Mission Trip 2012...Wrapping It Up

I know I didn't post the last day, but I figure I'd update here, and give some final thoughts on this amazing trip.

The last day we were there, we got to sleep in (thank you God) and then we did a final sacred space with our families. Keeping up with the sacred space book is a great way to add scripture and prayer into your life. Read and reflect on what each passage is saying, both literally, and how to incorporate it into everyday life and keep up the radiant joy we had all week. After we did that and had breakfast, we went to Holy Family, to play with kids who had been neglected and abused in their homes. It was so sad because they thought no one loved them. But by playing with them for one day, we put a smile on their faces, and allowed them to feel loved, even if it was only for one day. We put on a BBQ for them and played basketball, ultimate frisbee, and face paint. The kids totally enjoyed all these activities. My little brother got hurt so i kept him company. When we got back, we started a volleyball tournament with all the families. Mine lost first, and congratulations to Marvin Williams family for winning! We cleaned up, and the graduated seniors and college kids went out to dinner to celebrate and give them advice on going to college. When we got back, we met with our families one last time, to talk about how we can continue the Joy and how to keep the "Jesus High" going once we get back. We then packed up cleaned up and went to bed.

We woke up bright and early and headed to breakfast, then to the cars. We were out on the road by 7:45. Colette and I kept each other awake on this drive home. We had a great time and great conversations. We were the first back into town and then proceeded to wait for the other groups at North Pitt. Once all 22 vans, our car, the big luggage truck, and Ruffalo's Van were all in line, we caravanned to the church...we had a police escort (NBD). All the parents were there to welcome us. We had a final blessing and unloaded the truck. All the kids went home and it was over.

My final thoughts on this trip: It was amazing. I had no idea what to expect and it was a millions times better than I expected. I want to thank Joe Farris for allowing me to go on the trip. I want to thank Colette and Lisa for putting on a wonderful trip. I think that this is the best experience I have ever had. To think that we affected over 7500 people while we were up there, blows my mind. The spirit of these teens amazes me because they love to help. So many places we went, the people were like "where do you find teens like this?" It was absolutely awesome to see these teens do all this work through Jesus Christ, with so much Joy and Love.

I prayed so much on this trip, for obstacles in my life, and answers to questions I didn't know the answers to, or how to handle things. I want to thank Father Justin and Elaine Hughes, for talking to me and helping me find some answers. I really appreciate it. I prayed for each of the teens, that they continue their faith and spread joy throughout their daily lives.

St. Peter's is so blessed to have teens, adults, and families that go on this trip every year. However, one man makes this trip mean so much more. Father Justin, thank you for coming on this trip. Thank you for listening to teens confessions each day, staying up till 3 in the morning some days. Thank you for your wonderful homilies. They help us to relate to our lives, and learn so much more about our faith and your love for Jesus, and how we can be more like that in our lives. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you for coming on this trip, and I wish you the best of luck in Rome.

The kids made this trip so much better. Their faith, loving, and willingness to do work with so much Joy and little complaining. I had so much fun.

1 week. 127 teens. 27 adults. 5 college kids. 1 mission. 7500 people affected. 1 wonderful priest. 1 faith. and last but no least, MANY changed lives.

Mission Trip Day 6: if you listen answers will come

Today was the last day of work at the worksites!!! Our teens were so excited and went out with a bang! They worked hard and pushed each other and I couldn't be more proud of them!  After work my mama and aunt and cousins came to the monastery for a quick visit! I'm so glad I got to see them even for a quick trip.  It seems like I'm rushing through describing the day, but these last two sections are very important to me. A few days ago I posted on here that I thought that me having to deal with so much illness and death in my family, was my cross in my faith. A good friend of mine, Elaine Hughes otherwise known as my second mother, planted a seed in my head that maybe it wasn't a cross, just that it was time for them to be with God instead of me, and to ease the pain each family member had been experiencing. That made so much sense to me and I sometimes feel God did this so I would get the joy of sharing my grandfathers and other family members to the younger generations. Don't get me wrong it's still very hard, but it made more sense to me. So since then, I've been praying that I get the answers to know my grandfathers are alright and that it's okay or give me a sign as someone I can pray to to help me. Well, today at Mass, it happened to be the Feast of St. Anne. She was Mary's mother who had a lot of unknown answers to questions when Mary was pregnant out of marriage and had to leave, not seeing the birth of her grandson or seeing him in the first bit of his life. St. Anne was very strong in her faith and became known as a saint to pray to when you don't know answers and are unsure. As Father Justin was explaining this I felt like someone had slapped me in the face saying "hey are you listening". It is also ironic that the name who I could pray to for my questions of uncertainty is also my middle name. It almost seemed like everything was lining up. So I quickly called Mrs. Hughes to share my realization and I cannot thank you enough for calming me down enough to pray for a sign. If you are reading this, I truly appreciate it :) Finally, we ended the night with Jackie Francois. She lead us through Adoration and worship. It was truly amazing to pray in the presence of Jesus and to see the teens reactions and prayers. Each teen handles Adoration a certain way. Some cry and some dont shed a tear. It's okay because each person is moved in a different way. It was a beautiful, beyond amazing night.  Thank you for the continued prayers and support thought this week and the preparation up to this week. I honestly appreciate it, so thank you from the bottom of my heart.  God Bless, Lyndsey. 

