First off, trip to Vietnam was truly a blessing. I did not expect so much of the trip until the first day I arrived Vietnam. On my first day, I got an opportunity to meet many great people who were selfless; those who cared more about others rather than themselves. It took approximately 14hours in total to arrive at hotel. Even though the plane ride was only about 5hours, since it was a group trip, it took extra time to ensure everyone is in right place. Despite the exhaustion and drowsiness, no one complained but encouraged others. I was already touched by grace of God before we even began our mission trip. On the second day, I volunteered for the medical service. There were two activities including the medical service, and house painting…
This winter break I had the opportunity to travel to Mexico with my father. An experience that I hadn't shared with him in over nine years. I, however had been traveling to Mexico with my mother and brother every summer since I was in diapers.…
The room was very bright and felt very tropical. Once we got unpacked, we went down to the beach and ate lunch. After lunch, we saw two of my aunts and their families. Then, we went swimming in the ocean, the pools and laid on the beach. By supper time everyone had arrived. We spent most of our days eating together, swimming, playing beach volleyball, and laying on the beach. I got to spend my birthday in Punta Cana and I got to go on a catamaran, on a banana boat tube pulled by a boat with my cousins, and we had a special dinner at the Italian restaurant on the resort for me. My family and I were also there for the Super Bowl. They had a huge inflatable screen that they projected the game on. They had huge buffet of food and workers on the resort dressed like football players. My brother and my dad are Denver Broncos fans, so they were very happy with the result of the…
Overall, my experience in Haiti is something I will treasure forever. It made me realize just how blessed I am and that material items are completely unnecessary for a happy life. I can not wait until I get another experience to help others. This trip has inspired me to do more. I would like to go on many more mission trips. I think I would love to work at a medical clinic in a similar…
Think of what you had for breakfast, then lunch, now dinner. What if out of the three meals a day you only had the chance to have two, if that. What if you're still under the age of 13 and you had to take over the role of one parent, maybe both for the day because they work in the fields or cleaning houses to be able to pay rent and buy food. So you're stuck taking care of babies, cooking, and somehow still managing to finish your schoolwork. This is what life in the small community of Lake Worth, Florida is like. Knowing about this motivated me to get more involved and help the Guatemalan community through service.…
We arrived back in Elburn, Illinois to our home where the air conditioning was on and our beds were soft. The water was just coming right out of the fridge and not a filter on top of a well. This country sounded so peaceful that my jaw dropped at the sight of how easy our lives were. I told my mom, “ It’s hard to believe what we just did, but I cannot wait to go back next year!” From this experience I have learned to be grateful for all that I have and to realize how amazing our lives are compared to others. Because of this event, I have seen how other people have it and how less fortunate they are. Now I see the World in a different view and I love everything I…
Which was where we talked about Christ and the Bible, and listened to the different stories from the kids, and everything that they had been through. Introducing them to a man that could change them and their lives for ever was amazing because they asked so many questions and some of them weren’t as positive as others, because they didn’t believe in him but in most situations the kids had never even heard of someone named God, and being the person to introduce him to them was amazing and incredible. Even at the young age that I was at I still was able to impact their lives and it was the best feeling a girl at my age could receive. Still to this day I will always remember the impact those young kids had on the outlook on my life and the way that I was able to comfort them, and be the one that they talked to. Returning home was nice, but I will always remember George and his family and the other kids that I met that week, and that will forever change my life and how I see things now in a positive way. , and from a different…
A dozen squealing, laughing little girls tugged my arms, legs and hands. They were so excited to show me their bedroom. Meeting all the orphans at the Colima, Mexico orphanage was very overwhelming and very emotional. At first, I felt very out of place, like seeing grass during a Michigan winter. All these kids surrounding me right now have no families and have nobody to love them. These kids were all beautiful in their own way and really knew how to make you smile without even trying.They were like flowers in a rundown parking lot. Beautiful but with a dark, sad background. Everytime they looked at you, you could see the excitement in their eyes.…
