Day 9 - McDonald's, a Drive, and our "Last" Family Dinner...

Today we woke up and had breakfast at the hotel, then all gathered by the pool for devotions and reflections on the day before when we painted and went to the beach.

Team Thoughts:

• Tanner - When we were painting there were spiders and lots of bugs everywhere. At the beach it was soo cool to see the jungle that led right up to the black sand beach! 
• Jadon - When we were painting he noticed how much paint we had to use to cover the walls because a majority of the surfaces were just falling apart and crumbling every time you tried to put paint on it. He also had never seen a black sand beach before, which was pretty cool. 
• Spencer - When he was painting in the corner a gecko fell down! And he thought the black sand beach was pretty cool. 
• Abigail - She's really glad that we got to paint at the church. It wasn't the best paint job because of the resources we had and the type of walls with lots of cracks and holes, but she was reminded that it didn't have to look perfect. It was what they were going to do in the room that mattered, and we knew they were going to use the room well! She also agreed with what Mrs. Harrison's sister, Pastor Irma, said in her message at church, that you can just feel God in the ocean!
• Emma C - She also thought it was interesting that the cement kept crumbling every time we tried to paint it, but she was really glad we got to serve in this way and was excited to see the room put to good use. At the beach she was just surprised at how much little seaweed there was in the water! 
• Rebecca - She really liked doing the painting and even though it was hard and a different kind of service than the rest of the trip, she said it felt very rewarding knowing they they liked our effort and willingness to help! She also said the church service before dinner felt very different. People are very passionate an unapologetic about how they do everything in church. They are so genuine and not trying to put on a show. 
• Skyler - Painting definitely wasn't easy, but the people who were going to use it made all the hard work worth it. Also, when we were at the beach he said it was a weird feeling to have so much seaweed in his pants (all the boys agreed). When we went to the church for dinner he was surprised that there was a church service going on, it was nice! 
• Logan - It felt good to work hard for others. The people we are serving are good, nice people so it was nice to do something for them. At the beach he noticed it didn't have a weird smell like some of the beaches in California do, but it was clean, fresh air! 
• Bryan - Didn't love painting, but likes manual labor, so he enjoyed the day. He said it was interested to see all of our kids kick it into gear after lunch when they realized the longer they took painting the shorter their time at the beach would be. Something else he's noticed as we're driving around is that none of the speed bumps are labeled and are in totally random locations, which led to some fun surprises while we were driving around. He also noticed that even though there aren't a ton of lights, posted speed limits, etc. The people here use their hazard lights and horns as a form of communication! 
• Hayden - At the church she noticed how nice the floors were in the room that had no paint, it just seemed so nice and extravagant compared to everything else in the room! It was nice to add the paint and finish the room. At the beach she noticed as soon as we started driving in that area there were definitely more tourists and Americans around! 
• Emily - She appreciated that there were several of our kids who saw the need while we were working and stayed in the room until the very end to clean up and offer help. She also loved the simplicity of the church service and the unapologetic style of praise and worship! 
• Clausen - When we were painting everyone thinks its fun for about an hour, but then it becomes work and hard work at that, I was proud of everyone for pushing through and realizing that we were completing this project for some great people and a great ministry. I was also proud of the ones who stayed in the room until the end to see the project through to completion. I also LOVED the worship here and that it is just pure joy! Sometimes at home our worship is so serious, but when we're praising God we can enjoy the fun and amazing parts of God too! 
• Mrs. Harrison - She said that a lot of the work in the church wasn't done professionally because the members of the church are the ones who do it when they have the time or the money! She also said that even though the facilities aren't the nicest, they are always in use! They are constantly feeding the homeless in that room and while we were painting they were praying over one of their members who was going into surgery! They don't have a lot, but they do a lot with it! She also loves that they are good at cooking and minister through that! 
• Drew - Liked the church a beach a lot. At home she doesn't have much down time, so today she just stood out in the waves and RELAXED! She also thinks that worship at home is taken too seriously and said, "we don't have to be so grave!" Worship is fun! 
• Kyle - Painting was fun, but not easy! It was worth it to see all the hard work completed and the room ready for the members! At the church service he noticed there was no timeline or time limit. At home it seems like we sing 3 songs, message, sing a song during offering, then pray and leave, but there didn't seem to be as much structure to this church service and he liked it! 
• Elise - The room that we painted was a lot bigger than expected, but it was nice to see all the hard work put to good use. At the beach she was surprised by how warm the water was. 
• Jacee - Painting was fun and hard. She also noticed the hardware store was so different than at home! She felt like they couldn't find anything that they were assigned and then some things were held behind the counter that shouldn't be! At the church service she loved all the dancing! She had a lot of energy, so it was fun to just get it out! 
• Jacob - It was cool to see that the beach was so untouched! At home there would be boardwalks and shops, and tourist traps built, but here it was so natural! He also loved the vibes at church and that you can get up and move a lot (because he needs to get up and move a lot). 
• Michael - When we were painting he noticed how much the paint and cement would just flake off the wall. He also said painting was hard, but it is cool to see how they'll use those rooms for ministry. At church he thought it was really interesting that a lot of the songs were in English, but as soon as Pastor Irma started preaching she'd speak in Spanish. 

