Coming back from Honduras has already made a huge impact in my life. There are many things that I realize that I was taking for granted that most people don’t have. The part of this week that hit home with me hardest was the kids in the feeding program. The last day when we gave them the small bag of food (spaghetti, vegetable laud, small bag of sugar, small bag of flour, and small bag of rice) they were so grateful. It was not like they were getting a toy or something that they could go home and play with but instead it was food that could potentially feed them for up to one week. When we were passing out the bags the kids were so grateful and they showed their gratitude in the hugs and huge smiles that they were proudly wearing on their faces. This really hit me because I was standing near the door where they were all exiting and I was giving every kid a hug and they were all saying thank you. It was also cool to see them all load up on the bus and stick their hands out. They did that because there were some kids one of the first days that were waving and I ran up and gave them a high-five. That then became what the kids did as there were hands popping out of windows where the body could not be seen because there were so many kids. Even on the last day I could see the kids holding the bags hard with the hand they had in the bus and sticking their other hand out to be given a high-five. After the bus left it hit me again how grateful these kids were and how ungrateful I am. It took me a good 15-20 minutes to calm myself down. After lunch we went to the neighbor hoods where most of these kids live and we passed out candy, mostly suckers. That was cool as well since the kids did not know we were coming but once they got candy, they started to follow us and by the end it was like a huge parade that we were leading

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Overall this has been an amazing experience that I am grateful that I got the opportunity to experience another county and learn so much from them. The more that I think about these kids the more I want to go back and see them. They made a huge impact on the way that I see things and how much gratitude that I have for the smaller things. I wanted to help and give my all to those kids and everyone down there, but I came home having learned more than I gave and feeling like although I learned more that at the same time I was able to help those kids a little. I am very grateful that I was able to go and hang out with these kids since they are still most of what I am thinking about. All I can think about is how those kids changed my life and helped me see that there is more to life that being busy and never stopping. There is a much simpler and less complicated way to life that makes nature seem so much more beautiful.

I want to thank my parents for letting me go on this trip. I know that it was extremely hard for them to let their eldest daughter to go out of the country to a bunch of people they did not know well if any. I also want to thank them for supporting me the whole time and making sure that I was excited for the whole trip the whole time and not just while I was there. I want to thank my siblings for allowing me to be gone for yet another week and not talk to them at all. I am grateful that they are still love me and just make fun of me when I am finally home for a meal or one evening. Also, a huge thanks to everyone who supported my trip through prayer and financial support; I would not have been able to go and have had the trip that I had if it was not for you all. Finally thanks to everyone that was on the trip with me, you guys were with me when I was high and low and you all pushed me and helped me grow this week and I am glad that we had the group that we did. I could not have asked for a better group to go and be a part of my first out of country missions trip. Thanks especially to the leaders that were willing to take a group of teenagers out of the country and put up with us. You guys had a huge impact on me and I hope to be able to get to know each of you better.