These Bones Cry Out...These Dry Bones Cry Out...

This weeks Top 10 favorite things:
10. Joy. I found myself joyful in stressful situations which I feel like at this point can only be from the Lord.
9. I got a chance to really connect with the youth on our rock climbing trip. It was really great to joke around with them even if there is a language barrier.
8. Worship. Not my type of worship, but it's good to sing praises to Him. Even better: my voice hasn't been hurting as bad so I can actually sing, so that is pretty cool.
7. Group unity. I love that we are growing even closer together, especially with Gabe and Melissa. It's like we are one big family and I love it.
6. Open doors. I'm graduating college soon, and the Lord has opened a lot of opportunities for me in the future and I'm excited to see the path He is leading me down.
5. Endurance. Spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically I am drained. But. God has made me more reliant on prayer to keep me going, which is cool.
4. Yearning. Something I haven't felt in a long time is yearning to be with God. To climb to the highest mountain and cry out. To be able to lay out in an open field and feel the stars around me. To have a closeness with God. To want that is difficult but good.
3. A broken heart. "Break my heart for what breaks yours." (hillsong) I have slowly been falling apart for those here. Wanting them to know the freedom that awaits them and knowing how badly they want to be loved. Many come from broken homes or have absent parents because of job situations. There is nothing that I can do to fill those gaps, but I know God can.
2. Sewing. Realizing that planting relationships and helping them grow is just as important, if not more important than the end result. Even if I don't get to witness the outcomes, I know that when it is left in God's hands, it will be beautiful.
1. You're the God of this city. Claiming God's victory over this place. I'm starting to find small glimpses of His light. Noah, Gabe and Melissa's son, was with me at the pool one day. Noah is a little guy and is full of surprises. I'm holding him and he looks at my necklace and says, "Necklace!" and I said "Yep, that's my necklace." Then he says more excitedly, "It's a CROSS!" and I said "Yes, it's a cross." He gets even more excited and said, "Jesus! He died on that so we go to heaven with Him." Child-like faith. I love it.

Thoughts from my heart.
For those of you keeping up with my personal healing-here is what is going on.
There has been a lot of going on for sure. Especially dealing with attacks from Satan. This is just a journal entry that I think may explain things...
June 24, 2012:
Ways to recognize an attack:
-Thinking that others comments are related to me.
Trusting that it isn't aimed at me
Truth: This nations stronghold is body image. They find their self worth in how they look.

I find my identity in Christ and I am beautiful. Out of everyone, Christ has picked ME for so many things. 
Prayer: to truly see myself as beautiful. My body is a temple for God. I need to take care of it as such in what I eat and my activity. Why would I long for God in a place I don't take care of? Even the most beautiful  places hold no significance unless I identify it as beautiful and significant. God calls ME: my heart, my mind, my body, my soul...every inch of me beautiful and blessed. Christ claims me as his own beloved and has asked me to dance with Him. He will only let the most worth man cut in.

Don't let any "almost" lovers break your heart. It doesn't mean YOU'RE unworthy, it means that God isn't letting them cut in because God knows THEY aren't good enough and has someone better in store. STOP trying to better yourself. Embrace how God designed you. Love the sensitive heart you've been blessed with. It no longer looks inward with self pity, but connects and reaches outward to break for others so that they may come to understand God's compassion for it is now God's heart than beats in you. The broken pieces that you thought had been taken away forever have been restored by God's own heart. the parts that lovers have stolen have turned to dust and they no longer can claim them. Your heart is now made stronger. With that, don't be afraid to LOVE because even if you get hurt, God can turn it around and make you that much stronger. Let yourself rely on His strength because without that, your heart would not even be able to mend.   

