Still In Scotland

Hello everyone!

Oh how plans have been changing! Haha! Flexible has been the theme of this last week. SO for those of you who don't know my team was supposed to leave for Turkey last Saturday but due to a volcano erupting in Iceland all flights were grounded and we were not able to leave. Since then we have been trying to book a new flight to Istanbul but things have not been going so smoothly. As of now...we are booked on a flight for this coming Saturday so if you could please be praying that that does actually happen haha. We are all feeling very ready to leave and go to Turkey :) Other than that things have been really good. Technically outreach has still started so we have been helping out around the Seamill base with cleaning and other practicalities. Along with that we have been doing quite a lot of worship and prayer times a long with some extra lectures from a few guest speakers so that has actually been pretty fun :) Right now we are pretty much relying on God to tell us what to do next haha which is the whole point right?! :D I know this post is extremely short but I have limited time on the internet now so I will have to leave you with that. God Bless you all and please keep my team in your prayers and that we will make it to Turkey safely on Saturday! Love and miss you all!!!

-Kaitlyn

Stirling!

Hello again everyone! So last week we had a fairly unorganized week. Tuesday and Wednesday we were joining in on a Seamill staff meeting called Face-to-Face which was basically lots of prayer, reading scripture, more prayer, and encouragements for the community. It was very nice to be a part of it. Thursday we all hopped into the base cars and drove to Glasgow where our school staff took us to a Mosque. The building was absolutely beautiful! We had a very nice man take us on a tour of the Mosque while telling us about the Muslim faith and some of their practices. It was very interesting to me being that I knew absolutely nothing about it. The prayer room was about as big as a football field...it was amazing. One interesting point was that all the girls had to wear head scarfs...it was actually kind of fun to sort of submerge into the different culture.
On Saturday I pretty much just hung out around the base. I spent most of the day reading because we have to read 3 books on a reading list while we are in Turkey...and I would just prefer to read all 3 of them now before we leave so I don't have to stress out. I'm on my third book right now and it is my favorite! It is called 'The Heavenly Man'. If any of you have time to read a book soon this book is amazing. It is an amazing story about how God protects, provides, loves, etc.
Sunday was the best! Bre and I took the trip out to Stirling cause I have been wanting to see the William Wallace monument. Stirling is such a beautiful little city. When we got to the location of the monument we realized we would have to hike up a gigantic hill just to get to the foot of the thing. Then once we reached the monument we would have to climb up 246 steps on a narrow spiral staircase to get to the top! It was so much fun...I'm quite sore now but it was completely worth it. When you would run into someone on the staircase we would have to flatten ourselves against the wall so they could get by haha! When we finally got to the top the view was absolutely breath taking! It was a gorgeous sunny day in Scotland and you could see all of Stirling from the top of the monument! I took a lot of pictures and I have already posted them on facebook so check them out :) I was so happy I got to go see the Wallace monument...I will never forget it!
This week we have been learning about missions because we are leaving on Saturday for Turkey! Yay! I can't believe it is so soon! It doesn't seem real. I will only be able to get online once a week from what the leaders tell me so I will update as often as I can but I'm not sure how often that will actually be. But just so you all know...due to Internet security issues while in Turkey I will have to refer to some things differently on here from what they tell me. I am a student with University of Nations with a bible school and we are in Turkey to learn about the culture and such. When I refer to God I will be saying Dad....So if I say Dad is doing some amazing things...while my daddy(Larry) does do some amazing things...I love you daddy...that isn't what I am talking about haha!
I started packing tonight and I am actually going to go try and finish that right now. I hope you all are doing well back home! As always I am missing you so much...I can't wait to tell stories of what will happen in Turkey. Love you and God bless!!
-Kaitlyn

Edinburgh

Hello again everyone! I hope you all had a lovely Easter :) Well today marks the last day of long weekend for us here in YWAM...and what a great long weekend it has been! Thursday was our last day of lectures on Spiritual Warfare which was surprisingly not that terrifying haha. I am quite happy to report that the week went very well and only a few times did I get uncomfortable (which is saying a lot :P).
Friday morning(6:20am) Kari and I left the base for the train station where we would start our long journey to Edinburgh. Ok it wasn't that long...Two 1 hour train rides really wasn't so bad haha. The trains here are actually very cozy. We arrived in Edinburgh around 9:30am and then had to proceed to find out which bus, out of the practically 50 buses we could take, was the right one to get us to our hotel that was about 4-5 miles away from the city center. Luckily some nice locals helped us out and directed us to the right bus stop :) Because we couldn't find any hostels with openings due to the busy weekend we were staying at the Holiday Inn. It was so nice! Kari and I both loved the fact that there was a pool, hot tub, and sauna to relax in. We also had our first experience with UK television :| Wow! I don't know if we just got the bad luck watching UK soap operas or if it was their actual regular programs but Kari and I spent the whole time watching them laughing and making fun of every scene haha.
Throughout our stay we just explored the city :) Edinburgh is the most beautiful city I have ever seen! There is so much history there. All the architecture and buildings are very old and absolutely breathtaking. There are monuments and statues on practically every corner documenting Scottish history. It was so much to look at...I wish I would have had a month there instead of just 2 1/2 days. Edinburgh castle was amazing to look at. We didn't actually get to go in cause it was a little pricey and SO crowded we decided that pictures from the outside would suffice. I think my favorite was the Scott Memorial...it was incredible to behold! I will be posting pictures later on today :)
It was a much needed break from base life and I am so happy I got to go :) We both needed the chance to relax and not be worrying about what task we must complete next or where we have to be in the next hour. It was good to just go with whatever seemed good at the time. We both got a chance to just sit and talk about God and life and what God has been teaching us since arriving here. It was a lot to process but in a relaxing and beautiful environment :) I hope that if any of you every get the opportunity to go to Edinburgh that you will go!
Up next is a chaotic week with no particular subject. Then the week after that is our last lecture week on missions...and then Saturday the 17th we leave for Istanbul, Turkey! It is coming up so fast I can't believe it. I haven't heard much about how the Internet situation will be like there but I will be trying as often as I can to update on my blog while I'm there. Well that is all for now folks...be looking out for pictures of Edinburgh on my face book very soon! Loving and missing you all like always :) God bless

-Kaitlyn