HURRICANE!!!

I am sure that most of you have heard about the destruction of hurricane Sandy on the east coast.  It swept through on October 29th.  I know it was a few weeks ago, but I am tyring to catch up with the weeks, and I don't want to miss anything.  If you have not heard about Sandy, know that there was major damage on the east coast.  Almost entire electric grids were destroyed and millions of people without power.  There was also major damage in Cuba and the surrounding islands.  Please continue to pray for everyone effected by the storm.  Many have died and many others are homeless. 

As I look back on this post I realize how dark it may seem.  I know many people ask "How can GOD do this?  Why would He allow people to die and evil in the world?" I have heard this from many people over the years.  Honestly, I am not sure if there is an easy answer.  The real question is why does GOD allow suffering?  One answer I have heard to explain these natural disasters is that man was meant to take care of the earth and the earth was rebelling.  I don't know if that is true, but what I always say is that it has to do with the nature of suffering and GOD giving us an opportunity to become closer to him.  Now, I am not saying that when a person does something horrible to another, then GOD must have willed it.  That is crazy!  We have free will, but in the situations where we do not decide to choose the suffering, such as natural disasters or illness (Though, some might say that we even choose these sufferings, but I am not sure.), I think that GOD might be inviting us to grow closer to him.  Now, before you decide I am crazy and stop reading, think about this.  When you are truly suffering, what do you do?  Maybe you pull out the ice cream?  Maybe..., but I bet you share your suffering with someone.  In fact, I bet that someone is a close friend you trust, and I know after you share your suffering you feel a lot closer to that person (or dog...).  It is part of the nature of suffering.  Suffering can be an opportunity to bring people together.  If it was not for Christ, then I would say that a god that allowed suffering would be evil.  I would not worship that god!  But the truth is that GOD became man, so that He could suffer with us.  He shares our suffering and invites us into a closer relationship with Him.  Now, let me say something first.  If He needed our love, then again I would say that this god was evil, and he was making us suffer to satisfy his need, but the truth is that GOD does not need our love.  We need His love.  We are made for Him, and no matter how painful a situation is just remember that it can be an opportunity to unite yourself with Jesus Christ. 

I think you also might be happy to here that even the so called "cold" people of the northeast can unite in suffering.  I have heard from another missionary in New Jersey that the storm had actually brought people together, and people were beginning to open up.  It shows that suffering can be wonderful. 



P.S.  Another post will be coming soon to share my personal adventures through hurricane Sandy. 

I Love Retreats!!!

Focus helped the Catholic Midshipmen Club (CMC) put on a retreat for the midshipmen on the weekend of October 28th.  I know I am little behind.  Sorry!  Either way, we had about forty-five midshipmen come to the retreat.  We invited one of Eric's friends, Brother Paul from Colorado, to give most of the talks for the retreat.  This was one of the first times that some of the mids had ever met.  Like I said before, there are many strong catholics on the yard, but there is little community.  This was a great opportunity for the mids to bond and start Christ centered relationships, and I know it worked.  Mass attendance has almost doubled, and I can see new friendships blossoming.  In fact, one of the mids said that the retreat brought him back to the faith.  Praise the Lord!  I can really feel a change happening, and I can feel the Holy Spirit working on people's hearts.  I know something great is about to happen.  Please continue to pray for all of the midshipmen, and ask the Lord to open their hearts. 


P.S.  Building a fire is a great way to bond.  Who would have thought that?  Too bad it was the wrong fire pit. 

FOCUS Freakout

Every Tuesday the mids have their Catholic Midshipmen Club or CMC for short.  They usually invite a speaker to share about different topics on the faith, but once a month the FOCUS team plans the event.  In the past, one of the missionaries would give a talk or the team would invite a guest speaker, and this year is no different.  We call this meeting FOCUS Freakout, and I was put in charge of the event for the year.  We always get pizza for the students, and have a great time sharing our faith and meeting students.  It is always a big hit!  The first month, one of my teammates, Eric, gave a talk about living in the present.  He shared how it was important to live our lives in the present, and not by past mistakes or future worries.

