Missions (Condensed)

Part One:

My experience as a missionary is far from over. Our first work day here, was fantastic despite lack of sleep from the previous night. The previous night consisted of tossing and turning, moving from upstairs to downstairs, from carpet to tile, and from pillow to blanket. All of which are positions I, or others, attempted to sleep in by the way. Of course we slept in, and had trouble waking up this morning, so breakfast was not only quiet, but filled with silence aside from the ocassional yawn. We arrived early to Mission Arlington, where we were greeted with a "Wow! You're here early!!" To which Kelli smiled and nodded her head (love you Kelli and your pride in being early/on time to events! We would be late to everything if not for you!!). When we were given our assignment for the morning, we were told we were going to be passing out bags of popcorn with bible study/Christmas dinner invitations to an apartment complex not far from The Mission. We grouped up and took our own routes. We had so much popcorn we had to make a second trip to pass out the extras! Now, this may not sound like much, but as we were leaving, we spotted a little girl walk out on her doorstep and she became overjoyed because she now had two bags of popcorn. That smile made it all worth it. After we left the apartment complex, we came back to Mission Arlington, where they told us we would be working the Christmas Store. Now, for those of you who don't know, the Christmas Store is a Mission Arlington program that operates inside a large building and caters to the families who don't have the ability to buy Christmas gifts. These families walk up to the entrance and receive a number, walk through the building, hear the Christmas story / hear the gospel, then they go on their way upstairs where they are then helped by a volunteer who helps them shop and pick out toys for their kids. After they get their items together they then send them through the gift wrapping portion where another set of volunteers help wrap presents. That's what the program basically is. However, The first half of my day, I was outside in 46 degree weather, shaking, freezing, and feeling like I was on my way to hyperthermia. Needless to say, it was COLD! You're probably thinking, "Forty-Six degrees Audri? Really? It's not THAT cold!", but when there is little water particles in the air, 46 feels like 24 and the wind was not helping one bit. My job in the cold weather was to pass out the little gifts at the end of the line as people left. One of these gifts was a Barney cup. I wish I had gotten a picture of all the cups I passed out today... The cups were very creepy. Like...really...really....creepy... But eventually I got to go upstairs after lunch and help gift wrap. Yay for warmth! After about two hours, I finally regained complete feeling in the lower half of my body. I discovered I am no good at wrapping presents so much, but I started getting creative with my bows. Oh the joys of working with ribbon and tape! (: all in all, I'm glad I came to Mission Arlington and I can't wait to start work tomorrow! Although I'm offering five dollars for a really good foot massage! I will update as the trip progresses!

Thanks for reading!! 

-Audri Michelle <3

Part Two:

So I'm writing this as the day goes on btw.

I woke up this morning and ran into Randy who then told me "Coffee is ready!" To which I replied sleepily "Coffeeeee" I then got dressed and headed into the kitchen where Randy was pouring coffee he said was "too thin" and I then decided to call the coffee "caffeinated water milk" because that's basically what it was. I ended up throwing it out shortly after. Crystal opted out for Big Red. We arrived at Mission Arlington and were given our assignment that we would be following Miss Lisa and Miss Marla to an apartment complex in the Fort Worth area. Kelli, Crystal and I stayed with Miss Marla while Randy, Christine, Brittany and Shelby followed Miss Lisa. Kelli and I cleaned up the kitchen area and all the trash while Crystal and Miss Marla rounded up the kids from their apartments. We had 23 kids in one tiny room. But it was fun and worth it. This is a selfie we took with Miss Marla.

And these are some of the kids we worked with today 

So over the course of the trip I've come up with "rules" based on funny things we encounter. 

These rules are:

1) Don't drink the tap water

2) Neighbors! (Keep quiet)

3) Don't lick the walls

4) Keep your phone in your pocket

5) Always have Funyuns, Bean Dip and Big Red on hand!

6) Don't give Shelby Big pieces of chocolate!!!

So this entire trip we've also given Randy sass about how big his phone is. This is one of the conversations:

Kelli: "Are you trying to take a selfie?"

Me: "It's more like a full body picture since the camera is so big."

Randy: "What?!"

Now on to Christine! She thinks I won't blog about her, well surprise!! (: 

*Christine is mopping*

Christine: "Where am I gunna dump this water?"

Crystal: "Do it when you shower."

Me: "That's IF you shower!"

Now it's time to clean! See yall when I get home, there will be one more post tomorrow and that'll be the end of it!

GOD BLESS! 

-Audri Matsler

Part Three:

Wake up, clean. The motto was to leave the apartment in better condition than when we arrived, and boy did we! I smelled like lemon cleaner. Which is not a pleasant smell. We were given a choice last night, go to the mall or go back to the Mission. We chose the Mission. We showed up and were told to restock/clean. We were able to wrap presents and help people shop for a few hours before having to leave and go home. It's been a fun experience to bless people through the Mission. And Ms Tillie is a blast to work for. Here is a picture of us with her.

This lady is so fun, she carries around a spongebob umbrella wherever she goes. She's too cool! It was so much fun. Sad to go. Can't wait to come back!!(: