two months today

I started this post a month ago but never finished (or barely even started). I wanted to make a post every week, giving updates about my life here in Santiago, but so far that hasn't happened. I'm hoping that changes today!

So, Abby and I arrived in Chile on Thursday, February 19th around 10am. Our program director Pam (who is so, so awesome) picked us up from the overwhelming/crazy/scary airport in Santiago. Both of our host families were still on their summer vacations, so Pam took us to their second home with her on the coast in Con Con, 1.5 hours away from Santiago. There were her husband, Jeff, and the most beautiful baby (1.5y/o) I've ever seen, Elissa. Staying with Pam's family for our first few days in Chile was such a great way to start our time here! They showed us around the coastal area, introduced us to some Chilean food, and helped us start to learn real Spanish (because the stuff you learn in high school is not real. I thought I knew Spanish. But I didn't....).

Here's a cute story:
Every night that we stayed at Pam's house, when she put Elissa to bed, she would curl up into a little ball and fall asleep with Elissa in her crib (SO DARLING). One of these nights, Pam fell asleep before Elissa did and Elissa crawled out of her bed, grabbed a toy in one hand and a book in another, and toddled into my room! We read and played with my sunglasses for close to half an hour before I put her back to bed. Now we're friends. We hang out every Sunday at church before she has to go home.


After spending time with their fam, I went to my host family! (I almost just started typing this next sentence in Spanish) The family is mama Leslie and two ten-year-old twins: Alonso and Constanza. They're so much fun and so patient with my lack of Spanish vocabulary and speed at which I speak and comprehend at! I'm having a good time getting to know them and teaching them how to make pancakes. :)

Before Abby and I bought our bicycles, we walked SO MUCH. We still do, but at the beginning we were walking like 10-12 miles the days that we were exploring Santiago. Now, I'm walking like 4-5 miles a day and riding my bike when I'm not too tired. Maybe like once a week though my Fitbit reads 9 miles! Sometimes I wonder if it's completely off but then I think it's not when I notice how exhausted I am at the end of those days.

School is so different here! I'm taking three Spanish language classes for foreigners and those are really awesome. I love them because 1) the professors are great, 2) they know English so when we're making gramatical mistakes (because of the way grammar is in English), they can correct us AND explain why it's not the way we think it is and 2) I just love learning Spanish!! I'm taking 3 other courses as well, though: Social History of Chile, The Photographic Representation of the Body in Chile, and Environmental Problems in Chile. They're mostly good but my history class is kicking my butt. It's 1.5 lecture 3 times a week in Spanish. I have a hard enough time listening to that long of a lecture in English, let alone a language I'm still learning!

Besides trying to listen to that much Spanish history, Spanish itself is getting so much better. Chile is one of the hardest places to learn Spanish because of the speed at which they talk, but I can tell that my comprehension of the language is way better than it was even a week ago. It helps that most of the people I spend time with understand that I'm still learning and will slow down or re-word what they say when I don't understand. Also, Abby and I have made a friend, Eder, who is learning English and gets to practice that with us and loves to help us with our Spanish. I'm so excited for where my Spanish will be when I come home in August. :)

Ministry is tough here, but God has plans and I'm so thankful that I get to be a part of them. A lot of the students here have grown up Catholic but had really bad experiences with the church and have turned from the belief in God to trying to find happiness in drugs and alcohol. I thought that that was how it was at home but here it's at a whole deeper level. We're trying to meet students and just invite them to come to our "Missional Community" - no need to be Christian, no need to believe what we believe, we just want to get to know them and have a good time together. The going is slow but if we rely on the Lord and really have faith in the power of the Holy Spirit, I know that some good things will become of our time on this campus. Even impacting the life of just one student would be so worth our semester here.


My family has already been here and left! They came 3.5 weeks and spent 10 days with me in Chile. We spent Thursday-Monday exploring Santiago, then went down to northern Patagonia to a biological reserve where we stayed at until Thursday, and then headed to the Con Con/Valparaiso/Viña del Mar area on the coast. (Santiago is closer to the eastern edge of Chile, while the coast is on the western side.) We went zip lining through the mountains, rock climbed in an extremely dry (AND DEEP) riverbed, and got a really great tour of one of the cutest cities I've ever seen - Valparaiso. I think it was probably one of the hardest vacations we've been on (because of the language barrier, my lack of knowledge about the country, etc.) but it made me SO happy to have them come and spend the time with me. My family are literally my best friends and I'm glad they got to be a part of this time in Chile! I miss them so much already and I know it'll be even more once (your) summer rolls around but I also know that this semester here will be one for the books.

My friend (that I've known since elementary school, got close with in junior high, and have continued to be friends with), Paige, also came and visited me!! She got here 3 days before my family did so I got to spend some quality time with her before I saw my family. I still can't believe that she decided to buy plane tickets to come see ME in CHILE. So crazy that that happened but so great.

That kind of sums up the past two months that I've spent here and I promise I will try to be better about posting (even if no one reads them)!

Here are my prayer requests:
1) We make more, good friends on campus and are able to love them well.
2) Homesickness wouldn't be a big problem for us (as I'm afraid it will be for me).
3) Language would not be a barrier when having conversations with students on campus.
4) We're able to learn a lot of Spanish.
5) We take advantage of the time we have in this country and continent that we're in.
6) We study hard and well. :)

What are your prayer requests?

