Elsa Lieb

Dear Saints John & Paul Parish,

First of all, thank you all for helping me to go on the mission trip. I am so grateful for everyone’s generosity towards the mission trip. Whether you donated money, shoes, or prayed for the missionaries, I am so thankful. It’s so hard to explain what I experienced in just a few words, but I’ll try to summarize it all. You all were a big part of my experience and I could not have done this without the help of the Saints John and Paul Parish. I know I did not have a moment in Honduras where I was not being prayed for and that was so comforting to know. During my trip, I experienced so much love through the people there, and their stories. A lot of the kids there had amazing stories about how God had changed them or led them to be who they are today. I was so blessed to be able to hear their stories and apply them to my life too.

Before the trip, I wasn’t really sure what I was going to be experiencing, but even if I had a little bit of an understanding, nothing could have prepared me for what I saw, felt, and beheld. I was completely blown away by the utter joy and gratefulness of the kids and adults there. Everyone had a part to play, and they all worked together to achieve their everyday tasks but still had time to play and be together. I often thought of our lives here in America and wondered how much better they would be if we applied their lifestyle to ours. A couple times while we were giving shoes to the older kids, I tried to imagine myself being them and then tried my best to treat them as if they were Jesus Himself. I knew in my heart that there were probably times where I wasn’t being as cheerful as I should’ve been, or times where I could’ve been a better model of our group, but I looked around and saw people who were there for me, picking me up and loving me for who I was not just at my best, but always. At one of the distributions we were at, two little girls ran up to another missionary and I and embraced us both in a big hug, it was those moments that I knew that God was right by my side picking me up especially when I needed it most. While I was washing the kid”s feet, I was so humbled by the fact that Jesus in all of his glory, performed the same service to his own disciples. Jesus is such an amazing model to all of the missionaries because we were serving these people in His name.

I am so blessed to have been able to share my experience with you and hope that you know how grateful I am for all you did for me to help me go on the trip. I hope I gave you something from my words as thanks for everything. I will never forget this mission trip because it truly changed my life and my point of view. I couldn’t thank this parish enough, I will be praying for all of you!

God Bless,

Elsa Lieb