Paige Kepes

Dear Saints John & Paul Church,

This past week has been a life changing experience that I will never forget, learning what it truly means to love everyone and be happy. Before I went on this trip, I would think people with less material wealth are in a worse situation than us and that that we have the upper hand. I learned that this is untrue. Yes these people don’t have the nicest clothes or even basic necessities(like clean water), but their emotional and spiritual wealth exceeds any possible material item. The people I met in Honduras were the most genuine and happy people. They don’t know what life is like in a giant house or fancy clothes. However, they do know what it is to be a community and build others up. I gained more from these people than I could have ever give. From this trip I learned the greatest joy you can feel is watching others be happy from something you did. I also learned that a little kindness goes miles and miles and is the key to genuine happiness.

Over the past five days I have experienced an emotional roller coaster. Feeling every possible emotion especially joy. Some of these photos might not be the highest quality but the memory behind everyone is special.

This boy’s name is Carlos. He was around 2 or 3 years old and was in a malnutrition center. He had the most bubbly and cheerful personality. When i first met him, he immediately wanted to be picked up. He keep saying a word that i couldn’t understand. After about five minutes i realized he was saying aqua. I went to the kitchen to ask a person to help get him water. Once handed the water he got so excited and started dancing while being held. After drinking his aqua, he pointed to the bookshelf in the malnutrition home and went straight for one book. It was a book about lions that he wanted to share. He read it then wanted to explore more things. He found an unused coloring book (in a bag that our group had brought) and his face lit up. he grabbed it and went to start coloring. He loved the colors blue and orange. He loved dancing and playing soccer. He could have been upset that I didn’t understand him when he wanted water or been selfish and not share the coloring book he found, but his joy over the smallest things like a book, agua, or coloring taught me that life is more enjoyable when you choose to be happy and share you found happiness.

This girl’s name is Jamie and she also currently lives at a malnutrition center and was so sweet. She saw people looking at a  book with before and after pictures of the kids at the center, she saw them grabbing tissues to wipe their tears away. She wanted a tissue and I was confused as to why, but after she got one she started wiping my face, removing the sweat that had been there. This action, although simple, reminded me that people have kindness in their hearts and use it to make others happy. Before this moment, I believed that you should only do what makes you happy but now I believe that the purest joy comes from being kind to others.

On this trip we were blessed to see a beautiful waterfall. Before arriving to the fall  I thought it would be smaller. When we got there I was pleasantly surprised. It was much bigger than I imagined and gorgeous. This is like how i imagined the trip overall. I left knowing I would experience something amazing but I had no clue it would be to this extent. I have grown as a person and in my faith so much. I now understand that God has a plan for me and my life. I know that life might not always be easy but with God, it will be worth it. With 5 day becoming closer to him I have experienced so much joy and love. The joy I experienced was unlike any other I have encountered before, it felt freeing and pure.

These were our chaperones and group leaders. I want to thank them for all the hard work they have done to make this trip as successful as it was. Without them our group would have not been prepared or able to have such a good experience. There isn’t enough gratitude in the world to show how lucky and proud I feel be apart of this trip with them. I also want to thank the parish Saints John & Paul and Soles4Souls for facilitating this wonderful and eye opening experience.

Sincerely,

Paige Kepes