What do I do?!?

It is my second day in Bolivia, and there is so much to say! It is really strange to me that I am finally here! The place that I am in in terms of what I can do here and my independence is very strange too.

First of all, I have to say that the situation politically here seems to be pretty calm. The one way that I can tell anything is weird is that there is a gasoline/diesel/natural gas shortage. It is pretty amazing to see all these huge trucks lined up for hundreds of yards to get their diesel, which is in very short supply. There is even less gasoline right now. Heather and I drove around for awhile this morning trying to fill up her car and didn't find any at all, which meant that we had to go to a different home than we had planned to. When gas comes into the city everyone lines up and fills up right away, so we are watching the news to find out which stations they will bring the next shipment to. I'm not sure exactly why there is this shortage. I think it could be blockades somewhere or maybe the government has some plan in all of it.

In spite of the shortage Heather and I have found a lot to do and we've been to two of the homes. Refreshing my Spanish has been soooo interesting so far. I have been really encouraged with how well I can communicate with the kids in the homes, because they are patient and will usually repeat something at least once so that I know what they are talking about. However, at the same time I am disappointed with how little I know. I don't feel confident being put into conversations with adults yet, which I REALLY want, so you can pray that God would expand my vocabulary and ability to understand the accent here quickly.
In my less than 48 hours here, I have learned that the need is great. There are two orphanages relatively close to where we live who are understaffed, so they could use me there. Also, I want to help out at Eben-ezer, the home for mentally disabled boys that I helped at before. I am praying for God's leading in this, and also that I would have the ability to do whatever He calls me to.

That whole ability thing is so frustrating for me. This is my third time in Bolivia and my third year of pretty intense Spanish study. I feel as though I should be able to be pretty independent here and not have to rely on my sister and other missionaries here so much. But so far I feel semi-helpless. I can have tiny conversations on my own but need my sister to translate far more often than I wish I needed. It is very humbling to come to serve and to see how much others have to serve me, and I'm so thankful for them.
You can pray that God would show me where He wants me and help me to be confident to use the gifts that He's given me. He won't give me more than I can handle, so I have to trust that His plan for me will be doable. Also, you can pray that I will be a willing servant in whatever way He wants me to serve. I really want to the least so that Christ can be the greatest.

I will post some pictures once I get the chance to take them, which will happen soon.
Love from Bolivia!