This past month, I gave my testimony on how I came to know and have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  I think it went really well, and the other missionaries said that it came up in their bible studies, and that the students could really relate.  It felt so good to be in front of an audience after an entire year of giving talks with TOBET.  I really missed giving talks and interacting with the crowd, but what I think I missed the most was telling my story to an audience.  I would usually get really nervous right before walking on stage, but as soon as I started to speak I would feel this great peace.  I think it is the Holy Spirit, and I am truly grateful for His help. 

In two weeks, the Dominicans from D.C. are coming to give a talk on how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and what that should mean.  I am super excited, and I know the midshipmen will love it.  If you have any ideas about good topics or great speakers in the area, please let me know.  Thanks! 


P.S.  To all the Texans, autumn in Maryland equals winter in Texas.   Brrr...

October Student Leader Fun Day

 

We had a great weekend with our student leaders.  We took about twelve student leaders to go pumpkin picking at a pumpkin patch outside of Annapolis.  We had really hoped to pick apples for some desserts we planned to make later that night, but when we got there we learned they only had about seven apple trees, and apple picking was not allowed.  I suppose they wanted to pick the apples themselves to make sure they were ripe, and then sell them at their fruit stand in the front.  Either way, we had a lot of fun searching for the best pumpkin.  The girls split off in one direction, the upperclassmen in another, and I was granted the freshmen.  I was reminded of Charlie Brown and his great pumpkin, and after searching through the entire patch I feel like we picked the best pumpkin.  (This usually means the largest and most round pumpkin, but for the girls it was all about the stem.  Apparently the stem adds character.)

 After we picked our pumpkins we went to the grocery store to pick out some apples.  I guess you could call it city apple picking.  Funny thing when you go to the store is that you often get groceries you never planned on getting.  The midshipmen got donuts, whip cream, and a cake mix.  They never go shopping. 

When we finished checking out our groceries we all went to the guy's house (mine and my roommate's house), to continue our fun day.  The girls chose to make the desserts, such as two different kinds of  apple pies and some apple bread.  They were delicious!  The guys decided to make dinner, which was individual foil dinners that were thrown into the fire until done (we had a fire pit outside).  They were pretty good too.  We also had a little dance party, carved pumpkins, and made s'mores.  It was a great night, and I think it went a long way to help build a strong catholic community at the Naval Academy. 

P.S. I think the best carving was the classic pumpkin face, but that had little to do with me carving that pumpkin.  Seriously...

It just gets better and better

Today was another huge day at the Naval Academy.  Two students gave their life to Jesus Christ today.  What does that mean as a Catholic?  As Catholics we believe the sacraments give us our Lord's grace, but we must be open to receiving those graces given.  Everyday we must make that decision to give ourselves and be open to his love, but there has to be a first day each one of us makes that decision.  Often confirmation allows for this choice, but sometimes we do not realize the great opportunity we are given.  These two midshipmen made a decision to give their lives to our Lord, and they realize they must continue to make that decision everyday of their lives.  Through mass and confession they can continue to grow closer to our Lord.  Thank you for all of your prayers.   I know you are playing a great part in these midshipmen's conversions. 

Hello Jesus

Today was another great day here at the United States Naval Academy!  Another student has started a relationship with Jesus Christ.  One thing that I have noticed is that we often try to force this relationship with Christ.  With our actions and our prayers we pretty much tell the Lord "Love me!", but the reality is that He has been offering Himself, and all we have to do is open our hearts and receive His love.  Of course, it sounds much more simple then it actually is, and I think everyone struggles with this at times.  As long as we keep trying and searching for Him then we can be assured that we will find him.  So please continue to pray for these midshipmen, so that they may find our Lord, and I guarantee we will see wonders. 

Honestly, I can already see some of those wonders.  Great things are happening here, and the FOCUS team has some awesome events coming up.  This weekend will be super exciting!!!  We are having a student leader event, and I will let you know what happens. 

Until then I have been taking pictures of this statue that the midshipmen paint before each game.  Please let me know which is your favorite.  Also, this past weekend the Navy Football team beat Air Force!!! Go Navy!!!

P.S.  I was about five minutes late today...

Big News!!!

