This is Jayleen and me looking at Christmas lights. I think she's on the phone with my friend from the states...and Meyou's behind the camera.

A few days after Christmas, Meyou, Jayleen, Leeman and I went to run some errands and we ended up stopping at one of the most beautiful hotels on Guam, the Sheraton Laguna Resort. The water was gorgeous, there was a great reggae band playing, and we got to spend some great time together. It had to have been one of the hotter days, though, because by the end of it we were all a little delerious- we ended up tasting, or...sampling...some of the lifesize gingerbread houses. I think all of us did that. Oh well, the Christmas spirit lives on long after =)

Twice in the last four days friends and I have been able to hike to Pagat cave and then to the ocean. This cave is close to my house, an an awesome medium-difficulty level hike with some rocky climbs and mossy floors. It's mostly shaded, which means we could go any time of the day, even in the hot afternoon. At the bottom of the hike is a beautiful cave that hikers wade into and then light candles to illuminate the rocks while we relax or swim.

Past the cave is a hike up through an ancient Chamorro village with grinding stones, latte stones (old housing supports), and leftover pottery pieces.
Beyond that is coral, an arch, and beautiful views of the ocean. I hope to do this hike one more time before the government completely takes over the cave and closes it down. Guam has some wonderful sites- this is one of my new favorites.

Merry Christmas from Guam

A few years back, I would get frustrated when I would hear "happy holidays" instead of something that referred to Christmas. This past year, I learned that Jesus wasn't born on December 25 (well, who really knows? The speculation is that it wasn't during the winter) and that the reason we celebrate it on this day is because of the pagen winter solstice. We piggybacked on that holiday so we could celebrate without being persecuted.

Now, I don't get frustrated when I hear the general term "holidays" because it is the holidays. It's all sorts of holidays, all being celebrated at the same time, probably for the same reason. Instead, I pray that people can know and celebrate God's son in the way that we know and celebrate Him.

It's not about receiving, about what we get. It's about our one amazing gift. Because of this gift, we want to give in return. While I miss everyone back home, I see that God is doing amazing things out here. Merry Christmas from my island to yours. I pray that you can know God's love and that you receive His blessings. What an amazing time to celebrate.

Love to you all,
Jen

Fall on your knees, and hear the angels' voices- Christ is born

seeking scripture

One thing I definitely do not do enough is spend time in my Bible. I think most of us are in this boat: we do all kinds of things every single day, yet we don't take a few minutes out of our day to read what God has to say to us. I have made it part of my day to wake up and pray before doing anything else, even before getting out of bed. When I first moved out here, and even back in California, I would wake up and check my Facebook. I miss my friends and family so much, no matter where I am in the world, yet don't seek comfort in the right places. I never really have, and I'm working on that.

Now, I'm on my Christmas break. I have a few things scheduled business-wise (finish grading, submit them, prepare my syllabus) but I also have some great opportunities and time to rest and relax. This year, as most of you know, I get to spend Christmas with some of the girls from PIU. My friend Meyou will be with me the entire break, which I am so happy about. We were together a couple days last month and got along really well. I am looking forward to the peace and quiet. I know she misses her family, too. What a cool blessing to get to spend Christmas with a sweet friend, right? I'm excited =)

Now, I don't know if this is a "New Years" resolution or what, but I think its my life resolution. I am resolving to work diligently and to take time to rest. I want to write more. I want to be a better friend and example. I want to be a better teacher and coworker. I want to be a better daughter and sibling. I really feel like God wants to show me something but I'm too busy to listen. It's hard not to be busy here, but I know this is my problem anyway.

Tonight, when reading, I came across 2 Thessalonians 3. It reads:
¹¹We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. ¹²Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat. ¹³And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.

The verse: "they are not busy; they are busybodies" wow, oh yeah? Is that me sometimes? Am I just busy for the sake of being busy? I have been slowing down, leaving my planner at home, and hanging out a little more. I am trying to calm down my mind and working on what I am here to do. I do not want to get overwhelmed, and I want to see what God has in store for me. So, this is my resolution. I want to be held to it.

