The Holy Family

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Merry Christmas!!! Last Sunday was the feast of the Holy Family and Father's homily really blessed me. He shared about the Holy Family and all about their life and their vocation. He also shared that we are called to be like them. Even though Mary couldn't sin, Joseph had an angel come and speak to him in a dream when he needed to do something, and Jesus is God, we still can take them as an example.
They had to live a life that was holy, they also had to live as a family and work as one. This is something that all of us go through and live with every day. So what could be a better example than the example that God himself set for us? They journeyed together, lived together and went through hard times together much like many of our families do. They are the perfect people ask for prayers!
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, pray for us.
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

God Is With Us

Brothers and sisters in Christ,
I am pleased to share that our Christmas play was a wonderful success! I was so blessed by it and was so blessed to participate in the most beautiful story ever.
The first line of the play is "Some stories are so powerful that they can never be told enough, this is one of those stories." This statement is so true and I am super excited to celebrate the festivity of it soon!
The Lord really opened my eyes to all that Mary and Joseph must have experienced and the beautiful day that it was. I wish you all the best of Christmases! Remember to keep Christ in Christmas, I am praying for all of you especially during this wonderful season! God Bless.
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Theres no time like Christmas

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Christmas... presents, tree, shopping, food, family, fun, friends, lights. These are all words that pop into my head when I think of the joyful December 25th that rolls areound but once a year. It is so easy to get caught up in the shopping, wrapping and decorating that it also becomes easy to forget about the most important aspect. When Santa Claus can cloud your mind and seep into the media and creches and nativity scenes slowly evaportate. Can it be that the reason for Christmas gets pushed to the back burner?
God, looked down with love on the world, smiled and sent us his son to save us so that we could rejoice in eternity with him someday!!! WOW! What a fantastic occurance, what a beautiful truth and gift! Instead of worrying about what to give to whom and what you might receive we can meditate on the most beautiful gift ever given.
I am in a Christmas play named "God with us" God is with us, he was brought to Earth, laid in a manger and redeemed the world! This Christmas and every Christmas is a time to remember and rejoice in that, to put things in perspective and rejoice and share with our loved ones. The thought of it still makes me giddy like a five year old.Joy To The World!!!!!
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Yours is the kingdom of God

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Today in mass I had a really blessed experience. The closing song was "rejoice and be glad for yours is the kingdom of God." I was singing, and I must admit, I wasn't very wholehearted. A man was in the front row, I could see his face and it took my breath away. He was smiling and had the most beautiful expression on his face and I could tell that he understood the words. I could tell that he believed all that he was singing. It opened my eyes to the meaning behind the song, yours is the kingdom of God. The beauty and the wonder behind those words, that we can be a part of the kingdom of God! It is so simple but it really blessed me and made me think about the words that we sing and the meaning that is behind them. God bless!
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Donor's Dinner

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,
Last night was FMC's annual donor's dinner. We invite all of the people who have donated or supported FMC in the last year and we gather for food and presentations on all that has been going on this last year. I was so blessed to see all that God has done in FMC just in a year it reminds me that this is genuinely one of the greatest missions of the church and that I am abundantly blessed to be a part of it. I was blessed to sell some rosary bags and gather some money for WYD this august. I was also reminded that FMC is more than a company and more than a community we really are all family and what a huge blessing it is to find that!
During vigil mass on Saturday I started thinking about how much I missed Mexico, how much I missed missions in general. I kept on thinking about how much I wanted to be there and to be serving God through foreign missions. I really felt God touch my heart and say that "This is your mission right now Alyse, this is what I have called you to." I "knew" that but I was glad to be reminded. Again after all of the presentations at the donor's dinner my heart started crying out for missions and yearning to go to the ends of the earth. Once more I was reminded that my mission is here, for now, and I need to support God's mission through my prayers and through my service. I am going to try and look into mission work here in our new city and hope to do my best while I am here. Not to use this time for waiting but to use this time for genuine service to the Lord. I also would like to share that I will be speaking at a confirmation retreat! I am super excited/nervous about that but I hope that I can be a missionary witness to all of those in the confirmation class. Please start praying for me for that even though it isn't until January. Please keep me in your prayers as I keep you in mine. God bless!
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Temptations

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I have been thinking a lot lately about temptation and about how easy it is for the devil to get at us with it. Temptation is so powerful and harmful that it is the way that Satan chose to try to trick Jesus into falling. What actually sparked this topic is that a while ago I was sitting with a bag of rice cakes next to me. I love them, they are really delicious, anyhow as I ate I realized that I am having supper later. Instead of stopping I continued to munch slowly because the bag was sitting right there. Unlike sin, rice cakes aren't evil but still as it sits there it makes you fall. If there is one way to ensure that you will fall into sin it is to surround yourself with temptation. An easy way to stay away from sin is to make a conscious effort to pluck out the temptation in your life. One thing that always reminds me of how serious it is is in the Bible where it says "If your eye causes you to sin pluck it out", that is really serious. I guess that is it, but it just has been on my heart a lot lately. God bless!
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Thanksgiving

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Happy (belated) Thanksgiving! What a great time of year! Delicious turkeys, yams, rice and pies! It is so great to be with family and friends. The best part though, in my opinion, is the fact that we have set aside a whole day to be thankful. A whole day to rejoice in all of the wonderful and good things that God gives us. So often, I find myself falling into a routine of me. A routine that focuses on all that I want and plan. Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to be thankful for all that I do have, to just praise God for my life, my family, my friends, my health, and all of the other blessings that I take for granted. It really reminds me of all that I have to be thankful for. I need to remind myself to always have Thanksgiving in my heart, not in the since that I eat turkey every day, but rather to always thank and praise God. To praise him through every season of my life because I know that he is good and I know that he loves me!
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

"Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his love endures forever."

Christmas Play

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Our drama class has begun to prepare for this Christmas' Christmas play. I am excited! I am so happy to be able to glorify the Lord through a little glimpse of what the first Christmas was like. I am going to play Mary :) , which I am especially excited about since I have begun consecrating myself to Mary and plan to consecrate myself on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe! For those of you who don't know much about consecration to Mary you can search it online, it is St. Louis De Montfort who put it together in the 1700's.
I feel so blessed by our acting group's excitement and am excited to see how it all comes together. I ask that you would pray that it would be blessed and glorify God this upcoming Christmas season. I know that it isn't Christmas time yet but I always love the story of Christmas, the most beautiful display of the Father's love by sending his only son to be born on Earth. I am praying for you :) God Bless.
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Beg Letter

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This is my beg letter. God Bless!
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse



Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This past year I have been so abundantly blessed. I have had the opportunity to serve as a missionary in Mexico for twelve weeks at various parts of the year. God has revealed Himself to me through the beautiful people there, and with all of the graces that He has poured upon me in missions. When I am in Mexico I am able to staff various short term groups, which includes leading service teams, translating in the ejidos, and serving the people who come to the mission house for help. I have learned so many things through the people that God sends me to serve; I have learned so much about what joy is, about our awesome God who is our Father.
Witnessing and participating in the great duty of the Church that is missions is too beautiful to accurately put into words. I feel strongly the call to missions, and I know that God has called me to be a missionary. I am not sure if He wants me to be a foreign missionary all of my life yet, but I do know that I am here to serve and live for God. I have been supported by all of my friends and family, and find great strength and joy in the knowledge that they are praying for me and supporting me. I am writing this letter to ask for your support.
Recently, the opportunity to go to World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid has come up. My uncle, also the head of FMC’s youth ministry, is bringing a group of young people to Spain next August to attend World Youth Day. This is a special opportunity because we are going as a group of missionaries to Europe, not just to receive the blessing of WYD, but also to witness and minister during our time there.
We will arrive in London first to visit with a School of Evangelization for young people. I am excited to revisit this community that hosted my family and I before on our mission, our visits with them have always been fruitful opportunities for growth in our missionary vocations. From London we will go to Paris, making a spiritual pilgrimage to churches and the Cathedral there and witnessing our faith as youth in love with Jesus. This is an especially important task in Europe where, sadly, the faith is dying, especially among young people.
Afterwards we will go to Cordoba, Spain. My family and I lived as missionaries there a few years ago and the Diocese that we served in will be hosting a bunch of groups on pilgrimage to World Youth Day. I look forward to this opportunity to reconnect with many of the people we ministered to during our time there. Also, I will be serving as a translator between the english and spanish speakers during our time in Spain. After some time there we will go to Rome and Assisi on pilgrimage. Finally, we will go to Madrid where millions of youth will be gathered with the Holy Father for a week of spiritual growth and community!
I am so blessed by this opportunity. I really feel that it is God’s will for me to attend World Youth Day, serving as a missionary and translator during our time in Europe. The cost of this trip is $2,500, which is a lot of money for me. I know that nothing is impossible for God! So I ask for your help - please, please be praying for me. Pray that if it be His will that I can go to the World Youth Day pilgrimage this upcoming August. Also, I ask that if you feel called to contribute financially to this cause, please do. I would be very grateful. Even the smallest amount will help! Please pray for me and I will be praying for you, and I will bring the intentions of my benefactors with me to Europe, praying at every pilgrimage spot for your special needs.
Finally, I would like to thank you all in advance for your prayers and support. I am so blessed to have such a strong community! I try to update my mission blog as frequently as possible, please visit www.missionaryalyse.blogspot.com. Also for more info on the World Youth Day pilgrimage with FMC visit www.fmcyouth.wordpress.com God Bless!
Peace and love in Christ Jesus,

Alyse E. Spiehler
alyseliz@yahoo.com

“God is opening before the Church the horizons of a humanity more fully prepared for the sowing of the Gospel. I sense the moment has come to commit all the Church’s energies to a new evangelization and mission to the nations. No believer in Christ, no institution of the Church, can avoid this supreme duty; to proclaim Christ to all peoples.”
-Pope JP II in his encyclical “Mission of the Redeemer”

If you interested in donating you can mail checks with the memo of "Alyse World Youth Day" to:
Alyse Spiehler co Family Missions Company
12624 Everglade Road
Abbeville La 70510

The Kids

Brothers and SIsters in Christ,
I am back at Big Woods visiting my family and friends for a week. I was so blessed this weekend! I went to my new little cousin's baptism which was beautiful, visited a bunch of relatives and helped with an all saint's day party. I was dressed up as the three theological virtues, faith hope and love, and was able to tell kids about my costume and hand them candy :). To watch all of the children playing and rejoicing in God and his Saints was a great experience.
I came back to Big Woods and this morning the community with intake, had morning prayer. I was with all of the kid's for their sharing and prayer. To see their genuine love, simplicity and joy was such a blessing! Afterwards, I went over to the office and was stopped by Maria, a little missionary, and she asked me that when I go to Mexico next that I give her 11 cents to the poor. I was so touched! She had her hand outreached holding her dime and penny with such love in her eyes, it was so beautiful.
Later, Maria made me a "picture holder" out of crumpled paper and made one for my mom too. She also made me a pinky ring out of beads and her pretty green wire :). Her generosity really inspired me and blessed me a lot.
All of this, along with some beautiful scripture, reminded me how precious God's children are to him. How much he delights in all of us, especially the children. God Bless!
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

The World on Fire

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Yesterday's gospel was really beautiful. It was Luke 12: 49 53 and the first part really jumped out at me.
Jesus said to his disciples: "I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!..."
I feel that to often I think of God's will and plan to be having a world that is happy and tranquil. A world where everyone is so happy in God and just very mellow with everyone living in harmony. That is not the truth at all. After holding that image for only a second I start to realize that we are called to be fiery Christians. We are called to live lives radically and blazing with passion and zeal for God.
Later in the gospel it says, "Do you think I have come to establish peace on Earth? No, I tell you, but rather division."
When I first heard this I was thinking, What? But then I realized that he means he hasn't come to Earth and died for us so that we can all be content and mellow, so that we can all live peaceful and uneventful lives; rather that we will all be on fire for him. Not everyone will agree with us, even households will be divided because what we are called to is so radical. We are called to live outside the boxes we have created for ourselves and to abandon ourselves completely to the will of God. We Christians need to be filled with fire for Christ, we need to live in the way that Christ intended us to. It is such a deep message that I can't fully grasp it but it still inspires me to share it with you. God Bless!
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Perseverance

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The gospel for today carries a message of perseverance. The homily that father gave today had a cool story about persevering.
A boy stood by the side of a railroad track holding a flag that he waved in the air. Down the line you could see a train coming forward with an engine and caboose. A man went to the boy and said, "The train won't stop for you. Don't expect it to, you might as well give up."
The boy in response stood and continued waving his flag. The train came by and when it looked like it would pass him up it stopped. The boy climbed on, turned to the man and said, "The engineer is my father." and the train drove off.
Often times we slack in prayer because we lose sight of the value of our prayers. We think that they are worthless and we give up. God is our father, he wants what is just for us and all we need to is persevere. What is required of us is perseverance and God will follow through. I just thought this was beautiful and wanted to share it with you.
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

Luke 11: 37-41

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I am sorry I haven't posted in a little while, I have been unusually occupied lately with school and other activities. I had an unusual experience yesterday. My family and I all gathered together for daily prayer where my Mom or Kevin reads the gospel of the day. Yesterday's gospel was Luke 11: 37-41. In this reading Jesus goes to eat at a Pharisee's house and the pharisee is astonished when Jesus doesn't wash before the meal. Jesus says to him "Oh, Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you."
I listened to the reading and didn't think much of it until a little later in my personal prayer time I decided to read from the New Testament and opened again to this reading. I was surprised and so I read it over again. It reminds me of two important things. FIrst, that it is necessary to cleanse your soul, heart and mind along with cleaning all other exterior things, you cannot be clean on the outside and dirty within. Secondly, that alms giving is crucial for your soul's health.
I really felt called to share this reading with all of you, I hope that it blesses you in some way! Also if any of you feel inspired to share your thoughts about this reading you can post it as a comment :) .
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

