Faith the size of a mustard seed.....

     Hi-dee ho neighbors! I feel like I haven't updated my blog in forever...actually it has been forever! I need to fill all of you in on what is happening here in Aussieville. These past couple of weeks have been crazy with all different kind of activities involving lectures, fun with friends, and "slummin it". I have learned so much. Every week literally gets better and better. I cannot believe I have already been here for 8 weeks! It is so surreal. I am in no rush to come home! I do miss all of you though! 

YWAM Perth:

     I guess I should go ahead and start from where I left off. That would make the start of this blog all about my birthday here in Aussieville! I guess the best word for this birthday would be "unforgettable". It was a first for several things, the first time my birthday has ever been ridiculously hot, the first time I was away from my family, and the first time I had fish and chips. It was really great getting to celebrate it with new friends. I wouldn't have changed it at all. In YWAM, if it is your birthday, they celebrate by giving you a birthday table that you can invite 7 friends to sit with you at, they sing you this amazing birthday song, they say "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie...Oi, Oi, Oi" after the song, they give you an amazing birthday cake that is decorated all fancy, and last but not least, you have to give a speech in front of everyone. I talked all about Louisiana in my speech! Represent (fist pump)!! It was just a great but hot day! I wouldn't change it at all!

   Our lecture for the week after was about relationships between family, friends, opposite sex, employees, and last but not least, God. It was a really great week. It showed me areas where I need to grow to have more of a closer relationship with God. It showed me that I need to listen to people more when they talk. It also showed that marriage needs to be given to God. He needs to have full authority over me in every area. 

    That weekend, we did something called "slum survivor". It showed us what it is like to live in the slums. We were only allowed to bring the clothes on our backs, sleeping bag, toothpaste and toothbrush, and our Bible and notepad. It was pretty intense. We went out to the bush where there was not anyone but us around for miles. It was absolutely gorgeous. We had to make houses out of cardboard and tarp. We definitely sucked at making a cardboard house for ten people to fit in. We had to learn how to make a rock stove and a water filter. Some of the places we will be going will need to have instruction on how to make those things. I also had to use the bathroom in a drop hole. It was so weird. I call it the drop off though. It sounds cooler. We were only allowed one meal a day while we were out there, rice and lentils. Our portions were small. We had very few water at all times as well. It was very challenging at times, but I wouldn't change a thing about it. We grew as a team and just really bonded. 

      This past week, we were taught in lectures about "The Father Heart of God". I thought it was going to be for people that came from broken homes and didn't have a fatherlike figure in there house. Oh boy, was I wrong. It was all about how much God truly loves us. All of us got something different out of it. God really showed how much he loved me and how much he wanted a romantic relationship with me. I am His bride. He really proved that to me this week. Towards the end of the week, we started talking about how the enemy has told us lies in our life about different things. On Friday, we had application day ( the day we really intercede and deal with our issues on the topic) and I don't think there was a dry eye in the place. It was so good to hear everyone get relieved of the lies they were living under, including myself. God just really moved through my group this week. It was so awesome!

    On the Wednesday, during that week, we went for a second time as a base to the beach. It was so funny going this time to the beach because we now all know each other. The first time, everyone felt kind of awkward. This time, everyone was associating with everyone. We were all just comfortable with each this time. 

    On the Saturday, several of the girls in my group and I decided it would be awesome to go back to the beach. We were going to go all day. Well, that got changed because we found out that we had a meeting at 10:00 in the morning on the Saturday in our classroom. We were kind of upset at first that we weren't going to get a lot of tanning time in. When we walked into the classroom, there was a huge table set up very nicely and tons of good breakfast food on the table. The guys in our group (only 4 of them) decided that they wanted to bless us girls (18) with a delicious breakfast to thank us. They wrote a poem and personal notes to all of us. We had pancakes with fruit topping and whipped cream, scrambled eggs, over easy eggs, sausage, bacon, coffee, and all different kinds of juices. It was so yummy! Best meal ever! We then went to the beach after. I got really really sunburned! I look like a lobster!