Last Night of Devotion

We had our last night of devotions at PIU for the end of the semester and before Melissa leaves on furlough. Each of the dorms have devotions two nights a week, and we get together twice a week in the main classroom (just the girls) for a large group devotion. Melissa made it really special for everyone by celebrating the rest of the year's birthdays, Julie's birthday, and a last chance to sing and worship together as sisters before the semester ends and some of them move on. The girls love action songs so that meant a lot of dancing for us, which for a white girl from the states is different...but I love it. These girls are awesome- I'm going to miss them!

Last night, the students had their annual "Angels + Mortals" Christmas party. Each person has an angel who is their secret Santa in gifts and prayers, making them the mortal. The students decorated a classroom, made food, and did a skit. In this skit, the freshmen, mostly, dressed up like the winter graduating seniors. The girls dressed up like the guys, and the guys dressed up like the girls as they acted out a Jerry Springer show. It was interesting and had us cracking up. I'm going to miss my graduating friends.

The day before, I got to see my twin brother at chapel. We planned our matching outfits. Merry Christmas to PIU :)

Hello, this is your English teacher speaking

Translated into some bad English: Where the sun rise has first in America. Why is the "i" capitalized? Why is there bad usage of apostrophe? Guam is funny- even the government makes signs with English like this. It's the islands language, otherwise I wouldn't even say anything about it.

I think what they mean to say is "Where the sun rises first in America" and our slogan is "Where America's Day Begins"

It gets better. I'll post more as I snap them.

23 Years

This year is absolutely amazing for me. I have so many blessings to thank God for, and I still wake up in the morning and can't believe I am in Guam. Where are the freeways?? Anyway, as you all know, Christmas is coming up very soon. In fact, it'll be here one day earlier for me than all of you in the states. Aside from all of this weirdness, this year is also my first Christmas without my sister, Esther. Ever since she was born, we spent every Christmas together, going back her 23 years on the planet. When our parents divorced, we traveled coast to coast together. When she moved to California, I'd drive the six hours from Riverside to Monterrey to pick her up, and then drive the three hours to Sacramento area to spend Christmas with our dad. When we were going back east, she would take a short flight down to Riverside county to fly back with me. Recently, Esther moved to Santa Barbara for photography school. This meant that she was only 3 hours away (2.5 if there wasn't traffic and I kept a really, really good speed the whole way). My favorite long weekend or even just a night activity was to drive up to Santa Barbara and spend time with her. We would walk to Trader Joe's, go eat at The Habit, shop at Drishti (my yoga store), and even found a great vegetarian/vegan restaurant right next door. Whenever she needed models for her assignments, I'd go help out. Sometimes, I brought friends like Faisal or some of my girlfriends. Before I left for Guam, I got to meet up with her at Domenico's, a family favorite Italian restaurant. A few weeks before that, we had a "Day in LA" adventure. She took the train into downtown LA, where I picked her up for some cupcakes at Sprinkles and dinner at The Waffle, and went to LACMA (museum). We went to a Mat Kearney show after The Waffle one night, too. Our favorite things are hanging out over good eats and checking out the local culture and museums. Even when we're in New York, we do museums and lunch. I love being able to hang out with my sister in anything we do, though, and at this time of the year, I'm really missing my family, especially my sister. We have spent all of our Christmasses together, and even though I am sharing this one with some sisters, it's going to be very different for me. Last year, we drove to my dad's for Christmas and then up to Bend, OR for New Years. We set out on snowy, icy roads up the 5 and then through Weed and Klammath on our way to Bend. At some point, they stopped grooming the roads. I thought we were going to slide off the road. We somehow, by the grace of God, made it to Bend in all of the ice and snow. When we were driving up our sister's road, we got stuck. We made it 8 hours through all of that to get stuck right in front of the house. I look back on that and it cracks me up. Our drive was much better on the way back, although it was also incredibly interesting.



One year, my boss told me "well, that's part of growing up." But I don't think part of growing up means spending so much time away from your family, especially at the holidays. I miss you, love you, and look forward to spending time with you again hopefully very soon, and of course, with my sister again.

Christmas is almost here...

