Today we are in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. For the longest time my mom wanted to go camping. Finally we are actually going camping. Much to my surprise the campground had electricity and water and showers! But it was still cool (and I doubt my mom would survive without a shower :)

Overview of the Mission Trip

Over the course of the mission trip our group accomplished plenty.
*we ripped up moldy carpet and put in tiles.
*we put in and wired four fans
*we replaced a broken emergency exit sign.
*we backed up and fixed 37 computers.
*we repainted rooms that had peeling paint in them.
*we made some amazing artwork in the middle/elementary school.
*we pulled up weeds for the Missionary of Charity.
*we fixed a flooding toilet in the boys bathroom.
*we labeled the breaker box.
*we assisted old people with the little sisters.
*we helped feed the poor with Catholic charities.
*we went to the grand canyon.
This was one of the best weeks in my life. I made several new friends and was able to help people. I recommend a mission trip to everyone.

Last Day

Yesterday,I did not work on computers, instead I was sent to work with the Little Sisters of the Poor.
We started out with helping the residents exercise. We helped them play catch, after we were done we pushed the people in wheelchairs to coffee and then mass. It is amazing how appreciative they are. I felt so glad helping them out. The sisters have a "peace trail" behind the house, and every mission group makes some kind of artwork along the path. Our group made the logo of our church out of rocks (positioning the rocks is harder than it looks.) I would post a picture but I am unable to at the moment. We went to a restaurant for dinner (New Mexican food, tastes a lot like Mexican food.)
we have had a lot of fun, helped a lot of people and did a lot of work. This has been a great week, I am actually disappointed it ended so soon.

Catch

Yesterday we started two hours later so that everyone could get enough sleep. It was a pretty typical day, mainly working on computers. I was tasked with salvaging parts from the broken computers. I now know how to remove and install: hard drives, CD drives, network cards, RAM, etc.
While we were working a met a little girl who was about three. She asked me to play ball with her so while there was a lull in our work I played catch with her. Seeing her reminded me of my little sister back home. That really made my day.

Mission Trip - Grand Canyon

Yesterday was our day off, we drove 5 hours to the grand canyon. It was absolutely amazing. We climbed around for some amazing (and dangerous) views. I would love to post pictures, but i do not have good enough reception.
We hiked and walked and enjoyed the view for hours, and we had lunch at a park. I tried to pull a prank on my friend K, but it backfired and i ended up with Dr. Pepper all over my hair. After lunch we did some more sightseeing, and went back in the car to drive home.
a five hour trip with the same people again was pretty cool. Old friendships got stronger and new ones formed. As i normally have a difficulty to make friends, this came as a pleasant benefit. We arrived back to the house at 1:30 and it is 2:00 as i write this, so it was a pretty late night.

P.S.
I will put up pictures when i get home!

P.P.S for the record, we went to mass on the vigil! Didn't miss Sunday obligation

Mission Trip - India

Yesterday we went to the Indian reservation, the majority of what we did there was pull weeds out of the school yard. It was hard work but the happiness on the faces of the people was worth it. We went to mass on the reservation. there were very few locals attending, a fact which made me sad. I did meet some of the Missionaries of Charity that worked there, as it turns out one of them came from the same part of India as my mom! (she was disappointed that i did not know my moms language :( (it is on my to do list) We also went to a cool mountain range. Several of us climbed/crawled to the top and then slid down. It was epic. Plus the stone was so soft you could write your name in it. All in all it was an excellent day.

Mission Trip...like a vacation

Yesterday I did electric and computer work, but instead of going into detail I wanna explain to you the conditions of the school.

The school had moldy carpets and the walls were discolored. The electric work looked like it was made with whatever random wires were available (blue, red, green? That might be illegal!) and the computers were really old and slow. There was even asbestos in the flooring. I am really glad we were able to help, the Place is getting much better.

I honestly can consider this a vacation, I am having so much fun using my skills to help people and working alongside my friends.

Mission trip: the Cathedral

---

Yesterday we went to mass at the Cathedral, it was huge. It was made out of brick, a symbol of importance in an area where the houses are made from mud. There was also a crypt with 3 bishops buried there. we went to the Catholic school and pulled out the moldy carpets, fixed a leak in the waterline, and painted. We had sandwiches and chips for lunch. After lunch a bunch of us computer geeks got 23 computers from the classrooms and pulled all the info off for backup data. (several of the computers were pass-worded so one of the kids made a password erasing CD, worked well) several of the computers would not work at all, others needed extra RAM (which we took from the computers) It was pretty fun. We had spaghetti for dinner, and I led a prayer on working together. all in all, it was a good day.

P.S. I would put in pictures, but it still will not work :(

Day 1

Yesterday we did not do much at all. We had a long plane ride, got to New Mexico, and had a four hour drive to the reservation. I played a lot of Sudoku.

We also went climbing for an hour on some mountain with a bunch of Native American drawings on the rocks. That was cool!

I would have pictures but my phone wont send them.

-Inch

Suprise

I bet you thought I was going to post about my adventures in New Mexico (instead of my adventurous in a pig costume)

Well I am writing the post about what I did at night, so you will get the info on the day after the event. This post even was written yesterday!

Did you know you can text blog posts?
I am currently in Kansas City airport! (which is not in kansas as I now know)

-Inch, from his phone

I got a blog!!

Hi guys! I have finally decided to start a blog.
Why, you ask? It is because my thoughts and Life are so important that you must hear about them online and sit in envy....yep. ;D

Well more honestly, it is because I am going on a trip to New Mexico tomorrow, and would like to share it with you all.

So tomorrow you will see what I am doing! (Unless of course you got scared away and decided never to read this blog again....