Mustard Seed

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Yesterday the gospel was Jesus telling his disciples that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed you can move mulberry bushes (or mountains). Have you ever held a mustard seed? You might of if you have been handed one in church or have been somewhere where they make mustard. Anyhow, the amazing thing is how small it is. Mustard seeds are tiny, one of the smallest seeds I have ever seen. Yet, even if we have faith as small as one of those the world can change, mountains can be moved. This always blows me away.
We are challenged to have faith in God the size of a mustard seed. We are all called to have faith in God, whichever way that faith manifests itself. Wether it is having faith in God for our food tomorrow or doing some daunting task we are called to. Faith is so beautiful! We give a mustard seeds worth and God delivers big time! If it is a mulberry bush being thrust into the sea or leaving our worries and concerns to God and letting him cast them away. All we need to do it have faith in Him. Our God is awesome!
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

St. Therese

Brothers and sisters in Christ,
Today is the feast day of St. Therese of Lisieux. I was so blessed to be able to go to a mass today with our homeschooling group. Afterwards the children all went up and gave a flower to St. Therese. It was beautiful. St. Therese is such an inspiration. She is known for her "little way" giving God every moment and becoming a saint through every action, every day. Giving every little thing to God is such a beautiful thing that all of us should practice. She is also the patroness of missions, which is a great thing; she always prayed for missions. St. Therese, Pray for us.
I ask for ya'll to pray for me, I have been presented with the opportunity to go to Ecuador and an opportunity to go to world youth day. Nothing is impossible for God, which is great because it looks difficult to get to these places. Please pray that God will provide the money for me to go, only if it his will! Ecuador would probably be in January and World Youth Day is in August. Please keep me in your prayers, I am always praying for ya'll!
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Love Letters

Brothers and sisters in Christ,
Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day. There was perfect weather, a slight breeze and almost no humidity. The day was so gorgeous we decided to take advantage of the opportunity and have school in the park. As I walked through the bright green grass and took a deep breath of fresh air it reminded me of God's love. It makes me think of couples where the guy sends the girl a dozen roses or a sweet note. Just little reminders of how much he loves her. The best part is that God loves us so much more! That he is constantly trying to remind us of his love for us. How he reminded me of his love by giving me a perfect day to do school work in. By making the weather wonderful and giving my family and I a big, beautiful park to live next to. The littlest thing, the tiniest enjoyment or pleasure, he will give it to us as a reminder of his love. When I wake up early, totally refreshed and am able to sit and have a wonderful prayer time. When I step outside and the weather is great, it is all God's goodness. Everything he does for us is out of love. We have a father who loves us so much that he gave his only son. He loves us so much that he allows us to have perfect days to love him back. Praise Him!!
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Even the smallest thing....

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Just the other day my family and I had the opportunity to visit the insectarium which we are now members of. I must say I was excited to go, I love all sorts of museums and I was excited to visit this one. I was so impressed by everything there, from hissing cockroaches to majestic butterflies it was all very interesting. It was so cool to see all of these bugs, in all different sizes, colors and shapes, each so different and unique. I think it is so cool how we live in such a diverse earth. With crazy bugs and millions of humans. Everything serves a unique purpose that God so carefully planned out. Each makes our world so diverse and wonderful. It amazed me to "see" a bug that was so small a thousand could fit on a dot. To see how a squishy green caterpillar turns into a small brown moth. I don't want to go on forever about insects but I just want to share in my awe. The awe of what an awesome and grand God we have. A god so huge he cares for the smallest of things. It just really blessed me to be able to appreciate God in such a different way. To see him as the God of all creation in a new light.
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

7th in heaven

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Yesterday I was so blessed to go to big woods. Intake 2010 has begun with 24 missionaries on fire to do God's will. There are 16 kids there from two families and 3 single girls and one single guy. It really blessed me to see a new season of missionaries ready to go and follow where God plans to lead them. Big woods is crazy now, with this new intake and various other full time missionaries on base but craziness isn't always a bad thing :).
The reason we went down there is so that my mom could go to a doctor's appointment. I had told ya'll about my mom's pregnancy. Last week we found out that she had been pregnant for twins and one had definitely not made it. Today we found out that the other baby hadn't made it either. It is so sad, we are all grieving together and looking for God's will amidst the situation. I feel God's grace surrounding us and I know that he loves us all so much. I also know that he loves all of my baby siblings in heaven, which now there are seven of. I ask you all to pray for my family, especially my mom right now. It would bless me so much to know that there are other people out there praying for us. You all are in my prayers. God Bless.
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

Slideshow

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I have made a slideshow of a bunch of my pictures from this year, please enjoy. God bless!



Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

A tornado and a rosary

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Just the other day my friends and I sat comfortably on a bed watching a movie when my Mommee came in and told us to turn it off. We closed my computer and headed to the hallway where my family was gathering. She told us that there was a tornado warning in our area and that we would all have to sit in the hall together just until it passed. We grabbed a sleeping bag and a basket of rosaries and settled down in the hallway, the centermost point of the house. Soon all of the people on premiss had been called for and gathered and we started a rosary. I must admit I was scared, not to the point that I believed that t I was going to die, although the thought did cross my mind. We sat together and as we prayed I thought of what would happen if by some crazy chance I would die. Was I ready to die? Not really, I thought of so many things I could have done better. I knew I most probably would not die because of a tornado but if I had then what would have happened? It made me realize the importance of being constantly prepared. Who knows when I will die? But the important thing is to always have my soul prepared for when it is my time to go. The rosary blessed me alot, knowing that Mary was there with us, praying for us. After it cleared everything went back to normal but the experience stuck with me. I pray that I can always be prepared for what is unexpected to me.
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

Sand Soccer

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
My family and I just got back from a wonderful two day vacation to the beach! It was so great, I really had such a good time and really enjoyed the time I had with my family. One day that I was there me, my sister, my brother and my step-dad all decided to play a game of sand soccer. We threw flip flops on the sand to create the goals and then divided up the teams, Me, my brother and sister against Kevin, My step-dad. He made our goal smaller than his and also gave us first kick on the ball. We had a goalie, my wonderful sister who happens to be terrified of soccer balls, and even made the rule no goals above the waist. Kevin scored, then again, then again. We were running helplessly towards his unguarded goal and he would swoop in and score again. The sad part is that he was going so easy on us and eventually made a rule saying he could only kick with his right foot, and yet we were losing. It was hysterical, I fell rolling in the sand as Kevin stopped and let us have yet another short break. It made me think of something I heard recently, we are like little kids helping God bake cookies. It gives us so much delight and yet he doesn't really need our help he just lets us because he loves us so much and finds so much delight in us. Playing sand soccer 3 to 1 with Kevin restricting himself to make it fair made me think of that. We are so little in comparison and yet we can delight so much in God and with God because he loves us so much. Just to let ya'll know we did win 9 to 8 but it was only because Kevin let us :). God Bless!!!!
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

Pictures at last!