Again, I am sorry for posting late.  I know this is getting to be a bad habit, but yesterday I was feeling sick, and I am glad I have waited until today, because I have big news.  Don’t worry I am feeling a lot better.  Today, one of my disciples started a relationship with Jesus Christ.  This is what it is all about!  He has been catholic his entire life, but to him, and a lot of other Catholic midshipmen on the yard, God is more of an abstract being that must be obeyed.  Most of these midshipmen follow the church and go to the sacraments, but you will see years later that people with this view leave the church.  You know this.  You have seen it in your churches.  If I did not have a relationship with Jesus Christ I would probably feel like the church is full of rules that keep me from being happy, and eventually I might go somewhere that makes me feel good.  We are here to bring people into a greater relationship with Christ.  When you have that relationship then it is easy to see that these so called rules are ways to grow in my relationship with Jesus and be free.  We are working to bring these midshipmen into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ, so please continue to pray for these midshipmen.  I also want to thank you so much for all of your support and prayers, because this could not happen without you and the Holy Spirit. 

 

P.S. Go Navy, Beat Air Force!!!

For Me?

I hope everyone had a great week! I had a wonderful week here at the Naval Academy. I really feel like I am starting to get into the swing of things. I know God is using me to do great things, and He always shows His love and sometimes in unexpected ways. I remember this one night in particular.

Last year, when I was a TOBET missionary, the TOBET team gave a training at the University of Texas in Austin to students from several universities in Texas. We were training them on how to start a program called the Revolution (a Theology of the Body Program for college students). After the last night of the training my teammate and I drove back to Dallas, because we were to lead a retreat the next day. My teammate was driving since it was her vehicle and there was a full moon that night. I wish you would have seen it...maybe you did, but it must have been the most beautiful full moon I have ever seen. I was mesmerized. Like I said, she was driving, so it was ok for me to look at it. We were still in Austin, and we noticed the moon at the same time. We talked about how beautiful it was, because this moon had double lunar halos. Now if you do research on a lunar halo you will find that they are fairly common and they are caused by the reflection of ice crystals high in the sky.  However, a double lunar halo is said to be rare. I wish I could have taken a picture, but I know that my phone camera would not do it justice. I remember the inner ring was so bright, but the faint outer ring made it special.

As I kept looking at the moon I felt God speak to me. I can't say that I heard words, but it was a movement in my heart, and I know it was real. I think many of you know what I am talking. Well, I felt the Lord say to me "This is for you". Wow, what a gift! He has already given so much and, yet he continues to give. I did not say anything to my teammate, but I was in awe. Then, I felt Him speak to me again. I felt Him say to me "This is for both of you." Now, I knew I had to say something, so I turned to my teammate and I said "Elizabeth, I think that is for us." She looked at me (yes, she was still driving) and said "Dude! I was just thinking the same thing!" I was so amazed! It was one of those signs that the Lord gives to His servants to show them He is with us. This year I have already seen a single lunar halo. In fact it was also a blue moon (meaning it was the second full moon in one month). I know this will be a great year.

Here are some more highlights of this past week:

Celine's Birthday was Thursday, and the team went out by the docks.

My first USNA Hockey game.  Brrr it was cold in there, but the team beat Towson University in penalty shots and is now 3-0.  Here the Navy goalie gets ready to stop some shots.  GO NAVY!!!

 The USNA Football team beat VMI at Navy's first home game this year.  The midshipmen paint this statue before all the big games. 

 

This is every day.  That is the main entrance to their dorm.  Yeah, that is a cannon.  

 

P.S.  Please pray for the midshipmen, because they have six week tests this week. 

Bible Study, Bible Study, PIE!!

Okay I missed it again, but better late than never.  This is going to be way tougher than I thought.  Let me update you on the past week. 

Like I said, Wednesday was my first bible study, and honestly only one guy showed up.  Yeah…bummer.  It was actually Robby from Dallas and was in my TOBET study last year.  I did not know he was coming until this summer when I found out I was going to the Naval Academy.  I think it was one of those special gifts the Lord gave to me to show me I was in the right place.  So I told Robby to come the next night. 

 Thursday night was better.  Robby came back and two other midshipmen attended as well.  The study went great!  I asked if they liked it and they said, “Yeah!  I am totally coming back!”  I was glad to hear that, especially since it was the first bible study I have ever lead.  The group also decided to move to Thursday nights, because it was easier for their schedule.  I did not mind that considering the Wednesday night studies did not happen and it is at the same place, so if anyone else showed up Wednesday night then it would still work. 

