Catholic Mission Trips

This summer God had crazy plans for me.

I have never been to summer camp, so I thought now the only option was for me to be a camp counselor! So I started looking into different options. The beginning part is kind of blurry, I was researching all sorts of different places but I ended up applying to be a summer missionary for a company called Catholic Mission Trips. Little did I know what I was getting myself into – or rather, what God’s plans were for me.

I was accepted as a missionary, which I was thrilled about. There wasn’t much information when I got the position. So, being the super planner I am, I decided to ask a million questions over email to poor Michelle. Even though I asked a bunch of questions, the day before I was to leave for Texas for my two month mission I still didn’t know where exactly I was going, what exactly I was doing, who I would be with… really any answer at all. But I knew God was telling me to go. Also, the name of the company was Catholic Mission Trips, it’s the first thing that pops up on google…if it was a scam, it would have already been discovered, right? haha. This is how my brain works. Anyway, I flew into Dallas, Texas where I was told I was going to meet 3 other girls who were going to be missionaries with me this summer. After a few hours the 4 of us were together we were relieved to have found each other and be on this wild adventure of the unknown together. We then got in a shuttle, and were driven to Steve’s house. Steve is the owner of the company, and one of the most amazing people that you will ever meet. But at that moment in the shuttle driving to his house we were totally having a Charlie’s angel moment where we were trying to guess what he looked and acted like, and if we were ever really going to get to meet him. We finally arrived at his house where we are greeted by his beautiful wife and adorable kids. We had a quick dinner then were told we needed to grab keys and a car and follow him to his mother’s farm house where we were going to meet up with the rest of the missionaries and have training camp. Every second of the summer I was forced to let go of my controlling, constantly planning mind and trust other people and God. Let me tell you, it was not easy.

Ok, I’m not trying to write a novel here, which is what I would have to do to properly talk about this summer. It was life changing because I had to trust. Trust everything. Trust everyone. Trust God.

I had to trust that our car would make it on our 14 hour road trips that we made nearly every weekend. I had to trust in the people who were giving us a place to rest every night, I had to trust myself that I could do all the things that God was asking me to do. I had to trust God, that e would be my strength when I no longer had any.

I will give you a little look at what this summer looked like though. After 4 days of training in Texas, the other 7 missionaries and I left at midnight to drive to Harlan, Kentucky. We had our first group of about 50 high school students. Every week of the summer we had the same basic outline. We would have breakfast around 8, then go to a work project. It varied week to week in all the different states we went. Then we would go back to wherever we were staying and have dinner. Then the missionaries would do programming, which included games and talks testimonies. We would have that same schedule every day except the days that we were traveling to different states.

After Kentucky we were separated into groups of two. Wyatt was my missionary in crime. It was just the two of us in charge of everything and everyone who came to every location we were in. Steve and Michelle were just a phone call away though, that is, when they answered 😉  Also, I should mention that an amazing person named Julienne joined us for one week, I could write a book about her, so I will just say that God sent her to me when I needed her the most. God is good like that. Also, Michelle joined us for three weeks at the end! Wyatt and I went from Kentucky to Joplin Missouri for two weeks, then we went to Zuni New Mexico for 3 weeks.

Man, I wish I could talk about this summer in a clear and organized manner, but that is simply impossible.

Here is a short video that I made from the trip!

Here are some pictures!

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