    Every Thursday, we go out into an area in the city where bars, night clubs, and sex stores are really popular. We go and evangelize. I have been loving it so much! Every week I have been so encouraged because the peoples hearts are so open! You can tell God is moving in Perth. For the past two weeks, I have felt God was calling me to certain people. I would see someone and know that is who God wanted me to talk to. Each time I only talked to one person. Both people had one thing in common. They are atheist. They wanted nothing to do with religion and were not open to me sharing the love of Christ. I started off both conversations saying who I was and who I was with. That is all they wanted to hear. I felt that God was saying to me that I just needed to listen to them talk and just really pay attention to what they are saying. Smile and act joyous! 

  This week, we are learning about evangelism. It is going really good and it is definitely a week of encouragement towards evangelizing out on the streets.

  Next Tuesday, we are doing a walk-a-thon to raise the extra funds we will need for outreach. I am still $1,000 short of what I am needing. I am still praying and interceding with God that He will provide what I need to go. My school in general needs $42,000. We have all been getting up super early to really just pray that God will somehow provide. We know He will provide in some way that will really bless us. I have a form that talks about the walk-a-thon and how you can help me out. If you are interested you can email me, facebook me, or comment on this blog entry telling me you want to help out.  Give me your name and email address and I can send you the form. I am so thankful for everyone of you who follow my blog. It really blesses me that you would take time out of your day to hear a little bit about my life right now! You guys are the best!

Aussie lingo:

"Whacka" means "idiot"

"Yabber" means "talk"

"Yakka" means "work"

"Sprung" means "caught doing something wrong"

"Rubbish" means "trash" or "to criticize"

"Prezzy" means "present"

"Oldies" means "parents"

"Nipper" means "lifeguard"

FYI, Drop bears are not true!!!

Who's on your throne?

Oh my goodness. It's so amazing here. Every week, I don't think that it could get any better, but it does! It's so crazy how God is working here and through the YWAM organization. I just love it so much here! God is just awesome!

YWAM Perth:
  This week, we had a guy named Garth Gustafson from the Cambodia YWAM base come teach us in lectures. The topic was about Lordship. It basically meant that we need to really examine what is sitting on our thrones in our life. There is only room for one thing to sit on your throne. God wants to be the only one sitting in that seat. What is the main thing we always worry about or look forward to in life. For instance, our future, our reputation, marriage, comfort in things, control issues, etc. In order for us to get closer to God, we need to surrender, DTS (die to self), and then we will find the joy God wants us to have. We really looked at how big God really is. It just amazed me that I would question God. He is so big compared to me and he could kick me off this earth in a heartbeat if He wanted to, but He doesn't. Even after all of my mistakes in life, He still loves me, a sinner. Many of you know I have always felt called to be a missionary doctor. God really showed me this week that I didn't wait on His timing and really seek Him out when He told me that a few years ago. He showed me that I thought too soon. He showed me that He wants me to be a missionary doctor, but not an ordinary physician for health. He wants me to be a doctor that gives salvation to people. He wants me to be that person who saves our world from the sin in it. I had to give up my future and my desires in life. It was so hard, but I know that that is the only way I will be able to fully trust in God. The future is unknown...
  Garth told several facts about Cambodia. It really opened my view of Cambodia! There is so much going on there. They have so many people that live in poverty, go to bed hungry, and they have lots of sex trafficking. God has really opened my heart as well as others in my group to really try to the help the people somehow. That is our mission on earth, to help. This week we have a research project due. My groups focus is on sex trafficking. We have to present a powerpoint and also somehow show them different things about the lives of these people. It should be really good!
  Every Monday night, we have night lectures. We have to learn practical health care skills. This week we learned how to make something called ORS. It stands for Oral Rehydration System. It helps you to not have a serious case of diarrhea. We had to make up songs about it. It was so great!
  Tonight, we are doing a bush dance. It is a tradition in Australia. I'm not too sure what to expect tonight. They told me it's something like line dances, but I have a feeling it is nothing like that! I will make sure to tell you guys what it really is!

