Days 84-88: Missouri (11/6-11/10/20)

I’ve never really been too worried about having back-to-back retreats at a school, but I was worried about these two. We are here at Sacred Heart School in Sedalia, MO, putting on two retreats for the school and the confirmation class. The only reason I am worried is because some of the youth will be attending both retreats, since some of the students at the school must also attend the mandatory confirmation retreat. This means they could see things they have already seen, and could lose interest quickly. Luckily, that did not happen, as the retreatants the second day were more involved than the first day. Alot of the peeps in my small group came back the next day, which was really cool but also lowkey scary if I forget who they are. I even had two guys, Traven and Tommy, in both my small groups back to back days, who I was able to see growth in between the two retreats, and it was really cool! A little fruit coming out in front of my eyes, praise God! Between those two days, after retreats, there wasn’t much happening. We didn’t have any host home nor anybody to talk to outside of our team, and we pretty much took care of ourselves. Having places to ourselves is strange but relaxing, because we can be really silly around our team, especially since no one is watching. Team unity, we love it. . . Team day was very chill, as there isn’t much to do in Sedalia. After attending Mass, we had a Co-Ed discussion, lunch, and took advantage of the school that has been given to us. Oh, I forgot to mention, the teachers gave us a key to the whole school to shower, but said we could use whatever we wanted to in the building. So we used their basketball court and played 3-on-3’s and knockout/lightning/bump (whatever the game is called in your local area). Then, one of Amanda’s friends who went to the school, Cody, gave us a tour through the eerily quiet building that has been around for decades. Walking through an empty school on a Sunday is another thing I never knew was on my bucketlist until I did it, but I can check it off now! After the tour, we ate snacks and played cards, and had a chill evening. Since we’ve been showering one person at a time in the gym, we find ourselves with alot of downtime hanging out. So our team decided to call each of our families and introduce them to the team, then the team asked them questions about their kid! It was really fun meeting everyone’s parents and families, making us feel more connected to one another. . . Before leaving Sacred Heart School, we were able to put on a prayer service for the teachers, who were having an in-service day, before their meeting. It certainly wasn’t what we were used to ministry-wise, but I grateful it was something. We left after lunch and headed to St. Gerard Majella Parish in Kirkwood, MO. The longer we are in Missouri, the more dangerous it is health wise. Both priests at this parish got COVID, forcing alot of parish workers to isolate, including the retreat contact person. Luckily, that didn’t stop us, and we were able to put on our next two retreats. I got my first retreat off as well. Since it was an evening retreat, it was only few hours, which I used by eating Taco Bell and listening to music. Not much more relaxing than that. . . Apparently in St. Louis, there was a program called REAP that would put on Catholic retreats at school and parishes across the archdiocese of St. Louis. The past fall, they folded, leaving alot of places in need of confirmation retreats or school retreats. So, that is why St. Gerard called us up. This was made well know when we did the school retreat the next day, because they loved having a retreat from us this year compared to the year before. I’m glad we were a positive change of pace for the youth! After retreat and team prayer, we hung out in their youth room with a foosball table doing a few ministry prep things, along with me scheduling with Grace. A very chill day, along with planning our future trip to Florida and Thanksgiving in Pennsylvania. Life is good, God is great! Praying for you all who have read this far, I am grateful for you.