Other stuff...

Well, I was so excited yesterday to tell you all about ITRA that I didn´t even mention the rest of our weekend. On Friday, we took an 1 1/2 bus ride to Reu, which is near the ocean. The bus ride was not bad, thank goodness! We met up with Nester, the guy who is in charge of Cause For Hope in that area. He took us to 3 businesses that have received loans from CFH to check on how business is coming along. The first stop was a store that makes copies. Yea, doesn´t sound that exciting but they had an excellent location near a university so they have a lot of students who need copies. They used their loan to buy a copy machine. The next stop was a little store. They used their loan to buy product. I was surprised how many products they had to choose from. Most tiendas down here don't have much. The last stop was great. We met a family who ran a little store that sells hair accessories. The store is in the front of their house. When we got there they welcomed us into their home. I was trying to count how many people lived there but I lost count after 5 kids and 9 adults. Before they received the loan from CFH, they lived in a one room home that had dirt for the floor and plastic for the roof. They have a much nicer home now but it still does not compare to a home in the states. They were such nice people and so grateful for the loan. The opportunity of receiving a loan down here is not an easy thing to come by. The people who receive one seem to know how lucky they are and feel super blessed. I love the opportunities that CFH has provided the people, its amazing to see.

Last night, Ben and I went to the home of a family in our ward. Talk about (another) very humble home. They invited us over for FHE. They were so fun to be around!! The Dad busted out his guitar and played for us and the kids (4 teenagers) were a blast. The mom, Jacquelyn hugged me so many times that there was no way I could have left there not feeling loved. For dessert, Jacquelyn made popcorn,  boiled some green apricots and made some juice. I am pretty sure that the juice was cough syrup. I kept trying to gag it down and every time I looked at my glass, it seemed fuller! Ah!  Amazingly, I survived. The message of FHE was about charity. It was great to hear their stories and perception of charity. They talked about how true charity is giving something away that is a real sacrifice, not something you  would give away anyways. It was a good reminder.
I hope that all is going great at home. We are almost down to our final month-my time here has flown!! I feel like I have only been here for two weeks, not two months! This has been an amazing experience!