My friends Leeman and Alepo helped me get my Christmas cards and odds and ends sorted out after church this past Sunday. It was awesome to hang out with them, but also that they donated their time to me. Whether they knew it or not, they donated to my missions by helping me get a few things out of the way. I really love my time with them!

Reef Walking pt. 2

It's almost 6am, and it's hard to imagine that just two hours ago my roommate Laura and I were wading through the reef at negative tide looking for humpback cowry shells and other little treasures that can only be accessed by foot about twice a year. We were fortunate enough to be able to do this last night, without injury (see my post from November) and decided to go back again tonight. Last time we went, the tide wasn't low enough and we were both banged around on the rocks. This time, the ride was so low that we were literally able to walk on the reef. This kind of tide only happens twice a year, and it just so happens that this is right before Christmas (we dubbed it "Christmas shopping").

Over the last two nights, the sand was lit by the full moon while the rock formations casted shadows over the reef. The coral underneath us was a pinkish yellow color with spots of bright blue and green. We avoided the live corals as we went around small trenches and rock holes. Last night, a green and yellow baby octopus was gliding across the reef while we paused to just watch it. Tonight, bright blue parrot fish were sleeping near rocks. They were about the size of our forearms. Coral fish in bright reds, oranges, pinks, and designs wove in and out of the reef and our ankles. Sea urchins hid under rocks, while brightly colored crabs scattered above and below them. There is a type of fish that jumps around on the rocks, and one large fish, about seven inches, jumped out of the water and into a hole in a rock. It was amazing. If only my waterproof camera was working . . ..

Our flashlights helped us see these beautiful animals as we were looking for shiny brown shells. It was as though we were looking for Easter eggs, even though we dubbed them Christmas gifts, as both Laura and I would get excited when we had a find. Some of our shells were as big as the palms of our hands, while others were just under that size. Sometimes they were under rocks and we had to stick our hands in to grab them, and others were just on the reef. We put back the babies, as a fisherman would cast back the fish that weren't quite ready, and in the process found other beautiful shells that were not cowries nor were we looking for them. Whatever happened to catch our eye as we scoped out the reef; a shiny reflection from our flashlight, indicating a spot where not one, but maybe two or three shells would be living.

I guess it's human, and animal, nature to go for shiny, beautiful things. I'm not really into jewelry, but if I were to see a diamond or precious stone hidden amongst some dull rocks, I would want to get it. These shells are like diamonds shining from under and around old, dead coral. It's such a blessing to be able to see and experience the ocean and shore like this. These opportunities don't come up very often, but when they do, I want to really experience God's design. Being able to do that is worship in itself, even if we didn't get any "Christmas gifts/Easter eggs" out of it. The coral, crabs, sleeping fish, jumping fish, fish being fish, the octopus, starfish, and everything else along the way is a beautiful testimony of this great design. I feel blessed spiritually to be able to enjoy it, especially as quality time with my roommate.





Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it Psalm 96:11






(Some of you who are reading this may receive one of these, as we were blessed with many. Merry Christmas :)

Spanish Steps

This is one of the best hikes, aside from Shark's Hole, that I've been able to take on Guam. Ropes and rocks consisted of most of the hike, and then easy walks through the jungle littered with fallen coconuts and mosquitos brought us to one of the places on Guam that I've dreampt of going to since I moved here. Since this is on the Navy base, I had slim hopes of being able to do this hike until I met some awesome military friends who arranged everything. Friends Lynn and Joyce came along with us and also had an amazing time. I can't wait to do it again.

Blessings of all kinds

This Thanksgiving, my friend Delight brought me a package that he forgot he had in his car from the last post office run. I received many c.d.s from my friend Angie and her family who are currently in Texas. A while ago, I put out a call for some good Christian c.d.s and she was the only one who responded. Of these, I received the new Mat Kearney c.d. and the Kutless c.d. and other awesome ones, like Matthew West, Group One Crew, Switchfoot, Toby Mac, and I think one more? My friends were excited about these, too. Now, I have some positive music to listen to when I'm driving. The radio stations here are kinda....eh, and there's no Air 1. Now, I can choose between mainstream and Christian. Sweet!