My whole life I have been so afraid of my past. What I have done, what I haven't done and if I have wronged or hurt anyone. The past is the past. Stop dwelling in it. I have to stop apologizing for the way I was made. Yes, I'm sensitive. Yes, I'm fearful. But it's because of a broken past. I want to stop relying on my past "mistakes" and learn to rely on God.
A huge theme this summer for me is dancing with Jesus. It's something that I started longing for last summer and it was hugely put on Britney Sue's heart as well which is awesome. Not to mention the book I am reading right now "Do You Think I Am Beautiful?" focuses on our dance with Christ. So many times I feel like I'm in this intimate relationship with God and then someone else comes along and I let them cut in. Slowly, but surely, we move away on the dance floor leaving God behind. And when the boy leads me into a spin, I turn around and he's gone, leaving me broken and wounded on the floor with a million people in between me and my original partner who has been waiting for me to come back to Him. All I need to do is dust myself off and run back to Him and continue our dance...but I am so ashamed that I let that happen that I stay down and wait for another man to ask me to dance. Time after time this happens and the more and more crowded the room gets. Finally I'm left there scared and alone with bits of my heart gone and with no trust left. Too afraid to let another man be near me but longing for that love as well.
This is when I am lifted off the ground, my feet placed on top of His and we continue our dance. Me, not needed any effort, but just relaxing, relying on His arms and regaining strength and trust. In this time He is taking His own heart and giving it to me to make mine new and whole again.
Yes, I have a rough history as far as relationships go...I feel as though everyone has. I am realizing that I have never let God heal my heart and that time and time again I just run into a new one hoping that they will help heal my heart. Britney Sue said it correctly that I long so much for love that I pour out and pour out and pour out love and get hurt because love from human beings can not take the place of Christ's love. Yes, that is a way for God to love me is through a relationship, however, I can't be fully healed by someone else. That healing can only come from God Himself. He will let a good man cut in. Until then, I am fine to let Him lead. I am no longer afraid.
In regards to my past, I always let it define me. Well, that is no longer the case. This is me. Here and now. I have flaws, we all do. But Christ's love is unconditional and covers me. I will find joy and freedom in that.


And here is my homework...literally...
More about my internship:

(1) How do you fit into the organizational chart where you work?
Well, I'm an intern. I focus more on building relationships with girls ages 12-19 in the Velingrad area. We take them on outdoor adventure trips like hiking, camping, rock climbing and mountain biking. We will be leading camps soon and I will be helping as a counselor. I have been working on high light and promotional videos for True Horizons, the outdoor adventure organization that Gabe and Melissa started here.
How does the formal organizational chart seem to compare with the informal system? Where do
you fit there?
I feel like my position is very flexible and enjoy the work set before me. We are halfway inbetween prepping and diving full on into the camp and interactions with the students. Each week is something new. I just kind of go and do what I am told. We debrief each encounter and have a planning session at the beginning of each week.
(2) What kinds of tasks are you doing routinely?
(see above)
How does your knowledge of
communication principles help you accomplish these tasks?
Non-verbal communication is HUGE! Since there is a language barrier, I rely a lot on body language as well as attempting to talk slowly so that those who do know english a little bit can understand what I am saying. I also have been focusing on different ways of communicating besides speaking. Gestures, games, using a translator and even just walking with someone without talking has proven to be effective. Even if we can't talk to them, playing a game of soccer is a good way to bond with someone.
What skills and concepts do you feel you lack?
I want to learn Bulgarian. That is a huge thing that I feel is keeping me from fully communicating with the students.
(3) What values seem to be most important in the workplace?
Gabe, Melissa and Britney Sue all make sure that we are doing alright mentally, physically and spiritually. Our health is very important and making sure the kids stay safe is probably one of the most important things.
How do people articulate or enact those values? Do these values mesh with your own values?
We are with each other all day pretty much every day. We understand how we all are and check up on one another. We have talks to make sure everyone is on top of their game. We make it a point to voice if we aren't doing well. As far as student safety goes, we go through how we do safety talks and each of us has a few students we look after in regards to: are they staying hydrated, do they have helmets, are they keeping up with the group. etc. Yes, these values match mine. 
(4) What kinds of relationships seem to exist among employees? What kinds of
relationships are you forming?
Like I have said, we are becoming a family. It's a beautiful thing to witness and be apart of.
(5) What factors seem to contribute most to employee satisfaction and productivity?
We are all open and honest with each other. Gabe came out right away and said that he was a direct person. He tells it like it is. Melissa is good with details and is able to explain things more in depth. Britney focuses on us and how we are doing specifically. I feel like all areas are covered. They also focused on each of our strengths and put us in charge of specific things. Tyler is leading mountain biking, Hunter is leading camping and I am leading with Gabe on rock climbing. It's a pretty neat system. We also have the freedom to call up students to just hang out when we have free time, which is really nice. They give us a way to hang out with them with movies nights as well as Zumba classes that me, Britney and Melissa lead.
What factors seem to be contributing to your feelings about the job?
Everything is centered around God. Gabe and Melissa are here doing God's work and myself and my team are here to serve them and God. It's really cool how smoothly things have fallen together.


