I have to say that the weather here is really messing with my head. This mid-80's weather isn't the "normal" weather for late October! While letters from friends and family mention the cool nights and frost that appears on the ground each morning, I wake up to sun and humidity which continues all day long. Time here is flying by, and I feel as though I have been here for two weeks instead of over a month. Still, my homesickness is decreasing as time goes by, and I finally feel somewhat settled here.

      And now about that title... I have a new nickname, given by a
few of the little ones at the orphanage where we serve on Friday mornings.
For those of you who aren't fluent in Spanish, Patita Fea means Ugly
Duckling. You all know the story of the ugly duckling, right? Allow
me to shorten it for you: growing up in a family of ducks is one
single swan. Now everyone thinks he's a duck, and he thinks he's a
duck, but he looks different than those around him. Of course swans
aren't that great looking to begin with, and everyone calls him the
ugly duckling. Eventually, his self-esteem is so bad that he runs
(paddles?) away to live by himself, but after a time, he glances down
into the water to see his reflection and he sees a beautiful swan.
The ugly duckling was never an ugly duckling after all. I am told
that Patita Fea is supposed to be a compliment, representing the part
of the story after the "duckling" sees his true beauty.

     Maybe it's a stretch, but that's a reminder to me of who I am in Christ! There have been so many times in my life when I have struggled with my self-worth, feeling much like the ugly duckling in the story, with little to offer God or those around me. Even here on this trip I have had some rough nights where I have felt as though I don't quite belong, and some rough days where I have felt discouraged because the ministries we've been involved in are not ones in which I am particularly gifted. Yet while I am being stretched far beyond what I imagined before coming here in September, God is and always will be faithful. He sees me as his beautiful daughter, loved and cherished; all this does not change, no matter how I view myself. With Christ in my life, I am the ugly duckling AFTER the transformation.

     I thank you for your continued prayers! I eagerly wait for the time when I can see you face to face and tell you more stories about what God is doing in my life. Until then, I thank God for you always and love you much. Adios!