Mission Trip

Willow has been attending Youth Group at church this year on Sunday nights. They've met outside and only had a few cold times in the winter. She's made a new friend and seems to really enjoy going. The youth do a week mission trip each summer and this year they went outside Gatlinburg, TN. I was glad she was interested in going!

One of the chaperones said that it's usually a larger group but I think it was good for her first experience to be with a small group. I was thankful for all of the pictures they posted throughout the week!

We were proud to get this text from a chaperone after the first work day!

Willow borrowed my overalls to work in, which reminded me of wearing overalls during my AmeriCorps days:

I was excited to get an email from her during the week:

During the week they did various care for multiple mobile homes in a neighborhood. When she returned, we asked what her favorite part of the week was and she said the smiles on the faces of the people they'd helped :)

After 4 days of work, they enjoyed a day at the water park and a half day at the aquarium. In the evenings they were able to go downtown. 

 I think Willow enjoyed the freedoms and responsibilities they had during the week. They were "set free" to enjoy the water park on their own, so I was thankful that her friend was there too. They were also responsible for being places at certain times so it was a good experience for her to think through when she needed to wake up (she didn't take her blankie or music on the trip!!!). I hope she'll enjoy going on these trips each summer!