Overall. Shout out to my best friend, Gretchen! Happy (belated) 22nd Birthday! I love you!!!!!
3 weeks down, 7 left to go :)
I love y'all
<3
Sam

I feel like I'm in "The Sound of Music" ....

Alright, this last week has been NUTS! I want y'all to be able to digest this, so I'm going to try and sum it all up as much as possible. So here's the deal, I'm going to break this up into different sections for you to read once a day so it isn't too much at once :)

Monday:

Something that B-Sue said to me this last week that has really touched my heart is:
"Sam, you willingly pour out so much love because you are deperate to feel that love yourself." and I do feel that desperation for love. We are crave it and companionship...the only problem is when we crave it from those aside from Christ. It has really struck me that I can not be filled with anything besides Him.

Freedom for the first time:
June 15th I was able to look at my reflection in the mirror, smile and thank God for making me beautiful. I said I was beautiful and believed it. I ate that night with my Bulgaria family and did not regret a single thing I ate, but was able to enjoy the food and the company. It didn't last long, but it's a step and a very bright flash of hope. The healing process is starting to become more exciting and God is so faithful.

Now I need alone time...thank you Meegan:
My sophomore year of college my discipler, Meegan, told me that I can't just "go go go go go" I have to stop and have some alone time. Needless to say I was not happy and ignored this bit of advice. Note to self...don't do that again. I have become burnt out. My norm of forever never ending activity is killing me. Literally. The eating problem, anxiety, hurt and depression have continued to pile on me and my heart. Instead of dealing with it, I ignored it and pushed it aside. Well...no longer is that even a possibility. The crazy outgoing person that was Sam Jones has become less crazy and outgoing. Let me explain. I actually have a "winding down" routine for my day now. Something that I have learned is that I'm not the type of person that can sit and read from the bible and journal for hours on end. I spend time with God through activity. Yes, I still read my bible and journal when I can...but spending time at night stretching, breathing, and singing to Him is my new thing. I have found a renewed love for the written word. God has blessed so many people with the ability to write. I love diving deep into these different lives and seeing others stories and I think it's an amazing way Christ is loving me.

New Shoes:
Not going into deep explanation, but I have just learned a lot. I learned to be award of those around me and not so focused on me, my wants. I understand that my actions not only give me consequence, but others as well. Basically, it isn't all about me.

Wanting to be alone:
My desperation to be alone in these last few days has been weird. But-Christ has stepped in. I feel in the times He gives me to be alone with Him are good, and the times that He knows I shouldn't be alone, He has had someone with me which has been a huge blessing.

Tuesday:

Hunters openness:
Dear dear Hunter aka Franz aka Gunter (G-OO-nter) has broken out of his shell. It has been so beautiful to witness. This quiet, think tank, to himself individual has transformed into this hilarious, random and sassy brother. I love the fact that he has become so comfortable around us that he can share this awesome joy Christ has granted him. It's such a blessing to hear his mind and what Christ is doing in his life. Even better, that we've been able to WITNESS what Christ is doing just by walking beside him.