Aussie Lingo:

Bounce: a bully
Esky: an ice chest
Hottie: a hot water bottle
Icy pole: popsicle
Sunnies: sunglasses
Tall poppies: successful people
Tucker: food
Vejjo: Vegetarian
Togs: swim suit

Well there you go people! It has been great having all of you read my blog! Keep it up! It definitely encourages me! I am still praying about my outreach money to come in. Please stand in agreement with me that it will all come in! I love all of you guys so much!

Relief....

Oh my goodness! I really don't know what to say, but God is just so awesome! He is constantly amazing me about everything! It's so crazy! I am doing so good over here! I really do not want to come home, to be honest. I am enjoying living here so much! I am enjoying the people, the accents, the lingo....just everything!

YWAM Perth:
   Well, last week our lectures were about "Repentance and Forgiveness". I was dreading it so bad! I knew that that week would be the hardest week for me. Everyone else in my group thought it would be so hard too! I knew I had things I needed to lay down and give to God for good. I knew the only way I could be set free was to forgive and move on. I didn't realize how hard it was going to be! On the Friday, we had to stand up and repent and forgive in front of the whole class. The guy (Caleb Brownhill, the son of the people that run YWAM Perth) that taught the lectures that week told us that God doesn't only want us to confess our sins but He wants us to act in faith. I realized that was my problem. I wasn't really sorry by just confessing my sins in my head. I was going to do them again and again until I truly gave it up. I needed to confess and then repent in front of people. It was very hard for me to do that. I wanted to portray myself as a perfect little girl here. I was afraid I would lose my reputation here and not have any friends. I was so wrong. Not only did I lose my reputation, but I gained a reputation that was pleasing to the Lord and it was honest. These people really know who I am. They don't care about the past mistakes I have had in my life. We all gained a reputation that was pleasing to the Lord. We spent more than 11 hours confessing in a classroom. It has made us stronger as a group and we now have nothing to hide from each other. It feels so good. We cried, we laughed, we danced, we rapped...we are just one big happy family now! My relationship with God is so deep now. It is really unreal. I feel as though that wall is down and nothing can get in the way of me and my God. After the repentance and forgiveness was over, Caleb asked if any of us would like to share our experience now that our confession and forgiveness phase was out. I shared that I felt as if I was like Christian in "Pilgrim's Progress" and I kept carrying that burden on my back. I was so used to the burden that I got to the point to where I was okay with carrying it as long as I wasn't convicted. All I needed to do was lay it at the cross and just give it over to God. As soon as I was done confessing my sins, I felt that the burden was off of my back. I felt light and I felt the wall crumble down. I felt free. It was an amazing experience. I felt as if I just started my journey with Jesus. It's just so crazy!

  This week, we are talking about Intercession and Worship. It is so good. It's a bunch of information to take in, but I am learning so much. Our speaker is named Peter Warren. He runs the YWAM in Denver, Colorado. He has lived everywhere. His parents were missionaries. He is really good at teaching the information to us and giving us every detail and making sure that we walk away everyday with a clearer understanding of God.

Outings:
  Last Wednesday was Australia Day! It is like a Fourth of July back home. It was so fun. Several of the guys and gals at YWAM dressed up. I did too! We went down to the river and watched the fireworks. The fireworks were done to music. It was the best fireworks show I have ever seen! It was so neat to just sit and watch the fireworks by the river with a bunch of cool people. They had a rap concert or something going on while we were there.  I showed Aussie's how it's done on the dance floor. It was so funny! I got a shout out from the stage! It was so fun. I took lots of pictures! I would come back every year just for Aussie Day!

