Colorado Springs

Hello everyone,

We're back in Virginia now after 3 weeks of missionary training in Colorado Springs. It was a great 3 weeks. We had training everyday from 9-4 which consisted of a mixture of seminars, various group activities, small group time, worship, and personal coaching. Basically the training focused on different issues that missionaries have to deal with such as conflict resolution, cultural differences, adversity, stress, etc. The program is called SPLICE, which is an acronym for Spirituality, Personal Growth, Lifestyle, Interpersonal, Cultural, and Enjoy/Endure. It was really good to discuss issues that we maybe hadn't thought about before. It was also really great to meet missionaries going all over the world, that were all in about the same place as us. After only 3 weeks we got really close with many of the people, so it was really hard to say goodbye.

Another great thing about the trip is Colorado is BEAUTIFUL!! I would definitely recommend it for a vacation spot. A few of the fun things we did included Garden of the Gods (an area with giant red rock formations), Pike's Peak (the highest point in Colorado), and the zoo.

So now we're back in Virginia until we leave for the Dominican next Wednesday the 15th. It's hard to believe that after all this time, it's actually here. So until we leave we'll just be getting ready to go and saying our goodbyes. Once we get there we will be staying in a guest room at our director's house until we find our own place. So first few weeks we will be looking for a place to live, a car, working on getting citizenship, and others odd and ends things.

Prayer Requests:
1. Saying goodbye to our friends and family has already proved to be very difficult. Please pray that God will be our strength and comforter through this process.
2. Guidance on where to live once we get to the DR.
3. Transition. Moving to a new country and culture will no doubt be difficult. Please pray for us during this process.

Here are just a few of the pictures from Colorado:


Some of the girls after Hip-Hop Abs video.


Ryan getting a haircut by our friend Allyson....it wasn't quite as scary as it looks.


Worship.


Climbing around on rocks at the top of Pike's Peak.


A couple times we saw a rainbow...so beautiful!


A red rock at Garden of the Gods.


Ryan and I with a bunch of the kids. We hung out with them just as much (or more) than we did with the adults.


A view part of the way up Pike's Peak. It was incredible with some of the leaves changing to yellow.


Same place...different view.


Some of the guys on top of Pike's Peak.


Some of the girls on top of Pike's Peak.


Ryan being pensive.