Short Week--and more items on the List

9-6-08 Hello again! I know, I know, I should write more--but school's been busy, and the Internet's been...well, slower than usual. I have some new lessons learned to add to my list.

30. A flip-flop is a handy machine of death--when you're talking about cockroaches. Especially a cockroach that is using one's bed as an escape route. (No, I did not kill it on the bed. It met its demise on the floor.)
31. Snorkeling is super-fun; being sunburnt again is not.
32. 'Student missionary' is no longer a noun; it is a verb. (Consider the fact that a lot of us use the present progressive 'SM-ing'--however, 'student missionary-ing' is technically not grammatically correct.)
33. Being underwater and being able to look at things underwater is just incredibly awesome!
34. Teachers look forward to days off just as much as students do, if not more than them.

Okay. We only had three days of class last week (Super yay!) and that was because we spent Thursday morning doing a self-study for the school's accreditation, which takes place later this semester. Friday was Dri Jebal day (no, you do not pronounce it 'dry gerbil'; it's pronounced 'dree sure-ball', or something quite similar to that.) What that basically means is that it was Labor Day. (Dri Jebal means the Workers, I do believe.) Anyway, we went snorkeling during the time that Ryan and Matt, our visitor from Guam (he's the communications director) were diving. I saw lots of little fish--purple and yellow ones, orange ones, green and black striped ones, and some that were black with white tails. I saw lots of coral, too--orange, yellow, green, and even some purple. Most of the coral that I've seen is the hard coral, the ones that look like antlers or tree-branches. However, I saw one outcropping of soft coral--waving around in the water like it was blowing in the wind. It was awesome. I do not know if I can describe how incredible it is being underwater--it's calm, and quiet, but it's still totally amazing!

We have a visitor from Guam because he's doing a stewardship seminar and talking about small groups. He's staying with Ryan and Jhan Dale--this is his first trip to Ebeye, and his messages have been very interesting. I'm excited to learn about small groups, because I have not really taken part in one before, nor have I led one. So it will be educational.

Please pray for us--because we cannot do all this without you all at home praying for us. That's just as important--if not more so--as us being here!

E-mails are nice--snail mail letters would be nice, too. Let me know what's going on back home--if you need prayer, just send the request or praise along. We have prayer meeting here every Wednesday night at 6:30 PM (which, for all of you, is almost midnight on Tuesday--I think.) All right--love you all. More later.

~Ashlee