Thanks Angie!!

STUCO carwash

Our Student Body had a fundraising carwash at the Lutheran Church of Guam (LCG) this past Saturday. I'd have to say that not only was it a blast, but a pretty big success. They had a professional looking operation of people directing cars in, a team washing them, then a tent set up to dry and vacuum.

I got the Jeep washed and vacuumed as it needed it badly. We had spilled peanuts and other snacks on the inside, plus lots of sand and grass, and then the outside was a filthy dusty mess from all of our recent adventures. It looked great after and still does!








It was a lot bigger than I imagined it to be- almost every student from campus, even some commuters, came down to help out. Jayleen and some of the girls cooked us delicious chicken and rice (local favorite), and we got to take some small breaks on the beach out back.

The only thing I did to help was to hang out on the side of the road trying to cheer people into the parking lot. We had signs held up, dancing, jumping, and all kinds of crazy things. Rob wasn't sure whether that was attracting customers or scaring them away. Whatever it did, we had a great time doing it.














After we all cleaned up, some of our friends headed down to one of my favorite beaches to swim while the sun was setting. It was a great way to end a long day of hard work. I'm really proud of our students, and blessed to have some amazing friends here. I can't wait to see what we do next as a community.

Ritidian Point

This past Monday, my friends Alepo, Leeman, and I went to explore a nature preserve on the northernmost part of the island. We wanted to get off campus to hang out, and none of us had been there before, so it was a pretty cool experience for all of us. The drive was a lot longer than we expected, but the views were awesome. I'm pretty excited that we saw a pig cross the road, but that's just 'cuz I'm new out here.

After a hike to the ocean, we finally got to just relax.

Leeman brought his guitar, but it was too windy to play, so we just sat on a slab of cement that probably had to do with the military at some point. They told me the story of how they met, which is always interesting to hear both great sides at the same time. Alepo has an awesome sense of humor and she's pretty animated. She also has a lot of great insight and generally good vibes. Leeman can be wise, silly, and sarcastic all at the same time. Something that's cool about them, and I hope it's not offensive to them that I'm writing this, is that they come from two different islands. Leeman's from Palau, and Alepo is from Chuuk. The different cultures, expectations, and languages don't seem to matter to them nor get in the way of the relationship. I think that's awesome, seeing as half the time I'm worried about whether or not something's appropriate for someone else's culture, or whether or not I'm offending anyone. I think they might have worked out a lot of these kinks, and that's going to be a blessing for me. When I'm with Leeman and Alepo, I get a good Christian perspective without a lot of cultural hangups- or, I get a few ways to look at things. It's hard to explain, but these two are like family to me out here, and it's really cool to be able to have time away with them. I'm totally looking forward to whatever we get to do next :)

Community Groups

Community Group #2, as in the group I'm in with Melissa, Iotaka, Daisy, and other awesome people, had a pool party at my place this past Sunday night. Thanks, Mels, for feeding us our main course!

We had a great time with students and faculty at PIU- mostly due to us having free reign in pushing anyone and everyone into the pool. Some lessons we learned included: how to make an "H" in sign language, that all one needs to do for a successful backflip is to throw their feet over their head, and that if you're standing near the pool, you're going in.

Why I need support on Guam

One of the reasons is this: (look at the price
And, look what the Post Office and customs did to my box when my friends tried to send me goodies from back home:

Thankfully, some staff and students helped me clean up the mess that the rice milk made while the tea bags were steeping in it in various post offices between CA and Hawaii.

So, my lesson is this: unless it is a certain item that I absolutely, positively, cannot get out here (like from Trader Joe's) I won't be asking for it- I'll learn to live without it, and learn to pay 3x the price for rice milk. Olek.

3 Prayers Answered

I want to give you a little list of some of the many prayers God has answered for me- here ya go:

- Guam itself is an answer to a prayer. When I knew I wasn't moving to Thailand, I prayed to God for a sign for where overseas I should be going. Within a week, as I was looking up the brown tree snake on wikipedia, I saw a link for PIU (which was then PIBC) which happened to be on the same island as the brown tree snake. I emailed PIBC, they emailed me back, and the rest is history.

