Life With LivvyJoy: DTS: Week 9

I'm so happy to be back in Mazatlan! Even though I prefer the country over the city, I missed the base and all the people on it. During these last 2 months, this has become my home and these people have become my family. We have been so vulnerable with each other, laughed, cried, and have seen each other almost every single day. It's going to be so hard to leave them in just under 2 weeks. I know God is doing incredible things in our personal lives and is going to work wonders during outreach but it'll be difficult to not walk with this community on a daily basis. I will strive to maintain contact with as many friends as possible to watch their lives and still witness the milestones they accomplish.

Well I definitely didn't plan on writing that but it just spilled out. It might have needed to be said or I just might be writing this at 10:45 pm after a long day ;). On that note, these days have been full. We went back to our regular class schedule and learned about missions. At first, I had low expectations because what could I learn, I'm practically a missionary right now. However, the teaching was so practical. I was able to generally state my mission and my calling which helped me feel less lost in the scheme of life. I evaluated my stage of life and felt less stressed as well. Especially in western culture, there is so much pressure to be completely successful and dependent around the age of 25. You have to go to college, have a good career, buy a house, and so many other things. This has never been pushed by my parents but I am still influenced by the culture. In class, I learned that my life doesn't need to be that. God is calling me into a time of preparation. For what, I have no idea. But I am excited and willing to learn. I want to see transformation in my educational, physical, relational, and spiritual areas. Also, for our last class, we planned out a long-term mission. We were given a location, researched it, found needs, and then assessed how our team could meet those needs. What a great project! It opened my eyes to the complex simplicity of missions. Yes, I need to plan and prepare but prayer is the most important thing. Trusting in God is the foundation of mission work. No matter where I go, I never want to do my work, I want to do His. God is practical and truly showed me that part of His character through this class.

God also is a God of joy and I experienced that part of His character as well. I had such fun times with friends! I enjoyed more of Mazatlán city during nighttime excursions, deep conversations, and a prayer walk. The September DTS graduated so there was a celebration for them that included a dance party. My feet were hurting. On Saturday, the gang went to Deer island. We swam, made a sand castle, hiked, battled thorns and trail blazed, rode on a boat, and did a late-night run to Walmart. Today, I had weekend duty which included prepping, serving, and cleaning up all the meals on base. I had some coffee in the morning with my quiet time, which was lovely. Then, I went to Walmart again. However, we drove there on motorcycles! Because we're in a big city, it's a lot cheaper to travel solo on a moto. Also, it's such a fun way to experience the city and culture. Afterward, I got ice cream (before dinner) and ended the day with a smoothie around 9ish. It was a long day but I'm a good kind of tired. Classes this coming week will be about worship, intercession, and spiritual warfare. I'm excited!

Please be praying for the ending of the lecture phase to be sweet and filled with good memories. Also, that preparation for outreach in Mexico and Cambodia will go smoothly. A lot of things are still up in the air so I don't know specific locations or dates. Thank you so much for your prayers and support! Love you all and enjoy the pictures!

P.S. I don't take pictures of class or ministry times so I'm not distracted and miss what God is doing, so I just have the free time adventures.