WYD Trip Part 1- London

Brothers and sisters in Christ,

I gor back from my two week world youth day Madrid trip four days ago. Since I have been getting over jet-lag, and been getting ready for my new school, I haven't had the chance to post about it yet. The trip, which began in Houston with 27 people, including 2 infants, started off on the eight of this month. When I arrived at the airport and saw the group of people I thought, "This is such a random assortment of people, I wonder how Uncle John Paul found them all." I later realized that God was the one who put us together, and His plan for us was above and beyond all that I could possibly imagine.

Starting off I had no real idea of what to expect the next two weeks, I decided to keep it that way. I figured I didn't want to have expectations in case they were not fulfilled, although God would have rocked my world anyway. So, arriving at the airport was exciting. I could already tell this trip would be un-ordinary. And it was.

We arrived in London on the 9th of August at 6:30 in the morning. The plane ride had been uneventful, and I managed to squeeze some sleep in. Now I will share my journal entry from that day.

August 9th 2011
WYD trip- London

Today has been so blessed! We arrived in London safely and came to St. Patrick's where I stayed a few years back. We saw Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery. We have had blessing upon blessing bestowed upon us all day. God is so good! I am so thankful that God sent me here. Before confession and mass I really heard God saying to me that I was chosen to be here. That it is His will! That knowledge is so comforting, and challenging. I am excited to see what God has in store!

To clarify, St. Patrick's is a church with a missionary evangelization program where my family and I stayed on the way back from living in Spain in 2008. At the church I ran into a woman who I had met those years back, it is funny to see that way that God runs people into each other again. The church had changed a lot, but we stayed in an older room up on the top floor. The girls all slept on the ground with the London air, coming straight from outside, surrounding us. It was so awesome to see the way that the people responded to the suffering that God blessed us with. Now for my next journal entry...

August 11th 2011
On bus in route to Cordoba, Spain

Yesterday, since I didn't write then, was such a blessing. We focused on seeing what there was to see in London, since it was our last day. We saw St. James park and palace, the marble arch, Buckingham palace, Westminster Abby, Parliament, Big Ben, the tower of London, tower bridge, and the Catholic cathedral. It was such a full day! We chose not to pay to enter Westminster Abby. It was insane to see how long the line was. It made me cry not to see anyone at the Catholic church. "How sad it must be for Christ," I thought, "for no one to see His house." "No," He said to me, "I am sad because they don't know." I cried again. If only the world knew that our savior, the One, lived in Catholic churches. That all what they were looking for sat in the tabernacle waiting eagerly for people to see. How beautiful is salvation! How beautiful is the truth! Christ is dying for people to know HIm, and most don't respond. Our day started with adoration, and ended with cleaning St. Patrick's, where we stayed. We slept till 3:00 a.m. to start off today, a crazy day of travels. It led me here , to this bus, waiting to arrive in Cordoba, but I'll write about that later.
-Alyse

Well that concludes the London portion of my travels, I will post the rest later!

Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse