Days 35-38: 1st Day on the Road!; Retreat Prep (9/18-9/21/20)

Our first day on the road. What a time! After morning mass, all the teams leave at different times throughout the day. Luckily for me, my team was asked to lead music for mass that morning! It was my first time leading music for mass, so I was a bit nervous. Luckily, I had the support of Amanda on the keyboard and Brenden on cajon, and they were absolutely amazing. But one by one, teams began to head out. It was hard to see my new friends leave until December, but it will be a party when we do get back together. Our team did not have to leave until 4pm, so we were able to do some things before heading out, such as go over the schedule for the week, as well as get any talk or testimony approved. Once we left, we took a pitstop at Target, then went to our host homes. Yes, host homes! People are actually allowing us to stay in their homes!! There may not be many of them this year, so I need to take advantage of my time with them. All the girls stayed with a family, while all the guys stayed with another about 15 minutes away, both living in Eagan, MN. Our host parents are Dave and Sarah, and they have 6 kids!! Bridget, James, Eric, Elise, Martin, and Marie, all musically inclined. So our first night we had an awesome jam session, while having some really good convo. I did not know how much I missed host home ministry until I kept initiating and driving the conversation! I’ll probably say this a lot at the beginning, but it feels so good to be back. . . We don’t have a retreat until September 23rd, so from now until then it is just retreat preparation. All day today was spent at St. Jude of the Lake in Mahtomehdi, MN, then before dinner at Katherine Abbott Park a couple miles away. That evening, the whole team came to our host home for a taco dinner, which was delicious. A very lowkey but productive day. . . Sunday was a Team Day, meaning we spend our day bonding as a team, whatever that looks like. Grace and I as Team Leaders have the responsibility of planning Team Days, and will hold this responsibility until second half. We spent the morning at our host homes having Men’s/Women’s Session and getting to know eachother on a deeper level. From there, we went to mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul. I was amazed when I went last year, but some people have not gone before, and it was great that we got to experience it together as a team. After mass we grabbed lunch at the Red Cow, and began doing dyads, which are short 1-on-1 conversations with people. That evening, we ended with team prayer with the ladies’ host family, which was so awesome. For our first Team Day, I’d say it was pretty successful. We’ll have them once a week, so thank goodness we are traveling alot so we have many things to do. . . Well, I guess I lied when I said we were done with NET training at the NET Center. Today we spent all day at the NET Center, having more ministry practices and team activities. I lead my first ever music practice, getting the team acquainted with the cajon, which was super exciting. It’s the first step towards teaching the whole team how to play guitar, as it helps with rhythm and strumming. After lunch, we did a team activity. I remembered this activity last year, and it scarred me because it was so difficult. Doing it with my team this year, it was so much better! I was so worried going in, but they did so well! Praise God for it, makes me more excited for the team overall.