Mission Trip Day Five

Today was a fun day. We woke up at 7 and went to a short quiet mass.   We went to our worksites after a quick breakfast. The excitement of the day came with another group busting a gas line. Our crews had to evacuate the area while police cars, fire trucks, and gas companies checked out the area. Eventually we got back to work painting staining and trimming the homes and surrounding areas.  After a long day we got home for a short rest and then packed up the cars on the way to Kennywood. We had chickila sandwiches and brownies. I also had a mountain dew so I was just a "little" hyper. My ride partners Dani and Jim praised Danny for putting up with me when I'm hyper. They said and I quote: "God bless him." Buttt anyways we rode all the roller coasters and I kept the panic attacks and freak outs to a minimum. I really enjoyed my time at kennywood.  After being back, Father Justin closed out the night with a prayer and blessing. He stayed up till 3 am for confessions for teens. We are so blessed to have him on this trip. While at Kennywood I got him his food and got his drink for him. First he checked that I was "danny's lyndsey" then proceeded to tell me how grateful and honored he was because he didn't usually get or accept the attention. He said he wasn't used to it because he's so determined to do stuff himself. He told me I was a good young adult and inspiration to him and the teens so that made me feel very special.  Thank you for the prayers and keep them coming!!! 

Day four a little late

The day started yet again with a rude awakening with pots and pans being banged outside their doors. With all the excitement from the night before, the teens were excited to see what we had in store for them.  When they were up and ready we met with our families for sacred space. We talked about the reading for the day. We talked a lot about forgiveness and how important it is to forgive yourself and others.  Next the teens continued to their worksites where they continued to paint, stain, and serve others through Christ. It rained a little bit and a lot of groups went to Rita's Italian Ice and Goodwill.  After everyone got back we had Mass and dinner. After dinner, the teens got a surprise gift that went along with the night.  The meeting tonight was truly a miracle. We watched a video on Father Kapaun and his life as a Chaplin and how he sacrificed so much for the men in his unit. We had the joy and pleasure of having Nick Dellasega come and tell his story. He told us how the events that happened on the day of his accident have been ones that are helping to consider Father Kapaun as a saint. This was a real pleasure and joy to hear and to meet a man who had a true miracle. At the end of the night, Nick gave us each dog tags for Father Kapaun to pray for us.  At the end of the night, Father Justin heard confessions from students and we had a going deeper session for the teens. This was a deeper discussion on the scripture.  Please pray for us as we continue to work for the people of Pittsburgh through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Mission Trip Day 3: Dont Ring the Bell

Hey y'all I hope you are all having a good start to the week. Today we started our work and I must say I am exhausted. We first had the duty again of waking people up, yet this time we used songs and pots and pans. We definitely got some nasty looks but most were awake!  We then had our sacred space meeting with our families. This is where we use our guide book that has a reading or gospel for each day of the week. We use these readings and talk about them and how to apply them to our trip an our lives. Today's was about how God does not want the riches and the oils and and all the grand things, He just wants the small things in life. The simple I love you or I am proud of you. It does wonders for the soul to just talk to someone and make their day. It also talked about treating people fairly and justly no matter what their status is. Once you are on the right path with God and surrender yourself to him, you will be so much more joyful.  Then we had breakfast and were on our way to our first work site. We went to the Nazareth Center where we helped them in many ways. First we repainted doors. Now while that seems easy, there was built up rust we had to scrape and sand off. We did the same thing for all the doors, some parking poles, and windows. However challenging, my family worked hard and worked together to help serve others through Jesus Christ.  We had free time, mass, and dinner family style. The food was excellent and I got to know my new family a little better. We talked about everything from grandparents to BBQ.  After dinner, father Justin took us to the crypt to see some of the tombs and relics of the founding and influential passionists. This was very cool to see and once I can connect my camera to the computer when I get home I will post pictures!  Then it was play time for the kids where there were two rocking games of ultimate frisbee and volleyball. I sat and reflected in the nice weather on a bench. It Was hard and beneficial at the same time. I was reflecting on the dinner where I couldn't give input on my grandpas because they died so long ago when I was so young. It's always been a hard topic for me and I can't always explain why I feel the way I do when I think of God taking away my grandfathers. Anyways I prayed that I would get answers and continued on to watch the kids show true joy.  Time for the nightly program. At the beginning of the night there was praise and worship and a message from Joe Farris telling us he missed us. Tonight we had singer and speaker Kelly Pease. She talked about her family and her faith and how she grew in her faith. She played a song titled "Making Space". It was about her father because he died when she was so young. It talked about how he father would view her and how she would get to know her father if he were alive today. Now, if you substitute father for grandfather these were the exact same thoughts I was thinking earlier about my grandfathers. In my life I have almost written that song in my head. It was a rough song to listen to and the years kept flowing. All I thought about was why God put so much death in my life at a young age. Why was that my cross to bear? Why couldn't someone else or better yet no one have to know what it's like to have a death in the family every two years. It just didn't seem fair to me.  Anyways the night continued we prayed and sang some more then she tells us to close our eyes and pray. It was totally silent. After a few minutes we hear this voice. Not the one we had just heard. We look up and it's none other than our fearless leader Joe. It was a surprise to EVERYONE including our stand in leader Lisa. Tears came pouring down my face and many others showing joy and shock. He came all the way from Georgia just for the night to send us a message. His message talked about not giving up, not ringing the bell so to speak. Be willing to stand up and protect others to die for others in the name of Jesus. Don't give in to peer pressure or the need to be like others. Don't stand idle in your faith. He challenged us to go out and do something this week to prove our faith. Be ourselves don't give into temptations and to not ring the bell no matter what. He said to let go of the pressure to fit in, let go of what's holding you back. We prayed with our leaders and teens and gave the teens strength to grow strong and to not ring the bell at any cost.   Today was a hard tear filled night for me. I've come to realize that I don't fall for "what's cool" or peer pressure to fit in. I don't doubt anything in my faith except for why God gave me the cross that I carry. I knew that would be the thing to make me ring the bell. And I have to find out why he did this to me. I have to figure out what I have in my life that made me strong enough to hold this cross since God does not give crosses to people who can't handle it. I agree with this but I have a hard time accepting this sometimes. I don't think it's fair that my sister and I are the only ones of my cousins that knew my Grandpa Schemmel. It's up to us to tell the cousins about him when it hurts to talk about it cause I think it's unfair. It is definitely something I will work on this week and in the future.  Tomorrow is another work day and we are going to the food bank. I will update again tomorrow.  Goodnight and God Bless 