Dear brothers and sisters and Christ,
I finally uploaded the pictures from my summer camps! I am sorry it took so long to get them to you but here they are!


This is the sign with the wonderful theme of Faith Camp! It was so blessed it makes me happy to just look back at those huge bright letters I helped paint :)


This is all of us gathered to eat a delicious meal prepared by the moms in the kitchen, yummy!


My uncle John Paul, who is also the leader of Faith camp, rocking out on the guitar to praise God!


Me and a bunch of other staff at our New Orleans themed Cafe night.


The theme picture of my week at Covecrest in Georgia.


The absolutely beautiful scenery of the lake with the crucifix at the far end, a view I was glad to delight in all of the days I was there.


A bunch of fellow campers from the parish they let me join in eating our last meal together.


The picturesque little chapel that I was so happy to have access to!

Well there they are :). Once again, sorry about the wait. God Bless!
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

New school year

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Today I started school. I am so ready for this school year! I am excited about my subjects and about all of the other things that I hope to do. I am so excited because this year I will study philosophy and apologetics as two of my classes. I really hope that these help me start to prepare for all of the things that God has planned for me and to live in the present the way I should be. I am really at peace with this upcoming year of school, I fell sure that God will bless it and make it bear fruit. I had my first philosophy class today and I came across a really cool point by St. Thomas Aquinas it is "That in which a man rests as in his last end is master of his affections, since he takes from it his entire rule of life." It made me start to think. It made me think what was the point of my life, as in what is my last end? I believe it is heaven and to be the best missionary I can be but is that what guides my actions? It is a lot to think about. It really made me think about it, and I know that I need to find my goal, the goal that God wants for me and live for it. It is a big task but I think it will be good to know and to work towards it. I am so blessed to live in such a comfortable house and to have such a great life, but it makes it easy to start to become lazy. I do not want to fall into laziness or to lack zeal. I am excited about living in this new place, I hope it helps me start to form good habits and live on fire and like a person truly in love! I pray for all of you daily, please pray for me. God bless and keep on keeping on!
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

How old are you?

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
On my way back from Mexico last week we were at the border trying to cross back into the USA. There were probably seven people there, I don't know why exactly but all of them were standing there, inspecting our vehicle or listening to what we were saying. The one lady that was checking out all of our passports read each person's name and then would move to the next one. That is until she got to me. She pronounced my name wrong, then looked around the car for me. I smiled and waved to show her where I was sitting. Then she looked at my passport and back at me, "How old are you?" she asked. I smiled, "Fifteen." She looked at me skeptically, "Where are your parents?" "At home back in Louisiana." Then she looked around the whole car, apparently noticing for the first time that we were all young. "You are all young." We smiled and nodded, "Yes mam," "You aren't afraid to be going to Mexico?" James, who was in the passenger seat just shrugged his shoulders and said, "No. God is on our side." The lady laughed a little and said, "Yes he is." Then she waved us on. As we drove on we all laughed a little. I guess she doesn't see a car full of missionaries under the age of 25 all of the time, which doesn't really surprise me.
It made me glad though. Often times I look at my age as a hindrance, a block between me and where I want to be. But it isn't, it is cool to see that it makes a difference. Even if that difference is hidden in a question, the point is that it shows. It was fun to answer that lady, to tell her who I was even if it was done for legal purposes. I know we changed her day, I bet she remembered us as the crazy car of young missionaries. It was awesome.
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

New Baby

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
I have great news! My mom just found out yesterday that she is expecting a baby! Our whole family is super excited. For those of ya'll who don't know I would like to share some background on the subject. My mom and Kevin got married on January 2nd of 2009. Shortly after they found out they were pregnant and were super excited but then God took the baby to be with him. Our whole family was devastated. We didn't know why something like that would happen to us. So we prayed and God sent my mom another baby and this one also died early on. I now have 4 sisters and brothers in heaven praying for me. I still don't know why God let our babies die but I know that he loves us so much and he loves those babies so well, so much better than we could love them. I am sad because I never met my little siblings but soon enough we will spend eternity together. We have grown closer as a family because of this and also I know that God has an awesome plan. Kevin, my step-dad says that he can suffer with God. That God must feel like he feels for every child of his that doesn't love him, for all of his children that never talk with him. That those are the ones that are his but he never gets to meet them. I am not saying that my mom has miscarried because that is God's plan or will, but even through the suffering we can grow in Love and in unity. I ask you all to please pray. Please pray for my new baby brother or sister that is so small right now, please pray that my family gets to meet it in nine months. Pray for all of those who suffer with the same sadness of loosing a baby, and for all those who don't know and choose for their baby's lives to be ended. Thank you all so much for your prayers!
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse
p.s- my new little "donate" button on the top lets you make credit card donations into my mission account, I will use this money in my mission work and try to make it go to the best service for the building of the kingdom of God. Also I love it when people comment on my posts! Please make blog related comments in order to share with me and with all of the other readers of my blog!

My week in General Cepeda

Dear readers,
I was so incredibly blessed by my week in General Cepeda. We had a small group of people which was so nice since we all really got to know each other. I was able to lead home visits and I visited my wonderful brothers and sisters who live so simply and welcome me so warmly each and every time I go to be with them. The week was really special because we had so many FMC missionaries there for that trip it was Me, Erika, Teresa, Breanne, Susanna, James and Jonathan. At night we would go out for an evening of wonderful Ejido (rancho) visits. I was blessed to share my testimony along with the group since it was small enough to be able to do so. I translated, Tonio preached and played guitar and Breanne and James were there as well, praising it up, and spreading missionary joy and love wherever they went. Victoria and Rachel were there as well with the group that came from Colorado. For desert day we went up to one of my favorite places, the cave. This cave has so much history! During the Christian persecution people would go in secret and a priest would celebrate mass. Also while we were in General Cepeda we had “Cenaculos”, which means “upper room” with the whole town. Once a month they all get together then walk to 12 homes where they expose Jesus for an hour with prayer and meditation, then all 12 sectors all head back to the church with singing and praising for a beautiful mass together. So many other beautiful and wonderful things happened the week I spent in General and I will hopefully write about them soon! But until then God Bless! Also, I will hopefully post my Faith Camp/ Covecrest pics soon, sorry that it is taking so long!
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

