Last few weeks just flew on by...

Hola todos!

Well, I was planning on writing this before I left Sevilla, but in the end, my last three weeks there were quite busy, so I decided to put this off until I got home. As most of you know, I am back in Oregon now. I got back last Tuesday night really late, and was welcomed at the airport by my whole family (minus Jackson, who is down in Corvallis) and my dear friend Alex Hayes. I got to fly back with Fatima, which was wonderful because it made the flight bearable. Thanks for your cheerfulness, Fatima!! You are like a ray of sunshine. It's INCREDIBLY hard to believe that the time to go back actually came already. The transition back has been good as I have been able to see a lot of you and catch up in one-on-one conversations and/or seen you at graduations. It's hard in some ways though because I still really miss the wonderful people I met in Sevilla. It really did become a second home to me. I am having a hard time accepting the fact that I don't know for sure when I will go back, but God is continuing to bless my life and giving me peace about it. I had the hardest time in the world saying goodbye, as I have made lifelong friends there and fell in love with the city and the people (people in general, don't get any wrong ideas, Salena and Jenna especially!), and I hope with all my heart to be able to return one day.

The last time I wrote to you all was the 1st of May. The day after that I went to church out in Bormujos, a small town outside of Sevilla, with several of my friends. I got to see and chat with my friends Jake, Rob, José María, and Martha. It was wonderful to spend time with them and to hear another message from the Bible - in Spanish! The pastor there's name is David, and he is one of the leaders of my discipleship group here. He and his family are absolutely wonderful people that really live for God in a genuine way. Later that evening, I went to Plaza Nueva to meet up with my friend Inma so that we could Skype with our friend Carolina (who is back home already). It was a lot of fun!! The only bummer was that I was starting to get allergies (or a cold, not really sure which and I had that cold, or whatever it is for about 3 weeks... BIG bummer! ... so I had to blow my nose every five minutes. But we all had a good chat. Inma also gave me a really awesome book that has cool Spanish coloquial phrases in it. I will have to translate some of them for you all when I get back. Some of them are absolutely hilarious!

Anyway, the following week 3-7 was pretty busy with studies. I went to my classes, went to tutoring, and started trying to study for my classes in the University of Sevilla. I also had a presentation in my literature class and had to finish writing a paper for that class as well. But in the end I got everything done and turned in! Whew! One of the highlights of my week was seeing my friend José María. We met up after Bible study and just chatted for a couple of hours. We are both busy with studies, so I really wanted to get a chance to catch up with him before the final exams hit. It's awesome to see how God is working in his life. Bible study went well too! My friend JoHelen shared about trusting in God, and her story was really powerful and touching. She reminded me that I need to remember all the characteristics of Christ and to not forget how great He is.

That following weekend, the 7th-9th, was probably one of the best weekends of my life. I spent the day Friday trying to get some studying done, and then I packed my stuff in my backpack and headed over to Martha's house to meet up with some friends for our last Connexxion retreat of the Spring. There were a 11 of us that went - my friends Martha, Jake, Inma, Lea, Abraham, Elizabeth, Tyler, Daniel, Hendrik, Margarita, and me! It was SOO much fun! We all took two cars and road-tripped it down to Algarve, Portugal, which is only a couple hour drive from Sevilla, and is really close to the beach. That area is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. There are pictures up on my facebook and I will hopefully get a chance to put some up on my blog, but it was one of the most beautiful places I saw in Europe. We drove down Friday night (4 of them went down earlier and got everything ready, including making a really yummy dinner) and we got to hang out and chat that night. The next day, Saturday, we were able to go to the beach, and we had fun climbing up and down rocks, exploring caves, and just hanging out, even though it rained a bit. We also went to the beach on Sunday, before we headed back to Sevilla, and thankfully that day the weather was amazing - totally sunny and perfect for being at the beach. The sand is Sooo soft there and the water is a mixture of beautiful blues and greens. We had fun taking pictures, swimming, playing volleyball and soccer, and just sitting in the sun.

The best part of that weekend though was the spiritual aspect of it. The point of the retreat was to get away and to spend some time with God and each other. We talked a lot about the fear of God versus the fear of man, and how we need to focus on Jesus and value what HE values, instead of constantly trying to please people. This is something that I have struggled with for a long time, and I thought it was appropriate, considering the fact that God has really begun (is continuing to) change me in that area throughout that whole year. I was able to share with the group how God had really taken away a lot of my fears and timidity, especially thanks to the friends that I made in Sevilla, and what God had taught me through them. My friend Abraham also shared a really neat testimony of what God had done in his life that year, and my friend Jake shared a talk about the story in the Bible where Peter walks to Jesus on the water. We talked about the fact that if we fix our eyes on Jesus we can walk on the water, but if we look at the waves, at all the troubles in our lives and focus on them, we are afraid and begin to sink. It's all in our perspective. Martha also shared a great talk on the fear of God, and she and my dear friend Lea organized the entire retreat... it was such an amazing weekend!! It was so nice to just get away from the books and stress of the week for a bit and spend some time with some of my best friends. I thank God so much that I got to do that before I left.