Mission Trip Day 2: adding laughter to joy

Adding laughter to our lives to make us mor joyful. That was one of the main themes for the day. The first thing we college kids got to do was wake up the teens. They were not too happy with us but we were the brightest we could be to add joy to their lives that early in the morning. Ten we gathered for breakfast where Patty Bloom saved the day giving me one of her diet cokes and buying me an SD card for my camera! Thanks!! Then we all walked together to St. Paul of the Cross Monostary Church. The church and monastery we are staying at is the founding for the Passionist Priests in the USA. It has beautiful pictures stain glass and paintings. There was a beautiful mass said and it was a great way to start our morning. After mass we walked back and had lunch. I had a cheese sandwich cause I had no desire to eat a hamburger after not even remembering the last time if ever having a hamburger. Soooo immediately after lunch we left for Sandcastle water park! I got over some fears of heights and got to talk with some of the adults I haven't really met before. I know at least that I was radiating joy being at the park and seeing all the kids having a blast! We left the park and had dinner which was tacos. They were very good! Then the kids had free time and I played volleyball with a large group of teens and hurt my wrists...but I'll be okay!! Then came time for the daily program. It was a comedian Judy McDonald who is a catholic comedian. She put on an amazing show for us and made us laugh till there were tears in our eyes and cramps in our abs. She really did an excellent job in showing us how laughter can be the best medicine and help us find comedy in tough situations to be joyful. We met with our families to go over important reminders and to make lunches for the next day. Tomorrow we start our work in the community. Each group will go off to a different location and do a certain job whether it be paint, or chop trees, serve food to the homeless, or visit with the orphanage or elderly folks. I'm not 100% sure on what we'll be doing so make sure you stay tuned!! Thank you for praying for us and please continue throughout the coming week! God Bless.

Mission Trip 2012 Day 1

Hey y'all I'm just laying in bed after the first day of the mission trip. We left about 7:20 after a scary start when one of our own had a seizure. Luckily he's okay and he will be heading up here with his dad tomorrow. I drove up with Colette and we had good conversations the whole way up. We only made 2 stops and 1 drive through to star bucks so we made good time and were the 2 nd car here. We were able to get settled before the vans with all the teens arrived! Then there was the mad rush to find luggage and room assignments! Dani, Carrie and I are sharing a room that is actually the confessional so it's interesting. We do have a shower in our room so we are thankful for that. After everyone was settled we had pizza!! Then the teens went outside to hang out for a few minutes while the adults had their meeting. We college kids got the pleasure of monitoring the teens so we got to meet some new faces and say hello to the old. After the adults had their meeting, we welcomed the teens with some praise and worship played by the amazing and talented Billy. After Joe Hughes gave a wonderful talk about being happy and joyful. What it meant and how to achieve it. Two things he said stuck out. One was to stop trying to please others to make you happy. If that's all you do you won't be happy and they will grow to expect more and more from you. The second thing he said was that God gave us everything we needed to be happy at anytime. To be happy comes from inside you. I never thought of it that way and it was truly inspiring and gave us all something to think about. Are we truly 100% joyful and happy in our lives? I know I am going to try and work on that starting right now starting with this trip. After that we went into the church and got our group assignments! I am excited to get to know these teens. Now time for a wonderful night sleep and a bright and early morning! Hope to update tomorrow! God bless! Lyndsey