Hello All--
Well, I am back from the Valley Springs trip we went on. Alot of people have asked me, since I've been back, "Why did you guys go down there?" So, I will tell all!
We left Grass Valley sometime after 9. There was a group of 13 at the time, when we left. They were Eli, Travis, Lydia, Andrew, April, Justin, Tyson, Stephanie, Billy, Nick, Chris, Morgan, and me. We then traveled into Sacramento, where we picked up Ivan and Ashley.
We got to Valley Springs around lunch time. After we ate lunch, and met our host families, and then went to the lake. The water was nice and warm, but it was really muddy and rocky, and just gross. THen we all went to this one families house, which btw, was an awesome house, just beautiful. We hung out there until everyone went to their host families. After we ate some yummy dinner, some of us played cards.
My hostess was Kyra. She was a sweet older lady. Both Lydia and I stayed with her. The awesome thing about it, was she right next door, to Paula's house, which was the main hang-out spot. Everyone would always meet at Paula's for this or for that, so we just had to walk a minute to get there. Which, we didnt have to do much, cuz we just stayed there as long as possible, and tried to avoid going back and forth from Paula's to Kyras.
That was a basic rundown of the first day. Now the second day is a different story. We woke up at 7, got all in our work clothes, and met at thr church building at 8:30. That is when we had our morning devotional, and chose partners to work with. The first day, I was with my dearest Travis. We went around to houses, asked if they had any work that needed to be done, and we would do it for them for free. Then, we would hand out alittle invitation to the church, we were working with. So our goal was to reach out to the community, showing a good exmaple, hoping they would want more of that, and come to church.
Anywho, we would work until 12 everyday, then eat lunch, then go to Paula's and do something. One day we went to the chocolate factory, another day to the river, some days we just hung out, and took naps. It was alot of fun. Then we'd normally go back to the host familes and eat dinner. Since I was right next door to Paula's, and since Kyra was Paula's mother, we always ate together. So that was a blast. Then at night, we would go back to the church bulding, and Eli would do alittle gospel meeting. Then we'd just hang out watching movies or doing something fun until we wanted to go to bed, which for me was around like 11:30 or 12. They were late nights.
So that is what we did everyday pretty much. We helped this one guy who had cancer, and it was really encouraging. Another lady we helped had to have 3 discs operated on, and could barely walk. So I think we made an impact. Many people said they had been praying for help, and then we'd show up. Its crazy how God works with us!
The last day we were in Valley Springs, was Saturday. We all went to the lake, and had a bbq. It was fun. But, that was pretty much the run down of the trip. I will go into more detail, if any of you want it, or are just curious, but I think this is enough for now.
Have a good day everyone!
-Ambular