Destino

Tonight in Destino we had a guest speaker. Pastor Gabriel (form Silvia's Hispanic Church) came with his wife Claudia to have an open "forum" where we could ask any questions we had about faith, religion, God, life, etc. Pastor Gabriel is from Mexico where he has planted several churches and is currently pursuing his doctoral studies in theology, while simultaneously pastoring a Hispanic church here in the US.

It was such a treat to have them come an share! Also, four Destino members made public confessions of faith after being challenged by Pastor Gabriel's talk.

God is working on NC State's Campus.

Bill Santiago

Mi Familia, NC State's Hispanic organization, had their culture show last night. We flew in Bill Santiago, a Puerto Rican Comedian from New York to host our show. It cost us $2000 for him to agree to the gig.

Cory, Ekaterina, Me, Bill Santiago, and Melanie

After the show there was an after party with Latin dancing at a local restaurant. To my surprise Bill Santiago made it to the after party (I hope we were not still paying him!!). I figured it was a one in a life time opportunity, so I asked him to dance. He said yes.

So, it's official. I have now danced THREE Salsa songs with Bill Santiago.

(you can Google him or click on the link to his NAME above to hear some of his stand-up)

Today is a warm day! I think I will sit outside to do my homework.

Thursday's are my favorite day because I only have one class. This morning I woke up and ran 45 minutes, ate breakfast, and now I am about to go to my one class of the day. Later this afternoon I might go and visit Heather (my friend with the 5 children, 2 of them the new little twin boys), work on homework outside, and then I have community group with my church. Community Groups are just small groups from church that meet bi-weekly to discuss, encourage, and pray together.

Last night I went to a program called Breaking the Beauty Box. Rosie Molinary, author of "Hijas Americans" (American Daughters) was the speaker. She is a Puerto Rican lady who writes and speaks on growing up Latina and dealing with body image. She talked about media influences and how we as the future generation can begin to change the way our society views beauty. She was a facinating speaker and I especially liked her because she and her husband just adopted a littly boy from Ethopia....he was precious!

I am also reading Passion and Purity by Elizabeth Elliott and enjoying it very much. (Remember my New Year's Resolution was to read more for fun!)

The days are just packed!

So, Spring break was a great and much needed break....however it is OVER!...and I have hit the ground running without stopping since I've been back.

Let's see....

Strangely enough I am nearing the end of the semester, or so it feels, as I have been given details for all of the thousands of final projects and papers of the semester. I have started working on them and my goal is to get the done way ahead of time.

I have recently increased my running days and distance. I was feeling as though my in-shape-ness was dwindling and since the weather was nice I figured it would be a good time to pick up the pace. So far this week I have increased my schedule to a 5 day a week plan (previously only 4) and increased my cardio time (mostly running) from 30 minutes to 40 minutes...and hopefully will continue increasing as I get into better shape.

I am really on a nutrition kick! This is mostly due to the fact that I am taking an awesome nutrition class. We recently did this awesome computerized food diary project and it was super eye-opening. A few (but not all) of my new additions are: literally half my plate at dinner is comprised of veggies, drinking 3/4 cup of grape juice each day (not old enough to drink wine yet...but I still need those anti-Occidents), and eating a VAREITY of foods. The best way to get in all those macro and micronutrients is variety. The rule in our class is NO food is bad. Granted moderation is key, but it has been fun learning how to incorporate random things into my diet to increse my nutrition...like potato chips?!?!?...that's right! (check out MyPyramid.gov it's the new and improved PERSONALIZED food pyramid website!!!).

Destino takes up a lot of time, but I love it. We continue to grow each week!! and I am currently meeting weekly with both Gladys and Berenisse for disciplship... they are fun girls!

I am tutoring a sweet ESL girl every Wednesday morning. She is in the 11th grade and can't read English well at all. This week we worked on her English homework and it took us 35 minutes to complete one question. The book she was reading was WAY over her level and just helping her understand the question (without just telling her) took 10 minutes. We have to break down each work individually!