Tylers love:
Tyler continuously surprises me in just his ability to love others. We always joke that he is "cranky" in certain circumstances..but it all seriousness..I haven't seen it. This "crankiness" is for sure being masked by love and patience from God himself. It has been really amazing seeing all of the chaos but then the calm that Christ shines through Tyler.

Britneys passion:
I'm not sure if I have met someone that turns continuously back to Christ. To love him with every inch of her being without blaming Him for struggles, but on the contrary...who runs to Him, like a child, wanting comfort. Seeing the way that she continuously runs to Him with reckless abandonment is amazing. Her joy from Him spills out onto those around her and I can never help but to smile.

Gabe and Melissas care:
I still can't believe what a blessing it has been to be put here to serve Gabe and Melissa while they serve Christ. Their enjoyment in life, even through it's trials, is inspiring. There are two things I think of when I think of this couple: laughter and protection. Laughter all around...I don't think there is a conversation that we can have with out busting up laughing. This in itself is a beautiful gift that I feel so blessed. I knew going into this summer that it was going to be hard...but the fact that I have this amazing support group to make me LAUGH...like really laugh is just a huge beautiful gift. Protection: both of them have just given me a sense of love and protection that means so much. Weather it be keeping me away from a potential dangerous situation for me emotional or physically-they have kept me safe. Pulling me out of dangerous situations and making sure I was okay is another huge thing that means so much. Not to mention how Melissa has specifically targeted my heart and helping it heal and protecting it. God has been using their story (past and present) to show me so many things about His faithfulness.

Wednesday:

Being in an ugly city:
I can see it in the cement buildings, I'm not joking...everything is made of concrete, and the graffiti of upside down stars with the numbers 6-6-6 circling the outside on the sides of them. The pothole streets and stray animals EVERYWHERE. This village has history and a story of its own. I love this village, so don't get me wrong when I say "ugly." While looking out of my balcony I desperately search for stars...to feel the closeness of God to wrap myself in it and to be overwhelmed of His beauty and creation. I can't see it. I can't feel it. It's so far away and blocked by a layer of smog. Sometimes I see myself being trapped...but then, right above the line of the tops of the building, I see huge, beautiful mountains in the distance. I long for them to overcome this place. I see this place separate from Christ and then His creation in walking distance. He has sent me here to help take the youth from this place of brokenness and of past imprisonment into God's creation to meet Him there and then to hopefully bring Him into Velingrad to make it new. How amazing is that?!!!!

Hurting for the lost:
Looking at the last paragraph, I have been finding myself just aching for those around me. The hurt in their eyes and desperation for love. My heart hurts for them. Something that I am being reminded is that I may not see the fruit of this labor, but knowing that God is faithful and that these seeds are good and will be nourished.

Our first campers:
That's right! First camping trip. Crazy right?! Finally, we got to make our way into the mountains to explore. We had a turn out of 4 boys and 2 girls. 200% increase of girls! Awesome!!! :)

Being called fat:
If this is the truth, I will never know, because I don't know the Bulgarian language. However, long story short, I was offended in a conversation and either something was miscommunicated or whatever. I ended up needing some time alone. Going back to the fact that I have been blessed in being put into a team of amazing people...Hunter came up to me immediately and told me that it wasn't true and gave me a lot of words of encouragement. After spending some time calming down by myself, Tyler found me and continued to speak truth to me, followed later by BSue. The way God loves me is just ridiculous and I continuously thank Him daily for this blessing.
-innocence in the face of Ina: One of the girl campers after this thing that happened just looked up at me and said in this shy, quiet voice in somewhat broken english "Don't listen. You're beautiful." It still makes me tear up just thinking about it.

Slapping Jesus in the face:
I know you have heard this phrase before...but it's become a phrase that has followed me around for the past few months. I don't want to hurt Christ by telling Him that his creation (me) isn't beautifully made. This body is a temple and I need to treat it as such.

