Well this year, Bishop Richardson asked me to come along on the trip. I was excited. We were there for four days and it was such an amazing trip. It is so humbling to see people who literally have nothing and yet they are happy, smiling & kind.
Wednesday was a travel day. We got into Rocky Point around 1pm. We set up the houses and got everyone settled.
Thursday morning we got up and the priests were going on splits with the missionaries all day.
It was fun talking to them before hand. Some were nervous, some were really excited. All of them were worried about the heat. I can't say that I blame them.
I didn't get any pictures of them walking away because suddenly I became so emotional. Part of it was that I had Lori standing with me who's son is leaving on his mission in about a month. Part of it was that I've know some of these boys since they were 10 or 11. They looked so little walking off into the streets. But it is also amazing to see how much they have grown and matured.
Meanwhile, the teachers went back to the house and started trying to sort all the clothing donations. It was hot sweaty work. They also got all the bikes ready for Friday's donations. Then they went shopping to purchase food for food boxes that they made to deliver to families in need.
After a long day for everyone, we met back at the main house for dinner & a devotional with the missionaries. It was a fun evening. The priests were exhausted but happy. They were also dirty & sweaty. They had all walked about 7 to 10 miles that day.
After dinner, we began taking some food boxes to different families. It sure was humbling to see how people live. This lady was so cute. She kept gushing over Bishop Richardson. She kept saying she was so thankful that a bishop would take the time to come to visit her personally. She was so grateful for his presence in her home. It was a great reminder of how lucky we are. My family, personally is around Bishop a lot. I think we take it for granted that we get to see him often and learn from him. It took this sweet little lady who cried and repeatedly thanked him for coming to remind me of that.
Friday morning the boys were supposed to go fishing, but there was a hurricane moving up the gulf and we woke up to a windy day and huge waves. So the fishing trip was cancelled. They had a devotional on the beach instead.
Later, we went back to the church to begin the massive task of sorting clothing. The boys set it up like a shop so that people could come in and get what they needed.
They took a little break from the clothing and dropped off all the bike donations to a gentleman in the ward who fixes the bikes up and donates them to people in the community who need some form of transportation. The boys got to work with him a little fixing up the bikes.
Again, back at the church, people began to come in a "shop" for new clothing. They were so cute and fun and grateful for the service.
After we were done at the church we went out delivering food boxes once again.
After delivering food boxes to about 8 families we set up for a hot dog dinner. The boys worked hard serving food and playing with the little kids. There were soccer games and baseball games going on. It was actually a pretty festive spirit.
Friday was a super long day. But it was all worth it. On Saturday morning before we left we had the boys go around again and deliver the last of our food boxes. I think in total we delivered about 25 food boxes to different families.
All in all, it was an amazing trip. It was really cool to see these 14 to 18 year old young men forget themselves and serve others. I saw a lot of them do some amazing things. I loved this experience and am thankful I got to go on this trip. It also gave me a deep appreciation for all of the hard work my husband puts into his calling. He really loves these boys and wants so badly for them to grow into great men.
I can't wait until we go back.
2 comments:
That is the neatest thing I've heard about in a long time. What a great experience! Thanks for sharing it.
I bugged you about posting this and then I didn't get around to reading till now. Bad Keli. ;-)
What an amazing experience. Just imagine you own boys being able to do this in a few years. WOW, how blessed you guys are to have this opportunity.
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