After devotions we went to McDonalds for lunch, which was quite exciting for most of our kids! A lot of them did a great job ordering in Spanish! 

We then hopped back on the bus to make our long journey back to HPS headquarters. It was raining the whole time we drove the the cloud forest, which gave us a good idea of how it is so green here! 

Finally when we got back to the house we all packed up, then walked down to the Rodrigues Family's house for dinner. Right before we walked down we were surprised because the power went out and the water went out! It was quite the adventure! We started our taco dinner by candlelight, but eventually the power came back on! We had some fun dancing, took our final team photos, and did a little country dancing! The boys even got in a couple rounds of video games with Sebastian, Ricardo and Wendie's son. At the end of the night Tanner and Logan gave Ronny and Josue our gifts, some cash, some thank you notes, and some basketball shoes for Ronny that he was pretty excited about! 

The Costa Rica Crew

The Gentlemen

The Ladies

The Returners! 

Spanish 1 & Spanish 4 Girls with Senora Harrison

Spanish 3 Girls with Senora Harrison

Honors Spanish 2 (Hayden) with Senora Harrison

We then walked back up the hill to the house, packed up, and finished the ping pong tournament! While we were doing that I was trying to check us all in for our flights and noticed our flight out was actually SUNDAY morning, not Saturday morning! Ahh! I was frustrated by the mistake, but love that our kids had adventure mindsets and quickly had good attitudes about one additional day in Costa Rica. Knowing that we weren't leaving at 3 in the morning we all went to bed....well, most people did, Jacob, Skyler, Tanner, and Spencer stayed outside in the sprinkling rain for a long time and then Jacob fell asleep on the couch! 

The Champion (Jadon) and the Runner Up (Spencer). Jadon had to beat Spencer twice because he came back from the Loser's bracket. 

The Champion (Jadon) and the 5th Place Winner (Ronny), he blames his loss on the Coronavirus.

The champion (Jadon) and the 3rd Place Winner (Josue)

While this was definitely an accidental plan and we're ready to get home to our families, we are not looking forward to dealing with all the Coronavirus chaos when we get there! It is kind of nice to stay in the calm one more day! Also, we have to give a huge shout out to the Rodrigues Family, Ronny, and Josue for being so flexible and willing to host us another day. Their responses were so gracious and they immediately figured out a plan for us. I love this family, they really are like family to me (and us) at this point! 

On a side note, Jacob and the girls found a tiny dog at the beginning of the trip that they have adopted and named Ted. When we were in Limon they bought him a collar because all he had on was a rubber band before! So sweet!