In Mexico

Dear readers,
I am in General Cepeda!!! It was a wonderful surprise since it was totally unexpected. My mom let me come and now I am here for a week! My family and I just moved to a new apartment and if you want to learn how to be persistent try carrying everything your family owns up three flights of stairs! I am here in General with a bunch of awesome missionaries preparing for an awesome group. We had a bit of a problem at the border yesterday but it all worked out in the end, after we arrived in General about 6 hours later that expected. I am so blessed to be here again. I am keeping you all in my prayers.
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

Covecrest

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
I just got back from covecrest! It was really amazing! I went wih my friend Catherine Rose. We had a blast! There was an obstacle course, white water rafting, a mud fight, messy games and we had mass everyday! We had an awesome host, Jimmy Mitchel, and an awesome band, Marian Grace. It was great. We had talks everyday. The theme of the week was "Behold the Mystery" and we all became agents of change. One thing that really touched me was when they spoke of being fully alive. 1/4th of this generation was lost to abortion. And we all need to live fully and totally. I was tagged on to a parish from Buffalo NY called St. Gregory the Great. It was fun to meet so many new people. There were around 200 campers there, and covecrest goes all summer every week. It truly was a blessing to participate in such a beautiful camp. The scenery was gorgeous too! I have pictures that I will post later for y'all! Even though I had a great week I am glad to be home. We will be moving away in about two weeks! I am praying for yall! God Bless!
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

Faith Camp 2010

Dear readers,
I just got back from Faith Camp yesterday! I was soooooo abundantly blessed by it! I was a disciple this year which means I would pick up, set up, clean up and wipe up any and everything. I really was able to practice serving. And not in only a spiritual way but with my hands. It was a beautiful experience. Faith Camp just finished it's 14th year. It was started by my aunt and grandma with 20 people and now has grown to 200! We had it this year at a facility so that we could accommodate 75 percent more campers. I was able to bond with the other 17 disciples that were there and truly was able to witness one of God's greatest works for young people. My whole family says it and I agree that Faith Camp is one of God's greatest works for youth in the world!!! I hope and plan to attend every possible opportunity I get! God has rocked my world this week and now the world is a better place.
I leave for Covecrest tomorrow and will be back in 8 days. Please pray for me. Also my cousin Marissa Grace was born today! My Great-uncle Will passed away two days ago. Please pray for all of this!
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

Craziness in plans

Dear readers,
Faith Camp starts on Monday!!!! I am indescribably excited about it, after painting various themed murals, cutting cardboard, praying daily and frantically finishing up things it is here!! God had a surprise up his sleeve! I am leaving to go to a week long summer camp in Georgia at Covecrest. I am soo excited about it! I will fly down the day after Faith Camp finishes and then will come back after 8 days. Then I will help me and my family move to an apartment that we found about 2 and a half hours away so Kevin can go to nursing school. After that I will go back down to General! Anyway I am keeping busy. After the trip in August things will probably mellow down a bit for about a month, or so I think. Any how, I just wanted to share with you and ask you all to keep me in your prayers. I probably won't be able to post for about two week so until then,
Peace and Love in Christ!
Alyse

Back Home!

Dear readers,
I cannot put into words how indescribably blessed I have been these past two weeks in General Cepeda. God moved so powerfully and from the trips four people have felt the call to be full time missionaries! Please pray for these people and for their families. I feel so refreshed and renewed from being back in missions. One thing that I love about being a missionary is that I can always feel a change in myself. I feel like a different and better prson than I did before I went down two weeks ago. Even though I am back home I am preparing for a busy month and upcoming year. I will be home schooled again next year so as to continue being able to be a part of the mission trips. Faith Camp (a summer camp that I will be helping out with and is a wonderful ministry to junior high kids) is coming up soon! My mom will be going down to General while I am at Faith Camp. If you would like to learn more about the camp go to www.bestweekofyourlife.com. Hopefully I will have my own laptop soon and I plan to write a novel about missionaries! Please pray that God would inspire me so that it will give the glory to him! I will hopefully be going back to General Cepeda in August for a week. I am praying that I will be able to go to Ecuador sometime in this upcoming year!!!! If not this fall then in May for a short term group my uncle will be leading. Next summer, or if possible sooner, I plan to volunteer in an orphanage in Guadalajara for a time. Maybe two or three weeks. I am hoping to get a jump start or completely finish college by the time I am 18 so that I can go straight into missions, having moved college out of the way. So as you all see I plan to keep busy :) Please be praying for me and that I would be able to accomplish all of the things that God has in store for me! I am praying for y'all! Praise God for his providence!
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

Missionary Photos

Me holding Yahaira

The cathedral in Saltillo, where we go to on pilgrimage day

The crucifix in the miracle chapel that converted a tribe. And now there are thousands of miracles that happen after people have visited it!

My rancho group in front of the mountain that has hundreds of petroglyphs carved into the stones

One of the pertroglyphs

Us eating with Tonio and Mari

My missionary sister Erika and I

Me holding one of our signs to sing along with

Our Lady of Guadalupe

A beautiful chapel that we visited

I have been continuously blessed during my visit here! I will be returning to the US on the fourth. Please pray for the people here and for a safe journey home. I can't wait to share some of my stories with y'all!
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

Updates

This is the entrance to our mission house!

This is the chapel of Independencia, a rancho that my family and I used to go to weekly.

This is our group that climbed the mountain. It was really cool, there is a shrine to Mary on the top where she appeared to a shepard!

This is one of the many amazing views from on top of the mountain

This is me translating at Independencia!

This is the pinata I got for my birthday :-)

This is one of my many attempts to hit my pinata with a blindfold on my face

This is our missionary Jonathan on the roof holding the pinata

This is my face shoved in my wonderful cake for the traditional "mordida"

I hope y'all enjoy these pics, and that they help you get a feel for what it is like here! I will try to get more later and put them up for you.
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

Touched

Dear readers,
I have continued to be abundantly blessed by God's love and providence. Yesterday was my birthday! I had a delicious cake and a pinata as a surprise! Another girl on the group also had her birthday yesterday and we celebrated together. We had an amazing rancho experience and I was just so blessed all day! I have been taking pictures and hopefully I will be able to share them with y'all soon! Today I just got back from home visits. We visited a man who has a lot of trouble walking, and we were able to give him crutches. We visited a woman who is truly one of the most good natured people I have ever met and we visited a little boy. His name is Luis Angel and he is 9 years old. He is one of a family of four and last year his older brother died of a rare and aggressive disease. He was in the grade underneath me and his sister was in my class. Luis Angel has cancer in his blood. No body ever visits him so Tonio, a missionary, is his best friend. He has the most amazing smile and a truly kind and happy heart. His family lives in a two room adobe house and they are an example of true poverty. Luis cannot be cured. He is taking medicine to help calm his disease, and unless God cures him he will die in not too long. I am crying ad I write this, I don't know if I have ever been so touched by any home visit or any person I have ministered to as Luis. Every week Tonio visits him and gives him the homework of drawing him a picture. As I sat there and spoke with Luis Angel all I wanted to do was help him, and I was overwhelmed with the sensation of hopelessness. I ask you to pray for the Torres Cerda family and especially for Luis Angel. I cannot imagine what his family must feel to be attacked with such hardships and yet his Mother smiled the whole time and thanked us for coming. I could write forever but I need to go.
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

Blessings!!!!