Thursday:

How to throw a football:
So, here, football= soccer and rugby=american football...3 completely different sports, but whatever. Our team got to teach some of the kids that went on the camping trip how to throw a football and it was so neat to watch them learn.

The makings of a toothpick:
I grabbed a stick and Hunters knife and started carving it down into...well...basically a toothpick. Why is this significant? I look behind me and one of the Geogies on the trip started doing the same thing. Too cute, right?

FIRE POWER:
They made a huge fire...
I mean...like massive "i thought the forest might burn down" type of fire. They came tromping through the woods with actual cut down pine trees to throw in. They wanted to make it as big as possible. It was quite the scene. Of course, we all had to have pictures in front of it...haha.

Megabed:
I never thought it could get that cold at night in the summer. It went from being in the upper 80's maybe to close to 40. All i had was a thin blanket shorts and a t-shirt. In the middle of the night everyone in our tent made a pack that we needed to stay warm so we huddled together. I don't think that any of us really got any sleep that night....but in the morning...
"Britney. There are cows outside of our tent..."
I didn't even bother putting my glasses on. I heard the cow bell and it was right next to my head. I tried to ignore it and go back to sleep. When I officially woke up, I spent the rest of the morning wondering if I was crazy...or if there really were cows outside of our tent.

Friday:

Good morning sunshine:
When I did wake up, though, I hear a shout of "Good Morning!" and an added "Sunshine" in thick bulgarian accents. I look up and its 3 of the boys who had just hiked up from a trail I got to explore a little later. I joined them and they asked if I was tired and I said yes. So, the other Geogie (there were 2 on the trip...seriously...when in doubt, call him Georgie) ran off....

Coffee:
Geogie runs behind me and starts doing stuff and I asked the other boys what he was doing and they responded with "making you coffee." What?! Then I hear him say "Sorry...no sugar." but then he brings me over some coffee. It made my whole morning.

Two steps on the slack line:
Gabe bought a slack line for this summer and we are all pumped to use it. It has been a great way to bond with the kids, especially the older ones. I was so excited when I was able to get two steps on it before falling off. My goal for the end of the summer: 5 steps with no help. It was so encouraging to see Dani (one of the girls) try it. She got 1 step by herself after several attempts.

The cows are horses:
We started hiking down the mountain and we hear the bells again. I looked into the trees and there are horses everywhere. But they were really short...kind of more like full grown ponies. And there was a little baby horse with them and they had cow bells around their necks. So to correct my assumptions: no I was not crazy and they were horses next to my tent...not cows.

Saturday:

Bonding time with Tyler:
Something that I have found that I love about our group is the fact that I can tell them anything and they always speak truth to it. I got a chance to bond with everyone so far. On the hike down, I got a chance to talk with Tyler and it was good to hear what was on his heart, what was going on in his life and to hear him speak truth to me. Tying this back to before, he mentioned the "slapping Jesus in the face" comment. Like I said, this phrase is starting to hold real significants.

Not being accepting of love inhibiting my ability to love:
This is a shout out to many people back home. So far on my journey in Bulgaria, I have realized that I have probably hurt many of you by not allowing you to love me. Being through not accepting your gifts graciously, or your words, I am very sorry. It's funny, I kept asking myself "Why can't I just love people?! Why does it feel like I am making all of these failed attempt at loving people" and what I have come to the conclusion is that I haven't been letting those people love me. How in the world should I expect people to love me when I don't accept their love?! So here is y'all's task. Keep me accountable in this!!!!!!!!!! Tell me "Sam, I'm trying to love you...just let me." Know that I do love you all deeply and I want to accept your love as well.

Sunday:

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!
I love you, Daddy :)

To the Halli Boys:
I miss you guys so much! Watching your video made my night last night. It was so good to see familiar faces and I can't wait to see you all again in 2 months. LOVE YOU KVEGAS CREW! :)

Random AMAZING highlight of my week:
I saw a girl with a Chicago Bulls jersey on and ran up to her with my translator and said "HI! I'm from the same place that your jersey is from!" and she responded in perfect english "YOU'RE FROM CHICAGO?! I'M FROM CHICAGO!" Her name is Stephanie and her family just moved to Bulgaria this year from Chicago. I'm pretty sure one of her parents is originally from here, so that is why. But that's so cool right?!

