Holly Huffman
8th grade
I have been to several camps and mission trips before but truly this one, because I have matured, has completely changed me. Within the past month or so, I have felt a different and much closer relationship with God. I have been begging him to take full control. This trip has helped me open my heart and take an extra step twoards that goal.
Noah Reeverts
Grade 9
This trip has been such a great experience from the bus ride to the last night. I have gone from sorting rotton tomates to preparing meals for sick homeless people. And packing boxes and boxes of food with Anna to backing cookies. But nothing compares to being able to become closer to God. I love sitting with everyone to eat dinner and just hanging out in free time. I have made so many new friends and it's just been amazing! I don't want it to end but I miss all of my friends and family at home and am excited to see everyone in Colorado!
Sydney Lane
8th grade
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Hi! I'm in California right now! It is so amazing with warm weather, gorgeous palm trees, awesome friends, and the BEACH!!!! I'm having so much fun! It has been very interesting serving others here and I hope to take these lessons to Colorado Springs where I can do them there too. I've learned lots about God, met tons of cool people from Washington and managed to sprain my ankle I think!
Emily Wilson
8th grade
Emily (second from left) shares her white painted arms from working with her group including two Vancouver, Washington students and Robyn Camera from First Pres (third from left)
I've had so much fun here this week! California is amazing. The group I have been working with had the chance to go to a nursing home and meet several senior citizens. One woman, Shirley, was very inspiring to me because of her stong faith even though she was in pretty bad shape from a health standpoint. Every few sentences, she would say something like, "Praise Jesus!" or "My blessed Jesus, he is always here with us." Not only Shirley, but quite a few of the people at the nursing home were like this. I could see Jesus working through every single one of them because even after only two minutes of speaking with them, they were already telling you that they loved you and how grateful they were for you coming to visit.
One man named Inocente gave me a bracelet he had made on the first day that I met him. We also met a man named Leonardo who was deaf and mute, but he found ways to connect with us without using words.
Today was the last day to talk to our friends at the nursing home, and it was very hard to say goodbye. After getting tears in my eyes as Shirley gave me one last hug, we left to go to our second work site, a local food bank. We have been doing different jobs there throughout the week and today included separating red tomatoes from green tomatoes. We had a contest to see who could find the biggest, smallest, and most rotten tomatoes. It got pretty disgusting to see how gross the rotten ones were. Making slightly boring and tedious jobs more exciting by doing things like contests really helped me grow close to my small group of people I worked with at the sites. It's been great to have fun by helping other people here in San Diego, and I know that I am truly going to miss it when we have to head back home tomorrow.
Caroline Russell
9th grade
Caroline (3rd from left front row) prepares food trays with other First Pres kids: Megan Dibble, Ryan Henderson and Nicole Kalletta (thumbs up in background)
I have gone to First Pres. Church of Colorado Springs only like 3 times and I am already on my first mission trip. I think this mission trip has really changed me. At first, I wasn't really excited about going on mission in San Diego, but once I got here I was really having a lot of fun. I have made a lot of new friends here. My group has been working at a company called Special Delivery and it's a place that only volunteers work at. While volunteering there, I met an amazing lady named Ruth. She is the owner of Special Delivery and has been for twenty years. Her story was truly amazing and I was amazed how God has changed her whole life. At first the point of the company's existence, it was to help people with AIDs and who didn't have the energy to get up and make their own food or go to the grocery store. Then she found out about other people with diseases who didn't have the energy to make their own food so she started deliver to all kinds of people around the city of San Diego with the help of some volunteers.
I think that she is a really great person doing a very good cause. Marven, who also volunteers at Specia Delivery, volunteers every day of the week for more than nine hours. I thought he was a really cool person and God Bless to him.
My group also volunteered at the San Diego Food Bank and I think we all got to know each other there because we all worked together and I really enjoyed what I was doing there. I have to thank Noah for taking me to First Pres Church for the first time and Katie for convincing me to go on this mission trip. Also I have to give a huge thanks to Isaac, a high school kid from Vancouver, Washington for being the most modest, honest, kindest, hard working person I have ever met. I am glad to say that he is my friend. I send "Gnarly Knucks" to Isaac, which is one of our ways at Youth Works to acknowledge good things about other people.
This trip has really changed me and I hope I can take what I have learned here home and be a better person. Thank You.
Jared Tabel
9th grade
Jared helps to sort food at San Diego Food Bank while First Pres Adult Co-Leader Stephannie Finley is pictured in the background
Well, this week has been...exhilirating! with tons of fun new people to meet and things to do. It was pretty awesome. San Diego has been pretty good with the whole weather thing. It was sunny and breezy nonstop. I guess God wanted us to have a less exhausting time.
Any who, serving this week at the adult day center was so fun and soooooo new! I loved the people and the way they were. Their faces lit up with joy when they saw us coming every day. The same with the charity where we worked. Handing the food to the people felt so good, serving them brought me, them, and God joy. Serving in his name to love and to shower other people with happiness is my purpose this week and for the rest of my life. My faith in Him has grown so strong, as I see him working in other peoples lives.
P.S. I love you mommy! And yes, I forgot something after all that. :P
Alex P.
Grade 9
Before heading out for a swim in the Pacific Ocean, Alex (left front) prepares for beach side pizza and other dinner goodies at Coronado Beach with the combined Colorado Springs and Vancouver, Washington kids and adults. Other First Pres students pictured include (from center left to right) Chloe Lewis, Tory Louis, & Robyn Camera.
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