Dear readers,
I have arrived safely back at my dearest General Cepeda. We had a slight stumbling block at the border, but as always God had our back. We had a totally safe and happy trip here. We were greeted by the four full time missionaries that have been living here the past month. I have just been here a day but I know that God id going to move powerfully in and through this group. I didn't know the full extent of how much I missed this place until I got here. I was able to visit two of God's saints today and that gave me so much joy! I have reached the point that the thought of my life without missions is unbearable. I want to give my whole life to the service of my brother's and sister's in him who gives us life! I am so blessed with all that I have seen and experienced, I don't know why God blesses me so abundantly, but I do know that I am ready to live my life in thanksgiving for those blessings. Thank y'all for reading and praying with and for me! I love you all!
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

He has overcome!

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

I think this is an amazing verse, what a consolation! So many times I am overwhelmed, overwhelmed by the world and all of the bad that it contains. It seems impossible to overcome it all, and for us it is. But here we can take heart and know that we don't need to overcome it because it has already been claimed. Jesus came and he claimed it, he overcame the world and it is his. The troubles will not follow us, we do not need to be afraid. Because the one who saved us and who gives us life and freedom has the world, and we don't need to worry. It is exciting! And even though we will have trouble, we belong to him and the world is his. Praise God!
Peace and love in Christ!
Alyse

Mission trip

Dear readers,
I have been very busy and blessed lately! Yesterday an acting group I have been a part of this year put on a play that was super blessed and awesome! I am going down on a mission trip on the 20th of this month to General Cepeda. It is much overdue since I had hoped to go during holy week, but everything is in God's perfect timing! I will be there for my birthday, so I am super excited about that! But I ask all of you to please be praying for me and for my trip. Pray that I would be able to touch all of those God has prepared for me and that all those attending the trip would be blessed. Also just be praying for the situation in Mexico in general. I thank all of you for your prayers. I am praying for y'all and I hope each one of you is blessed!
Peace and Love in Christ, who strengthens us all!
Alyse

Inseperable

Dear readers,
I would like to start trying something new. I will put a scripture verse and I will comment on it, then if any of you would like to comment you can and we can go on with that. Also, if any of you would like to suggest scripture please do so. So I will start to do this every once in a while. So my scripture for today is:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ... I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:35,38-39
I love this verse!!! To put our love and bondage with God in such beautiful and accurate words. How nothing that we can do, nothing that anyone or thing can do will take us away from God! Nothing will decrease his love for us. Unlike human ties his love is so perfect and wonderful, so different. It makes me so happy to be able to know this. That anyone can have utmost confidence in God because he will never fail or never stop loving us!
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Blinded

Dear readers,
Today at mass the gospel really touched me. It is about the man who is blind and asks Jesus for his sight back. How he was a poor beggar and the one thing he asked for was vision. Bartimeus said "Master I want to see." A prayer so simple but then Jesus told his that his faith had saved him. The priest commented how all of us should ask the same. To see. To no longer be blind to God, his hand, his will and his love. We should ask for the eyes of our heart to be opened. To be able to see the beggar and orphan with the eyes of Christ. The difference between physical and spiritual sight is substantial. I have met blind people who although can't see they can see God so much more clearly. They can see the truth and they are so happy from it!
"Master I want to see." I think we should all pray this. To be able to see with his eyes, and with the eyes of love that he is so willing to open for us.
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

Instantaneously

Dear readers,
As I sat at a stoplight the other day and after about 40 seconds started to get impatient I stopped myself and began to think. Why am I so impatient? In a world of fast food, instant play movies, rapid Internet and convenience stores on every corner than why in the world do I freak out after 2 minutes in a line to McDonald's? Everything must be now or in a few seconds to gratify me. "For I know the plans I have for you" says the Lord. His timing is not our own. Did I ever stop and think, "just maybe these 57 seconds of waiting will teach me patience and help me grow as a person." The answer is sadly, no. I don't, everything must be this instant, right now. I think how funny I must look to God. Instead of using that little bit of time for meditation or prayer it is strictly the most awful thing in existence. I am not saying I don't have something to do in a certain amount of time, but will freaking out help me? No. I need patience, what if God wants me to wait 50 years for the exact moment that will change my life forever? Am I patient enough to wait or will I actually,because of impatience, give up on God? I need to grow in the virtue of patience. Please pray for me!
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

Praise Him!

Dear readers,
First of all I am sorry I haven't posted in forever! I have been so busy and blessed lately. Please be praying for all those discerning to be missionaries and that if it is God's will that I will be able to go on mission trips this summer.
Yesterday at mission formation my Mommee said something that got me thinking. She said how she attends a prayer group that she has attended for a long time, and how it makes an impression on her how differently everyone praises God. How differently they act in their relationship with him. And I started to think how beautiful that is. There are missionaries, nuns, priests, families, single people from every walk of life and in every situation possible and yet we all can praise God. He isn't picky how we do it or where or what language we speak or how elegant our vocabulary is. All that matters is that we praise him. We can draw close to him in so many different ways, it can be amidst thousands of people in the Vatican square or in a dark room by yourself in a jungle. I was thinking how beautiful that is! So many situations are selective, you get a certain job with certain qualifications. Or you have certain friends because of certain aspects of your life. But when we are praising God and serving him all that is stripped away and is just us and him, together sharing in his love! The most important thing is to praise him and give him praise. And I think it is one of the most beautiful things too!
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

Perspective

Dear readers,
I have always thought of perspective. For example, today I was walking with my mom who is about 5 ft 1 in tall. I am around 5'5 and was wearing 4 inch platform shoes and she pointed out the difference between us, and I realized the difference in perspective I got standing 4 inches taller than normal. Again, in 20,000 leagues under the sea, he talks about how different it is being way underneath the ocean. Or if you lay in a field of grass and see what it is like to be an ant. Or if you are in a choir loft of a church, all of these are different views. You catch a glimpse of what it is like to be a giant, an ant, an octopus, a 5'9 woman, all of these let you take a look with different eyes. Although they are the same ones you have had your whole life it is different to see something new again. To see the top of a dusty fridge instead of the handle, or to see underneath a house instead of the side. And my point is we don't see it unless we take the motive to do so. A man could sit in a lounger his whole life and never turn away from the television, most people would say "what a waste!" A waste of time, of life, and of the opportunities that go farther than his television. So many times we are afraid to switch perspective, to see what it is like living without anything, or to see the bottom of a gum covered table. And yet we would see so much more and understand the world just a bit better because of it. We forget to step out, I get accustomed to the perspective of a higschooling, homeschooling, missionary living in the woods. And although this is abnormal it is not enough. We should embrace the world around us and more importantly we should embrace our God! We get used to an image we have built of him and ingrained into our brains. We don't bother to know him better because we just don't. And we deprive oursleves of the multi-dimensional relationship that he offers us! If only we switched perspectives.
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

