Day 4- "Teacha"

Today we went to the school for the first time. It was the absolute best. I'm not even exaggerating when I say that. The kids were so excited to see us and when we walked in and couldn't stop staring at us. Miss Stel introduced us to a little girl and she led us out to the "playground", which was really just a patch of dirt with some tires and then we said hello to everyone else. They all seemed so so scared at first, and sometimes wouldn't even answer our questions.

We went through the day doing all sorts of lessons. I taught religion for every class because somehow everyone else decided to go to the other options and teach, but I loved it anyway. We taught the story about David and Goliath and told them about how they could be strong and courageous just like him, because God would always be on their side. We also let them sing us some of their songs and we taught them one or two. The best one by far was called Joy and I'm going to try to get some sort of recording up tomorrow, or later tonight depending on when I end up actually posting this.

One of my favorite parts of the day was when these boys around my age and a bit younger were walking me to a classroom since I had no clue where it was and they noticed my rubber One Direction bracelets. They immediately started asking about them and how I made them and where I got them and what they said and then practically begged me for them. I definitely passed them out to the five boys who were there and they freaked out, looking so so happy. Apparently they told other people and then I had lots of kids asking for my bracelets. I gave away every single one I could except for my hairband and my Mellark one. I can always tell who they are now because they're the only boys I've seen with pink 1D bracelets. It was really really cute though.

At the end of the day, I came out to the playground to see Jodie and Gracie mobbed by first graders and being hugged and having their hair petted and things like that. I laughed at them for a bit and then Gracie was like "Oh, why don't you go ask Kayleigh what game to play?!" and before I could even move they all had me surrouded. There must have been 30 of them all hugging me and once and fighting for a chance to hold my hand. The cutest thing ever was that they kept calling me "Teacha" and telling me all about their day and funny things and looking totally proud when I laughed at how goofy they were being. It was absolutely amazing and I felt so loved. After we freed ourself from the huge crowd, we helped in the kitchen and then got to watch the little girls do "Drummies" which is basically really, really simple cheerleading. It looked quite boring to me, but they loved it, and they were excited about the fact that they got to wear matching white shirts.

This day was absolutely amazing. Like, I can't even describe how absolutely perfect it was. The kids are absolutely adorable and so enthusiastic and sweet. They really just want to hug you and have you listen to them and just honestly be around you. They love you no matter what you look like or how you seem, as long as you seem friendly. I really think that people in America need to learn how to do that better, because really, so many friendships don't get started because of first impressions or looks or someone rubbing you the wrong way, but honestly here, you're just always loved and it's beautiful.

You can completely tell that God is here working constantly, just by how loving the little kids are and how kind they are even if you really didn't do anything to deserve it. Also, I'm really thankful that God answered all of our prayers about Miss Hartmann's phone and put it in someone's heart to call her father and tell him that they'd found her phone, that we'd thought was stolen, or at least lost forever.