So many Blessings!

Here is my acceptance speech... ok, not really.  But I wanted to say thank you to SOoooooo many people!

Thank you to everyone who is supporting me in this next endeavor in my life.  I can see all of the intricacies that have gotten me to this point and the path that was woven and there are so many people who have helped me to get to this place and who are helping me to get to the next step too!

Thank you to the 55+ people who are helping me financially to pay for the next five months.  The total cost of this program (Around the World Discipleship Training) was about $10,000!  I had saved up about $5,000 of my own money but was a little nervous about raising the rest!  God was so faithful and through the love and kindness of so many I was able to exceed my fundraising goal!  Check out my fundraising page and all of the awesome people who donated!

Thank you to friends and family that donated items to sell at my rummage sale last weekend!  From the rummage sale I made about $600 and from other items sold online I can add about $400 more!  Amazing what you can do with a little hard work, donations and sweat ;-)

Thank you to everyone that came to my fundraising luncheon!  Sorry I talked so long... sometimes I'm a little long-winded ;-)  I raised $1,000 from the luncheon and donations received on that day!

And now, thank you to everyone that is continuing to pray for me and to encourage me with kind words, letters and messages that uplift my spirit!  This was not an easy decision and it faced some opposition for me, at 30, to quit my job and "go be a missionary".

I covet your continued prayers as I'm seeking direction from the Lord in what will come after this 5 month program!  As of now, I don't have a clue! (Though hoping it will lead to more long term missions)

So sincerely and humbly, I thank you with all of my heart!

A few extra Thank you's for the tiny blessings...

Thank you girl at Panera for giving me free coffee for now reason.  It blessed me.
Thank you lady(s) at church for giving me a little extra money after I spoke on Sunday.  It blessed me!
Thank you mom, for letting me live with you rent free for the last 2 months and allowing me to make your house a disaster while I organized, collected, sold and reorganized.  It blessed me a lot!
Thank you to those who gave above their ability.  I pray God will bless you each day more and more!
Thank you to my brother and sister-in-law who let me "rent" his car for 2 months AND let me use his garage/driveway for the rummage sale!
Thank you to my dad, who let me borrow the van when needed!
Thank you to Bonnie... who showed up at my rummage sale early and helped organize. Also, she was hilarious. :-)
Thank you to Jodie for helping me along with internet-y things and encouraging me the whole way!

If you have made it this far in the blog, Thanks for reading!
If you are still interested in contributing towards this step in the journey, feel free!  Even though I have met my financial goal, many on my team have not!  The extra funds I receive I will be able to share with the others on my team that are struggling to meet their financial goals!

Thanks again for all of the blessings!  My heart it overfloweth!

(p.s. I know I missed more thank you's and blessings, so please just know how very grateful I am)

Renting a MotorBike and seeing the falls!

Now for a day outside the city limits…

I highly recommend renting a motorbike and going with some friends to the waterfalls nearby Dalat.  There are 3 waterfalls that myself and two others drove to…

Datanla Falls (easy 10 minutes)

Elephant Falls (Voi, not so easy because of construction, 1 hour?)

Pongour Falls (a little further, 50 km, but worth it!  Full day)

So much fun!  Datanla Falls is only a 10 minute ride outside of the city and you can take a one person self guided roller coaster to the bottom!  One thing I wished I would have done is take the ride down the hill TWICE.  It was SOooooo much fun!  The round trip cost is $3.  Put it in your budget to ride twice!  Here is a video to enjoy and give you something to look forward to...

At the bottom of the hill there are a few different waterfalls to see.  One thing to be careful about after reading other blogs... someone said that they had to pay to use the elevator to get to the bottom waterfall.  I don’t believe that this is true because I did not have to pay on the day that I went.  However, there was a chair near the entrance.  Whether or not someone is supposed to be in that chair collecting, I’m not so sure.  There is a gondola that you can pay to take down, but truthfully the stairs are not too difficult at an easy pace.  Its all up to you on what your budget is and how much you want to spend.

After visiting the falls, make sure you stop at the coffee shop (the only one with the view!) on the way back into town!  Best view and cheap coffee!

Elephant Falls

Now here was a real adventure.  One of those things that you keep saying... oh my gosh!  Is this really happening?!  Elephant Falls is only about XX kms from town and would be an easy ride... BUT it wasn’t.  As of February 2014, the ONLY road to get to elephant falls was under construction.  Mind you, it is still open, but VERY. UNDER. CONSTRUCTION.  

I was the lucky driver, with my friend, Ben on the back.  As we approached a turn in the mountain hillside, we were wondering why people were putting on rain ponchos, it was a beautiful sunny day!  And then about 2 minutes later, we understood.  It was because of the MASSIVE amounts on red DUST that were in the air.  The road was mostly just dust and dirt.  All around were large rocks being cut out of the mountain, dump trucks, cranes.  Again, back to the safety standards... there was one point that a crane reached OVER the road and I had to go under the arm to pass by, that is just what you do you know!  A few prayers later and a slow progress for at least 5 kms of construction, we finally got out of it and about 20 minutes later found the turn to get to elephant falls.  From the top it isn’t too impressive, so you most definitely MUST go down!  

 

On the way down my group of 3 Americans was keeping up with a group of locals, a few of them young monks in training.  The most impressive thing about this group of teenagers, though, is that one of them was missing a leg!  There he was taking this treacherous trail with only one leg!  I give this guy mad props!

I'll always remember this guy, doing what others with two legs would shy away from...

It took some navigating to find the proper way to get to a nice spot for viewing and pictures.  The grass all around is wet and muddy from the spray, so do step carefully!  But again I say, if the guy with one leg can do it...

Here are a few fun shots from the area.  I’d recommend a picnic.  We were going to swim, but the water is a little dirtier than we hoped and because of construction our time was at a minimum.  Make sure you get home before dark!  Know what time sunset is and give yourself enough time to make it back to the hotel.  Be safe!

Going home at least we knew what to expect.  Coffee plantations, and construction.  LOTS OF CONSTRUCTION.  At least the construction guys were friendly and amused as we passed by.

Pongour Falls is one of my favorite places, only because of this picture… 

I had seen this picture on Pinterest before knowing I’d be headed to this location.  The water wasn’t flowing much so perhaps it was a little disappointing, but it is still so much fun to walk around on the tiered waterfall!  Some people say to skip this site, but I LOVED it!  Make sure you pack a picnic lunch and be prepared for a LONG ride if you choose to go on your own via moped.  Its TOTALLY doable and a lot of fun.  BUT, it is a pretty long ride, at least an hour.  We had some trouble seeing the sign and went down the wrong road TWICE.  Its near the dam. Don’t go too far!

We went swimming a little way down the river.  There are signs below the falls saying “do not swim” and we were concerned maybe there would be bacteria or something, but no one broke out in a rash.  ;-)

On the way home I let Ben drive and had a few moments of “freak out” (sorry Ben!)  I’m not so used to riding as passenger and Ben wasn’t so used to driving.  He had to dodge a herd of cows and a few semis... almost to the point of “this is ridiculous”!  But good news, WE SURVIVED!  Another great day in the sun and I feel like Pongour Falls was a check on the bucket list of places to see before I die.  I hope if you get the chance to go that the water is flowing a little more.  Make sure to get a friend (or stranger) to take photos for you!

That was the last day in Dalat.  Next up, Ho Chi Minh by bus.