Days 139-143: Return to LA, and the Legend of Gordon McKernan

A normal morning as a NET Missionary: wake up, pray, eat breakfast, and travel somewhere new. This was the case today as we were once again leaving the Little Portion Hermitage in Arkansas. We said goodbye to Brother John and Team 8, and continued to make our way down south. Today, we drove through Oklahoma and Texas, two new states I have never been to. This was a huge milestone for many reasons. For me personally, It was my 38th and 39th US State. For the team, Texas is the 25th state we have driven through! That is insane, and it’s barely been 4 months! We stopped in Greenville, TX, where we stayed with the Holleman family. Their daughter is on mission staff, and works in the NET offices in St. Paul. Moreover, both parents went on NET, and her two older siblings did NET as well, and likely her younger sister who was interviewing at the time. So they love NET, and we loved them. They have four kids at home, three of them boys, and we had an awesome time playing ping-pong and eating Texas BBQ with them. They wanted us to treat this weekend like a retreat site, a time for us to relax. This is what we plan on doing. . . They live on a 100-acre farm, with farm animals and a small pond area right off the railroad. There was much to do and much to explore. So, after team prayer, it was essentially a free day. This allowed me to call up Juliana, a Netter from last year, who is a really close friend of mine and Amanda and Sam, who all did NET last year with her. She came over for team prayer, and hung out the whole day with us as we hung out with the animals, went railroad running and jumped on a mini zipline that went over the water. It was a very special day, and a peaceful one at that too. We even ended the night with a jam session! The Holleman’s have a mandolin, and I borrowed their guitar. My heart was at peace, life is good. . . As much as we wanted to stay longer, we had to return to Baton Rouge and the Elizabeth’s family. So early Sunday morning we went to mass at the Holleman’s home parish, and began driving east. Before arriving, we had a couple adventures. First, we had Whataburger, a Texan’s favorite burger joint. Second, we visited Brenden’s dad’s house, hoping he would be there but unfortunately was not. Finally, we visited Louisiana Tech University, where Elizabeth went to college, where we took a tour of the campus and met a few of her friend, upon officially returning to the Talbot home! We had not been there since October, and it was really cool coming back after all we have been through since then. We were welcomed back to the Bayou with some chicken and sausage gumbo, the best welcoming gift ever, and shared some good family bonding moments. The coolest of family reunions, that’s for sure. . . Team Day in Baton Rouge! There was not much we did aside from Top Golf and shopping... okay maybe we did. Here in Baton Rouge, there are alot of billboards, and about 80% of them are owned by an injury law attorney named Gordon McKernan. He is famous around Baton Rouge, and we forgot about him upon coming back to Louisiana. Today, while having 1-on-1’s with teammates, Andrew and Sam decided to call Gordon McKernan’s office, asking if they can get shirts as a joke. They replied yes, just come on by. So after TopGolf and a Target Run, we visited McKernan’s office. Andrew and Sam walked in, and returned with 12 shirts for all of us, but also so much more: pens, pop sockets, stickers, keychains, and, most importantly, cajun seasoning and hot sauce! Remember, this is an INJURY FIRM! It was wild, and they said to stop by when Gordon was in office so we can meet him. So hopefully someday we can meet him. . . We spent the next morning writing letters and smashing piñatas, just like any other day. After lunch, we left the Talbot’s house for Plaquemine, LA, just outside of Baton Rouge. We have 3 retreats there for the high school classes at St. John’s school, and after dropping off supplies, getting stuck in the grass, and having the football team push us out, we had a chill evening. The girls were staying at a house together, while the guys were staying at hotels. I am looking forward to the next week, as we would have 5 retreats in 5 days, the first time since September. I am super pumped, especially now that we have the full team again. Let’s get after it!