St. Noel - Eve

This year is my first year at YNIA. I enjoy service but have never been on a trip dedicated to service. I mainly came because all of my older siblings have been on the trip and raved about, not only the experience, but also the people and sense of community. I have only worked one day at the food bank where I helped fill bags with groceries for people. The bank happened to be handing out cleaning supplies. Now personally, I'm not the biggest fan of cleaning, but if you had never cleaned and watched these peoples faces light up when they saw that they had sponges and soap for their dishes, you might actually get excited to wash dishes. I loved seeing the gratitude these people expressed for things as simple as a loaf of bread. I also worked at a home called the Mother Teresa Home for Mothers. They house expecting or recently made mothers living on the streets. We were helping them with the very simple task of weeding, and these weeds weren't big thistles or anything, they were simply clovers or grass and other small things. I was so surprised how thankful they were for us to help with the gardens. We didn't get a chance to meet any of the mothers but the three workers were telling their touching stories and I loved hearing them. I enjoyed all of the work we did today and I am very ready for the days to come.