Days 69-71: St. Peter’s

In a strange turn of events, we got to sleep in back-2-back days! How incredible. We had an evening retreat, so we didnt have to report to the church till 10:30am, and it was only for team prayer. After TP, we had a few hours to do team rec things before the retreat. Since it was rainy outside, and had a whole facility to ourselves, we decided to make a movie. Sarah had the day off, so we chose to make a movie based around The Office about what would happen if Sarah was not around to control us. It took and hour and a half to film, and Ellie directed and edited the film with the assistance of Evan and Aimee. It turned out so hilarious, and all of us had a great time making the film. Afterwards, we had time to work on talks and testimonies, which was super productive for me. Then the retreat began, only today I had the retreat off with Sarah! I was looking forward to this, especially just having one-on-one time with her since we havent had any yet. First things first, we went to Mod’s Pizza, since they have fantastic gluten-free pizza, and because she was gluten-free and she hadnt been before. She enjoyed it, and I enjoyed my first Mod’s in two months. Then we left for a Barnes and Noble and just talked. The conversation was extremely fruitful and necessary for both of us, and I enjoyed my time with her. Although when we returned, the team was a bit shook up. The team expected only 80 youth, but instead got 110, which hasnt happened before, and on top of that it was a rowdy crowd. Nonetheless they said it was still a solid retreat, and that was that. . . The next day had a similar schedule, except I was on retreat and we went to 8:30am mass. What I enjoyed about today was Team Prayer was a little different today than usual. Typically we would do praise and worship, but Sarah decided to switch it up and have the team pray over each of us individually. It was super cool, plus I was able to call on gifts of the Holy Spirit such as healing and a little bit of tongues! A fun time. Today’s retreat was expected to be the same as yesterday, according to the youth minister. This time, though, there were 10 of us (Nels had the day off), and we were ready for the worst. Yes, they were rowdy, but we were able to control them in an orderly way, and it turned out to be a decent retreat! Although I’m very excited for tomorrow. . . What’s today you might ask? Our first Holy Day of No Obligation on the road! Well, we did have a few obligations: mass, lunch, and dinner, but besides that we could do what we wanted/needed. So I explored downtown Olney. In the morning, a group of us to Chick-fil-A and thrift shopping before heading to lunch at St. Peter’s. After lunch, I walked with Nels and Evan to a barber shop so we could all get fresh new cuts! I enjoyed my haircut, Evan said it got cut too much on top, and Nels feels it was a rip off for getting a razor size 4 all around his head. From there I split off, and I began making phone calls while trying to find a coffee shop so i can blog. Both calling and blogging was super therapeutic and refreshing. Once i returned to the church for dinner, we headed back to host homes! It was the first night where we got back home before 9:00pm, so Adam and I got to spend time with the Cooley family. We’ve been waiting for this moment since we arrived to their home, so we made the most of our time together. Such a fun family to hang with as we watched the NBA season opener together. Once they hit the sack, I retreated back to my room to make a couple final phone calls. Ooh, another thing: we are beginning a phone fast! Most of the team will turn in their phones for the week for further team investment, hence the amount of calls today. I am looking forward to this time, and I believe itll be super fruitful.