More updates to come. I miss you all. Please shoot me a message with your stories :)
Sam

I had another post all typed out and then it got deleted, so I'm gonna make this quick.
This whole healing thing is very painful.
What I am learning: beauty in the broken.
While crying on our bathroom floor, Britney was rubbing my arm and singing "You're my Beloved, Beloved I'm Yours" and I felt someones hand on my side. Later Britney asked if I remember asking her what was touching me. Crazy part, Britney had both of her hands on my arm. Turns out God knows my love language. Go figure.
I'm finding myself more and more broken each day and with each triumph comes another challenge that feels more difficult than the last.
I never thought I would feel physical repercussions from emotional hurt...but it turns out you can.
Something that has stuck out to me was a story that was told by the group going to Burma this summer (I'm pretty sure they were the ones who told this story, if not, please correct me) about a woman who had 2 pots. One was perfect and the other had cracks. She carried both of these pots to get water every day. When she was arrive back at her house, the perfect pot would be full and the other would only be half full. Her neighbor came to her and said that she should fix the broken pot so she could get all of the water home. The woman turned around and pointed to the line of flowers that grew from her house to the river that was surrounded by dead land. The only way these flowers came about and grew was from the water that leaked from the broken pot. I love this story, and it reminds me that God can still use me in my brokenness.
Positives: I met another girl today, Vinci, and she is wonderful. I got to mountain bike on an actual mountain with her and B-Sue as well as the rest of the group which included: Gabe, Hunter, Tyler, Ivan, Ruben, Shimba (nickname) and a boy I proclaimed as "Soldier Boy" after I learned his name to be YOUko. We also got to have dinner with two awesome youth that Gabe has been hanging out with since him and Melissa got to Veligrad years ago, Mitko (Vinci's brother) and unfortunately, I am completely blanking on the other boys name! But they were both wonderful.

June 7th 2012
Yesterday: summary. Climbed a mountain...about 3000 feet in the air. CRAZY! Also, was in a car that almost rolled off a cliff...and almost peed my pants. After sliding down parts of the mountain...it pretty much looked like I had an accident...haha gotta love mud (and I thought I was done with the mud pit....)
Today was such a good day! We woke up early and went and bought breakfast. I was able to order in Bulgarian...well kind of. All I had to say was "chocolate, edno, and caffe" BUT STILL! It was pretty exciting. The place we have decided to call our own is a little bakery type place about a block away. It's really interesting, many of those types of places, you order standing outside in a little window and then point to what you want in the display and then you get your stuff and walk away. It's kind of like DQ...except with legitimate food. Any ways, there is also a coffee shop that we nick named "the office" and we get coffee there. Everyone is really encouraging as we are struggling to make sense with our broken bulgarian. After that, me and BSUE went and did some ZUMBA!!!!! It was so much fun, I've missed doing ZUMBA. We get to teach a class every week, so that is fun. I have a feeling BSUE will do most of the teaching...I'll be one of her backup dancers :) She knows a lot more about it than I do. After that, we met up with the boys who went to a all boys school to talk to them about the summer programs we have going on: the different camps, the adventure club, random outings we are doing and things like that, we went out to lunch and I tried musica for the first time which is a bulgarian/turkish dish with potatos, vegitables, and meat with egg on top. It was really different, but good. We had a meeting to plan the rest of the week and then set off to do work. We had our bulgarian lesson in the afternoon and learned the different forms of "to be" as well as a bunch of other vocab. After that is when my film class I took with Dr. Yaquinto kicked in. I asked/was asked to make a promotional video for the camps this summer and so I spent the afternoon learning how to work IMovie on a mac...as most of you know...I am by no means mac savvy, so it was difficult, but I'll be fine tuning everything tomorrow before we go to the schools. After we ate dinner, a girl stopped by the house named Antonia (Toni). She was so sweet and was the first bulgarian girl I have met officially since I have been here. I am so excited! We are hanging out on Saturday and going on a bike ride with a few of her friends on Sunday. It was totally a gift from God to meet her today, even if she is the only girl I meet this summer, I will feel increadibly blessed. I hope that we become good friends. Oh man. Well, that was pretty much it for today. God is still working on healing my heart...it's just me failing at letting Him fully, but I had many good conversations with BSue which has been helping. I pray for peace in my heart and love for right now...I'm trying to take things slow...I tend to rush things which never really ends up being positive.
I love y'all! I hope you are doing well! Go ahead and post some recent excitement!!!! I would love to hear what is going on in your life and I don't want to feel too out of the loop when I get back!
OH! AND-Belated Congrats to Spencer and Molly Thomas on getting married!!! :) And happy early congrats to Tyler and Dani Jackson, Paul and Melanie Thomas and Josh and Gretchen Day...and everyone else who is getting married this summer that I have epically failed to mention...(if I forgot someone, please tell me and I'll make sure to add them in my next post)!!!
And I almost forgot to mention...a shout out to my dear Camp Eagle family...after many the many stories I've told about CE...Gabe and Melissa (our couple from NMSI who we are interning for) have decided to nick name us Camp Pigon. I thought you would enjoy that. I miss you guys like crazy! Make sure to love on those kids!

