Even in darkness. In her most recent mission update, Jill Duggar opened up about how August ended "on a sad note" and the "difficult days" her family is currently facing in the wake of her older brother Josh Duggar's cheating scandal.
The mom of one, 24, took to the Dillard family blog on Monday, Aug. 31, to share the latest from Central America, where she and husband Derick Dillard are currently on a long-term trip. "Hey everyone! August has been a busy month for us," the 19 Kids and Counting alum wrote. "And as so many of you know, it has ended on a sad note for my extended family. Please do pray for our family. We are so thankful for God’s grace during difficult days."
Jill was alluding to Josh's cheating confession in late August, after Gawker revealed that he had two accounts on infidelity website Ashley Madison. In the wake of the scandal, Josh — a married father of four — checked himself into a long-term treatment facility last week, while his parents shared in a statement that their "hearts were broken" over their son's second crisis of 2015.
Prior to the cheating revelation, Jill and Derick announced in June that they were moving to Central America with their infant son, Israel, to serve overseas. "This last month has been a bit of a whirlwind for us with a quick trip to the U.S. and back here to Central America over the weekend," Jill wrote on her blog. "When we were first invited to our friend, Michaella Bates', wedding we didn't think we were going to be able to make it. But once we realized that we needed to make a trip back to the States to do some filming for the upcoming TLC documentary [Breaking the Silence, which aired on Aug. 30], we were thrilled that the dates coincided with that of the wedding!"
Despite the dark times for her family, Jill said seeing everyone again was wonderful.
"It was definitely worth it when we took off for a great reunion with family and friends! It was a lovely wedding celebration!" she dished. "My younger sister and her best friend, Carlin Bates, came home with us! It's been a blast having company and they've been such a great help to us while we bury ourselves in the books! I will not want them to leave after their two week visit! I love having them here for the friendship and Israel certainly loves all the extra attention!"
On the cultural front, both Jill and her husband have been immersed in taking Spanish lessons.
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"Verbs! Verbs! …and more verbs! LOL. This is what Spanish class has looked like for both Derick and I recently," she wrote. "We are enjoying our classes and are so blessed to have each other to bounce questions off of since we are taking the same classes. The way our school teaches is individualized, so we each have an instructor. This really helps us to be immersed and practice conversational Spanish everyday. It has opened up good opportunities for both of us to talk about the Bible and pray with our teachers. Thank y'all for continuing to pray for us! We will keep the updates coming and will try to do so with more frequency so keep checking our website for more! We are so grateful for your partnership and friendship as we work to bring many to Christ in Central America!"
Meanwhile, Jessa Duggar and her husband, Ben Seewald, shared links to a sermon called "Passions That Prevent Adultery" on Monday, the same day that Ben's dad ripped Josh in a blog post.
"Though I have never gotten to know Josh very well, I have great respect for his sorrowing parents and immense sympathy for his dear wife, Anna, and their four children," Jessa's father-in-law, Michael Seewald, wrote. "It distresses me to say that Josh Duggar’s greatest sin is a byproduct of the sum total of his secretly sinful lifestyle. That is, that by his hypocrisy, he blasphemed the name of God. He claimed to be a Christian, but by his deeds he has suggested otherwise. With the name of God on his lips he lived a covert and extensive lifestyle of evil."
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