my eyes from just hearing Jackie Hart say "I wish I was with you, I love you, I miss you, MUAH!!!!" : )  It made me smile throughout the whole day!  So after that I got some nice cards and birthday wishes throughout the day I had a delivery from the florist from my family and they are beautiful lilies, which are my favorites!!!!!  And my family didn't even know!

Yesterday we had to go throughout Downpatrick and tour where we're going to help out the next team since it all new to us!  So as we were touring, I was naive enough to not notice that my two best friends here were not with us and "cleaning" the Oasis!  So we toured and then we all got back and just finished up the work we had needed to finish up and then Richie took me out for coffee at this new and amazing coffee place called KREM!!!!!  It was so, so good!  And we saw Ben Haas there, who was also in on it?!  Like seriously, everyone but me knew... I'm pretty sure there are people who I don't even know that knew about it... UGH, whatever, anyways!  After that Richie "needed" to get stuff for the tuck shop up at crosspoint.  So we went to get that and then he got a call from "John" saying that the alarm was going off at Oasis and we had to go check it out!  So we went, and while I was at the store I got a 2 liter of water because I was so thirsty and I thought that it would be a really good weapon after the fact... So we get to Oasis and we walk in and go through the kitchen and I see that Cynthia's purse is sitting on the table and I said to Richie as I walk into the coffee bar (which for some reason Richie was practically jogging to get into the coffee bar), "Hmm... why is Cynthia's purse on the table?"  As I walk into the coffee bar I hear people screaming "SURPRISE!!!!!" and balloons everywhere!  So there is my family from Northern Ireland all standing around a table with more lilies on them and candles!  It was so overwhelming that I started shaking and almost started crying that I turned around and started to walk out!  One cause I almost crapped my pants, yes, my pants, and two because I was so pissed that it was kept as such a good secret!!!! UGHH!!!  So as I'm about to walk out shaken... oh and might I add that all my pictures I have glasses on because I had pink eye!  Happy Birthday to me... anyway, Richie pulled me back in and I just stood at the same spot with my mouth open and almost took the huge 2 liter or water and hit every single one of them!  It really was the best birthday I have ever had, and it will never be topped again!  So after I calmed down, a wee bit, I realized that Kayla (one of my best friends) made me homemade manicotti for my dinner and Cynthia made me a 7-layer bean dip which are both my favorites and so good, her dip even had guacamole in it!!!!!! MY FAVE!!!!  So, Richie prayed for the dinner, and I cried cause it was really sweet!  I know, Richie... sweet?!?  I don't know how it worked either but it did! : )  So I opened up my card and present and we ate with an Irish landscape in the background and then we watched football on the big screen and just hung out!  Then we went back to Murlough, cleaned everything up and then Richie, Ewelina, Kayla, and I went to hang out for a bit, then I came home to read all of my messages on the computer, talked to my parents and went to bed!  And that is the story about the day I turned 19!  It was soooooo great!  It was the best birthday I have ever had in my life!  I'm pretty sure nothing will ever top it!!!! EVER!!!!

Thanks so everyone who helped and especially to Ewelina and Kayla for putting it all together, and Richie for being the biggest CHEEKY MONKEY!!! : )

... hey, hey, hey GOODBYE!

Lakeside is gone.  Now it feels so weird that they're not here!  It's kinda crazy, I don't here John playing 'Beautiful Disaster' anymore, or Chase, John, and Kyle playing 'Through and Through' (The Intern Song) or the laughter of Christian and Todd trying to make a stupid joke sound hilarious!  We had an amazing week with them, Kayla and I that is.  They were my first and my best team ever!  I don't care who comes next, they were great!  These kids here responded so well to them being here!  They even had one kid decided he needed Christ as his saviour! YAYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!  WOW!!!!  Cool... I know and oh my goodness were we happy!  It was bittersweet though, for me at least, because it just reminded us of how much our work really helps but it is really all God.  We just have to be willing to let Him work through us, because neither he who plants or waters is nothing... it is all God!  So really what I'm trying to say is that our work here is really nothing compared to His power for His glory!

So it is sad to see Lakeside go, but happy for you guys cause now you get an update!  YAY!  I know some people have been checking it everyday, well get excited cause today's the day that I have finally had a chance to breathe and write you all (I'm sorry wrong terminology... ya'll)  So... it was crazy and exciting with my first team here!  I loved it, especially having my family here (Lakeside) and we just had a blast working with the kids and going site-seeing!  It has been unusually weird weather here... it's been so SUNNY!  So I have been pretty spoiled to the point in which I really don't like when it rains! 

Anyways, I have been doing the normal kids club and drop-ins, which is so much fun but frustrating at times.  God has it all planned out though but like I said, it is nothing to do with us, it is all God and we have to keep that in mind.

Something that I thought was really cool and I thought you all would want to know is that while Lakeside was here we would split up after a girls group thing and just have a one-on-one time with them which was really cool to see them open up and actually look like they were somewhat interested!  But we told them that there were people that we knew back at home that had no clue who they were that were praying everyday for them... when we asked them how they felt of course some of their responses were, "weird" or "crazy" but one in particular just made me feel so incredibly thankful for all of you guys... her reply was "it makes me feel HAPPY!"  Which I told them that some people that I had sent letters to I hadn't even talked to in a long time but they cared and loved about them and didn't know a thing about them but they prayed for each and every one of them and it really was a shock and awe experience for them!  So thank you, your prayers have not gone unseen and our mission gets one more step closer all the time!

