Middle Schoolers GALORE.

Well, faithful readers. We've kept you in the dark long enough. I bet you want to hear all about the goodness of what has been one crazy, fun, service filled week with a LOT of Middle Schoolers this week.

On Tuesday afternoon, a slew of enthusiastic pre-teens rolled into St. Ann's in Stoughton, WI, where we have been in the midst of an action packed couple of days.


(That action packed photo was snapped during a great game of Ship, Ship Cross My Ocean last night.) Upon arrival Tuesday evening, we spent a good deal of time getting to know each other in crazy ways, like playing train wreck and one intense name game competition. We also shared a meal of pizza and veggies, before we spent some time learning about how our lifestyle at LBH would resemble the lifestyle of the Missionaries of Charity (the order that our patron Blessed Mother Teresa founded).

Our evening gathering included some contemplating of the darkness in our lives and how to let in Christ, who is the light. We also enjoyed some birth cake while chatting with our friends who came with from our own parishes. After a busy day, we enjoyed a good night's sleep, so we could be well rested for the day of work ahead.

On Wednesday morning, we had the pleasure of waking up and celebrating Mass with each other to kick off our day. After having the great gift of the Eucharist come and nourish our lives, we were ready for breakfast and leaning about what the day held in store for us.

Some of us spent time visiting with elderly members of the community and playing cards at a neighborhood nursing home.


We also got to work in the gardens in the courtyards of this nursing home.


And, some of us painted in classrooms here at St. Ann's.

There was also a crew of hard workers that put together our dinner of tacos and all of then fixings.

After these hours of hard work, the LBHers headed to the local community center for a quick shower and a time to rest for a few minutes. Upon returning to St. Ann's, we enjoyed that delightful taco dinner that was prepared for us by our fellow Mission Trippers. Wow, that feast was pretty much nothing compared to the feast of grace that we enjoyed by receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation later that evening. We would like to give a big shout out to the three priests who heard our Confessions - Fr. Randy (Holy Rosary, Darlington), Msgr. Healy (St. Ann's, Stoughton), and Msgr. Baxter (St. James, Madison). After loving our Lord and the gift of forgiveness, we headed out for the aforementioned game of Ship, Ship Cross My Ocean, some quality time with our Parish groups and got ready for bed, so we were able to spend the whole day ahead of us serving the Lord by way of helping our neighbors in need.

We'll give you the update about todays good work tomorrow, so stay tuned! In the meantime, keep offering up the prayers for us. We appreciate your love and support in that way.