The Lost Get Found...

Today I was lamenting in prayer that I haven't been spending enough time evangelizing. I prayed so hard that the Lord would give me His words to say to His people. I am struggling immensely in prayer, being exhausted all the time (trying to remain joyful through it, thanks to Fr. Rocha ;) ), that it's been a struggle to stay focused on campus. A lot of my mind has been on just getting through the day, so I can just rest, so I can just have a good day tomorrow. Today was a day that I reminded myself that today is the only guarantee we have.

I was eating lunch in the University Center with one of our regular students. She dressed up and took me to lunch at the cafeteria to tell me she ended things with a relationship that just plain wasn't good. As we were chatting, my teammate Roger came by with another student I had just met on Tuesday. Soon after, a third student, and fifth person altogether, came by and sat with us at the lunch table. We were laughing and chatting, having a great time. When there was a lull in the conversation I made a comment about our country possibly becoming a socialist nation. The male student who came with Roger agreed and began a discussion about that. I had to step away from the table, as I saw my disciple out of the corner of my eye, and wanted to chat a few minutes with her. When I returned, the discussion of the table had gone from socialism to sexual education within the school systems. We seemed to have a healthy dialogue, and all agreed that there needed to be some kind of reform. It saddened me that the students weren't even entirely informed about the repercussions of sexual intercourse before marriage. I had the opportunity to explain my "abstinence only" view, and how it was really more than abstinence only to a "chasisty only". I explained how sex is a beautiful thing, but that it's meant within the confines of a marriage. I was able to show them the chemical bonds that human beings make during any kind of sexual act. It was kind of an eye-opening experience for them. All of the sudden, the male student sitting next to me said something about being in a Catholic school. So, I started that conversation with him.

I asked him if he was Catholic, and he replied, "Yes, well, not really. I guess I am, but I don't practice any more, so, yes and no. I guess I shouldn't say that I am." I asked him why he wasn't praciticing, and he said he didn't really have a good reason besides laziness. He told me about his parents, and how they used to be devout when they first went through the RCIA program, but how they grew complacent with time. He told me that he'd get into his faith when he was older. I knew I had an opportunity to share with him a little bit about not having a guaranteed tomorrow at that moment. I talked about a friend who died in a car accident when I was 15. She wasn't a close friend at the time, but we had played soccer together in middle school and wanted to be closer. We lost that chance. He said, "It would have to take something like that for me to get into my faith." I asked him, "What does Jesus have to do for you to practice being Catholic again?" (I learned this from another missionary.) He replied, "I don't know. I've never thought about it." Then he proceeded to tell me about his former friend, who he now hates, because he got into drugs. He just kept saying, "I hate him. I don't even care about him any more. I don't care at all." I answered, "Yeah, I think you care more than you're saying." His eyes teared up a little as he said that he agreed and didn't want to talk about it any more. At that moment, he got up from the table, mentioned to Roger and I that he'd always swipe us in if we ever needed to get into the cafeteria, and left at that. What a whirlwind of a day!

I definitely took to heart this conversation. You have no idea who you're going to bump into and what kind of healing they're putting off. I said a prayer for him today, and was able to share with Roger and the other student how I managed to get this guy to open up a little. Praise the Lord!

Now I'm off to make brownies in the dorms and lead my Thursday night Freshmen women's Bible study. I'm excited! Pray for me!

Isn't it a Joy?

"Isn't it a joy to be exhausted for the Lord?"

-Fr. Richard Rocha

This morning, I was running behind for prayer. Ok, I wasn't late, but I was enroute to be exactly on time. Normally this is ok, but this morning I ran into the Diocesan Vocations' Director, who also happens to be our chaplain at UMKC, as I was walking past St. Peter school to get to the chapel inside the "Legacy Center". Fr. Rocha is an amazing and joy-filled man. I wanted to share with him the joy the Lord had given me the previous evening. He said, "MANDA! How are you this fine morning?" All my mind could muster to answer at the time was, "So tired, Father." He smiled and said, "Isn't it a joy to be exhausted for the Lord?" I have to admit, that wasn't my first thought when my alarm went off this morning. I thought, "Wow, I'm tired." THEN I thought, "I had the most amazing three and 1/2 hours last night."