In the 19th century, the Irish population experienced a major boom in population rate, as people began to give birth to more children, due to the catholic believes. During the years of the Potato Famine in 1845 to 1851, almost 1.5 million Irish died, due to hunger, as they mainly lived of the potatoes. This created a great boom of Irish fleeing to America, almost 1.7 million from the mid 1840’s to the 1860’s, in the hope of getting a brighter future. The majority of these migrated to the Northeast centers. The majority of those who fled the country, were often the unskilled peasant workers, who saw an opportunity in a new life, in America (Rapple)…
Stepping off the plane into a crowded and foreign environment was like being thrown onto a whole different planet where I could not understand what was being said and could not even read signs let alone find a bathroom. In our group there were people who spoke Portuguese that took us to our hotel about an hour into the city in Fortaleza, Brazil where more than half the population experiences poverty and hunger. I had the privilege of working with young kids of many different Brazilian communities everyday; our team would come with a variety of different vacation bible school activities. Our team would sit with the kids in a circle for story time with a big picture book that told the story of Jesus’s birth or the miracles of Jesus walking on water or healing the blind. However we were also there to simply love these children, just as Jesus’s would have by spending time with them, providing food for them and playing games together. At night we would spend our time at a youth group with high school aged kids who brought struggles of their past and preconceived ideas of Christianity. Our team would spend time talking to the kids but relating to them was so difficult, in their normal day they…
Its been two months that I have called this place home. I have already had a variety of opportunities to explore and celebrate this country. From their independence day, to camping in a canyon in the north of the country(including the traditional Nicaraguan scary stories around the campfire!). These are just some of the joys of the last few months.…
Between my Sophomore and Junior year, I went on a missions trip to Honduras. During that trip, we did many community service projects: painting a preschool, helping with a after school program, and digging a septic system; but the project that affected me the most was the day we cemented a classroom for a local school. At the start of the day the cement maker broke, so everything, from mixing the cement to carrying it to the location to leveling it, had to be done by hand. About 5 or 6 Honduran men mixed the cement by hand tirelessly the whole day. It amazed me how hard those men worked without complaining. They weren’t getting paid for it yet they worked on and on through the heat and the exhaustion with a smile. Many Americans couldn’t have…
We donated clothes and supplies, and were overwhelmed with the amount of service we saw. Shelters and charities had excess supplies and had to turn away volunteers. Prompted by Gordon B. Hinckley’s words, “forget yourself and go to work” I was excited for all of the service opportunities ahead. The most meaningful experience I had was volunteering in Kingwood, Texas with Mormon Helping Hands. We mucked out houses in an extremely damaged area. One home in particular belonged to an elderly woman, whose house flooded all the way to the attic. Our team completely gutted her home taking out flooring, insulation, and drywall. It was so sad to see the toll the hurricane had taken in that community. The insides of people’s home lined the streets in piles taller than me. It was humbling to see how kind everyone I interacted with was. Families walked around to the houses giving the workers lunches and water. As tragic as this storm was, it was amazing to see the community come together. Since that day, I have been more aware of prioritizing other’s needs. During the storm, I was blessed with physical safety, and more importantly…
During my junior year of high school, I went on a mission trip/volleyball expedition with my club team. We traveled down to Nicaragua because this was a new experience for everyone involved. When we first got off the plane it was a completely different atmosphere than what any of us were used to. As soon as you leave baggage claim, you are greeted by a large sea of people. The only thing keeping the two of you apart is a tiny glass door which leads to the streets you exit from. After we left the airport and checked into our hotels we were on the road to do our first part of community service. We met in this large dusty field with make shift bases and a small pitcher’s mound. We later found out that it was home to a youth girl’s kickball league. The girls were from the ages of eight through sixteen. You could tell that they didn’t have much and kickball was there whole life, but they always had a smile on their face and made the best of everything. When we were playing with the girls, we got to talk with them a little bit but there were some barriers because they couldn’t speak English, and we didn’t know much Spanish. Despite that, we were able to laugh and joke with the girls. Seeing the way they smiled and how they were able to make the best or most out of everything showed me that you don’t always need the material things in life that you can be alright and still find happiness.…
Thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedule to give some advice to my business communications class. I have never gotten a chance to speak or even hear from a CEO, nonetheless, a fortune 500 CEO. I really enjoyed your lecture and thought that you had a very interesting and wise perspective.…