On Friday the FOCUS team went to DC as a bonding event.  We took the metro and travelled to the mall.  I don’t know why it is called that, but it was a lot bigger than I expected.  We saw the white house and congress.  We even saw the president driving around in his limo, twice. 

I think my favorite day was when we took the student leaders to the Anne Arundel county fair.  The reason we did this was to help form a catholic community and help them to bond.  We have strong individuals, but we are trying to make them feel part of a community.  It was probably the best small county fair I have been to.  That is saying a lot considering I am from Texas.  I have been to some state fairs that are also great, but this small fair had everything.  It had rides, racing pigs, bears, a pie eating contest, and much more.  A lot of us entered the pie eating contest, and it was so much fun.  It was a dollar to enter, and they would place everyone around a table and give us a quarter of a pie.  Then we would race to finish all of our pie on our plate, but the catch was that we could not use our hands.  It was a mess!!!  The really funny part was that we were more than half the competition, but not one of us even placed. 

This past Tuesday the midshipmen finally had another Catholic Midshipmen Club meeting.  There were about three weeks of scheduling conflicts, so there had not been a meeting for a while.  FOCUS missionaries always go to help out and talk to midshipmen afterwards. 

Then tonight was the second bible study, and five midshipmen came.  Well, actually for the last two minutes a random midshipman came and sat with us.  I thought it was a joke at first, but he was serious.  I could tell he was not catholic (The easiest way to tell when someone is not catholic is when we pray and they don’t do the sign of the cross), but he did not care, and I was glad to have him, so I invited him to next week’s study.  I will let you know if he comes. 

That was the week.  It was pretty full, but I enjoy those weeks, and I know the Lord is moving hearts and saving souls. 

 

P.S.  In the pie eating contest I got second place out of our group.  It is really hard to eat pie when it is stuck to a plate and you can’t use your hands, especially when you have big teeth. 

My First Bible Study

Well, it is not really my first bible study.  I have attended bible studies before, but tomorrow at 1900 hours (7:00 pm) I will lead my first bible study. I am really excited! I have lead an apologetic study and some Theology of the Body study groups, but I have never lead a bible study. Not to worry. When has the Lord ever let me down? NEVER!!!

So I thought that we would go through a study FOCUS put together called The Crux (the cross). It starts off in Genesis and walks us through why man was created, man's fall, why the son became man, and who Jesus Christ is. I have heard it is a great study, and I am looking forward to going through it with all of the midshipmen. I will let you know how it goes next week.

Until then, here are some pictures from my adventures. This is a picture of the chapel at the Naval Academy. It is the tallest building on the yard (Academy grounds). If you ever get lost when visiting just look for the chapel.

Here is another picture of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.  I love this picture, and I feel it is very patriotic. 

 

 

 

P.S  To all of the family members of the victims of September 11th, know that I am praying for you.  To all of the victims, may you be held peacefully in the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

 



Full Speed Ahead!!!

Well…I guess my promises mean a lot.  I am sorry I did not post yesterday.  I am obviously off to a bad start, but let me try to catch you up. 

For the first time this year the entire Team Navy is on campus and everything is starting to pick up.  Mentorship started last week, and bible studies are starting today.  We had about one hundred and thirty students sign up for bible study this year.  That is awesome!!!  There are about four thousand students at the United States Naval Academy, so that means a little over 3% want to attend a catholic bible study.  I am not sure what the percentage is for all protestant and catholic bible studies combined, but I think we are off to a good start. 

Last night about twenty midshipmen and the FOCUS team went to the mass for Father Vincent Capodanno at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. 

Here is a little video that I got from the website of the Basilica about Father Capodanno:  http://www.vincentcapodanno.org/index.php. 

 

I almost forgot!  Every day I would walk around the yard (campus), and I would say “good morning” to midshipmen and many of them would not say anything back.  At first I thought maybe I was not saying it loud enough, so I would say it louder, but still some just looked straight and kept on walking.   So I asked some of the students about it, and they told me that people just don’t say a hello at the Naval Academy.  That was odd to me, so I started this new mission and asked some students to join me in greeting every midshipmen they passed during the day.  I admit it sometimes seemed awkward especially when there was another person every three feet.  Trust me once you get over the awkwardness it is kind of fun.  Like I said, at first they refused to say anything, but then I noticed that more would begin to say hello back.  (I was saying it loud enough.) Then this week more than half of them would actually say “good morning” and then ask how I was.  Of course it was one of those “how’s it going?” greetings that is just said, but there were at least some smiles.  I guess small things can make a difference.

