Hey out there! I know it’s been a while… sorry!! But here are some highlights of things that have happened since I last wrote.

*My birthday!! My actual birthday was on the 1st, which was a Thursday. That night I went to worship practice, where I was introduce to a South African tradition… kissing the birthday girl! It was definitely a shock to me at first, but I got used to it. At least they were guys from church, and not some strangers! haha
The next night, Friday, I had a small braai with some of my new friends. Most of my friends from church do not have cars, and when the one guy with a car couldn’t come, none of them could come, which was sad, but I had a good time with my other friends! It rained like crazy, which is not normal for a South African winter… maybe God just wanted me to feel at home, since it IS normal for it to rain in NC in July! Thankfully the rain slowed enough for Sean to get the charcoal lit, and we were able to have a successful braai. My friends gave me some cool gifts, and Melissa made an awesome cake for me! It was really fun hanging out with them in the comfort of my own home.
That following Sunday, some of my friends came home with Melissa and I from church to help us finish the birthday cake. So, really I got to hang out with all the friends I wanted to, just at different times! I’ve got pictures of both events in my webshots photo albums.

*Swaziland! Monday, the 5th of July, Melissa and I headed up to Swaziland, a country north of South Africa. There are some missionaries up there, and they had a July 4th get together, and invited the journeymen in the area to come. It was so much fun, and Swaziland is so beautiful!! We also went to some fun shops and I got some Christmas shopping for my family done. I’m sending it all home with The Summit team, which will be here in about 14 hours!!!!

*The Worship Team – The team I am on, the “Junior” team, is in a rebuilding process. We lost a few people, one of the being the only other girl on the team. She sang melody, so it’s been important for us to find and train some new folks who can sing her part. We had a training/practice with one of the girls on Saturday, and she’s good! I’m so excited to be working with her. There’s another girl too, who hasn’t been able to meet with us, but I should get to meet with her tomorrow night.

This has been a fun, but long weekend. I’ve been so excited about the team coming, that I can’t think about much else. I’ve been trying to stay busy. Saturday, after practice, I hung out with my friends in Eldorado Park, then went to the young adults meeting that night. Yesterday (Sunday) I sang at church during both services, and helped Melissa cook a Mexican dinner for some of her youth that came home with us after church. Oh, and I’ve also been baking a little lately…mostly to kill time. Today I took Ruth Anne (one of the missionary kids) to see Spider Man 2. Mostly, I just wanted to see it, and I wanted to do something fun today to take my mind off of counting down the hours until the team gets here.

The team is scheduled to arrive at 10:15am, South African time. I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep tonight or not! I just want them to get here now! Please keep the whole team in your prayers for the next couple of weeks. Also, please pray that I will have time to enjoy their presence, and not be so hurried that I don’t get to spend any quality time with them. Thanks!!

I’ll be in touch!

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81