New Teammate!

Get excited, people.  I would like to introduce you all to my new teammate... *drum roll please*

Michael!  Ta daaaa.  Last semester, Michael worked in Denver at FOCUS headquarters in the International Missions department working on advertising stuff.  He was doing an internship to finish up his degree in advertising at South Dakota State University.  Now, I know what you're thinking- "Two people on the same team in NYC from South Dakota?  What!  Two?  I didn't even think there were people in South Dakota!"  It's okay and totally understandable, because I thought the same thing.

Michael has really been good for our team, bringing much joy and a renewed zeal.  He is hilarious and a very good and holy brother in Christ.  Please pray for him, as it is hard to start as an on-campus missionary mid-semester.

A bientot!

Article

Hi!  Happy Advent!  Team Columbia was recently featured in Catholic NYC, the city-wide Catholic newspaper.  To see the article, click here.

Birthdays, Booths, and Bible study

Today is my teammate, Justin's, birthday.  In celebration, my team woke up at 5:30am and walked around Columbia in the dark while we prayed all 20 decades of the rosary (as we do every Wednesday).  Then we ate breakfast.  He had a cupcake.

This is what happened when I tried to take a picture of him and his cupcake.

Justin is a great teammate and brother.  Sometimes he gets a little too excited about being the "annoying little brother", and so I have to remind him that I already have one of those (sorry, Daniel!).  Anyway, I am very thankful for Justin and what he brings to our team.

In other news, I recently went to Washington, D.C. to represent FOCUS at a long-term service fair at Catholic University.

Keegan, a Regional Director, and Dan, a missionary at George Washington University, talking with a CUA student

It was a great trip because I got to talk about my awesome job, AND I got to see some family.

My wonderful cousin, Lauren, and my loving Uncle Mark

And did I mention Frannie Boyle?

Frannie Boyle. 'Nuf said.

Then I came back and made autumn wreaths out of ribbon and styrofoam with my Bible Study girls.  Ashley decided hers looked more like a lion's mane than a wreath.

Isn't she cute?

Thank you for your prayers!  Please pray for my new Bible Study that I'm starting with some upperclassmen women.  To Him be the glory!

Team "Love"

From left to right: Me, Justin, Leah, and Teddy

This is my new team.  Someone has already dubbed us as Team Love.  I'm sure you can see why.  Aren't we just adorable?

I'm really excited to get to know my teammates better and work alongside them at Columbia University.  This will be the first year for FOCUS at Columbia, so we have our work cut out for us.  For me, this is a particularly exciting challenge, having seen and lived through the transformation that FOCUS (and Father Baker, of course) brought about in our community at Vanderbilt when it came my sophomore year.

Just to fill you in with a little more detail about my team...
Justin is a first-year missionary from Virginia.  He graduated from George Mason University in May and studied English/Creative Writing.
Leah is the only veteran on our team!  She is our team leader, hailing from South Dakota, earned her undergraduate degree in violin performance at Catholic University, and spent the past 2 years as a missionary at Mount St. Mary's University.  This will be her second year as a team director.
Teddy is a first-year missionary from Maryland.  He graduated from Mount St. Mary's in May with a degree in philosophy.

I am so thankful for them already, and I look forward to many adventures in NYC!  May God bless our efforts to bring souls to Him at Columbia.  Please pray for us!