I'm gonna write this post as quickly as possible! My time limit for the internet is already over, oh man.
Alright, summing up these last few days...
I'M HERE! I made it to Bulgaria! First, had a lay over in Germany and now I am sitting in Velingrad Bulgaria. We are staying at a kind of bed and breakfast (minus this breakfast part) with the family that owns it. Everyone has been very nice. It's a very direct type of culture, there is no small talk really, or beating around the bush.
I love the fact that I will be getting a chance to use some stuff that I learned in my film class at TSU, I will be making highlight videos as well as pro mo videos for next years interns and camps that will be happening in Bulgaria.
My heart is already breaking for my own personal things that I have touched on earlier, last week was for sure my hardest week I've had in a long time. BUT  I know that it is necessary for healing.
We decided to try and learn Bulgarian as best as we can. I'm picking it up more quickly than imagined. So that is pretty great, praise the Lord for that.
I'm loving my team and the Hillman's are amazing (they are the missionaries we are working with). We start day 3 TOMORROW! So we will see how everything goes.
Schedule for tomorrow: Rock climbing, hiking and more language study :) I'm pumped!
Love y'all! I hope to get more detailed messages out in the future, sorry this was so crazy!
Сами
 (Sammi) :)

PFO Already?!

Oh man. Finally made my way to Florida for training.

Things at PFO have been less than comfortable. I don't mean this in a bad way, I want to make it clear. When I first arrived I was beyond excited to finally meet these strange people I have been conversing with for the past few months. My first encounter with Britney Sue was more than I could have hoped for. Basically, I was tackled. After our lovely exchange, we were kidnapped and then were brought back together to really get to know the other interns going to other places around the world. My heart has slowly been breaking and healing is beginning. It's just a lot more painful than I would have expected, BUT it NEEDS to happen, so this is a good thing.
I am beyond words excited. I'm literally leaving for Miami airport to fly to Frankfurt, Germany and then to Sofia Bulgaria in 1 1/2 hours. No words can describe what is going on in my mind. I'm excited, freaking out, scared, pumped, sad to be leaving friends, family and my new NMSI family that has bonded within this past week and finally realizing..."No Sam, you will NOT have your cell phone. Period." So...that's gonna be interesting. Let's see what goes down....more posts to come soon! If you want to hear more stories from me over the summer and my adventures with Jesus in Bulgaria check out www.meetingwithjesusinbulgaria.blogspot.com

Hosea 12:6-the verse put on my heart for this summer!
Love and God Bless,
Sammi