Recap, and new adventures!

First of all, Happy Memorial Day to everyone reading in the U.S.A.! Thank you to all the veterans in my family for serving. And we remember and honor those currently serving and those who have gone before in protecting our country. Especially to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

In only two days, I will be halfway through my missions trip. It's so hard to believe that much time has already passed since I left home.
As far as my fun/experiences are concerned, here are some of the things I've done over the past month... (warning: the following montage of events may be overwhelming and possibly grammatically incorrect. Hope you enjoy anyway!)
Climbed Pen y Fan, visited Cyfarthfa castle(several times), went on exploration adventures in Merthyr, rode on Welsh public transportation, decended into darkness at the old coal mine of 'Big Pit', visited Barry and climbed it's rocky coast, made some new friends, met back up with some old ones, saw the Queen, saw the Olympic torch, watched the Avengers (before other Americans), saw Eurovision for the first time, got addicted to tea and "Britain's Got Talent", ate at a few new restaraunts, lost an eating contest, won just about everything else, shopped at TESCO, walked more in a month than in the rest of my life, and I even had a golf match with sheep as the audience!

Olympics Bus in Merthyr

The weather has been absolutely fantastic this week!

On the working/learning/growing side of things, I have another list:
I've learned several Welsh words and phrases, my historical/geographical knowledge has been expanded, I've been able to lead several Bible studies, I've heard some great sermons, I've gained ministry experience particularly in preaching the Word of God (so far on 3 separate occasions), I was asked to give communion for my first time, I've done some church paperwork, I was able to go with the van ministry for some outreach in the community, The street pastors let me accompany them a few times, I've helped with some missions trip coordination, I've been able to help out with a few different children's ministries and outreaches, and one of those was started today with a great outcome! (at least 25 kids stopped by).

Only one month remains before the groups from New Hope, Turning Point, and Holland Road arrive here in Wales! Looking forward to see what God has in store for these next couple of months!

Goodnight all!