Crepes!

One thing I have come to love in Italy is the crepe. My personal fav is Nutella with rice crispies. You can get them with all kinds of candy and fruit. It's awesome! Tonight we had roomie dinner and my roommates and I went to get dinner and dessert. Here are some pics!

So it has been 13 days since I have washed ANYTHING..basically... I smell...which I mean isn't a big deal here but for my own sanity...I finally found a laundry mat! The washers are sooo tiny they hold like 2 pairs of jeans...well kinda...we MADE them hold a lot more! :) It is such a great feeling when you can make your clothes smell fresh again!

Romans 1:16

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation...this week was great! I met a lot of Italians this week. They are incredibly sweet people. Thursday, I sat down with a friend with two Italian girls to eat lunch. We just asked what their names were and then asked what their families were like. We talked about school..politics..the church (big deal here!)..then Jesus..I was able to share the gospel..it was great..the girl that was really good in english was agnostic..she seemed to like the idea of having her own relationship with the Lord..a lot of these people don't realize they can have this. It's so exciting to bring that news to them. I will be praying for her as she processes the gospel:) next we talked to a girl taking a smoke break (everyone smokes here..ill prob be addicted to nicotine when I leave haha) she asked if I had some sort of message to tell..I said yea!!! She said she didn't think she would go to heaven at first..maybe after time in purgatory..I was able to tell her that Jesus took care of everything on the cross..if she would believe that..she was soooo excited! It was great..I'm so thankful to have the opportunity to be here:)

Coloseo

Here are some pictures from the week. It has been a good but long and busy week. We've had some good conversations and are hoping to be meeting back with the same Italians for the next few weeks. I can't wait to see what the Lord does in my life and the lives of the Italians. Monday, Aprill and I went exploring. We started at the coliseum and then made our way to the Pantheon. We went through little back roads and spent 4.5 hours learning the city. I definitely feel confident in my ability to use the bus and metro to get around now. The group in front of the flowers is the group of girls that go to my campus. The girl on the far left with blonde hair disciples me while I'm here. :)

Christ!!!!

Praise the Lord I get to go seek the lost on a university campus for the next 5 weeks! I'm so excited despite the times of rejection and fear that are sure to come my way. The Lord has entrusted ALL believers with taking his gospel to the nations! 2 Corinthians 5:14-21 tells us that the love of God controls us and if we are in love with him, we will take his message to the ends of the earth. We are ambassadors for the God of creation! What a privilege! Pray for me and my team as we enter the battle for the lost on our campuses tomorrow!

funnies

What I've decided to do with the scary/embarrassing things in this culture is just to laugh. For instance, Italian men are very forward. It doesn't matter how bad you think you look...they WILL comment. Yesterday my friend Aprill and I walked to the internet cafe. One man looked me in the eye and said ooooooh myyyy gaaaaaaaaaaaah!!! Very good!! As creepy as that was, I laughed so hard...his accent in the gah part was hilarious! Now, anyone who has traveled to Europe understands that the buses can be ridiculously packed. I experienced this some in SK but not to the extent I have here. Today my friend and I were riding the bus back from lunch. There were seriously close to 75 people on board and the bus driver was breaking unusually hard and fast and making sharp turns. I was holding on to the bar above my head when he made a sharp turn. I was standing right at the door and almost lost my life!! Haha my feet literally left the ground as I held on for dear life with one arm! Aprill and I died laughing which is another cultural no no :)
It was great fun! Laughter is great!

Rome Baptist Church

I really love European food! Obviously I love chocolate filled pastries but it gets expensive! Today I found a bag of chocolate filled croissants! It was like 3 US dollars! I just love Europe! Also here is a pic of the Magnum Bar wrapper...isn't it cute?!? I love the question mark...like is it gold or something to eat?!?! Love it! Ciao :)