Again, I am so sorry it has taken me so long to write you all!  It has been pretty crazy around here especially with a team in!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  I appreciate everything you are doing for me and these children!  They really don't have a clue who Jesus Christ really is, so just pray for them to keep their hearts open and willing to hear what God has to say to them and for them to be able to feel God's love for them and even our love for them!

my first amazing weekend!!!

I just sat and read some of my old blogs, WOW some of those aren't my feelings anymore!  I was so hurt and so distracted that I couldn't see what it was that God had planned for me!  When I said I was waiting for the man I thought I was supposed to marry... I went... WOW I'm only 18!!!!  Crazy I know!

Anyways, this weekend went really well!  I love being here!  I met so many new people and I love the experiences I have with meeting new people!  I went to this youth service at night, at the same place I went to church in the morning and it was so good!  Then I just hung out with friends and met some really cool people!  It was all around a good day!  In the afternoon we went up to the drop-in at Crosspoint... it went really well, Richie spoke and it really spoke to me also about why I'm really here!  It was always in the back of my head but it started to surface when he spoke!  He was talking to the kids and saying, I just want this to stick, because when there comes a point in your lives when you realize you need more than alcohol and 'fun' in your life, hopefully you will remember some of the things that have gone on here at Crosspoint!  It was just really amazing and I love it!

Fully relying on God is all we can do, we can teach and teach and teach but God is the one to put the call on their heart!  So for now, trust in Him to lead you to where He wants you to go!  It's your life, make the most of every moment!

Talk to you soon!

end of an amazing week...

This has been an amazing week so far!  Getting here was rough but the process, from my dinner with friends and family last weekend to today have been unforgettable!  Overall the week has gone slow since I have been here.  Not a whole lot to do, we usually have a lot when the teams are here with us, then it gets crazy!  Everyone tells me to be thankful of the quiet time I am getting, but I say, "bring on the teams!!!!"  I'm so ready for everyone to get here!  Especially my friend Kayla who is interning with me for a month, I know it will go fast when she gets here!

Today it was so nice that I got to sit out on the beach!  It was so warm and nice!

Time is flying by so fast!  I was thinking the other day as I stared out the window, "what am I going to do when I have to leave!?  How can I leave?!"  But then I remembered I have two months, sixty-one days to be exact!  So I think I will be okay!!!!

There are a lot of things I am learning around the house, it is so big and there is so much to manage around here!  It's crazy, but I love it!  When I pulled up the house with Richie when we got here on Wednesday I just wanted to go hug it, I know - you're thinking, she's weird! But if you only knew the experiences you wouldn't think I was so weird after all! - ANYWAYS, so I wanted to hug the house and I was telling Richie that I couldn't believe that I was here!  It was all SO UNREAL!!!!  I still can't believe it, it's like a dream!  It is so crazy!  One thing I will definitely miss tomorrow morning is going to the church I have been going to back home with my best friend and her family!  Oh gosh, have fun guys!  Enjoy it double for me tomorrow!!!

Well... I think that's all for today!  Talk to you guys soon!!!  Love you all and miss you!  See you in no time!!!  Keep up the prayers, they're helping loads!

All my love and God bless!

safe and sound...

I have arrived!!!!  Well actually, I arrived yesterday... but this was the first chance I could get to write you guys!  So the plane ride was not the best, but I'm here and thats all that matters!  Everything came to the house with me, nothing was missing or broken, just how I packed it, it came!  I made it out of the airport and onto the bus just perfectly... I had no trouble getting where I was supposed to be, especially being brave and smart enough to ask questions!  Then Richie, the director (a.k.a. my boss) came to pick me up and we got a coffee, which is SO much better then Starbucks!  But I didn't feel good throughout my whole entire trip over here, it wasn't nerves, I know that.  I think it was just that my body was adjusting, it knew what was coming and it said... "alrighty then, I'm gonna treat you bad since you're screwing with me!"  And I'm really excited that I didn't yack in Richie's car, cause I was pretty sure I was going to!

Anyways, I'm having a great time already and its almost end of day two, I just have to go to Crosspoint tonight, which is the nightly youth hangout thing!  I'm so excited to see people from last year, but I'm kinda scared that they won't remember me.  But oh well, it's okay!

I miss all of you, but I have to keep looking at it in this way: it's not like you're not going to be there when I get back!

To a few of my IAW ladies, I love you and miss you so much, KEEP IT UP!  I don't want to recognize you when I get back!  I want a shock and awe effect!  You girls are amazing and beautiful, I hope you remember to wake up on a daily basis and feel that!  Look at what you've accomplished!

Time for tea! (thats what they call dinner over here!)

Love and miss you all!

Hopefully you all have gotten your letter!  Keep up the work, crush the devil!  Have fun in the nice summer weather!!!