jokes on me...

Check out the update video Will made!

Friday my team left Chiang Mai after lunch for a 'village.' We took a three hour bus ride to Chiang Rai where we thought we'd spend Christmas serving in a village. As soon as we arrived there we were told to leave our bags in the truck and head into the church. We took our shoes off outside the church building and then walked into the church. I was walking in the middle of the group when we turned the corner to see the other Thailand team. The first person I saw was Raphael and I flipped out after that!!! I ran over to that boy and gave him a huge hug...then went searching for my roomie, Mirjam. It was such an amazing surprise. Our leaders are such good liars...it's kind of scary! We spent Friday night Christmas caroling. When I say Friday night I mean Friday night...we were out for 5 hours singing to random houses. The most exciting part was singing for the governor/mayor or whatever he was at the very beginning of the night at a beautiful flower garden thingy. I don't even know how to describe how beautiful it was. After the caroling we headed back to the place we were staying.

Christmas morning I woke up to Synnove telling us that we had 2 minutes to be over to the church. I threw on a sweatshirt and headed over there with my secret santa gift for Jenifer (which included a bunch of pink stuff). As soon as I sat down they started telling us that they had contacted our parents and asked them to send us a Christmas gift. They had the gifts sent to Conrad's house before we left for Thailand so we wouldn't accidentally receive the packages before we left for outreach. We had been carrying the gifts the entire time....we just had no clue that we were! Christmas night we went to a night market in Chiang Rai. I bought some adorable Thai pants for myself and bought my dad two presents. :) He'll love them!

Sunday morning we went to a Thai church. The other team performed the Tears of the Saints skit and sang two songs. After church we ate lunch and hung out with the Thailand 1 team for a bit more. After that we headed back to Chiang Mai.

Monday we actually went to a village. We went to a very small church Monday evening and served a smaller group of children. We played games with them, sang some songs, and put on two skits for them.

Tuesday was such an amazing day. We went to a beautiful waterfall to start off the day with. We had the chance to venture around a bit there. After the waterfall we went to ride elephants. This was sooooo much fun. Carrie and I were on the same elephant. It was 21 years old and had a 3 year old baby that followed her around. This baby got my shirt dirty within the first minute of me sitting on its' momma. What a punk! We rode the elephants around...even through water. It was such a blast. Right after the elephant riding we went down a river on bamboo rafts. I was on a raft with Tony and Will. The water was super chilly....but still a blast. Jacqui, Emma, Synnove, and Jenifer had a crazy raft guide. He kept pretending that there was a crocodile in the riever next to me and was slapping the water right next to me...therefore soaking me throughout the entire journey down the river.

Wednesday morning we went to a school to put on a program from 10-12. We started off by singing some Christmas carols (of course). After the Christmas carols Max gave her testimony. Then we performed the Everything skit. After the skit Will and Laura gave their testimonies as well. We had the chance to play some games with them and simply just hang out. I had a great time there. There were a few kids I wanted to take home with me! The most precious boy there is named Bate. We were playing some games and he saw that I was really hot so he went and got me a hand fan to use. He had the cutest glasses on. Ahhhhh...could of hung out with that boy all day!!! Wednesday afternoon we headed back to Chiang Mai.

Thursday we prepared for our New Years Party and hung out. I went to a coffee shop with Tony and Will. It was refreshing having the chance to hang out with most of the boys. We had the chance to talk through some things going on with each of us.

Friday we had some team time with worship in the morning, got the food ready for the New Years party, and hung out. We headed over to The Centre around 730ish. We had one mad dance party at The Centre with just our team. I don't think I've laughed that hard since we've been in Thailand. Will and Tony had some crazy dance moves. Don't worry we all got footage of Tony breaking it down. SOOO hilarious! Ton and Mama came around 930ish to hang out with us. :) They brought us all beautiful postcards from Chiang Mai that said Happy New Year on the back from Ton and Mama. It was so precious. I got one with a panda bear on the front. When it was almost midnight we headed to the roof of The Centre. We counted down the New Year with our group while watching a bajillion fireworks go off along with hundreds of lanterns being set off. It was such an amazing and special sight. So blessed to be with the people I was with. So blessed with many different things it's unreal!!!!

This morning we got up and went to a waterfall an hour away. We literally climbed straight up the waterfall. The rocks weren't slippery at all and I just don't get it....I'm convinced God didn't make the rocks slippery so that we could enjoy it how we did today. Ahhhhh....it makes me miss Yellowstone. It is one of my fondest memories so far. Being in God's creation just gets me. I wish I could soak in His creation 24/7...boy oh boy I can't wait to do that in heaven!

Classes start back up on Monday...thanks so much for your support. Missing my family and friends like crazy, but I'm enjoying where God has me right now. He's speaking to me about stuff for the future so keep me in your prayers please! Love you guys!!!