Well, as promised, this up-date has a few pictures of the annual conference for SAM's Bolivia field. We were able to get out of the city for a few days to go to a nearby resort (only about 20 or so minutes out of the city). You may remember seeing photos of this place in past entries, as I have been there a couple of times for conferences/retreats. It's a beautiful place and I was delighted to be going there again! We had a wonderful time together! I thoroughly enjoyed the fellowship with other SAM missionaries (and some friends that went along with us). It was particularly special for me that my friends Jeff and Beth HAuse (with their children) returned to the field around Christmas time and so were at the annual conference. We had a great time catching up on old times...I had not seen most of their family for about a year! It's great to have them back!!!



This year, we had a speaker who came down from the home office to share with us. Typically we also have guests or teams that come to lead worship and work with our children. However, this year, we decided to do all of these things "in house" so to speak. We formed a worship team out of those of us on the field...as you can see in the picture below, I was one of the singers! A fellow SAM missionary, Jenna Weigner, led the worship times and kept us all organized. I thoroughly enjoyed these times...and the songs that she picked! It was great! There were still programs for the kids as well while the adults were meeting...but this time there were a couple of "SAM kids" (children of missionaries on the field) who are in college now, but were here visiting their parents for Christmas break. They were willing to teach the kids and did an excellent job!!!


All in all, we had a great time! It was very refreshing to have that conference to come back to...and that added to reviving my spirit for the ministries waiting for me here. Last week, I spent the better part of the week studying for the final exam for my online course. I also had to finish up the paper that I had been working on. I'm very excited to say that I have now finished the class!!! I think the exam went well and I'm glad to be moving on! It's a good feeling to have accomplished yet another of these courses. For the last month or two...while not in the states and at conference...I sort of put some of my ministry on hold so that I could wrap up this class. I'm thankful to now be able to dive back into those things.

Well...I guess that's it for this week! Thank you so much for your continued prayers!