2 Corinthians 4: 8-9
We are often troubled, but not crushed; sometimes in doubt, but never in despair; there are many enemies, but we are never without a friend; and though badly hurt at times, we are not destroyed.

(these are Chile's school buses:)

("Alyssa, why is your jacket zipped up so high?")

P.S. Here's a hilarious (to me) and SO embarrassing story:
One day towards the beginning of our time here, Abby and I were kinda lost and needed directions somewhere. I went up to a man in an information booth and asked how to get to the nearest bus stop. He then asked me where we needed to go (yadayada) but he said it with a smirk on his face.
Now, as I mentioned, Chileans talk sosososo fast. I couldn't really understand but I heard "where" and saw the smirk. I thought he was making fun of me and asking where I was from because of my accent (like other people have done).
So I responded, "The United States."
He then looked at me like I was completely crazy and I realized he asked where I wanted to go, not where I was from.
I just told him I wanted to take a bus to the United States.

You. Are. Beautiful.

I watched this video yesterday and it reached right where I needed it to.
I watched it again today and cried for a second time.
Have a look!


Here’s What Happens When Women Decide to Call Themselves Beautiful (with the article)

Ever since the world taught me what "pretty" was, I've struggled with the decision of whether or not I fall into that category. This didn't just affect how I feel about my appearance, but also about how I think others perceive my opinions, reactions, and conversation. My self-confidence is normally low and the anxiety because of my awareness of my low self-confidence can get really high.

I saw this video posted yesterday on a friend's FB page (thanks, Emily!) and opened it up. I almost immediately started crying, sympathizing with the women in the video defining themselves as "average." I knew the pain that that label causes me and also knew that each of the women in this video - each of the women in this world - are beautiful and I did not want them to feel that pain. I wanted them to know that they're beautiful!

And then it hit me.

Alyssa Anne Holbeck is beautiful as well.
She is beautiful because God made her - a piece of work that he carefully and lovingly crafted, that he knew and loved before anyone else had imagined her existence.
That is me. And I am beautiful.

I watched this video in the morning before I left for class, and I noticed all day reminders floating through my head that I am beautiful. When I was starting to feel ashamed - "Alyssa, you're beautiful!" When I was feeling timid - "Alyssa, have confidence. God loves you, and he made you - beautiful."

My Father used this video to remind me that I don't need to pay attention to what the world believes about beauty. I need to turn to him, trust in his everlasting love, and know that because I am a child of God (just like every other human being out there), I am beautiful.

I want you to have encouragement from this video as I have. I want you to be uplifted and joyful and triumphant and to know you're loved by an almighty God. I want you to know that

You. Are. Beautiful.


You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous-how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!
I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up, you are still with me!
Psalm 139: 13-18

#ChooseBeautiful

discouragement turns to encouragement

[here's a reflection before an update of my time in Chile]

(written a couple weeks ago)

the more time I spent on the Juan Gomez Millas campus here in Santiago, the more I see how lost the students of this university are.

every day I experience more and more of what Satan is doing in the lives of these kids.

two weeks ago, I met a boy and half an hour later I was sitting across from him as his friend had him roll his marijuana.

last week, I met someone who asked me what I like to drink and when I answered “water” he replied “Water? With vodka? Or what?”

earlier this week, I watched the upperclassmen tie the freshmen to a rope, take their shoes, cut up their clothes, douse them in paint, vinegar, and mustard, make them roll through a mud pile and then one of rotten garbage, and then send them out to the streets to beg for money to buy their shoes back.

i talked to a boy who told me this was a terrible experience as a freshman but he’s looking forward to doing it to the current “mechones" in a few days.

there have been many times in the past two weeks that have made me question what good I can do here and doubt the supreme power of God.

i’ve wondered why i’m studying in the philosophy department

i’ve wondered why i’m on the most run-down campus of this University

i’ve wondered what one little gringa can do 

i’ve wondered how I can effectively communicate in a language that i thought i knew (but actually don’t)

and the list goes on.

But God has been listening and has encouragement for me!

Alyssa, the philosophy department is the most lost department at the University

Alyssa, these are the students that are looking for answers to their questions

Alyssa, who sent you to Chile? I did. Do you know who I am? GOD.

Alyssa, I am the one with the plan, the power, the love, the energy, and the will to reach these students

Alyssa, I will meet you where you are and use your Spanish as it is

Alyssa, you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength (Philippians 4:13)

and while remembering these things, God is using me and showing me how he’s working in this environment:

in a two hour timespan, we shared the Gospel with four students

we met a boy named Hector who is looking for somewhere to fit in

we met Camilla who defended her faith in front of her anti-Christian friends

we met Karen who willingly listened and let us pray for her

in all of my God-centered conversations, Spanish has not been an issue

the lectures that I have the attention span to listen to are the sermons at church and God is using those to grow my relationship with him and to build up my Spanish vocabulary to further his kingdom

we are starting a “missional community” time that will meet every tuesday for two hours to share lunch, talk, and love one another

the Lord has big plans for this lost campus, and those plans include me. when I am weak and turn to God, he reminds me of what he’s revealed to me.

He reminds me that 

Christ is enough for me.

I need to trust in the Lord with all my might and lean not on my own understanding

He has given me gifts and will use them in his great plan

He knows how to speak Spanish

He has given me his Holy Spirit that will work through me for Him so that others can have the joy of knowing Christ.

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love-not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.

1 John 4:9-12