Last night I went to my first weekly Bible study. While this is my second year on campus at UMKC, I had the senior women in Bible study last year, and so I am starting over; I have the freshmen women in Bible study. I've been extremely impressed with them thus far, but I was a little nervous. The first Bible study is always a little awkward, especially when you have to explain to the women, who are still teenagers, that you're actually a college graduate, not even of this school, and you're a good 7 years older than them. Anyway, I had 7 of the many girls I called come; this is a very high number for UMKC. We started off just sharing a little bit about ourselves and our week. Then we dove into Scripture. We talked about God's amazing plan for our lives; how He is the only source of peace and joy in our lives. During the conversation, one girl answered one of my questions this way, "Ok, Manda, I know you want me to say that the reason there's unhappiness in the world is that there's separation from God, but I can't say that. I feel like a hypocrit." I asked her to explain, and she got vulnerable. It was an awesome moment to show her that we're all broken (I got to share my testimony), and for me to see where she is in her life with Christ. We planned a coffee date for Thursday evening (before I come home for the weekend for Alyssa and Sean's wedding in Greeley!), and I hope to talk with her more about her unanswered questions. Pray for me! I'm pretty sure I don't have the answers, but I'm finding hope in the fact that God is allowing her heart to be open to us even through her brokenness!

After Bible study is the part that really made me exhausted today. One of the girls was sticking around helping me clean things up. She's an amazing freshmen woman who just wants Christ to be at the center of her life. We talked about what study would look more like throughout the course of the semester and year, and she seemed really excited. We talked for a few minutes, and something came up that prompted me to ask her about her prayer life. This spurned into a long conversation about where she is in her life. She shared about this confusing situation with a man (isn't it always about men? ;) ). She told me about how she wanted to put Christ first, but didn't know where to go from here; she didn't know where to start. We proceeded to have a 2 and 1/2 hour conversation about prayer, situations, what we are supposed to do in our lives to grow closer to Christ. It was so providencial that I am currently reading a book (by raving reviews of friends, of course) called I Believe in Love. It's a personal retreat set up upon the writings of St. Therese of Lesieux (St. Therese the Little Flower). One of the meditations I read in prayer yesterday was that when Christ called St. Peter, the first Pope of the Catholic Church, the one He gave keys to the kingdom to, He didn't say, "Peter, will you be a man of character and great leader? Will you be as perfect as possible, as sinless as possible, in order to better my kingdom?" No, Christ said, "Peter, do you love Me?" I confided in this girl that it's a struggle of mine to strive for perfection all the time, but Christ only calls me to love Him. How, every day, do we love Him? Every decision, how do we choose love? It was perfect for her life. It was beautiful and providencial!

The point of this story is that Bible study started at 8:30pm. I didn't get home until midnight last night, and had a bunch of work to do before I went to sleep. I woke up this morning, not feeling joyful that my story, the Lord's pursuit of my heart, could have changed someone's life and relationship with Christ, but rather exhausted and wanting to stay in bed until five minutes before I was supposed to leave my house to walk to prayer. Fr. Rocha called me out, and prayer was amazing for it. What a joy it is to be exhausted for the Lord!!

I'm exhausted. Fall Outreach - our biggest push of the semester to find students, get them involved, and start our weekly activities - is just winding its way down. The last almost two weeks have been spent in prayer with and for our student leaders, giving talks to those leaders, moving students into the two dormitories, meeting international students, taking surveys at club fairs, hosting a day-long workshop for student leaders, baking cookies for students in the dorms, making appearances at the dry parties on campus, going with students to free bbqs and concerts, and being as present in the dorms and cafeteria as possible. This week we've had a big bbq after Sunday Mass, a kickball game, four large-group Bible studies (in two days), a weekday Mass with a fun event after, and a volleyball event. After the volleyball on Thursday, we call Fall Outreach finito and move on to the weekly Bible studies, mentorships, "hot hours", and really pushing our National Conference coming up in December. This is gonna be big! ;)

I've had so many amazing opportunities. The Lord has blessed amazingly these past two weeks with consolation after consolation after so much desolation and hunger last year. He's showing us that patience is the way - His way. The spirit of indomitability, that I've had to learn time after time after time, is such a vital virtue in ministry, and such a hard virtue to practice. However, that's all part of trusting the Lord; is it not? Trusting that He truly is omnipotent breeds this practice of indomitability. Last year I was wearing a t-shirt that said, "Ask me about my Ashes" on Ash Wednesday to spur both conversation and questions about when and where Mass was. Well, while there was some conversation, the best came from a man who worked the information desk. He asked some questions, but basically told me his story - he left the Catholic Church. I heard him say he worked the desk certain days and certain times - the same days and times every week. I came back once a week to invite him to Mass we had every Thursday on campus. He said maybe every time, but never came. May came, and I knew he was graduating. I thought I'd never see him again. I was walking down campus late last week with my teammate Pam, when I came across his path. I introduced them to each other, and he introduced me to his friend - a freshman he was showing around the campus. As we were leaving, he turned over his shoulder and shouted, "Oh, Manda? I'm coming back to Catholic Church!" I was amazed. Some people come back into your life so you can truly know the Lord's timing in all things.

