On Tuesday, June 11th, we left Mexico. 😢 We had to get up at like 3am to try to cross the border by 4am and after being up super late the night before, we were incredibly tired like Emily, Evie, and Halie here. We still had to wait in line about an hour and a half but apparently that's not bad.
Once we crossed the border we ate at McDonalds. American food tasted so good but I think that's where my traveler's tummy issues began. It was funny I didn't get sick in Mexico but I did in the U.S.. It took us a few hours to get back up to L.A., and Azusa Pacific University where we'd be staying for the next several days. Once we unpacked we headed around the corner to the laundromat.
A few people volunteered to stay with the laundry while the rest of us went our separate ways, Chick-Fil-A for us.
After an afternoon of mandatory nap time, we all went to Dan's wife, Sandra's brother's house for some R&R. He was not far away from Azusa at all.
The pool was a big hit.
I swam afterwards and didn't get any pictures then.
Jada talking to Evie.
Fun times. I was particularly run down once we got back to the States. Aside from the exhaustion (early mornings, late nights, manual labor, and constant people for this introvert), my tummy didn't feel well, and I felt under a lot of spiritual attack. I was ready to go home and rest once we left Mexico.
Azusa was perfect for us. We stayed in dorms, had our own bathrooms, and utilized the lobby for meals and meetings, not to mention the campus for football, volleyball, and ultimate frisbee.
Hey there's me during breakfast the following morning.
Evie and Julia, Dan and Sandra's youngest. Sandra joined us at this point and cooked all of our meals at her brother's and then brought them to us. She is an amazing cook.
Noah and Eli.
After breakfast we drove our vans up to downtown L.A. where we would be serving at the Union Rescue Mission.
We split our group in two since we were so many. Half of us went to the kitchen and half to a tour and then to do VBS. Here's Tori and I slicing bread.
So many of us in that elevator.
Here is Terry, Noah, and Evie's group on the roof during their tour.
Them in the elevator on their way down.
We were all so so so tired from Mexico still that everyone just automatically passed out in the vans.
That night, and just about every night, Terry gave out two more charms to go on our necklaces, a fish hook for fishing for men and a key for being key to the Kingdom. The idea was to honor's people's work during the day and encourage them in what we saw in one another. Everyone got the extra charms and we'd all take turns sharing things we'd seen them do or what we appreciated in them. Here's Evie getting her charms.
After our group meeting that night we had free time. I used mine to accompany Terry and Mike to go pick up our bus and bus driver south in Anaheim now that it was finally fixed. We had hoped it would be done before we went to Azusa, but at least it was ready for our drive home.
When we got back to Azusa that night most people were playing touch football and a group of us girls were playing sand volleyball. Three people lost their keys in the sand that night. It was a $50 fine so it was a big deal. After a lot of searching, and then prayer, and more searching, we found all three keys!
Evie was scratching backs the following morning, Prae here.
My kitchen group went on a tour the second morning at the mission.
Sarah, Cade, and Noah loved up on this K9 dog.
Silliness at some point that day.
Denise was always doing this flexing pose, especially to Noah to try to get him to get pumped up. She was teasing him and he loved it. We love Denise!
Terry eating one of the many leftover pastries donated to the mission everyday.
One more packed elevator ride.
Denise, Jake, Mike, and Becky serving lunch.
We all ate there and tried to strike up conversations with the homeless.
VBS went much better the second day after we put the toddlers in my room, the nursery. The day before they had been literally climbing the walls.
We were overjoyed to be back on the bus that afternoon!
We sang everyday, especially at Azusa since we had extra time that we didn't in Mexico.
Evie was not feeling well that night though. I think it was just compounded exhaustion but she said her tummy hurt too.
Rend Collective's "My Lighthouse" was our very favorite song. We had the most fun singing it this night. 💙
Lots of fun playing ultimate frisbee that night.
It didn't end until Haley was injured and then it was time for bed. Poor girl was okay. The next day was the last of our trip when we went to the beach! 🎉
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