LA-Day 1

Wow! I'm in Los Angeles! Part of me felt like I'd never get here, and now I'm just hoping that time will slow down while I'm here. We got to the Sioux Falls airport, made it through security, and soon found out that the USF baseball team was also on our flight. It probably would have been a cooler coincidence if we had known more than just one guy on the team. We boarded the plane, and thanks to open seating, I sat next to a nice old lady from Alexandria, who knew my roommate Brigitte. (It's pretty much because she's awesome like that.) I didn't talk to her a lot, mostly because I alternated between sleeping and getting ahead on some Brit Lit reading. But we got to LA soon enough, even getting to fly by the Hollywood sign. We hopped off the plane at LAX (Yes, literally hopped so we could justify our singing.)and made our way to where we were meeting Kimberly and Annie. Soon enough, they showed up and we took off in their car. They started off just showing us around LA and talking to us, trying to get a feel for our personalities. I think they were a little shocked with out enthusiastic and outspoken we were. (Even with being on a plane for the past 3 1/2 hours).

Right away, they asked us if we wanted coffee which quickly got an enthusiastic YES! So we walked a little bit through LA to find a Starbucks. Once the coffee was in our systems, we were even more talkative. They thought we might like to do some sightseeing while we're here and they were right. They dropped us off at Malibu beach and told us we could meet them later at the fish shack across the street. The beach was amazing! I've never been on a beach, so I was amazed at how it just seems to go on forever. It's definitely one of those places you feel insignificant. We also found a huge group of rocks. Ashley, wanting to reenact the mermaid pose, suggested going over there. It was fun for a while, until the waves started getting bigger, and we frantically ran back to the sand. (I've been told my run was hilarious because my shoes kept sliding off the rocks.)

After that, we decided to cross the street back to the shack. The streets aren't very easy to cross either. It was like an 8-lane SD highway. But eventually, we crossed and met up with the two. We ordered supper and I enjoyed some of the best grilled tilapia. We stayed there for a good hour and a hlaf, just talking about our church and missions backgrounds. We talked a lot about spiritual journeys. One thing Kimberly said really fascinated me. "The gospel was never meant to leave you completely satisfied. Instead, it shows you that it's impossible without God." I thought that was a really cool way to think about it. On our way home, we drove through Beverly Hills, looking at the houses. (Part of this was intentional, but truthfully, we got kinda lost.) We drove through East Hollywood, home of tv studios and the famous Rodeo Drive. They told us to point out when we thought we crossed into West Hollywood. We started to notice the shops become more normal, then we saw how different it was. All of a sudden, we were in the poor neighborhoods. We saw all kinds of Hispanic restaurants and people all around. A minute later, we arrived to their apartment. They wanted to live in the middle of where they were outreaching.

So, we settled in for the night, discussing house rules and what they had in store for us tomorrow. (Which you'll find out in the next entry, whenever I get around to typing it) We also had small presents waiting for us on our beds. Mine was a spiral notebook and pens. THe pens are my absolute favorite, and the notebook has Belle on it. (All I could think about was how jealous Brigitte would be of it, so don't worry Brigitte, I'm not forgetting about you.)

At the end of the day, Annie and Kimberly told us how they pray in Nagaland. EVeryone prays all at the same time and waits until the last person is done to say Amen. I thought it sounded so cool. It's super hard to explain, but it is so awe-inspiring to hear all these different prayers being lifted up at once.