Monday: A Full Day!

Wow, what a full day!  It’s already after 11:00 p.m. here and we’re heading to bed soon, so here are some highlights from the day…

… We had a typical Italian breakfast at our hotel this morning: croissants and mini toast with jelly and Nutella.  Yum!  Then, we had personal and group devotions before meeting with the leaders of the Italian youth group to plan details for our evening workshops.  Plans for the week's activities are coming along well.

… Around 1:00, we headed to two different homes of Italians in the church.  Yum!  We were so full after eating multiple courses: pasta, meat, salad, and dessert.  It was great to get to know some of the Italians better.

… We had a little bit of down time before the evening workshops, so some of the students played volleyball or sat and talked.  I even got to help Brianne run some soccer drills!  She is a dedicated athlete. :)

… Soon enough it was time for the workshop event to begin!  We started off with some fun games to break the ice, then had two workshops prepared to share.  Four of the students (John, Grace, Emmalee, and Sunshine) ran the dance station, which taught Cotton Eyed Joe, Cupid Shuffle, and Cha Cha Slide.  Marshall, Andrew, and Lois ran the other station, “Lavoretti Manuali” (hand crafts).  The participants there made paper airplanes and origami animals. 

… We were fed well again for dinner tonight!  Don’t worry, we’re all eating plenty!  It was also especially fun for me to have dinner at the home of the Faulkners, a missionary family that my home church supports.

Now we’re heading to bed because we have an early wake-up for our Rome day trip tomorrow.  Five of the teens from the youth group are going with us, so we are really glad to have that opportunity to get to know them better on the trip.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement! 

For His glory,

Heather (for us all)