Happy Easter!

Thanks for all the nice comments, y'all. It's so fun to see how many different people are reading about my adventures. I enjoy telling these stories so much! (Sheldon, I cannot WAIT to see you in a few days... I'm using your lessons plans right now and thank God every day that you're the amazing, prepared teacher that you are. I take back everything I ever said about you being an O.C.C.! This week has been crazy, but teaching the five proofs of the existence of God according to St. Thomas Aquinas is not a daunting task if you have an amazing lesson plan to follow!)

So, the first two terms-- and my three second form religion classes-- are officially over and we just completed the first week of the first term. I now teach only one religion class for fourth form girls and two speech electives for third and fourth formers (juniors and seniors). This is an adventure in itself. Let me tell you, the difference in maturity between second and fourth formers is light-years! It's hard to get used to saying something in class and having it be understood the first time. Speech has been a ton of fun this past week, I wasn't sure how popular an elective it would be but I have about 18 students signed up for each section. I have almost all girls, and it's exciting because the students are very nervous about the class but really want to improve their skills. I'm actually running the class just like a Toastmaster's meeting, for those of you familiar with the program. I participated in the Toastmaster's Junior program when I was in high school and have taken a bunch of ideas and simply applied it to the classes. The only differences is that we don't vote on the best speeches, I grade them. The kids have really enjoyed counting "Ah's", especially mine! A benefit of the class is that int he past week, I've learned more about these students than I did in a whole term with some other students because they have to talk! I think it will be a good experience for them and a pretty easy class for me to teach.

In other fun news, myself and a couple other teachers went out to San Pedro town on Ambergris Caye this past weekend to lead a Confirmation Retreat. I know, it's awfully difficult to be a missionary down here in Belize and have to go to these crummy tropical islands for the weekend, but we made the most of it. No, seriously, this place was incredible. First of all, it was nice to get away for the weekend and second, Sand Pedro is GORGEOUS. It's a really nice resort town (also known as the place where "Temptation Island" was filmed, I think) that caters to American vacationers more than any other place I've been to so far. We led a retreat for about 50 standard 5-6 kids (ages 10-14). They were great, it was a treat to be around such young, happy kids who were ready to do anything you asked... We taught them all sorts of fun songs, Ali had her guitar and led music for them. She even made up a new verse to the Vacation Bible School standard, "Give me oil for my lamp, keep me burning, give me oil for my lamp, I pray, Give me oil for my lamp, keep me burning, keep me burning 'til the break of day..." The other verses are "Give me water for my pool, 'cause the Lord is really cool/ Give me gas for my ford, keep me trucking for the Lord/ Give me wax for my board, keep me surfing for the Lord, etc"... Well, Ali made up the verse, "Give me beans for my rice, 'cuase the Lord is really nice". Fun, eh? The kids thought so. Anyways, the retreat was a lot of fun and the location didn't hurt since it was held at this resort that was designed to be an "upscale retreat center", complete with a chapel that was right on the beach and plenty of palm trees and sand. I gave a talk on finding love/ making good choices for the girls in the afternoon, and I can now say that I've given a retreat talk on a Pier. Fun, eh? The kids were confirmed the next day so we stayed to see that. Keep these kids in your prayers. San Pedro is an amazing place to vacation but a rough place to grow up. There's a ton of very attractive ways to get into a lot of trouble there, and the influence of the American "Spring breakers" isn't helping. One of the guys speaking at the retreat summed it all up when he said, "If you were my kids on this island, I'd be scared to death!".

Tomorrow about six or seven girls from Mount Carmel High School will be fully initiated or comming into the Church . Ali and I have been helping with their preparation and it's an awfully exciting but intense time. Keep them in your prayers too!

Have a Blessed Easter, everyone! I miss all of those that I'm far from right now, but it's incredible to know that people are praying for me from Ohio to Hilton Head and many places in between! (That was awfully cheesy, eh? It's true though!)