Credit

Dear readers,
Last night my mom, my sister and I stopped by a plave to listen to music. We didn't spend much time there but in the time we did spend a girl got up to sing a song and then afterwards she said that it was written by Joh Maher. But it wasn't, it was just covered by him. It also is an extremely famous song and the original was much more successful, and yet the credit was give to the guy who covered it. I feel like sometimes something similar happens in our lives. So much time people give credit to themselves for something that God did. But really they just helped it along or discovered it. SOmetimes when people say "That was great how did you do that?" About a testimony, or overcoming something or a huge number of other things we take the credit for ourselves. I am not saying that we never do anything but I think that so much of the time we give credit to humans for stuff that they didn't do. And that isn't bad in itself but it gets to the point we forget that all of the work was actually done by God! A weather man doesn't control the weather he just observes it and channels it to us. I guess that is a similar point. Let us remeber God in everything we do!
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

Storm

Dear readers,
Today in morning prayer we got the reading from Matthew 8 about where Jesus calmed the storm on the sea. The boat is swamping and the disciples run to Jesus who is asleep bellow deck. They wake him up, frightened for their lives, and he says "oh you of little faith." Wow. It seems that he should have said "oh my goodness! Let me help!" but no, just, you of little faith. It makes you wonder huh? After he says this he does go up and rebuke the waves and wind to calm the sea and they were amazed. But Jesus wanted them to be so filled with faith in him to not even worry. Jonathan, a missionary, commented that what would have happened if one of the disciples had gone down and napped with Jesus? They would have woken up a while later from a good nap, but instead they worried. It is just like us to, amidst a storm in our lives, to worry, be preoccupied about ourselves. Of course this is natural and not always a bad thing but Jesus wants us to have enough faith in him not to worry. He is God and he knew there was a storm and yet he chose to stay sleeping. If we could just trust that he has it under control, which he does, the worry would vanish. Since there would be no reason left to worry, that is only if we truly believe. I say I know that Jesus is in control but when the storm comes i get around to saying "hey Jesus, heads up I am not OK." And he already knows! What would happen if we went down under and napped with Jesus? Just perfectly content to be with him in full knowledge that with him we are alright? I can not answer that question, the reason being that I have never done it. But I think we should try!
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

Sheep

Dear readers,
Something that the priest said in mass today really touched me. He was commenting on how Jesus calls us his sheep and he our shepard. I know this. My grandpa loves the image of Jesus as the good shepard and I do too. But he said something different. When we think of sheep we don't think strong, we don't thank smart or courageous. We think of something that is simple and docile something that is obedient and loving. And if you take a sheep away and let it roam it gets lost. It is helpless and it can't find it's way back alone. Unlike dogs and cats that can get lost and eventually wonder back a sheep wouldn't do that. Just because it couldn't. Not without help. And yet we are Jesus sheep, not his wolves or his super-powered warriors, just sheep. And I know I wouldn't want to be a sheep without a Shepard, but thankfully I don't need to be. Because Jesus is my shepperd! Praise God, huh? And even though we are his simple sheep, he loves us and knows us by name. He is our shepard and protector! Praise God!
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

At all costs

Dear readers,
I am reading through the acts of the apostles. I love it! To see how our church began and how valiant in preaching the gospel all of the saints were is truly inspiring. But, one thing in particular is sticking out to me throughout the whole thing and that is how fearless and unafraid they were to preach! St. Paul, knew it best of all because he himself used to persecute the Christians. And yet he preached and proclaimed valiantly. Reading about Martyrs always inspires me. I say I would die for Jesus, but would I? I don't think I will ever know unless I am confronted by the situation. Yeah, I am and have been persecuted but that is different. That consists of pride, my own concern with reputation, not my life. Would I, Alyse, die for Christ? I can only hope so. "For me life is Christ and death is gain." I want to live that. Of course I HIGHLY doubt that, I, or any of you will be martyred but there is always a possibility. And I guess my point is, like those before us, those who founded our faith they had something different. They were so unafraid! I want to be like that. I want when people to see me and hear me just to know that I am ready to die for Jesus because that is how strongly I believe in what I say and because, if that is necessary, that is the most I can do and I am willing to do it. Please pray that God gives me the courage to die for him if ever needed and to live for him every day!
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

Come and see

Dear readers,
Right now at FMC we are having what we call a "come and see". It is where people discerning to be missionaries can come and see Fmc and all that it is about. We have a family here with six kids, an engaged couple and one single guy. I am so blessed to see 2 familiar faces in the group! I am also blessed that everyone looks happy and blessed to be here! Please be praying that if God is calling them to be missionaries (or maybe you too) that they would answer his call! I am praying fo rall of ya'll daily! I need to go now but God bless!
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

Childlike

Dear readers,
A couple of days ago I went and helped my friend babysit a little missionary girl named Maria. When we tucked her in something she said truly touched me. She thanked God for all that she had that really spoke to me then she prayed for discernment in her vocation. Wow. This little girl of six years old is praying for her vocationa lready. Talk about being a step ahead. Even I don't always remember to pray for that and I just started doing it recently. The faith with which she asked God for her simple intentions and thanked him so sincerley made me know without a doubt that God was so proud. I could feel just a little bit of how precious she was in his sight. It made me understand why Jesus loved the little children! Of course I do too but it is just so amazing the way that she loves him. I am praying that I can be as trusting in God and as faith filled as Maria is! There is so much we can learn from children! There are so many things that we should turn to and resort to that children do naturally! I just wanted to share that with ya'll!
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

Real LIfe

Dear readers,
In morning prayer this morning we got a wonderful reading. I don't know exactly where it was from but it went something like this "the spirit who raised Jesus from the dead will bring your mortal bodies to life." And I started to think. You cannot bring something that is alive to life, in order for something to be brought to life it must be dead. And if we need to be brought to life that means we are dead. But, if we have his spirit we can be brought to life, of course eternal life but also to be able to be alive on Earth. If you could be dead or alive which would it be? I highly doubt any of us would choose to be dead. We must live! If God has given us time on Earth let us use it instead of being put to waste. And if our spirit is alive than it doesn't matter if our bodies die because they will continue living. We must live our lives awake and alive and not the opposite because that is what we are made to do. Our souls are made to be as flexible and active and cared for as our bodies and even more! My sister made a wonderful point. Every morning we wake up and worry about what to wear, and sometimes we worry about what we will wear tomorrow or in a week or sometimes even more. But when our loved ones die we don't go to their grave every day and change their clothes! We don't say "I wonder what I will dress my husband in tomorrow." And yet our bodies are as good as dead and we don't worry about our spiritual welfare. Our souls may be suffocating inside of us and yet we worry whether green or yellow looks best with our skin tone or what we will eat or where we will sleep. I am praying for all of you! Thank you so much for reading.
Peace and Love in Christ Jesus,
Alyse