I will keep you posted, but until next time GOD bless.    

FOCUS Company

I had an amazing year at TOBET and now it is time for a new adventure.  I am now a FOCUS missionary, and I know that this will be a great year.  Last year was probably one of the most difficult years of my life, but it was by far the greatest adventure that I have been on so far.  I feel like Indiana Jones where I just finished one adventure and now I am going to the next.  (Some people might say that the second Indiana Jones movie was the worst of the original three, but I have faith that this year will be good.)

This year I will be at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.  GO NAVY, BEAT ARMY!!!  It is a beautiful campus, and the midshipmen (students) are great.  My team is awesome, and the Lord is on our side.

 

People are even really friendly up here.  It actually reminds me a lot of Texas.  So I will try to keep all of you posted this year.  I am planning to post something every Tuesday.  I know last year I did not do a very good job about it, but I promise to do better this year, and a promise is a promise no matter how small.  So until then please pray for me, and may the Lord be with you. 

 

P.S.  I really liked the second Indiana Jones movie.  

 Happy Birthday Joseph!!!

Say What?!?!

As a TOBET missionary and speaker there have been so many people that I have shared my faith with, either by mentoring or giving talks.   Many of them were open to the gospel especially when it was given through the lens of Theology of the Body.  It is amazing how open the youth are to the truth, and it has been great to see the Holy Spirit open their hearts and minds. 

This year, one of the most surprising times I had shared my faith, was actually to someone who I knew did not agree with me. I was given a few days off and I was able to visit Texas State University. While I was there, some of my friends and I heard that Planned Parenthood was on campus, and that Planned Parenthood had teamed up with Feminist United to pass out condoms to students. Being a Catholic who has learned Theology of the Body I was obviously against this. Some FOCUS missionaries, students and I walked up the hill (Texas State is on a hill) to go talk to them. We did not really know what we were going to say, but we knew the Holy Spirit would guide our conversations.
When we got up the hill we saw some students passing out condoms, and we went to talk to them. Both sides were very respectful.

It went very well, and we met a lot of great students who had different beliefs then us, but we still had not found Planned Parenthood or Feminist United.  I continued to walk up the hill and since I did not have my glasses I had to walk closer to the booth to read their sign. There it was! It was Feminist United. There were two students at the booth, a guy and girl, and an older women who I later learned was from Planned Parenthood.  I walked up and asked about what they did, and we started talking about love and gender roles and fighting for women's rights.  I told them I was pro women too (I feel most people who volunteer for these groups also want to  help women), so of course they asked me if I wanted to volunteer, so I had to confess that I was actually pro-life. 

Yes, we soon started talking about abortion.  After a while the guy wanted to challenge me, and he asked "If it's a baby from conception, then why does God allow for so many miscarriages?" It turns out that this guy used to be Mormon and left his church when he was younger.  I knew his question was not really about abortion so I said to him "So what you are really asking is why God allows suffering in the world." He looked confused for a moment (he had probably never heard that as a response before), and he thought about it for a second and said " yeah I guess I am." 

So I explained to him the beauty of suffering.  I explained how when we suffer we share that suffering with our friends and it creates a bond.  We become closer to those friends.  It is human nature, and he agreed.  Then I explained how Jesus cam to suffer with us, and our suffering is an opportunity to become closer to him.  By this time I could tell that he was deep in thought.  I said "Now, I do not know why certain things happen to certain people such as miscarriages, but I know we can allow our suffering to bring us closer to Christ", and I could tell that something had clicked.

What really amazed me though was what he said next.  He said in a revelatory way "Yeah I guess you would have babies praying for you in Heaven too." When I left he thanked me for coming to talk to him, but I was thankful just to see the Holy Spirit working on his heart.  I don't know where he is now, but it is extremely important that we reach out in love to people who have different beliefs.  We are the light of the world, and we must go out.  Be not afraid!


After all, when has the Lord ever let you down?