Youth Mission Trip Blog

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4

June 14, 2010
group shot

For whatever families and friends back home that could not be at the mass with Fr. Mike Novick and Deacon John Rex, this is our first picture as a group merging the two parishes of St. Lawrence O'Toole and St. Damian.

Rend Lake Rest Area Video:


Saturday was our first day of travel and this is us horsing around at Rend Lake Rest Area after eating lunch. This gave us time to relax and get to know each other better.

We arrived at Pilgrim House Hostel on Saturday night. We walked the streets of Memphis and met many of the locals. We decided to eat at Central BBQ. We even tried the local cuisine such as cole slaw on a pulled pork sandwich. When we got back, we circled up and ended the night with a group reflection.

Sunday began very early and we hit the road, passing the time with music ranging from Disney classics to Pirate Metal. Mr. Cozzi, our chaperone, even fistpumped to the Mulan soundtrack!

We arrived at our final destination. After arriving at St. Ann's, we enjoyed our first mass with Fr. Peter. We unpacked, ate more pork and decided to update you guys back at home. Here's a picture of group two, who has written today's blog.
group2

(Lauren, Cory, Grant, Steph, Bri, Joey Bluejeans, Alex, Sarah. Not pictured: Adult chaperones Pauly D & Mama Jo)



June 15, 2010
soup kitchen
Our Monday started off with daily mass which we celebrated with the parishioners of St. Ann. We got to see the differences between their mass and ours back home. After mass, we split into two groups. The first group traveled with Beth to Feed My Sheep, which is the local soup kitchen. They spent the first half of their day getting to meet individuals who were faced with the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. Afterwards, they returned to St. Ann's and did work to fix up the building, such as painting and caulking.

workingThe second group accompanied the male chaperons along with Patsy and Joanne to Skip's place. There we did yard work, painted the deck, cleaned out the shed, and other tasks. We worked hard all day even in the 115 degrees weather, so we rewarded ourselves with a dip in the gulf (sidenote: There was no oil to be found).

The groups reunited after a long days work and decided to relax with games of frisbee and softball. Things got pretty intense, but no worries because we ended with a tie and a sweaty group hug. Cold showers never felt so good!

June 16, 2010

Today, we started the day with a very special Mass. Elise played the piano and Henry rocked the guitar playing a song he wrote. Grant read the reading, Cory did the responsorial psalm. Steph S. and Brad alter served and Brianna and Lauren did Eucharistic Minister. It was a great mass all around with everyone contributing. After doing our daily chores at Skip's house and Feed my Sheep, we all hopped in the vans and went to a memorial for Hurricane Katrina. We got to see how big the waves were because there was a wall the size of the waves. We also got to see all the new construction on the coast and it was very inspiring to see how far these people have come. We went to McDonalds for ice cream and saw a homeless man. We bought him a meal and gave him some of our snacks. He was so happy and thankful he was almost crying. It was a very eventful day for everyone and the group is really starting to come together and feel like family.

Henry and Elise at church.
church

The whole group at the memorial.
group

June 19, 2010 group

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