 Several of us went to the beach this past Saturday as well. We are trying to go every Saturday at some point during the day. I tried one of the best drinks I have ever had there!. It's from a place called Boost Juice. They have the best berry crush drink ever! I am obsessed! If you ever come to Australia, you need to try it!

Aussie lingo:
Ambo: an Ambulance
Cobber: what you call your friend
Brown-eyed mullet: a turd that's in the sea
Cactus: dead
Chewie: gum
They call themselves "fair dinkum Aussie's" which means "true Aussies"
Dunny: a port-a-potty

Well, That is all the news I have for now! If I have anything else to tell y'all I will let ya'll know! I miss you guys! Again, thanks for following my blog! You guys are so great!

Grateful to be here....

I really don't even know where to start on my blog this time. God has been doing some incredible things in my life this week and other people's lives in YWAM. He has showed me areas in my life where I need to grow and prosper and give it all to Him. He has showed me that I have a wall that is up that needs to be torn down in my life, but the wall will only come down if I agree to tear it down. God is so awesome! He is just so great!

YWAM Perth:

 Well, we had another week of lectures this week. We had a guest speaker named Maureen Menard come and speak. She is by far one of the best speakers I have ever heard in my life. If there is ever a convention going on in Louisiana or anywheres in the states, I would go to the convention to hear her speak again! She taught on the character and nature of God. She concentrated a lot on the Holy Spirit and how He lives in us. We don't need to ask for the Holy Spirit to fill the room we are in or what not, we just need to have an open heart for Him to do work in us. She taught on several things that I already knew about,

 This week started my Compassion DTS group outreaches in the city. It's called "Hands on Compassion". My group is called "Arms". We go into the city and supply help to the families in need in the city. We do this every Tuesday. This past Tuesday, we were called to go to this ladies house. She is a single mother of a 2 and 4 year old. When we walked in the house, I almost cried. God really slapped me in the face as I walked in. He showed me how blessed I am back in America and how spoiled I am. This ladies house smelled like cockroach poop as soon as you walked in. They put me working in her kitchen. When I opened her cabinets, there were tons of cockroaches and poisonous spiders in there. Many of you know this already, but I DON'T do bugs at all! I had to work through it. They were jumping at me and just being nasty. I wasn't even there for 10 minutes and I was already ready to go! We stayed for 3 and 1/2 hours. I felt so good after I left. My heart hurt for the little girls that whole night. I would never want a child to live in that environment. 

  Every Thursday, we have evangelism night. My group will be going every week to the area known as North Ridge. They have a bunch of  bars, nightclubs, and sex stores. We witnessed and had a time of worship in the city. It was so great and you could really feel the presence of God protecting us in that area. 

  Friday night, we had our regular FNM (Friday Night Meeting). It's like a church service. It was really good. That night, myself and several of the guys and girls I room with, went downtown to go see what the city was like at night. We had a lot of fun. We stayed out until 1:30 in the morning. 

  Saturday, a group of us wanted to go to the beach. So we went! It was so nice! I love their beach. The water is so pretty! Some of the group went back to the base because they had work duty, but a girl and I stayed and just took in the beautiful atmosphere we were surrounded by. It was so nice. 

  Today, I went to the church I am really enjoying. He taught on the favor of God. It was really good. If any of you are interested in listening to an Aussie preacher, the website where you can get podcasts is: www.metrochurch.org.au

  

Aussie Lingo:

"Arvo" means "afternoon"

"Good on ya" means "good job"

They say "God bless ya, mate" at the church I attend a lot. 

"fair dinkum" means "fat guy"

"Thongs" mean "flip flops"

"Milo" is "hot chocolate"

Fact: Vegemite is disgusting!

Ok guys, here is a little bit of information about this coming week! Tomorrow (Monday for us), we will be finding out where our outreach is. I am so excited to hear about it! They have been telling us to start gathering our money for outreach. I am at $4.668. 37. I need to get to $5,000 to have my outreach paid for completely. I know God is going to provide a way even when I don't see it. I ask that you pray for the money to come in so I can go do the work of the Lord. My God is faithful and will provide!