Spanish

Sooo today I was able to have my first spiritual conversations! It was great fun and great practice for the days to come. Italians are soooo friendly and will talk to you until they have to go somewhere else. I was actually able to use some of my spanish today! A girl that I talked to is actually from northern Spain. She was translating for her friend until I realized that her friend spoke Spanish. I was able to ask her some basic things. Apparently some Spaniards call Italian dirty Spanish haha (Charity:)) I thought you might enjoy that. I was honestly a little surprised with the city when I first arrived (yea I kno!) it has really grown on me in the past 24 hours though! The people make up for all of the grafiti. They literally do not eat anything BUT pizza and pasta like NOTHING else. You can pick up fruit at the market but as far as restaurants, you can expect carbs. AND another thing that surprised me was the pizza. I went in thinking it would be TOTALLY different. If you have eaten at the Italian Pizzeria in Durham, you have had the real thing for the most part. Pepperoni pizza doesnt exist...its just pizza with peppers on it. Another cool thing is the tomatoes on the pizza are legit tomatoes..like a quarter of a tomato! yummy! I had a Magnum Bar Gold today...if you will be traveling to Europe this summer, you must check it out! Apparently it is new. There is a picture of the wrapper coming because I think it is so cute! Well thats all for now! Ciao:)

Cornetto

This is what I get to eat for breakfast everyday so if I am fat when I get home you will know why! :)

my room

So here in Rome I share a rom with 3 other girls..one from indiana, one from WV, and one from USC. The pictures posted below are from our room. When I first walked in, I thought there was a mistake because I only saw two beds..then I was informed that bunks folded out of the wall! How crazy! Anyways our view is soo cute! There are a ton of palms here! We went exploring and saw how incredibly ancient Rome is! Everywhere you turn there is an old building sitting right in front of you! Like cool old buildings! I saw where Peter and Paul were imprisoned! Anyways, for all of you who have not been to Rome, the city is COVERED in graffiti. Its actually pretty sad to see the pretty old buildings covered in that junk! Anyways, pray for our team. Satan is really attacking right now causing a lot of us to feel homesick and inadequate...he's angry and we need your prayers!
Be back later!

ciao

I made it!! I made it to the eternal city:) I'm super tired but super excited to be here and talk to italians about our Lord! So far, a lot of the buildings remind me of SK but not the personalities. The trees are funny looking:) one thing I've learned so far is not to wait for a car to stop..you just walk right in front of it! Crazy! Well get ready for some pictures... hopefully!

martedi (Tuesday)

So today has just been more briefing..trying to learn each other's name and stuff like that. There are 12 states represented on this project. My roommates in Chicago are from Texas, Ohio, and Florida! Apparently my accent is the most noticeable though:) Someone said it was pretty which I think is hilarious. I'm getting super excited to leave tomorrow! Rome is going to me awesome! We are going to grow and learn so much. I can't wait to see what the Lord does in me! Keep Bradley in your prayers...he flies out to Asia in the morning! I fly to Rome tomorrow afternoon:)

Chicago (Roma part .5) :))

Hello!! I made it to Chicago about 9:50 central time this morning! It was my first time flying and moving through an airport by myself but I did it! I was the first one here so I just hung out in the lobby for a while and caught up on some reading. If been talking to Bradley and he's learning a lot about Asian culture..I think he's getting SUPER excited! I met my first team member around 12:30...she is from Texas. We introduced ourselves and now are waking up from a 3 hour nap haha at least there are people here who sleep like me!! Well ill keep u posted!:)
PS
keep praying!

Roma!!!

Next week at this time, I will be in Rome!! I leave for summer project on Monday! I'm super excited but also a little nervous:) Pray that I will give the Father glory this summer in everything I do. It is my prayer that I will be able to share the Gospel with many Italians. Please keep me in your prayers as I travel and stay in Europe this summer.

Pray for this boy:) He leaves for Asia the same day I leave for Italy...pray that the Lord would use him up for his glory this summer!

Lately...

Sooooo, I haven't posted a lot lately thanks to school..but I thought I'd share what has been going on in my life recently...tonight we had an end of the year party at CRU. It was a retro party so there were many different decades represented. I didn't dress up :( mainly because I didn't have anything and I am a poor college student who cannot afford to buy anything haha..The party was lots of fun and there was food and Karaoke involved!

Bradley (he's gonna be leaving for Asia soon so keep him in your prayers:))
Bradley singing Stand By Me (boy can sing!)

So...this is what my life has looked like in the past couple of weeks...studying..eating..lesson plans..eating...studying...yea life is GREAT right now;)

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people talk in places they are suppose to remain silent..you can clearly see the QZ (quiet zone) sign hanging above their heads yet they continued to talk...grrrrr

I'm sure you have totally enjoyed this post;)