Days 52-54: My weekend in MA

After being introduced to St. Agnes last night, we led a confirmation retreat today for about 40 youth. That morning, I learned I would give my first talk! I got assigned Strength in Numbers, which is about the power of friendship. Jaime told me it was approved the morning of, and it went so smoothly, and was really happy about how it went. Because I gave a talk, I didnt get a small group, which was also a nice break. This allowed me to catch up with Jaime, so overall it was such a fruitful retreat for me personally. After the retreat we had time to practice other talks that we had assigned, which allowed me to record my True Grit talk I was assigned weeks ago. Afterwards, Chris took us to Wahlburgers, my first time! It was a solid burger no doubt. At this point, it was around 8:30pm, but Chris wanted to take us to the Topsfield Fair, the oldest fair in America (est. 1818). When we arrived at around 9:30, they werent allowing anyone else in. Fortunately, Chris talked his way in, and we got to experience the fair!! It was so beautiful, and we got to enjoy some Fair specials. For example, the whoopie: a donut sandwich with cream filling in the middle. It was nasty, but oh so delicious. Then Chris, Ellie, Moriah, and I wanted to hit up a ride. So we went on the thunderbolt, a ride that spins you around forwards and backwards at a pretty speedy pace. Well since we were the last group to go in, the workers said screw it, and allowed us to ride for 12 minutes! Extremely good value no question. From there we returned home. I wont lie, as much fun as it was, I really wanted to hang with Jordan and Rosa a little more. . . The next morning, we got up fairly early to leave for Taunton, MA, an hour away from Middleton. We led another confirmation retreat at St. Anthony’s Parish. The retreat started really rough: no participation, didnt wanna be there, etc. Fortunately, the kids opened up more and more throughout the retreat, which I was happy about. That night, we stayed at an empty rectory, which was a 5-story mansion, including an attic and basement. The guys went up to the attic, and saw a ladder leading up to another door. Evan cracked it open, and found the roof!! All the guys climbed up and we chilled out for an hour, hanging out as a brotherhood while looking out on Taunton. . . After leading 9 retreats in 10 days and the other being the 12-hour travel day, we had our first team day!! We kept priorities straight by sleeping in, then had team prayer at St. Mary’s Parish across the street. Afterwards, Jaime led the guys in a Men’s Session at Panera, which was extremely fruitful. When we returned home, we did another team activity that would see our strengths and weaknesses as a team. While we still have the same issues as the last activity, which was too much leadership and not enough listening, you could tell there was lots of progress made since the last activity a month ago. Then after more group discussion, the pastor dropped off KFC dinner for us, which we truly enjoyed. From there it was chill hangout with the team: a quick Target run followed by a round of Catholic Card Game. Definitely enjoyed my last night in Massachusetts, but also cannot wait to see what’s in store for us in Maryland!