 Thanks so much for reading my blog! You guys rock! I wouldn't be able to do any of this without you prayers and support! I have so many stories that I will come home with! I can't wait to share them with you guys!

Australians and their culture.....

Well, another blog entry for you readers back home. It seems like every day just gets better and better. I am still trying to learn everyones names over here, but we are really and truly a big family. We laugh, cry, crack "foreign" jokes, eat alot of muffins, play games, and just simply have fun together. It's been a great experience so far.

YWAM alittle bit more:

   We have been having classes every day this week. They have been about hearing the voice of God. God has really showed me that I need to focus on what He has for my life and not worry over not really knowing. Jeremiah 29:11 has really been in my heart all week. It states, "For I know the plans I have for you". He really does know and I just need to chill out and let him do the magic. He has also showed me through Song of Songs 2:16 that He needs to be my only desire in life and I am His. Song of Songs 2:16 states, "I am my lover's and he is mine". Gosh, God is just so awesome. 

   Saturday, we went to south Perth to have a brunch just with my group. It was one of the prettiest views. Perth is built around a river that is called Swan River. Downtown Perth was built on one side and south Perth was built across the river on the other side. South Perth has a park all along the river looking over the city. We ate brunch there and played games like "big booty", frisbee, and volleyball. It was so fun. I got really sunburned unfortunately. The sun over here is soooooo different than it is back in the states. 

 This morning, I went to this church service at this church named Metro Church. It was very similar to Crossroads which made me feel at home. They sing all American songs which is funny. Australians singing American artist songs....I don't know...kinda weird. Their pastors name is Geoff Woodward. He wasn't there today because he was speaking at another church. It was funny though, they kept referring to him by saying Pastor Geoff this and Pastor Geoff that. It reminded me of Pastor Jeff back home. It was like I was back home and at church, just everyone was Australian. 

Well, I don't know what else to say except that I have finished all of my homework and I plan to sit around all day and be lazy. Maybe a nap will be in my near future. I miss all you crazy cajuns back home and plan to talk to you all through my blog, facebook, email, or skype in my near future. Oh, I will start letting ya'll in on some Australian slang or weird things they do. The next paragraph will be some things I have picked up here!

Australian slang or actions:

"Mozzies" means "mosquitos"

"No worries" means "don't worry about it"

Lesson learned: Don't EVER give the peace sign like a gansta. Over here, it means the middle finger symbol. 

"Chuck a u-ey" means "pull a u-turn"

"She'll be right" means "That's true"

"Doonas" is what they call a duvet

"Tim Tams" is a type of cookie that is popular here that is very good. You eat them with coffee, tea, or milk. (They have tea time everyday here!). You bite off both ends of the cookie and then stick it in your beverage of choice and suck the middle icing out the middle. It is awesome!

They eat vegemite like it's nobody's business (I'm not brave enough to try it yet!).

"Milo" is like a hot chocolate mix but can be used in anything. It doesn't exactly taste like the powdered hot chocolate, but it's close. They eat that stuff with spoons out the containers. 

"G'day Mate" means hello. (Most of you probably know that already.)

I hope you guys keep enjoying my blog entries as I try to keep you up to date as much as possible. I would love for you guys to please keep praying for me, my family, and my friends. Thanks and love you all so much! 

           Love a true cajun at heart who is showing these Australians how it's done,

                                Lahti Arsement

  

The Update!!

 Wow!!! Where do I even start. This has been such a journey already. I have saw God move in crazy ways already, really even before I came to the base!  I know He is going to do so much more throughout these next few months. I have already met so many welcoming friends from all over the world. I am still adapting to the Aussie accent (it's harder than you think!). In my group of students there are 20. We are known as the Compassion DTS group. Just for a little side note, many of you know I don't really like to blog, email, or journal so excuse the way I write this out. I am writing just as I am speaking it!

