Hannah was here at 9:35. Having a wonderful time!!!:)

Hi everyone!! Kelley has given me the honor of writing a short script on her blog:) I am having an AMAZING time!! Today I got to go into a catholic church for the first time, I can't even explain how humbled it made me feel. I am SO blessed to have been raised not in religious confusion but in real church like Cornerstone! :)

JD was here at 9:59 on friday illegally on the scaffol 3 stories high very close to God!

Hey everybody its JD :) hahaha hahahahahaha i bet you weren't expecting to hear from me. I wasn't expecting to hear from me either?! BUT kelley is making fun of me being on here so I better get off here talk to you guys in about a week guten tag !! good day haha

Done laying stones!

By tonight, all the stones had been laid. We were all excited, but the boys especially!

YAY!

Then, we drove up a mountain to look around and take pictures. The girls had to ride in the back like this:

It was really, really pretty!

We took lots of pictures!

This is Collin. He is spiritual.

This is Paul. He is strong. This is also J.D. His back hurts.

Another Day

I didn't get a chance to post anything yesterday because after we were done working and had cleaned up, we ate supper and then went to another village to hand out flyers inviting people to come to church Sunday. I think we're doing the same thing tonight so I'm blogging while Amie and Hannah P. are helping with breakfast. Two girls help with different meals everyday, and today Kaylee and I are helping with lunch. Hannah A. and Jael have supper. Now you have that useful information, do with it what you want. :)

The outside of the house is almost done being painted, and the cobblestones are very close to all being laid.Yesterday the girls swept sand. I've learned that Americans take lots of shortcuts! Whereas we would have spent one day pouring concrete, over here it's much more than that. They have a rain tax so if the rain can sink down into the earth it's cheaper. If they have asphalt it has to run out into the drain in the city, and is more expensive. So the boys lay and cut the stones, and they dump this huge load of sand on top. We girls have been sweeping it into the cracks to fill them up. The problem is they have a machine that shakes it all down because it's probably around 3-4 inches deep. So we sweep, they shake, and we sweep some more. And when it rains, the sand will settle more and there will be more sand to be swept in. Did that make any sense? If not, I'll explain it better when we get back.

The girls will start painting a room inside soon, but we've been sweeping so much we haven't had time. Plus Bro. Heith's been using all the rollers.

There's been more than just work, though. We've been making fun of each other, eating and cooking a lot, gorging on chocolate and German candy, and laughing the whole time. We've had several authentic German dishes, and the food over here is good, but different. The light switches and toilet handles are buttons. Hannah A. is most fascinated by them.

I have 15 minutes until breakfast, so I'll post some pictures and then go eat. Love you all!

(I'm sorry there aren't very many pictures of the boys. When we went to pass out fliers we were in two separate groups and none of the boys have given me their memory cards yet. I'll try to get them soon.)

Singing after church Wednesday night

The Cornerstone girls made our boys help with the dishes last night. They were so impressed they took pictures!

Laying the stones and sweeping in the sand.

Jael, Hannah A., Amie, Stephanie, and Thomas

Hannah P. and me

Passing out flyers!

Amie putting a flyer in someone's mailbox

End of Day One

It's 9:15 pm right now We're about to go to bed. The girls have yet to put in a full day of work, but the we're still adjusting to the time change. We should be back to normal by tomorrow!

In the morning we start painting - we taped everything off this morning. The boys are super fast at putting down those cobblestones! They're already about halfway done! It's looking SO pretty! Bro. Heath has been painting the outside their house - light yellow! He's been way, way up in the air on scaffolding that he and some of our guys put together. Better him than me! It's connected to the church, which is a brighter shade of yellow, and it's so, so pretty. I've decided I'm going to come home and paint Cornerstone yellow!

There are 3 boys in their neighborhood that have been helping all day so the guys have made some friends. I think it's improving their German and it's fun to watch the American/German interaction

Listening to the Germans speak is so much fun - I have no idea what they're saying, but I love to hear it! They've been trying to teach us some words, but they're hard for us to pronounce, and I can't remember them! Drew's been trying the hardest, I believe. We got off the plane with him saying "Wie gehts dir" (it sounds nothing like it's spelled) which means "How are you?" After they said "Gut" and asked him the same, he said "Gut". He responds to everything they say with "Gut, gut." It's a start! We're all trying to learn some of it!

In church tonight we sang three songs. The group sang "Farther On" the quartet sang "To Canaan's Land" and then the group sang "Oh, how I love Jesus". As a congregation we sang "An Can it Be" and "I'm a Soldier of the Cross." We had to try to sing the second song in German, but I think we just hummed. It was terrible. Bro. Mark said we have to learn "An Can it Be" in German by Sunday. Pray for us! ;)

After church Paul showed us his braiding skills with this yarn curtain thing they have hanging in a doorway. Drew put it on his head like Rapunzel and we sang a song from Tangled to him.

Tomorrow after work is done for the day, we're leaving around 6 in groups to hand out flyers. We'll be doing the same on Saturday night. They're trying to get a lot of people to church on Sunday and I think a lot of them are lost. Please pray that we will be an example of the joy of the Lord and that they will see Jesus through us!

Right now we're all sitting in the living room Skyping with Mrs. Lorrie, Connor, and Delanie. We're eating chocolate, looking at pictures from today and  nodding off (I am, anyway.)

I'm going to go to bed now. Enjoy the pictures!

From the top going down: Bro. Heith, Drew, Paul, and J.D.

Traveling Pictures

I know one of my favorite things on travel blogs is when people post pictures. So this is a strictly picture post of the many hours we traveled to Germany! I hope you enjoy!

In the Nashville airport waiting for our flight!

J.D., Bro. Heath and James on the plane.

Drew and Collin sharing ear-buds.

James and me walking in the village where the Lawrence's live! It's gorgeous here!

The rest of our group.

The boys already working hard!

And this is why we're here!! :)

We miss you all!!!!!! Please keep praying for us and I'll post as much and as often as I can. I can't WAIT to tell you about the flight, our rooms, the Lawrence's beautiful home, trying to use German words, the food, and how welcoming everyone is. I already feel spoiled! This is an amazing, beautitful, beautiful, BEAUTIFUL country! I can't get over how pretty it is! I feel so very, very blessed.

Love you all!

Grateful

It's time for us to leave! In 3 hours we will be riding down the driveway of our church on our way to the Nashville airport. It is impossible to portray our excitement with just words, but we're pretty much beside ourselves!

I should be finishing packing and I should be grabbing a bite to eat. I should be leaving notes for my parents and I should be weighing my bags. But I can't leave yet. I have to say thank you.

I don't know how many people in my church family will read this, but to everyone, thank you - from the bottom of my heart! If it wasn't for a group of people who, 20 years ago, before I was even born, fell in love with missions, this trip would not be taking place. Because of people who saw further than their own futures, we are able to take this trip. Because we were raised with the mindset that missionaries are heroes, and that giving and serving and helping are the greatest callings in life, we are excited about this trip. Because of people who give and give and give and give, this trip is possible. And I am so grateful. Thank you! A million times and again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Thank you for praying for us! Please don't stop. I love every single one of you and I hope I represent you well while in Germany!