A Few Days and Counting

As we come so close to the time we are leaving, I have had many thoughts sorting through my head and a few realizations this week.
First of all in preparation for this trip, last week we sat down with Steven for a Spanish lesson. (We have been doing a lot of Spanish study as a family lately) He taught us all how to pray in Spanish.  He laid out the basic structure for us (many of you who served  a foreign language LDS mission will recognize this lesson as one of the first you learn in training)
Start with
Nuestro Padre Celestial
Te damos gracias. . .por la comida, la familia etc etc.  (List of lots of things you can thank Heavenly Father for)

Te pedimos. . . Bendiciones, ayunda etc,etc. (List of lots of things you can ask God for)
En el nombre de Jesucristo Amen.

You can see how this is working.

After the lesson each child was asked to give a prayer in Spanish.   The first time was overwhelming.   They didn't want to say anything wrong, they didn't want to speak in Spanish. They were just plain scared. There were a few tears ( on my part as well just feeling for my children and watching them struggle). This struggle was only the case that one night.  I have been amazed and overjoyed about how well each of the children has done to now say All of their prayers in Spanish.  They are asking how to say certain things we didn't talk about the first night.   They don't worry about saying it wrong because they know God knows what they are really trying to say.  It has been a blessing and a miracle.
After this has begun in our home Steven mentioned to me how awesome it is to feel like his whole family is sharing in Spanish with him.  I had never thought about it before but Spanish is a huge part of his life that we as a family can't really fully understand and be apart of unless we speak the language.
These connections and understanding is what this trip is all about.  We want to expand our minds, expand our world view and become closer as a family through it all.