A Different World!

So I am writing my blog a little late because I am already home. But I have to say it was THE best experience of my entire life. I met people who inspired me beyond belief. We also got to go to a church service at our sister church Bethany United Methodist. The service was fun and so full of spirit and life. I saw hope through the tragedy and I saw laughter through the tears. I will start off with Saturday. Yuck we had to be at the airport at 5 in the morning and everyone was exhausted but excited at the same time. We had to take 2 flights, one to Texas then another to Louisiana. The minute we got off the plane and you could actually see outside I could tell it was much different than Arizona….it was green. Then we drove to Kenner United Methodist, where we were staying. Once we got there we all just kind of looked around the showers were outside, it was humid and extremely hot, and we were all packed together in these little rooms. That night we had to go shopping for the week so we broke up into different groups. Then we had an amazing day at Bethany United Methodist we sat through almost a three hour service. We ate lunch and then got to provide a woman with a gift card for $2100. That was extremely rewarding to just to see the look on her face .After that we got to walk around the French Quarter which was so cool just to see everything. We got to stop at a very famous café and each of us ordered these French doughnuts and iced coffee.(and had a powdered sugar fight) The next day we finally were broken up into groups and got sent to our work sights. But the problem was our group only had a three person job and there was nine of us so we sat there and sang, made up beats, and made hilarious videos. It started raining and we were all so excited. So that ended up being a pretty amazing day. The rest of the week went on the same except we actually got to work. Then it came to Wednesday, the day we were supposed to go back to Bethany for dinner. I have to add that it was the best meal I have ever had. Then the next couple days were normal waking up at what seemed like the crack of dawn, going to a long day at work, coming back chilling at the house, doing devotional, and then not going to bed until after 2 in the morning. Then it came to Friday night, it was our night to go out to dinner at a sea food restaurant in the French Quarter. We all ate pretty quickly and it was delicious. Then when we were done our table decided to play telephone. While we were playing I noticed something, that each and everyone of these people were different, but I loved all of them and they were my family. That was a really big high point in the trip for me. The next day was our last day for work. We started out early in the morning and started working really hard to get the house finished in our amount of time. Then all of the sudden when I was taking a water break it started pouring rain. You could literally get drenched in under 10 seconds. Some people went inside to avoid the rain but a lot of us just went out and just started dancing around in it. At about 2 o’clock a group of us left for the aquarium. The aquarium was amazing and a lot of fun. After that we went to the IMAX and saw a movie about Catrina. It was horrible to see all the destruction and the pain in peoples faces while seeing there homes getting torn down.(along with years and years of memories) That night we all just really hung out back at home, it was our last night so we wanted to spend time together. I didn’t even go to sleep til three that morning. The next morning we woke up at about 8. Then we attended the service at the church we were staying at which was amazing. After that we had about a 2 hour devotional talking about our high and low points of the trip. Then we were off to the airport. We flew to Texas and had 2 hours in between and I lost my boarding pass!!!!!!!!!(but don’t worry they printed me a new one) Then we had a 2 hour flight to Phoenix, I slept most of the time but when I was awake I thought of how much I wanted to stay. We got of the plane at about ten o clock pm. Though I was happy to see my family, I wanted to just jump back on the plane and go back more than anything. When I got home I sat in my room for about 2 hours reliving the whole trip and feeling lonely because there, I always had someone by my side. I will never forget my first mission trip and how much it changed me. I will never forget the hope, the friendships I developed, the fact that we finished four houses. But most of all I will never forget Pastor Hadley, Lucille, Eugene, Lucy, and so many more that touched me.

Much Love,
Jessica Everett