-When I started to communicate with Steve about what I'd need to raise funds for, I tried really hard to convince him that I didn't need a car. Then, when I lost that fight (and thank goodness I did...it would be very difficult here...) I prayed for a Jeep. Now, I am driving a Jeep.

- The support issues, well, they're all in good places right now. I'm making my ends meet with the support I have, which is a huge blessing, and my church is finally on board with us here at PIU. I've been praying about this for such a long time, and it's so cool that it all happened- in God's timing. This too was a huge answered prayer. Amen :)

a roach is a roach....

A roach crawled up the drain in our bathroom some time between this morning and last night. This is the first one I've really had to "deal with." (The first time I ever had to deal with one, I blogged about it here) I was trying to be passive aggressive about it and not clean it up, since my roommates don't seem to be as grossed out as I am, but after a long day out, when I got home it was still there. I showed Laura, and she made me clean it up as she took pictures. I tried to fight having to clean it up, but as she said, I am in Guam and I need to learn how to deal with these things. So, anyway, one would think that if a bug was laying on its back for an entire day, it would be a dead bug, right? Well, not a roach. It started to move its legs around all crazy-like, so I had to find bug spray. I think I knocked it out enough to bag it. This was the grossest thing I've done in a while- but like I say, "do one thing a day that challenges you or scares you." I need to change my motto- but it won't matter here in the islands. These bugs and I, well, we share the same space.

Inarajan Pools

Some of the girls from PIU; Grace, Ceci, Molly, Jaynee, and I went to Inarajan pools for a late afternoon outing. We started off by swinging off of the rope swing and jumping off of a tower into the natural salt water pool, or as my roommate affectionately calls it, the mud hole. Ok, there's a little mud and moss, but it's not bad. I don't like to touch the ground but if you jump into the middle, it's all good.

After we all had a few jumps, the girls swam into a tunnel while I went over it. The current was pushing the water through pretty fast but they hung on while I took pictures.

Like moss in the water, I'm not a fan of small spaces, but they didn't seem to mind.

I had no idea how adventerous these girls were until I saw them all climb up on these random cement steps. They had to climb about six feet of rocks, grab onto some branches, and lift themselves up there. I was stoked to follow them up, where the views of the pools and ocean were amazing. I have a lot to learn here and catch up on, because I had to do all this in my slippers (sandals) while they were mostly barefoot.

After we all made it down from the steps, we swam over into the pool that has the ocean breaking into it. At first I couldn't swim into it because of the rip tide, but Ceci (left) helped me while Grace (right) and Molly climbed up on some other rocks in this pool, again...barefoot. When I was trying to swim out, another rip tide kept pulling me back in. Finally, a huge wave crashed into the pool and pushed us all out. That had to have been one of the funniest parts of our trip- imagine four girls being pushed out of a pool, screaming. (We were probably screaming. I know I was too busy trying to not get cut by all of the coral.)

From the outer pools, a few of us swam and climbed our way to where Jaynee was, sitting on top of a coral thing (thing? a coral hill thing...I don't know what it would be called) where we stayed as the sun was setting. It was such a peaceful end to our afternoon at the pools.

I love being able to hang out with the girls while doing fun things that the island has to offer. I think that just getting out in nature and being active is a great way to really get to know someone, while also enjoying all of the beautiful (not to mention free) resources that are gifted to us. I can't wait to experience more adventures like this. I know that I had a great time, and that we have some awesome, adventerous girls at PIU.

