Blog 3!

Hey Guys!

So I am really excited to blog tonight! I had an amazing week and I couldn't wait to share it with you guys! So my week started off pretty calm... there is not group here this week so it is really just odds and ends jobs, and getting to experience Mexico a little
bit!

So on Tuesday 4 of us girls decided to go horseback riding on the beach! It was a really fun time!! The beach was beautiful, there were mountains all around us, and the sky was sooo blue! All I kept thinking was, "How could anyone not believe that there is a God!?!?" It was definitely a memorable day... I was so nervous that my horse was just going to take off.. but he behaved himself so all went well... in riding at least! haha.. I had some rough times once we got back to the ranch.. but that story is for a different time and place :) Ask me when I get home! haha

The rest of the week didn't have too many events, but I really had some amazing quiet times with God. I have been reading through Philippians, and I just find Paul's walk so encouraging... I really pray that I can have even half of the passion and faith that Paul demonstrated in his life in my own walk with God. In Philippians 1 Paul prays for the Philippians, he prays,

⁹ This is my prayer for you: that your love will grow more and more; that you will have knowledge and understanding with your love;
¹⁰ that you will see the difference between good and bad and will choose the good; that you will be pure and without wrong for the coming of Christ;
¹¹ that you will be filled with the good things produced in your life by Christ to bring glory and praise to God.

I am in love with this passage! I just feel like that is the prayer that I need prayed over my life! So I am hoping to start everyday this summer by bringing this before God, and praying that He can help me work with these things in my life!

Along with that I also got to sit down with Tammy (the missionary here) and just chat about where I fit in within this ministry. It was a really encouraging time to just talk how God can use me this summer, and at the same time grow and teach me. I really walk away feeling great about the months to come!

Now today was seriously one of the most exciting days ever! We got to go watch the Baja 500. I had never heard of it before I came down here, but I quickly learned. The Baja 500 is an off road race that goes about 450 miles. It starts and ends in Ensenada, which really added to the excitement! So, this morning we went to down to Ensenada and set up camp. In Mexico you don't do the whole hamburger/hotdog on the grill thing.. We brought the grill and made "Carne Asada." It's pretty much like a thin piece of steak on tortillas with Salsa and Guacamole. Very Mexican!

Then the race started! We were about 15 minutes away from the start line; we knew the cars were close when about 7 helicopters started coming over the mountains! I know I keep using the world exciting, but that's really all I can say! haha The anticipation was crazy! The cars started flying by us. At the point where we were standing the cars had to come off the dirt road, make a complete right turn (going around 40 mph), drive past us back onto the dirt, and then around a bend and up a huge dirt mountain! I could literally reach out my hand and touch the cars (or just walk right on the track)!! I put some pictures at the bottom for you to see just how close we were!

You can also check out all my pictures from Mexico at http://picasaweb.google.com/StephanieLeigh87 ! or on facebook :)

So that was my week in a nutshell :) Love you guys! Sorry I have been slow with the emails.. it's definitely harder to keep up with than I thought! But I want to hear from you guys so don't stop emailing!

<3 <3 <3


Love,
Steph