un día maravilloso

today was incredible!
paco picked me up and we met rocio at roca de salvacion, where candelario is the pastor. i can't even describe how amazing it was to see everyone. pastor cande's whole family was there - his wife, eliseo, josue, caleb, and then abraham and bryan his adorable son, and lots more familiar faces. we were early so we talked to eliseo while we were waiting for the service to start. it was awesome to hang out with him and rocio. sometimes my friends talk to me really slowly and simply, and i appreciate that, but i can understand most of what i'm hearing. eliseo talks normally with me and once in a while i would miss something and then he would help me, but it was nice to feel like a 22 year old having a conversation hahaha. he said i was understanding a lot, which was encouraging to hear.
eliseo didn't sing like usual - he said he's been leading worship every thursday and sunday for 2 years and he's "just tired." it was great though because he sat with rocio and i during the service.
so instead of eliseo singing, caleb sang! he was amazing. he's got a beautiful voice. and he's like 15! we sang for a solid hour which was probably the highlight of my week, if not month. then pastor cande preached for another hour, which was another highlight. he reminds me so much of my dad. i think that's part of the reason i love to be there.
somehow they found out it was my birthday last week so i got more hugs from everyone after the sermon hahaha
my heart is in this church. it's hard to be at martha's and i feel silly because it's kind of a selfish problem to have...but just like you can't help who you fall in love with, i can't help that this is where my heart is! i'm hoping i can do an every other week thing, because i don't want to hurt feelings or leave my friends at martha's church, but i also really would like to be at roca de salvacion.
pastor cande says hi to everyone from new york!

after church, rocio, paco, his sister, her husband, and their daughter and i got pizza. it was just like most pizza in the states, except the crust was sweet, like the sweet soft bread you can get from the bakeries. it was interesting. very different.

we took rocio to buy material to make an apron - she got to pick everything out, down to the color of the apron, ribbon for edging, and the buttons! i'll post a picture of her in it next week when it's made.

paco dropped me off at gabriel house and he played a song for the boys - a song he wrote for them! it was so sweet and he mentioned each of their names...they loved it. it was awesome. then we played soccer in the smallest soccer field known to man with 2 kids in wheelchairs and one on the ground. it was by far the most entertaining soccer game i've ever played in my church clothes!

later i skyped with sarah AND krista. so great to see their faces :)

so thankful for such a wonderful day!