There are so many other amazing things, and I'm sure I'll be given the grace to tell you it all in the beatific vision of eternal life. Some day, I hope to write many stories down! The Lord is good. Amen. Alleluia. Goodnight!

Musically Inclined

Hello, friends, family and fellow bloggers.

I have been incredibly busy, and so I haven't had much of a chance to update. However, let me catch you up. I am unpacked in KC, MO. I am in love with my room - see Facebook for pictures. I actually have a room that matches my age; it's a blessing.

Getting settled in took longer than I expected. Moving into a new place, even though we're at the same campus, is a challenge! It's fun to try to find the new routes to places. At one point this week, I was driving home from the Hacienda Walmart in Kansas, when I started chatting with an old friend on the phone. Before I realized it, I was parked and getting ready to get out of my car at home; that is until it dawned on me that I had automatically driven to the old apartment on Roanoke. Oh, geeze! I got back in the car and called my old teammates - so they could have a laugh about it.

Along with new challenges, there are some extremely huge things to come this year. Our students have shown nothing but enthusiasm for this year. I have never been more impressed with a group of young adults in my life. They are so inspiring!

Being in KC has brought on some interesting prayer. We have been attending Mass and holy hour at St. Peter just down the street - a church we never went to last year. It's amazing. Fr. Steve, our former chaplain, is now the pastor there, and he is awesome as ever. He's helping so much in the transition between Fr. Rocha and himself. Fr. Rocha has been busy, but has seemed really excited about his new role with FOCUS at UMKC. He's got the energy we'll need! Prayer has had sporatic points of highs and some interesting dryness; I am thinking I'm just getting used to having a set schedule instead of praying on my own time. The other day was amazing: I had a song stuck in my head. I first started hearing this song when I was making the drive to and from Colorado Springs for Brittany and Brandon Diegel's wedding. The song is Revelation Song by Phillips, Craig and Dean. Yeah, if you're a K-LOVE listener, you know what I'm talking about. I was praying using Revelation 5, and, of course the song popped in my head since the lyrics are from that chapter. It was phenomenal to reflect not only on the ultimate goal of eternal salvation and life in heaven, but also the spiritual mystery and reality of the Mass. Thinking of the hosts of angels praising the Lord most especially at the moment of consecration singing those words (ok, so in Scripture it said elders, but, you get the point), put me in incredible awe. We are completely unworthy for the mission He's called us to, but at some moments He brings us into the Holy of Holies - His Throne Room - to challenge our hearts and intentions. Who do we serve? Welp, I'm with the Book of Joshua - Me and my house will serve the Lord. I'm praying for humility of intention as we enter this fall outreach time on Monday. Please pray for humility of intention and success in reaching souls for Christ.

Ok, this coffee shop in Brookside is about to shut down, and I'm thinking they want me to leave soon so they all can go home. Many blessings, love and prayers. Pray for me!
St. Bernard, St. Joseph, St. Therese, St. Francis Xavier, St. Maximillian Kolbe (whose feast was yesterday) and Our Lady of Perpetual Help - Pray for us!
Happy feast of the Immaculate Conception.
-Manda

A New Way to E-Vangelize

Hello friends and family!

Welcome to my new blog. Let's be honest - I'm new to the blog scene. I wanted to give those who are internet savvy a way to keep up with the life of Manda, a zany, Catholic Missionary on the border of Kansas and Missouri. Well, I live about a mile and 1/2 from the border now.

I am going back to UMKC for my second round of FOCUS - the Fellowship of Catholic University Students. I am extremely excited to work with freshmen women this year. I love freshmen. They are enthusiastic and passionate. Ok, college students in general are enthusiastic and passionate, but I feel like freshmen are moreso.

This summer has been crazy, but awesome. I watched a dear friend move very close to my parents' house. I attended my cousin's wedding in Las Cruces, NM. I spent five weeks in Champaign, IL for new staff training. I spent about eight or so days in Allenspark, CO being a camp counselor for the God in the Rockies Catholic outdoor adventure program. I even went up to Casper, WY to meet the newest member of the Petry family. I wish I could say that I've had a lot of free time, but, as you have already probably guessed (or you just know me all too well) I...have...been...BUSY.

I'm in Colorado for another two weeks, and then I make my way back to KC, MO until probably Thanksgiving...unless something comes up ;)

I'll keep you posted. This weekend? The Diegel-Potts wedding in C-Springs!