Mission work was something I'd never done before. My trip to Costa Rica was completely out of my comfort zone. I lived with a Costa Rican Family for four weeks. My hosts had two daughters, 3 dogs and two cats. I volunteered daily, at a daycare about 15 miles from home. One of the biggest challenges was not being able to speak Spanish fluently. I'd learned Spanish in high school but I was far from a conversational level. My host family barely spoke English and the children at the daycare only spoke Spanish. After the first week certain words and phrases became familiar and communicating became a lot easier. When I'd say the wrong words or phrases the kids thought it was hilarious. The older kids taught me Spanish board games and the little ones loved 'Simon says' and playing with my long braids. I'd help them with their days of the week, arts and crafts, eating lunch and brushing their teeth. Each morning we'd have this segment where we'd sit in a circle and each person would explain how they're feeling. This group was under the age of five, and they all had such dramatic stories. This is also what really helped me to learn and speak better Spanish! We'd sing songs and walk to the library across the street, then play outside in the afternoon. 

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The weeks flew by and before I new it, it was time for me to go. I'd truly grown to LOVE the kids. They were all so smart with such warm hearts. The kids gave me a huge group hug on my last day. Saying goodbye was tough! It may have been the end of my program in Costa Rica, but I knew this was just the start of fulfilling my purpose.