I have a little bit of a tan from Spring break!!!....WHAT WHAT!

I got a 100% on my most recent School, Politics, and Society Exam....which is great considering I got a 75% on the first exam in the class (thankfully she drops the lowest exam grade!).

This Saturday I am doing Breast Casting with the Women's Center. Yes, you read that right...Breast (and adomine) casting. It's to raise money and awarenss for breast cancer. A few other RA's, some of our residents, and myself are going to do it together. ...what better way to bond and get past insecurities!...haha.

...well that's probably enough schocking news for now. Thanks for reading.

Destino Conference Update...the one I sent to Trinity Missions Committee

Dear Trinity Missions Committee,

I wanted so badly to share with you all in person so that I could better express some of the things that God had been doing in Destino on NC State’s campus; however I will do my best to give you an encouraging glimpse of His work through this letter. First and foremost I wanted to thank you for supporting me to go to the Destino National Conference in Texas. My purpose in sharing with you all is so that you can see how God used the Conference in the lives of our Destino members in Texas, and also how He has worked since we have been back from Texas. I also wanted you all to get to SEE how your service as members of the mission committee is helping fulfill the Great Commission on NC State’s campus!

A little background before I share…The theme of our conference was “Here I am Send Me”. Six girls from NC State’s Destino attended the conference. The conference consisted of large group teachings, worship in Spanish, multiple seminars to choose from, and small group time. NC State’s Destino is comprised of several new Christians and several of the seminars were perfect for our group. There were seminars on prayer, reading your Bible, evangelism, etc.

I could share so many things with you all, but I have decided to stick to my Top 10 Moments during the conference and after the conference. (In no particular order…)

10.) When Blanca, who was Catholic and became a believer last semester, said to me during the conference “I want to help more in Destino and have more of a leadership role.” (Since the conference Blanca has helped with advertising!!)

9.) Spending two nights in a motel room and long plane rides with the five other NC State Destino girls. As you can imagine we laughed A LOT and it was a GREAT time of unity and bonding for our group!

8.) When Berenisse and Gladys (both new believers this year) said to me after a very challenging seminar “We want to start inviting more of our friends to Destino. They are lost.”

7.) Being able to attend a seminar on “How to Build a Destino Movement” with Jessica Olivares. Jessica started Destino on the campus of Texas A&M when she was a freshman. The first two years the group was consistently 8 people and now four years later Texas A&M Destino has 80 members. Jessica gave practical advice on what worked and what didn’t. She also encouraged us with the power of prayer and being prayer minded so that God leads the ministry.

6.) Listening to Alex Garcia, the main speaker, and founder of Destino. He really emphasized how God created Hispanic culture a certain way on purpose and we as His followers can embrace it and allow Him to use His creation of Latinos and their culture for His glory…hence “here I am send me”.

5.) Silvia agreeing to lead one night of Bible study. (Previously Ekaterina and I have been leading, but other members are starting to take more ownership of the group.)

4.) When our first boy came. Up until the conference our group was ALL girls. We have been praying for boys and since the conference we have had a new boy each week (and they keep returning!).

3.) When Rolando, an exchange student from Honduras, stopped by. He randomly stopped by a Destino meeting because he saw Spanish writing on a white board. He is not a Christian, but faithfully attends Destino and brings his Bible each week (the Spanish Bible we gave him at his first meeting.) God is reaching the nations.

2.) Working with Holly and Ekaterina. Holly is our Campus Crusade Coach and is awesome. God created her for our group. She puts in a lot of time, prayer, guidance, and support with our group and disciples both Ekaterina and me. Ekaterina co-leads Destino with me and she has been a great example and encouragement this year in service to God.

1.) My text from Gladys. I meet weekly with each Gladys and Berenisse for discipleship. On my way back from Spring Break I receive a text message from Gladys saying “Hey Lara! I’m excited to meet with you tomorrow and learn more about the Lord.”

