10.23.10

Aka. Cleaning Day At The Lodge.
7:45 - Woke up
8:00 - Breakfast
9:00 - Left for the lodge
9:15 - Got a horse named, Cricket, and brushed her
9:45 - Started shoveling horse poop
10:00 - Pulled cockelburs (which ended all over me)
10:45 - Continued shoveling horse poop
12:00 - Ate lunch
12:30 - Continued shoveling horse poop
1:15 - Cleaned a shed that had a ton of maggots in it
3:30 - Picked up boxes that had rat poop all over them
4:15 - Fed the horses carrots and had them follow us all around
5:00 - Got in the van and went back to the ranch

It was such a cold day! And it rained on and off. We're all super tired....

O and the worst part of the day.... Amy Left.

Glow in the Dark.

We got used to staring at this.

This is a story about...

1 quiet nature country. 

10 girls. 

1 boy. 

11 passenger van. 

2 day drive. 

1 loud cement jungle.

So this is how the story begins... 

One morning all of us packed into a van.

And off we began on our 2 day drive down to Las Vegas. We drove for about 12 hours and stayed over in a Calvary Chapel in Pocatello, Idaho, and then woke up to sit in the van for another 8-10 hours till we hit our final destination...

Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Welcome to LAS VEGAS!

I was once again shown a city and INSTANTLY fell in love! 

(I miss being home in Philly all the time!!!)

Calvary Chapel Spring Valley opened up their guest home to us and it felt like home, because I looked out the window and the first thing I saw was CALVARY.  

So lemme tell you about this mission's conference. 

1. Calvary Chapel Spring Valley is a HUGE church. They have a elementary/high school, a coffee shop, bookstore, and a huge campus (the church/school is two separate buildings)!

2. It was SO amazing.... The worship, the speakers, and just everything about it.

3. They had an International Dinner night! (Which I'll write about later...)

4. The conference is called... the SEND the MEssage, mission's conference.

5. This Calvary Chapel doesn't spell their name normally, but spell it... caLVary chapel. 

(The LV is capitalized for Las Vegas! Isn't that creative?!)

Half of Calvary Chapel Spring Valley.

I don't know how to explain all of the sessions... So I decided to just give some points that stood out and encouraged me.

- "There are the Goers, SENDers, and the DISOBEDIENT."

- "If we feel that people are going to hell, we should feel the need to do something about it."

- "Being a missionary: It's not a profession, but a calling."

- "You can have 110 accountability partners, but you're only as accountable as you make yourself."

- "Until the WHOLE world hears, we are NOT done."

- "Your tongue will follow your heart."

- "God knows and has chosen me for a place that is perfect for me. God has also chosen a place for me that is the perfect place."

- "Be a... Learner, Sharer, Partner, and Minister."

- "Is it MY ministry or GOD's? Is it MY city or GOD's? If it's YOURS, then DO NOT ASK GOD for help. It's NOT His."

On Tuesday night, we had a special dinner at the conference. 2 words... 

INTERNATIONAL DINNER.

There was SO much to try!

In the courtyard, there was about 20 long tables set up and about 12 different countries represented. They had Filipino, Chinese, Indian, Mexican, American, Hawaiian, and many more... My favorite was the white rice and the dried seaweed pieces. It was DELICIOUS!   

Water show at the Bellagio.

Our orphan mom... Dawn Marie.

After a night of wonderful food, Dawn Marie (Mike and Pam Rozell's touring assistant) took some of the girls to drive down the Vegas Strip in our orphanage van. It was such a fun time!

On Thursday, we were able to go shopping (again with Dawn Marie) at the Forum shops. We went to a 4-story Urban Outfitters... I died and bought SO much stuff! At night, the group went back to the strip to the Bellagio and watched the water show. It was the nicest to watch. We also were able to walk through the Bellagio and see the inside. Literally. Nicest thing I have ever seen! Dawn Marie told us 

                                                          and said she saw Brad Pitt... Lies, Lies, LIES. 

I know this is out of order, but on Wednesday, the conference ended at 12 and we had till 4ish to just chill. So we asked Pastor Steve if we could do some kind of street witnessing or an outreach and he got us in with Calvary Downtown to help at their food pantry. We were able to help the group there unload a van PACKED with food so they could hand out boxes the following day to the homeless and unfortunate families. After unloading and putting away the food, Theresa, the lady who leads it up, gave me some information on how to run a food pantry and some stuff about what they do. It was perfect! It literally made my day!

This is the sad part... It's now Friday morning... And again, all of us packed into our 11 passenger van and drove again for 2 days. Over all, it was the best trip. I loved being in the city life.

Saturday, October 9 - Saturday, October 16.

Tomorrow, bright and early, all of the interns (plus Sean) are going to be packing sleeping bags, our luggage, and ourselves in the van. We then will be driving for about 10 hours until we hit a church in Pocatello, Idaho, where we will be spending the night. The next morning, we will again be piling into the van and driving another 8-10 hours to our final destination. At this destination, we will be attending and helping at the Send The Message Mission's Conference. Please pray that this week is a week where we get blessed and refreshed and also are a blessing. 
Miss you all. Love, Darla and Erin

Oi Vey

Hey everyone!! This is going to be super quick but I wanted to give a small update. We've been so busy here. Last night we did a banquet for Hope Pregnancy Center and it was great. I got to serve appetizers on a tray and ask people if they wanted a crab cake. I've wanted to do that my whole life, it was so fun. And tomorow we're leaving for a road trip. I'm not allowed to say our destination because for whatever reason Darla wants it to be a secret. But I will give a hint and say i'm probably too young to go into a (public) bathroom there. I'll be writing a real post when we get back on Friday but I miss everyone and Philly.
Dec. 18 <3

Erin Nicole

Non Stop Crazy

As life goes on at the ranch, we start getting piled with so many things to do. This weekend was the funnest so far, but came at the worst time... With all the girls, we were able to go to Coffee Traders and a couple thrift stores. Then a couple of us had a sleepover at the lodge and watched Enchanted. Today we were off to church in the morning and then went to Pastor John's house to watch some football and eat. 
This isn't the end of the craziness... We still have a 5 page research paper to write, training for the banquet that is on Thursday, girls night, skull church, and packing for our field trip (which we leave for early Saturday morning!!!!) 
If you know where we're going for our field trip, don't say anything!!!!!! I want everyone to be surprised and excited! Everyone here is really excited to be away from the ranch for a week... Including me. 
Hope to talk to you all soon! And hopefully I get around to writing you a letter, if I haven't already! Love... Darla Maxine