The road to get here: 

     Boy oh boy, was this tough! Many of you know what happened to Anna-Maria, but if not I will tell you. Anna-Maria was supposed to come with me to YWAM. We had been planning it since January of 2010 together. She always wanted to do YWAM. Well, the Saturday before flying to Perth, she had a seizure. Twenty-four hours before we were supposed to leave the States, she was diagnosed with having myo-clonic epilepsy.  They put her on a medicine right away. The sad part is that the doctors told her she would have to stay in the States for 6 months in order for them to test the medicine on her. When hearing this news, I broke apart. I was already starting to get emotional about having to leave my family, but now having to leave one of my best friends? She was supposed to be my traveling buddy on this adventure.       I had many thoughts run through my head for the whole 24 hours before my flight to leave....Should I stay home? Is this really for me? Why would something like this happen?....those were just a few of my thoughts! I asked God to give me a peace about the whole situation and show me what I was really supposed to do. He showed me immediately Mark 16:15-18 which states, "He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well'". Wow, wow, wow!! It felt like a slap in the face. How dare I question what God had already told me back in December of 2009? I knew instantly I was to still come to YWAM. It may be hard having to say goodbye, and though I may not see where light is going to come from this, I knew God wanted me here. He showed me that this group I am involved in now was not for Anna-Maria, it was for me. God has things for Anna-Maria that need to be done back home or wherever God places her. This was for me. This was my time to grow as an individual away from my family, friends, and church family. This was my time to spread my wings and fly and know that God has His hand upon me, my family back home, and my friends. This was my time to learn to trust.

Well, January 5th finally came, the day I was leaving for 6 months and 20 days. It was very hard saying goodbye to my family and friends at the airport. I cried on the flight all the way to Houston. The poor guy who sat next to me on the plane probably left the plane thanking God he was not by me anymore, but he was probably wearing some of my snot from me crying as well! Poor guy! Once I landed in Houston, it was all about getting on the next plane. If I didn't think about it, I was okay. When we got to Los Angeles, it was like a mad house. People were everywhere in that airport. Barely no one spoke English and if they did it was not very fluent.  We finally found where to check in to our next flight. The plane company is called VAustralia. I thought it sounded awesome until I sat in the plane and the pilot started speaking. Oh my gosh, the Australian accents hit me like a tidal wave! I could not understand one word the pilot was saying as he gave instructions! When they started going over the instructions for if there was an emergency, I just prayed nothing would happen because I couldn't understand the instructions. When they would pass around the food, I would have to ask 2 or 3x's  what it was. I still never understood them after the 3rd time so I would normally just pass and say, "Just water".

 We flew into Brisbane, Australia on the morning of the 7th. Back home it would have still been the 6th.  We had a 12 hour layover there which was so difficult. I was dreaming of taking a shower and sleeping! Our next flight was to Perth which left late that night. That would be our last plane ride. When we got on the last plane ride, I sat next to an older couple from Australia. They were the nicest people and were so welcoming and glad about what I was doing. They taught me different things about Australia and I taught them different things about America. When we got off the plane, we took a cab with them to our hotel. I am now corresponding with them while I am here. Shout out to Mr. Ric and Mrs. Daphne Baisden! If you haven't caught this already, I keep putting "we" as in me and someone else. My dad did come along with me for the flying part because he is going to be doing business in Perth with customers....suurrreeee!!!!!

The world of Perth...well the short version for now:

   My dad and I decided we would go out and tour the city together. This city is awesome! It's a mix between Atlanta dowtown and San Francisco. Atlanta, because the buildings look similar, just with a different name. San Francisco,  because it is very hilly and kind of mountainous. We took a 2-story tour bus around the whole city of Perth. We learned interesting and hilarious facts about Perth. The bus driver was so funny!

