My Trip down to Mississippi

I had the opportunity to go down to help with the relief work in Long Branch, MI. I just got back today, this morning to be precise. And sitting here at work drinking my 5th cup of coffee im reflecting on how amazing the experience was. First off, if ANYONE has ANY type of circumstance to go down, for HOWEVER short a period of time, DO IT. Its was the most amazing experience i have ever had the blessing to take part of. Going down and seeing Jehovahs organization in full gear was just awe imspiring. I got to eat and hang out with brothers and sisters that have LITERALLY put aside their lives and moved down to live out of a tent or a small room to help those brothers and sisters affected by the Katrina disaster. One brother owned a resturant that was successful in LA. He walked away from it and is now living in a tent on the KH property... so much faith in Jehovah! And it was great, every morning we had morning worship just like a bethel family would. We had the text and experiences and you got to hear what other brothers and sisters had to say about their experiences, it was sooo much fun!

I had the opportunity to work on a familys house that had some moderate flood and wind damage. They were living in a mobile home and had been waiting for relief for almost 6 months now. It was amazing to see how happy the family was to see us. They brought us junk food all day (which i loved) and talked to us till late in the day (almost made us late to the meeting) This sister was making fun of our "joisy" accents and such, but it was just soo faith strengthening.

They even had a pasture with cows. The little girl there who was around 11 bet me some candy bars that I couldnt catch and ride one... i was THIS close to the thing but it got away. I still say it was cause i stepped in the cow poop and slipped. But anyways i hope to get back there at some point this summer or maybe fall.

Update

I was just reading this again and i wanted to add some thigns that i didnt remember in my sleep lacked grogginess yesterday. I had a meeting/interview with one of the top guys here at the college on monday morning. Originally I was going to be arriving at 3 Am in La Guardia, home by around 4 30 or so then into work by 7 and have my meeting. no problems. WELL then we get this blizzard thing, all the airports shut down and my flight is cancelled. I checked EVERYTHING, and i mean EVERYTHING, flights into like Chicago, Miami, Charleston, i even was going to fly into OC by gina cause they told me i could catch a direct flight from there into Jersey, but in the end, I couldnt find anything to get me back home in time for my meeting. Sooo, I start freaking out. But I still had a car that i had rented. A nice four door Pontiac. I figured, well I could always drive to another airport maybe in Georgia or Florida or something. But it would all take way too long to get me back into Jersey. So i figured, well some of the brothers and sisters drove down from Jersey and it only took them 20 hrs, I bet i could make it faster then that if i did it straight through. By this time it was 3 pm Sunday afternoon and if i was going to do it, I would have to leave right away.

So I throw all my crap in the car, and get some directions on a napkin and started to head out. That was until i started to tell people what i was going to do, hahah nobody wanted me to do it, so I ended up taking a brother that came down with me so we could split up the driving. We swing by this gas station grab 12 red bulls and some crackers and stuff and hit the road. I drove for about 5 hrs till we took our first break in some Walmart in Alabama. We picked up 2 cds and some sandwhiches and hit the road again. My friend drove for about an hour or so till we switched again (i am a control freak and i get bored if i dont drive, lol) Then I made really good time until we hit South Carolina where we switched again and i tried to sleep. I gave up after around an hour and a half and we switched again. By this point its like 3 in the morning and I just wanted to get home, so he fell asleep and I just cranked up my Ipod. We hit PA by around 6ish... I was falling asleep and all but ran out of Red Bull so I started writing emails to stay awake. When it was all said and done we made it back in time to return my car to the place at 9 am, 16 hrs or so drive.