on a Quest

Howdy folks.

Things are still going swell here in the Happiest Place on Earth. We actually have yet to make it to any of the parks yet, but we have made it to some of the resorts. It is wonderful.

I am really starting to feel at home here, even though I am still struggling to be 100% here. Sometimes my heart and mind wander back to home or Gainesville, but I really think that once I get on the job and into a routine it will be easier to focus.

Speaking of which, I have a job!! I went to Disney casting on Thursday and I will be working sales on Main Street!!! There are four of us with that assignment, two other girls and a boy. I cannot wait for the job to start. I go to Traditions on Tuesday, which is Disney's orientation. Then on Wednesday, its off to work!!

Yesterday was day 2 of "surf instructors training" and we all graduated!! We talked a lot about how to build friendships with international students and how much of an impact we can make, because the people we impact can make an impact on others who impact others, etc. After that we went swimming for several hours and got to know each other even better. I feel like I have known some of these people forever already!!

One of the greatest things about this project is that there are so many ways we get to interact with each other. We have Life Transformation Groups or "LTG's" which are the summer project equivalent of Theta Alpha's accountability groups- four girls plus staff women who meet weekly and basically live life with each other. We had "Soul to Souls" on Thursday as well, which is where we took an hour or so each and told our life stories- major events in our lives, how we came to know God, whats going on in our life right now... it was really awesome. Our leaders are the "staff moms." All of the other groups only have one leader, but all three of our leaders are mothers, so its going to be very rare that more than one of them will be able to meet with us at the same time. Three staff moms= 1 staff woman. Haha.

We also have ministry teams, which are teams that lead different parts of the project. There is a prayer/world vision team, communications, evangelism, and communities. I find out which one I will be on soon. We also have co-ed bible studies and Womens and Mens time. So, I think we will get to know everyone really well through all our different divisions.

Today we met with our LTGs in the morning and went through a lot of material about doubting God, and we went through a lot of Romans 8, which is one of my favorite passages in the whole bible. Then, after a yummy ham sandwich and some blueberries we had some training in how to share our faith with people. We learned how to use the Quest survey, which is a short survey that can lead to spiritual conversations with people. After that, we took a trip to Lake Eola, which is this gorgeous lake/park smack in the middle of downtown O-town. We walked around and talked to people using the survey, which was really awesome. Lake Eola park has a large homeless population and it was really awesome to get to know the people there and to talk to them about God and pray for them. I have held a special place in my heart ever since I worked at the homeless shelter in Gainesville a year and a half ago, so I loved getting to serve them.

After leaving there, my LTG went to good ole McDonalds for dinner and then took a trip to Walmart for some things we forgot the first time around/ things that our condo is missing- potholders, hand soap, gum, antibiotic cream for the gash on my leg from an intense game of sharks and minnows last night. After that, a few of the girls in my condo and I rented the movie Fireproof and baked cookies and made popcorn the old fashioned way. When the movie was over, we spent an hour or so talking about where we have come from and where we are now in our walk with God. It was amazing.

Tomorrow we are going to church for the first time in Orlando. We had two choices, one that was very contemporary (Mosaic) and one that was contemporary but slightly more traditional, Celebration Community. I think I will try Celebration Community because I am here to get new experiences and, although I miss Anthem Church with every heartstring, I feel like Mosaic would be just like it. After that, we have Women's time, which I am excited about.

So, this was a long entry, but it covered three days, so yeah. I miss everyone so much. I will update more soon!!
Love, Kelly