 The next day we went to see kangas in the bush! Let me tell ya, it is so hot in the bush! The kangas laid around like abunch of fat men and women and let us pet them all we wanted! There was a momma kanga with her joey there and it was feeding. Talk about cool! We left after staying 30 minutes because it was way to hot to be out there! We went straight to the hotel and then made our way to YWAM where he would leave me there.  It was really hard on my dad to say goodbye, but I think he realized shortly after I was in good hands!

YWAM for real:

 When I showed up, everyone came up and was introducing themselves! I felt so welcomed. They showed me my dorm and I knew I was not going to get much privacy! I share a dorm with over 20 girls. The bathroom only has 3 stalls and 3 showers. I am going to have to learn hardcore patience. Across the hall is the guys dorm and there are over 20 guys in that dorm. We all share the same kitchen which is interesting. We have over 29 nations of people at the base. In my group, we have every continent of people. It is really cool, but it is so hard to understand them and their names sometimes!

   The first full day at the base (the 10th over here, the 9th for the States), we had our first worship together as a group. I have never in my entire life experienced something like that! It was amazing! Imagine having basically every tribe and every tongue literally in the same room singing praises to God. It gave me chills. We sang songs in Spanish and in English. It was just awesome! They had an Aborigine woman speak after worship. I have never in my entire life of being a Christian met and heard a woman that was so filled with the Holy Spirit. It was the most amazing thing. You could see God just flowing through her as she prayed. When I tell you, the presence of God was in that room, He was all over that room! I have never sensed His presence so much. It makes you want to do worship like that all day! Their are some Samoans at the base who were about to leave to go minister to Mexico. They felt that they needed to share with us one of their dances and prayers. It was so awesome! That is all I can say. I am still so speechless about it still. I wanted to just rewind that day and do it all over again. It reassured this is where I need to be!

   The next day we had some classes or lectures is what they call it. That afternoon, they brought us to the beach. It was so pretty! The water was like a perfect blue. It was awesome! We stayed there all afternoon until dinner. We ate on a hill overlooking the Indian ocean!

   Yesterday, we had more lectures and we had a guest speaker for my group. It was about hearing the voice of God. It was really, really good! It made me really excited to hear the other lectures that will be happening!

  Today, we had more lectures as well as morning chores and work duties. Well, they must think I am some cook or something over here because both of my jobs deal with the food. This will definitely be interesting! Everyday for chores, I must help prepare lunch at 8:00 in the morning. My work duty....hospitality!!! I make all the sweets with 5 other girls. We take care of birthday parties at the base, doing the laundry after everyone is finished cleaning, decorating, and caring for whatever needs that the guest speakers have. I have to say, compared to some of the other peoples jobs around here, my job is legit!

The food....oh boy:

 Well, lets just say there is nothing like Cajun food. The food is so bland here and just weird. The first night for dinner, we had some cooked spaghetti noodles with no sauce and something that looked like beef. Not ground beef, like beef that was whole that they cut up once it was cooked. Some people thought it was kanga, but really, no one knew what it was. Talk about interesting. That was probably the weirdest meal. They are all pretty bland. I definitely have not regretted bringing my seasonings that is for sure! Last night, a couple of other girls and I decided we were going to go to the store to get soda. We were in heaven!

 I am taking pictures everywhere I go. I want all of you to be apart of this place with me! It is definitely a spirit filled base and as far as I can see, it is very organized. They have not told us where our outreach is yet. They are keeping that a secret! The founders of this base are Pete and Shirley Brownhill. They are an awesome couple. They live on the base with us!

Well, I think I made this long enough for my first post. Please keep praying for me, my family, my friends, and my group as we travel along through this incredible journey God has placed before all of us. Love you all!

P.S. I know people keep asking for my address over here and my email address, so here is is!

Lahti Arsement

PO Box 8501

Perth Business Centre, WA 6849

professor.klutz@yahoo.com

You can also follow me on Facebook to see more pictures!