PRASE GOD, and THANK YOU for your continued support of me and this ministry.

With Alex Garcia (above)

Feliz Dia de San Valentin!

As the semester has progressed I have come to find that this semester's classes are my favorite thus far in my collegiate career.
-I am not a big fan of my Latin American History class. I like the information, but the teacher has done nothing but lecture EVERYDAY!....so boring and hard to focus and take notes for sooo long.

-I love my Educational Psychology class. My teacher Dr. Heather Davis is phenomenal! I have never had a teacher that teaches in such a conventional way. She incorporates outside movies, projects, debates, and literature and I often think she is trying to teach me one thing, when really she is trying to teach me something else. She is so smart and I feel like she "messes with our minds" in a way and makes us learn on multiple dimensions...but she does have her Doctorate in ED PSY, so I guess she SHOULD be good at messing with students' minds. Also we have NO exams in her class. The work load is demanding; it requires a lot of reflections and projects. I feel like I am really learning the material because I'm not just craming for an exam!

-I also love my School Politics and Society class. My teacher Dr. Tamara Young (who totally looks exactally like Queen Latifah) is awesome. I enjoy the discussion in her class and we read/discuss topics that are very relevant and necessary for my future profession as an educator (for example: dealing with parents; what are my rights, what are theirs, how to handle "hovering parents", etc.).

-I do like my Spanish class. We mostly just talk and it's not super demanding!

- I also love my Nutrition class. The information is simple and of course totally relevant. I am really really enjoying it!

-I started tutoring this week in my Tutoring Adolecents class. Because I'm in ESL I get to tutor ESL students. I go every Wednesday moring to Garner High School and work with Lisa Huffman the ESL teacher there. I specifically will be working with Ingrid, an ESL student from El Salvador. She is super sweet and speaks basic English. Yesterday when I went the 4 students in the ESL class put on a pupet show about a conflict and then the conflict's resolution. It was fun to learn the different students personalities by watching the production and just fun to be in an ESL classroom setting!

-I also love my ESL class that I'm taking online. Once again it is super relevant. We are learning about teaching diverse populations and the perspectives of learning English as a new language. I am learning so much that I had no idea I needed to know!

wheewww!...that was long

I go to Destino conference in Texas tomorrow and I'm super excited! Happy Valentine's Day to ALL!

Krispy Kreme Challenge....check

Well I did it. I completed the Krispy Kreme Challenge. My goals were:
- run the whole thing without walking....check
- eat all 12 doughnuts without throwing up....check (GROSS, GROSS, GROSS)
- finish in under an hour....check

My official time is 58 minutes and 40 seconds, and I came in 1,951 st place out of 5,200 people. Only 2,126 people completed the challenge (meaning ate all 12 doughnuts and finished running in under an hour).

I am sooooo glad it is over. I did induce vomiting about an hour and a half after the race because I felt so horrible...I'm pretty sure it would of happened naturally soon anyway.

I am so glad I got to be part of an NC State tradition and I am so glad I successfully completed the challenge, so next year I will not feel obligated to be re-challenged.

Doughnut boys ran in their intertubes!
Funny costumes!

Grace and I pre-race (she ran but did not eat the doughnuts...SMART girl!)

Sam Marshall and John Berger (I can't find their times on the finisher list...so I'm not sure if they "completed the challenge")

Almost there!...I was 1/4 mile from the finish and I was feeling horrible even though I look really good in this picture!!!!

Victory is SWEET!

Two of my supporters: Blanca and Ekaterina (Destino members).

A lot of people dress up in funny things: there was Santa, girls in 80's dresses, The Incredibles, guys in speedos, etc. Below is the Inter Varsity group that ran and they say "Do If For the Kids"...the KK Challenge is to raise money for children's hospitals. (This year we raised $35,000).
These are just a few pictures from our hunger dinner program last month!