WV, MD, VA, and DC

Hello Everyone,

Thursday, we left North Carolina for West Virginia. It was a rainy day, and we had a long drive. When I we came to the van, I was met my team were showed me the birthday cake that they made for me. They sang "Happy Birthday" to me. When got to Hurricane, West Virginia, we were early; so, we went out for dessert. Lucky for me it was my birthday, so I got a free dessert and was sung to once again. When we got the church, we got our mail. I was overjoyed to see many cards for my birthday as well as some delicious cookies (thanks mom!!). Thursday evening, the pastor took us out to Pizza Hut.

Friday morning, we had the fun opportunity to help out at a food pantry. We helped arrange stuff on the shelves, helped pack carts people who came for food, and helped people put stuff in their cars. I really enjoyed being there; it was a nice change from our usual programming. Friday night, we had a family night program. It went okay, but it was tough to have a program after not having one for awhile. After the program, we got to enjoy a large cookie cake that they got me for my birthday.

Saturday, we left West Virginia for Mar Lou Ridge, a camp Maryland. We joined six confirmation kids and two adults. We played some songs for them and then enjoyed socializing with them through conversation and games.

Sunday morning, we led most of the Sunday service at Trinity Lutheran Church in Hagerstown, MD. The congregation was used to having two services, one traditional and one contemporary, but the pastor decided to have one service when we were there with the theme of unity--which fits well with our theme of one. Luke give a sermon about unity, which was much needed.

Sunday afternoon, we got to Alexandria, Virginia, which is a suburb of D.C. While in Alexandria, we stayed at St. John's Lutheran Church, where DJ (a person who was on a YE team last year) goes to church. It has been nice hanging out with DJ since he helped us at training.

Monday, we slept in and then went to Washington D.C. for our day off. It was a chilly and cloudy day, but I really enjoyed it. We did quite a bit of walking and saw the Capital, the White House, the First Dog!, Washington Monument, WW II Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, Korean War Memorial, and Jefferson Monument. Because it was my fourth time to D.C., I was the team's tour guide, which I really enjoyed!!

Tomorrow, we travel to the nearby city of Arlington, Virginia. On Wednesday, we head further north to New Jersey. Thursday, we head to Younkers, NY. We are hoping that we get to go to NYC, but we don't know for sure yet.

Thanks for reading my blog!


Peace,

Tiffany