Go be missionaries!

Howdy Pilgrims!

Hello again you people that read this. Where has the time gone? I've done so much this past month, God has given me so much this past month, I am blessed. I suppose you all might want to hear a bit of what went down World Youth day? Yes, No? I'll tell you anyways..

I was a volunteer along with some other people from different parts of the world, and we helped Father Micheal organize the missionary week that happened the week before the World Youth Day events and continued to help during WYD.. I along with another Nurse Melissa were the designated nurses for 500 pilgrims of the community of saint John. I enjoyed myself as a nurse, I cared for the sick (sort of), I translated for Doctors, and I gained many friends. I was not able to go to many conferences and the ones I went to were in French... (I should learn French one day and I think I know of a good french teacher).

In short World Youth Day was beautiful, it was like God was watching us. On everything we did we could see God was with us. From the station of the cross that rained on us. To praying together at the beach in Adoration, To mass together at the Copacabana beach. God let us come together again as Catholics, it was a big sign. Should we forget it and just go back and live our normal lives? No. We are called to be something more, then to just be normal. We are children of God, and when God gives us dreams we should reach for those dreams with all that we can. "Go be missionaries!"

My dream? My dream is Salvador at the moment being realized. I cant do this alone. In fact I've come to realize I cant do anything alone. I need God, but I also need a community. In Fact this mission, needs missionaries. Not one missionary but a community of missionaries, all working together, sacrificing together, leaning on each other, and most importantly praying to God together.

We recently had some Pilgrims from Laredo Texas, come to experience that "missionary life" for 2 weeks. It was a Blast, we painted a church, we sang with the people in the Favela, we prayed with them, and we praised God with them. Laredo Pilgrims you will all be missed, I will miss your Jokes, to your nagging, to your praying, to your company, and most importantly to the love each one of you showed this Favela and the Brothers, thank you! I will carry you in my heart. That's us after an epic Futebol session.

The mission continues, and like the beating of drum, the beat goes on. We are just finishing up on the touch ups on the inside of the church. It has been raining almost everyday, so painting the outside is out of the question. Maybe another missionary group can come help out on that!

Work on the Magdalene house came to a halt once we left to Rio de Janiero, but once we finish the church its back to work on that house. I am thinking of giving English classes to those who want to learn English. Its a good way to be in the community. So if anyone has any English learning books they would like to send our way please do! (Btw that's Lulu from Laredo she stayed for bit longer woot woot!)

I'm very happy to be back in Salvador my new home. This is where my heart is at the moment. Please pray for the mission, the brothers in Salvador, and for me. Thank you for reading and we are at the Half way marker of this great Journey in Brazil, that I've been blessed with. Now is the time to be missionaries!

Adios Amigos,

Leonardo De la Garza

WYD Missionaries tell their story

Roberto:

What a wild ride it's been for us! World youth is now over, but the message still remains in our hearts. We're now living up to words of our theme,"Go be missionaries". After world youth day, we got to experience probably the most beautiful natural wonder of the world, iguazu falls; which was totally worth the 20 hour bus ride! On our way to Salvador, the missionaries were curious for what to expect from the favelas so we all asked for the "Dos and Donts". The people here in Salvador, which are called "Bahianos" are very different from the ones in Rio. They're very humble and welcoming. The beach we went to is very beautiful and relaxing; we even got to pray a rosary there. We had to move all our stuff back though because the tide kept on coming up. It's been a really nice experience so far and I can't for what's to come in these next 2 weeks! God bless!

Laura:

As we come to our final day, we realize everything we are taking back with us. Sure, a couple souvenirs and some Havainas, but most importantly, everything we have learned. We went through some crazy new experiences, however, it was how we over came it that helped us grow stronger. It started with WYD, and we did as the theme song said, "go be missionaries...." And that's exactly what we did.

When we first arrived all of us were freighted by the Dos and Donts of Salvador. However, this place quickly became our home as we met some beautiful and helpful people, like the Brothers of St. John, the workers, and the people that lived in the favela.

We are blessed to say we got a lot done in the chapel, it will be exciting to hopefully come back one day, and see the community enjoying it.
It is a bittersweet feeling between leaving Salvador, and going home. We are not sure if we will ever come back, but one thing is for sure Salvador and its people will forever remain in our hearts. 

Cesar:

Fala Portuguese!? This is probably the best way to start a conversation with any Brazilian, or at least I thought so. Once I got to Salvador and went to Alto (the favela) things were a bit different.

Salvador oh sweet Salvador, such a wonderful place where I learned the true meaning of seeing the good in others. I was a bit nervous at first when i went to the favela; however, it amazed my how much respect they have for the Brothers.

I remember Leo telling me that the purpose of painting the chapel was not so much about us doing the work. It was about showing out presence to the community.

It was amazing to see how close the youth community started to grow once they saw us working as a community. We had to adjust some thing to their likings so that they can see that the church and being a catholic is fun!

Back to Work!

Dear Friends,

It has been a while since our last post!  The brothers, along with Leo, have been in Rio de Janeiro for the 28th WYD with Pope Francis and the rest of the Community of Saint John.  It was an eventful month!  Now we've been back for just over a week, and we've had the help of seven missionaries from Laredo and one from Princeville!  We've been working on preparing the space downstairs in the Convent for the missionaries who will be coming to join us in September and early next year.

We've also been working on repainting the chapel in Alto!  Here are some pictures:

And here is a shot of a bunch of us when we were visiting the falls in Foz de Iguaçu (one of the seven wonders of the world!):