aqui esta mi corazon :)

I apologize, first of all, for the lack of updates up to this point. Life is busy here in Jaibon. Heather promised me before we moved that it was tranquil here but to our surprise our days have been super packed. Nonetheless I have been loving my time here. God is moving here and revealing Himself more and more every day. Things aren't by any means easy, but I am learning what it means to experience joy in every circumstance. I'm learning over and over again how good the Lord is.
In particular, I see Him in these boys. I've already become great friends with a few of the boys at the orphanage here and already I consider them my hermanitos. One amazing opportunity I've had is to tutor two of the boys in English 3 days a week with my friend Christina. It's been so encouraging to see their motivation and to get to teach one of the boys I'm closest with here. Tutoring is definitely more my style than teaching a class, so it has been fun to have a chance to try it for a while during my time here. I take so much joy away from every day I tutor these boys and I thank God for dropping that opportunity in my lap :)
Another great part about Jaibon is the kitchen and laundry staff. I've spent the past two weeks getting to know these amazing Dominican women and they are now very special to me. My Spanish is also getting so much better just in the past two weeks, and I think it's because I've been desperately trying to get to know these people that I have come to love.
One fun part of the week was when the ladies had the day off and there was a change of plans so Heather and I started off the day as the cocineras (cooks)! Cooking here is more time consuming than in the States so we got up bright and early and cooked breakfast for 32 people! Heather did a great job all day and it was a fun way to tell them we appreciate their work.
I have said this, and will say this a million times upon a million more times, but I love it here. And I love these people. The two weeks I have left here are seeming shorter and shorter. I was so sad to leave the kids in Monte Cristi, but I can already tell I'm going to be just as sad to leave my brothers here. Thank you for your prayers and I pray that you take encouragement from the fact that God is doing so much here.

con amor en Cristo,
emilee