Rainbows and wonder

Dear readers,
On my caming trip I was surounded with breathtaking beauty. I was totally blown away once more by God's love for us, so much and to the great extent that he created natuer not only to give us life, but to let it create moments that forever encrypt themselves into our memories and rock our worlds! One night I decided to go out to the end of our peninsula and sit on a wonderful rock overlooking the lake. I opened my Bible and read until the light was no longer bright enough to lend itself to that purpose. So I closed my Bible and decided to sit and be with God. After about 2 minutes one of th emost beautiful things I have ever seen happened. The lake turned rainbow, flooding out of the black tree line and creating layers of red, orange, green, blue, and violet. The water was painted in the most radiant beautiful colors that God created. Then, over the tree line, the sky was rainbow as well. The red touching the tree line and the other colors progressing up into the open sky and turning black where one single star glittered brilliantly in the sky. I was going to run for a camera but didn' because I might have missed this glorious scene and because I knew that a picture wouldn't do this justice! So I sat, the sky was held in this beautiful state for about 2 minutes then slowly drifted into a star filled night. I know with utmost certainty that I will remember this for as long as I live. And as I sat there I wondered how any one could look upon this and simply think "Oh what a lovely phenomenon of nature." And not feel deep in their heart the truth that God had painted that scene from the beging of time. As I sat on that rock and stared breathlessly at that lake I knew that, that was one of the most precious memories of my life. I walked away feeling as if I was floating and just writing about it again makes my heart swell.
Our heavenly father loves us! He doesn't love us with leftover love or his surplus, he loves us with his whole heart. And he is dying to show it to us. He is reaching out in every way possible to get that message through! Have a super blessed day!
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

Camping

Dear readers,
I had such an unbeleivably blessed time camping! I can truly say that is was a totally blessed time! I can say this in spite of catching popcorn on fire and almost burning our campsite, sleeping in the freezing cold, swiming in an icy yellowish lake and smelling of smoke the whole time. While I was there I felt an overwhelming sense of peace and love. I came to understand just a little bit better why God loves nature so much! I felt like our time was divinely arranged and was enjoyed to the absolute fullest. There are so many things I could write about, I could tell stories that fill pages or I could just try to capture a little bit of what I felt and fill novels. But since a picture is worth a thousand words I will share some of them with you! I do plan to post on my experience but I will have ot do that later! Have a super blessed day! God bless!
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

You are all I want

Dear readers,
yesterday at mission formation we sang the song the goes "you are all I want, you are all I ever need..." and something jumped out at me for the first time ever. I have known that song for so many years and yet the line "you are all I want" never meant anything to me. As I was singing the song I was overwhelmed with the sense of truth, the truth that I was singing. And I realized, God is all I want. God has given us free will and hearts that can want and desire things. And the fact that God is all we want is true. In life, as humans our desire is for happiness, love, confidence, security and freedom. Now, with all of those things that we want and search for in so many different, and often times false, ways the thing we long for the most is ultimately God. We add superfluous fluff around the edges and lie to ourselves saying that God isn't complete satisfaction, that maybe if I get that shirt or that house or that car I will be satisfied. And yet we can receive all of these things and thousands more and be totally and utterly miserable. God is all we want, God is all we need! And guess what, he has given it to us! Love, freedom, satisfaction happiness and confidence is ours. Only maybe we have pushed the gift aside and let it gather dust. If you send a person a gift and they let is sit in their mailbox the gift is theirs it is just unused and undiscovered. Why don't you reach out for It? Reach out, receive and be satisfied.
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse
Oh I am sorry if I can't post for a couple of days I am going camping with my family!

Easter

Dear readers,
Yesterday was a truly blessed Easter! I love Easter, it is so blessed and wonderful. But something particularly struck out to me yesterday. As I heard the reading of the Resurrection for the second time I realized something I had known before but not always acknowledged. OK, so everyone is born. And of course we celebrate Jesus's birth on Christmas. But look at how few people rose from the dead. very few. And yet Jesus even one upped them because not only did he rise from the dead then he ascended into heaven! It is so beautiful. What a story huh? Easter Sunday isn't about stuffing yourself with pound of chocolate or wearing nice spring colored clothing it is about true joy! It is about the conquer of death, let me repeat that, the conquer of death! Because our God wasn't just hung on a cross to save us he descended into hell and then he rose from the dead! Our God is an awesome God! And Easter is a perfect time to come into perfect happiness and bliss with that knowledge! Praise God for his wondrous deeds alleluia!
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Good Friday

Dear readers,
Today is good Friday. It always has struck me as strange as to why the saddest day of the year is called "good". Why no mournful or sorrowful? And then I thought, can't sad things be good as well? Are we in a world where sad=bad or good=happy? It seems so a lot of the time. But it is far from true. Going off into missions, leaving your family and friends is sad but it is also good! And the most generous, good, loving thing happened today about 2010 years ago. Christ died for us on a cross. Humiliated, beaten, bloody and torn to save us and allow us to dwell eternally with him! What is more good than that?
My family and I went to the living way of the cross. And even seeing a college aged student wearing clothes covered with red marker lines and a wooden crown made my heart wring. I am not one for anything cheesy, but yet that was not possibly an adjective that you could place on this. Rather, because I new it was real and it is my love story, everyone's love story, it broke my heart. Thinking about approaching Christ, Jesus, The messiah with whips and nails is beyond something my heart can take. Why have I ever sinned? Why have I let temptation nail my Lord to the cross? Why even though I am painfully aware will I fall into it again? And why, even though he by no means deserved it, did Jesus allow himself to get killed for me?
So many questions I can't truly answer, except the last one. And the answer is Love. Raw, overflowing, pressed down, unmeasurable love, of the purest kind. And in this case a big wooden cross is it's symbol.
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse

Die with christ

Dear readers,
Today in Morning prayer a particular antiphon struchk out at me. It reads "If we have died with Christ, we beleive that we shall also live with Christ." -It does'nt have the citation-. That line really got me thinking. Every year, on good Friday especially, I meditate on Jesus's death. But I by no means die with him. Does this reading mean that we should all go out on good Friday and crucify ourselves? No.
But it does mean that we should try to die with christ. And if not in flesh but in heart and mind. If we really put ourselves, not at the foot of the cross, but on the cross with our Christ, then we are able to die with him. The grace of the cross surpasses time, that is why Jesus will never have to come save us again. He didn't just save those who were alive when he died but the power of the cross still applies to us today. And if we can contemplate his death and feel pained by it, knowing that he bore our sins as well, we can die with him as well. The morning prayer antiphons and readings are lenten ones, so it is no coincidence that it applies right now. So what will we do about it? God bless,
Peace and Love in Christ,
Alyse