Reef Walking

Here's a copy of an email my roommate sent to her friends back in the states about a little adventure we had. Enjoy-

It's 6 am and Jen (my roommate) and I just got back from reef walking. We found five humpbacks and two other little cowries. It was so much fun to take someone who's never been before. She's quite the adventurer and we had lots of fun. I looked at the tide chart and it showed a l0w tide at 3 am. I took her to the spot that we went to last time. I now know why it's important to wait for a negative tide. :) It was a rough intro to reef walking but I was able to teach her a lot of good techniques for bracing yourself when the big waves come and demonstrate some things you shouldn't do while reef walking. It was fun to spot a shell, point her in the right direction and then let her find it for herself. I spotted one shell and told her the area it was in and let her hop down in after it. I stayed up and watched the waves ( one of us usually played watchman and would yell when a big wave was coming so the other one could stand up and brace themselves) and she came up with a completely different shell than the one I'd seen. We scored two off that one! At one point I started getting nervous that I kept her up most of the night and then because the tide wasn't low enough that we'd go home skunked but thankfully that didn't happen! When we got down to the channel where we walk back up to the cars the waves were pretty rough so I decided we'd walk up on the opposite side than where we did when I was with you two. We got less than half way up when I realized that there was no trail and we really needed to go back out and cross over. I looked back at the waves and thought we might be in trouble. I didn't want to walk all the way back the other way so I told her we'd wait for the worst of the waves to go by and then we'd make a quick crossing. We were standing on a rock waiting for the worst to pass when all the sudden a wave swept her off and pushed her back. I felt terrible! Here I'd brought my roommate out (she's only been on island a few months) in the middle of the night and I was getting her all banged up on the rocks. Thankfully she was being pushed inland and not drug out. I yelled for her (like that really does any good) and tried to grab her unsuccessfully. She was able to get up and now has a few (very cool) battle scars along with her pretty shells to show for our adventure. Anyway, you'll be happy to know that we did make it across and home safely. She loved our adventure scraps and all. We're going again the beginning of Dec when there's actually a negative tide. I think she might be surprised how much easier it is when you're not getting banged around by waves.


Isn't this awesome? I had a blast...even through the cuts and scrapes. I am so glad I have an adventerous roommate who lives dangerously, but I mean, not that dangerously...but ok she does some crazy stuff. It goes perfectly with what I like to remember for myself..."do one new thing a day that challenges you" whether it be mentally, emotionally, or physically. The opportunities don't always arise but when they do, I have to go for them.

Welcoming Daniel

My (and everyone else at PIU's) friend Kalvin was baptized this past Sunday at Ypao beach by our friend and UOG ministry leader Austin (left). The day couldn't have been more beautiful. We started off in prayer, some worship, and then made our way to the ocean. We even had someone who was not part of our group checking things out and wishing us blessings as we were all together in fellowship. It was awesome to see that there were so many blessings happening around us.

Kalvin took on the spiritual and new name of Daniel, after his grandfather, with this rebirth. He is such a great example for the students and staff in his walk with Christ, and I am blessed to know him and work in ministry together. Congratulations and blessings to you, Daniel- may God bless you, encourage you, and keep you always.


"I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." Mark 1:8

Mexican in Guam?

I went to a Mexican restaurant called Caliente with my friends, two of whom are my students, Friday after chapel. My fish taco was amazing, and they even had Tapatio and a salsa bar. Heaven! By the way, I love these ladies

=)

adjusting

AHHHHHHHHhhahahahhaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Conversational English Breakfast

Joyce and I combined our classes today, hers ESL and mine remedial English, for a conversational breakfast.

She made pancakes, rice, and cut up a watermelon and I brought in cookies and eggs and spam. Lisa, our librarian, brought in some drinks (Joyce did, too) and we all got to play games that required us to talk to one another about interesting things about ourselves.

Before we started playing, Lisa read two children's books out loud to promote reading to one another as a good way to practice reading and language skills.

It was really cool to hang with our classes this morning while working on something that they struggle with. Please pray for encouragement with our students so that they won't be afraid to speak up and communicate with us. They are a lot better in this than they think =)

my favorite karabao

Here's the video...watch the end!

getting out

Two of my students and I took off last week for lunch at the Micronesia Mall. I think these girls are awesome and it's been so cool connecting with them. They are in both of my classes but I look at them as my sisters. I've had an awesome time so far getting to know the girls here so far :)

One cool thing- our birthdays fall in the months of May, June, and July. We'll all be here this summer to celebrate together.

Karabao

My roommate and I were driving back from snorkeling in some bomb holes when we saw this walking down the side of the road. Like my friend Liza says, "things that make you go hmmmm."