Posted by Posted in Friendship, gospel and outreach, journal entries, me, Mexico, missions, Rancho3M

Journal Entries- Mission Trip to Mexico- Day 1

It was early when I got up. About 5:00 in the morning. Everything had been packed yesterday so all I had to do was get dressed, brush my teeth and grab my two backpacks on the floor. My mom drove me to the airport. We went out of our little town of Mooresville where everything was still asleep and into busy Charlotte where a lot more was going on.

After parking in the car garage, my mom went with me into the airport where we met the other people who were on the same flight, my youth pastor, two college students and a dad. A hurried hug with my mom and I was off to Mexico and Rancho3M!

I went through security, rather quickly because I was pre-check. A nice surprise. We then hurried to our gate and chilled until it was time to board, although even then we waited because we were Group 3, the last group to board. The airplane was very new and modern with screens that played TV all through the flight. Rather distracting. I mostly read a “Christians Then and Now” book on Cameron Townsend and then just sat and thought to myself.

We arrived in Dallas TX and I made the fatal mistake of NOT buying something to eat. We had a short layover there and then got on another airplane to El Paso TX. This plane had little screens on every seat which was better because I could choose what to do. I got the interactive map up on there and watched our course. After touching down in El Paso, my favorite part of the plane rides, we got to go through those swinging glass door thing, and an escalator. By now I was VERY hungry but I would have to wait even longer.

In the El Paso airport we met up with another family on our team and two couples from the Sovereign Grace Church of the Lowcountry. Dean Adamek (director of Rancho3M) and some of the early crew from our team came to pick us up. I got in the big 15 passenger van and then everyone went to an authentic Mexican restaurant for a late lunch. My stomach was very happy with this, but alas, Anna (a girl from our team) and I were of course the last ones to get our food, which we gobbled down quickly. I got chicken tacos.

After lunch, we all piled in again and headed to the border. The border crossing went well and we were in Mexico! After an hour long drive we reached the Ranch! When everyone piled out of the vans all of the kids piled on us! Hugs, hugs and more hugs. Lots of the kids remembered me and my name so when I got out some kids would yell “Priscilla! Priscilla!” Lil Cristian and Juanito were some of the ones who remembered me. It was like reuniting with family!

I settled into the dorm room, I was bunking with Sarah (a college age girl I have gotten to know on past trips down there) and then went to hang out with the kids. Some of the kids from the year before were not there, which was sad, but for the kids who were there it was, like I said, reuniting with family. We kicked the futbol around and I was delighted to find that my Spanish was an answer to prayer! While the rest of the group went on a tour I stayed back and played with the kids. I played basketball with Josefina and Bianca, some of my new friends and played tag with some of the young boys.

I went to bed very happy that night. I was there in Mexico with my dear Mexican family.

Priscilla

Posted by Posted in Friendship, stuff to do, words

The Love of A Letter

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How many of you have listened for the mail truck? When you hear it, you run down to the curb to meet it and see if there is any mail for you. There is quite a bit of junk mail, some bills and maybe a catalog for clothing. Doesn’t your heart jump when you see an envelope addressed to you? It could be a birthday card, a postcard or a letter from a friend.

According to the Huffington Post, teens now send over 60 texts a day. Everytime you get a text is it as special as receiving a letter in the mail?

Some might argue that writing letters is a waste. It wastes paper, money (for stamps), and time (who wants to sit and write letters?). But receiving a letter in the mail, is a special experience. It lets the other person know that you care about them, you took the time to make and personalize a letter to them.

As I write this, my sister is sitting across the table from me. For the last hour or so she has written four letters for friends. She has a letter box which contains stamps, envelopes, address labels, pens, cute stationary and her friends addresses. She personalized each of them, adding hearts and smiley faces to the envelopes. Carefully, she cuts stationary and scrapbook paper and writes a nice letter that sincerely inquires how her friends are doing. It makes me smile to think about the young girls who will recieve those letters. Letters bring a smile to peoples days.

“Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.”
Proverbs 16:24

How can you share love through letters? -Application

Who will you write to?
Some suggestions…
1. Someone elderly. (a grandparent or elderly neighbor)
2. Someone who needs encouragement. (a young mom, a person who is sick)
3. Someone you want to get to know better.
4. Your friends.
5. A penpal. (you can probably even get a penpal overseas)
6. Someone you don’t see a lot. (a cousin, friend who moved away)

What should I include in my letter?
Some suggestions…
1. a Bible verse
2. a brief update on how you are doing
3. a sincere inquiry on how they are doing
4. a question to have them answer
5. a game (my sister plays tic-tac-toe with her penpal through letters)

A couple tips…
-make it personal! (stickers, drawings and small gifts)
-if writing a birthday card try to send it off at least a week before the birthday
-try to respond as soon as you can after you receive a response

I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world. Mother Theresa

Thank you for reading.
Priscilla

Posted by Posted in 100 Hard Things Challenge, challenges, do hard things, faith, Friendship, myth of adolescence, teens, teens doing big things, the rebelution

#30- Visited a Spanish Church

So I am intensely trying to learn Spanish. I got gobs of books on Spanish at the library, I am doing Spanish workbooks and I have a Spanish learning app that I use every day. But I needed somewhere where I can listen and speak the Spanish language. Not just write and read it. So my mom suggested I find a Spanish church to visit and get connected in the hispanic community here in Mooresville. We saw a sign for a church and this afternoon I found myself walking down to the ol’ church house with my mom and Spanish new testament in hand along with a carefully translated paragraph explaining why I was there just in case I got tounge tied. (or in case I didn’t know how to say it because I procrastinated learning Spanish last semester) I was nervous. What if I didn’t know what to say? What if they laughed at me in Spanish? It isn’t any old situation that could make Priscilla nervous. 🙂 However, breathing a quick prayer I pushed open the door to the church and strode in, expecting dozens of Spanish eyes to stare at me. Instead five friendly pairs of eyes smiled at me, welcoming me in. And that is how Mario, Yolanda, Sierra, Juan and Pudi came into my life. They are the five sweet members of the small church. They truly had hearts for the Lord and were accepting of me and trying to help me learn, translating in English every once and a while. They prayed over me and I know that in the future they might be a big part of God’s plan for me. Who knows what will happen if you take that step of faith?

Priscilla

Posted by Posted in 100 Hard Things Challenge, challenges, do hard things, faith, Friendship, myth of adolescence, teens, teens doing big things, the rebelution

#23- Started Commenting on the Rebelution

So the guys who wrote the Do Hard Things book (Alex and Brett Harris) have a blog called the rebelution and one of the aspects of the blog is that teens can post discussion questions and other teens can respond with their thoughts. I recently made an account on the Rebelution blog and now am taking part in discussions. This was hard for me because sometimes I enjoy sitting back and listening to others talk but sometimes I need to go out and make my voice heard and engage in Christian community. I hope to be able to have good discussions and conversation with other Christian teens through doing this!

Priscilla

Posted by Posted in 100 Hard Things Challenge, Bible, challenges, do hard things, faith, Family, Friendship, Home, Living for God, me, myth of adolescence, teens, teens doing big things, the rebelution

#15- Accepted a challenge for youth group

Sorry I haven’t written for a while! Life is busy :b Anyway for my hard thing….. Our next meeting, our youth group will be talking about gossip and sins of the mouth. My youth pastor sent out some verses to look over beforehand. I accepted the challenge to look them over. Over the past week I have been reading and then summarizing what I learned in each verse so I can think and ponder over the verses throughout the day. I am very grateful for having a youth group that challenges me, teaches me and guides me in the ways of God. In the past we have been challenged to read the whole New Testament and then later on read the whole Bible. (I am still working on that…I hope to finish in December which would mean that I did it in about a year 🙂 ) Thank you God for giving me such a great youth group!

Priscilla