The next week, the 10-14, was my last week of classes. I had to turn in one last paper, go to tutoring, and study for my Literature final exam, which was on Friday. I felt like I did a good job on it though. Wow... that feels like forever ago! I really enjoyed that class, and the professor that I had was the first one that I had back in September, so it was kind of bittersweet to look back. That whole week my host parents were gone on vacation, so it was different around the house, but my roommate Emily and I had a lot to do, and our host sister Alicia took good care of us. I learned a lot from her! The Bible study on Tuesday went well as well. I think that week we all just kind of shared stuff that we had learned, as it was the last Bible study for a few people whose programs were ending. That same night I went out to eat tapas (popular way of eating in Sevilla.... they're kind of like appetizers) with my professors and some of the students. It was a good way to chat with a few of them our last week there. I also got to meet up with my dear friend Inma the next day and chat with her for a bit that evening, even though we were both quite tired. But we are good enough friends that it was okay even to just sit on a bench in Puerta de Jerez and just hang out together.

On Thursday, the 13, I went to Discipleship Group and got to hear from two friends and co-workers of Martha's that work in Spain. It was so neat to hear their stories and learn from them and spend time with some good friends. On Friday I also went to Charlemos, our Bible discussion group, and led that. It went really well, I thought! Afterwards several of us went salsa dancing again. It was bittersweet because I knew it was the last time I was going to go dancing with that particular group of friends, but it was wonderful because there were a lot of people that came, even if they didn't dance: Martha, Jake, Abraham, Lea, Inma, Carlos, Jose Maria, Marixu, Tyler, Elizabeth, Emily, Yaneri.... and more! What a great time. I owe a big thanks to Abraham, Lea, and Jake for teaching me how to dance.... this sounds weird but something as simple as that made me more confident as a person, and it was so fun to go out as a group on the weekends and just have fun, but in a good way, you know?

On Saturday I had to type up a second version of my thesis proposal - oh goody! - and another assignment for Linfield, but afterwards I was able to go meet up with Lea and hang out and chat. We had a good talk and time walking around that afternoon (the weather was gorgeous) and it was wonderful to sit and listen and chat with her, as she has become a wonderful friend and sister to me. She's such an encouragement! We then met up with my new friend from my program, Kendra, and we hung out with her and met up with another girl to then walk into the center and go see the medieval fair. Lea headed off to go eat dinner with friends, and Kendra and other girls from my program and I met up with Jake and wandered around the fair for a bit, chatting and looking at all of the interesting things they had for sale.

That Sunday was a very special one as I went out to the church in Bormujos again. A lot of us met up in Plaza de Armas, and we all carpooled out to the town. It was a big group of us! Abraham shared his testimony in the church service, and Jake shared some of what God had done in his life in the last nine months, and the pastor David gave a good sermon on baptism, as a woman in the church was being baptized that day. After the service we headed outside and watched the baptism in this little, shallow kids pool. But it was a precious, blessed moment to watch a sister-in-Christ proclaim that her life belongs to Jesus and to share that moment with her. We all then continued real church time - fellowship and eating lunch together, sharing stories and wonderful laughter moments. I even got to take some of the videos that Salena had suggested that I take, asking my friends to tell me on video a memory that they had of our time together. It was wonderful! A lot of us then headed back into town and went to the center and then walked to a nearby park, spending time together on a nice day to celebrate Hendrik's birthday and enjoy the good weather. We all had to then say "Hasta luego" to Tyler, who was heading back to the U.S. that next morning. I cried a bit in the park because of all of the emotions that were starting to pile up at the thought of leaving. That whole week I must have hugged my friends dozens of times and we had a lot of good talks and joking around too... just trying to savor the last weeks I had with them!

Anyway, this email is super long, and although I hate to break it into two, I am going to have to do that. There's only a week and a few days that I have left to recount, but a lot happened, and for those of you who are brave enough to read all of this, you may appreciate the two emails versus one that is insanely long.

Ya hablamos (we'll talk again soon)!
-Sierra