Day 1-2: NET Changes; Pre-Training Shenanigans (8/15-8/16/20)

Well, it finally begins!! Start of a crazy new life. It sounds like I’ve never done NET before. Well, NET is basically a new system, adapting to the pandemic in the most cautious way possible. It’s a whole new year, with alot of new missionaries. It’s pretty much new to me too, which is what makes it so exciting! Two of the major changes for NET are little host families, and the immersion of virtual retreats. Places that are currently not able to come together in groups (such as California), will have the opportunity to still have NET retreats online, which is a true blessing, but I imagine it being a major learning curve for all parties involved. As for host homes, we will stay in one central location every archdiocese we travel to, and will stay there to sleep every night. It’s sad we won’t be able to meet host families like last year, but it opens up alot of opportunities for team time! Plus it means less stress for the trailer packer. It’s gonna be great. . . The alarm goes off at 6:30am. I hardly slept last night, which typically happens before I go on any flight. I took my last shower in my house, got dressed, and did one last check of the bedroom. My brother Elijah will be taking over once he gets back from the airport, so I’ve moved out most of my belongings. Momma made me some going away waffles, and I savored every bite of her homemade cooking. Once finished, we packed up my suitcase, guitar, sleeping bag, and backpack into the car, and took off for the Sea-Tac Airport. Once i arrived, we checked in my bags, and gave my last hugs to my family until December. Surprisingly not too emotional, but probably because it’s the third time I’ve done this. Security was pretty easy, and the whole flight was pretty easy! Just very excited, nervy energy. After a 3-hr flight, I landed at MSP (Minneapolis-St. Paul) airport! This is where training will be for all the NET missionaries. Once I got to baggage claim, I was met by Liz (Delano, MN), one of my best friends from NET last year. We planned for her to pick me up to catch up and grab a bit to eat. We went to Pillbox Tavern in downtown St. Paul, where I experienced my first juicy Lucy (burger with cheese stuff in it). Liz is moving on to college at the University of Mary in North Dakota, so pray for her on her new adventure. After lunch, she dropped me off at Adam T’s house (St. Paul, MN). Adam was my teammate last year, and he is taking me in for the weekend. Although he is also doing another year with me, it was amazing reuniting with him in person after 5 months. We are basically best friends, like brothers, and we just had brother time the rest of the evening, playing cards and eating pizza. It’s good to be back. . . We started our Sunday with mass at St. Joseph in West St. Paul, MN, where I saw a ton of people I knew from NET. Apparently a lot of local Netters go to this parish, and it absolutely blew my mind. When we returned, we planned to meet up with my other local teammate/brother Evan (Ham Lake, MN). We met at Raising Cane’s where we ordered food and met in the parking lot. But there was an extra person that came with Evan... it was Jakob! Jakob (Glendora, CA) was our teammate/brother that came up just to see us! I was in shock. All we were missing from the guys was Nels (Billings, MT), who we eventually called in. The rest of the afternoon was for the boys: frisbee golf, card games, guitar, and cracking jokes. Come evening time, and we put on a barbecue with the rest of the local teammates: Supervisors Jaime (TX), Christina (NorCal), and fellow second-years Sarah (Erie, PA), and Monica (Victoria, TX). They were all surprised to see Jakob as well, then we had some burgers and brots as we hung out until 11pm. We even called in teammates Roni (Chadds Ford, PA) and Ellie (Savannah, GA) and Nels to say hi. It felt like we were best friends hanging out after not seeing eachother for a long time, and it was the perfect transition I needed to prepare for this year, where I will have a new team. Also shoutout to Moriah (Littleton, CO), and Aimee (Riverside, CA), our other teammates we couldn’t get to facetiming. Family is everything, and reuniting most of the fam filled my heart. Let’s get to training!