get comfy, it's a long one.

So…! A lot has happened since I last wrote! To quickly recap – after the Cambridge event our schedule was full of events in Ontario including locations in Haliburton, Bracebridge, Belleville, Tillsonburg and Orangeville all within six days! At our event in Belleville we were joined by Catherine – a seventeen year old high school student from Whitby, Ontario who joined us for a week to observe our events before we all headed to Quebec where she acted as our translator and speaker for our Quebec events!
So last weekend we were in Quebec where we did two French events. That was such a great experience! At first we were a little nervous and skeptical about the idea of doing events in a language that no one on our team speaks except for Heather and of course Catherine… but it was so worth it! At our first one, in Quebec City, the girls new English pretty well and our team all knows a very select few phrases in French so while we were nail painting and just hanging out with the girls we carried on conversation pretty well and it was just so much FUN trying to communicate and having them laugh at our attempts at French. My go to phrase? “Je suis tres desolte parce que je ne parle pas en francais” which means (in very broken French I’m sure) “I am very sad because I do not speak French”. Girls laughed every time, haha. So our event was pretty much the same – with Catherine doing Jessica’s first session on creation and then the second session being our junior event session (in our senior event session two is Jessica’s 40 minute testimony. In a junior event session two is Jessica interviewing us four interns to each share five minute snapshots of our testimony – something we’ve gone through that we came out that helped us realize our value and worth that God has instilled in us) with Catherine interviewing us in French, us answering in English and Catherine translating our responses in French. And then for ministry time it was 100% up to the church’s leaders to talk and pray with the girls because that would be impossible for our team to effectively participate in. And like I said, we weren’t really sure what kind of impact this kind of event could really have because there’s a language barrier and constant translating and so on… but I am now so glad we did it! From the minute the girls walked in the doors they were excited to be there and to meet us and we signed a LOT of autographs – on CDs, shirts, papers, a SHOE! Haha. They were wonderful and after the event we were approached by a leader in the church, who is actually originally from southern Manitoba – and he let us know the full weight of importance our events had there. He informed us that Quebec has the lowest percentage of Christians in Canada and they aren’t used to having any kind of youth events there, which is a huge contrast to virtually the rest of Canada where we seem to have events, concerts and youth conferences constantly! And so just the fact that we were willing to travel there and spend time with those girls… he said we can’t even comprehend the importance of it and the value it has for those girls lives. So that was SUPER encouraging! And it motivated us so much as we went on to our second, and last, French event in Rimouski, QB. This guy knew the church we were going to in Rimouski and he was quick to encourage us again by letting us know that the church we were heading to has a regular attendace of thirty people on a Sunday morning and it can be a hard community to reach, so if our event – which brings on average thirty girls – had five girls show up we should realize that that’s like having a hundred girls attend a regular event! So we went into Rimouski ready to just be PUMPED up for even just one girl attending… We got TWELVE! :) And again, such a fun group! Unlike Quebec City they didn’t know any English but it was a good challenge to just show God’s love to them primarily through our actions and smiles and I think it went really well if the girls giving us big hugs as they left are any indication! They even helped us pack up our trailer! :)
So the French events were a really great experience and I hope BUgirl gets to do even more there in the future! While we were in Quebec we had a morning off and we went to Old Quebec City which was so beautiful! And we just spent time there with Catherine taking pictures, browsing the shops and… having crepes! So good! This week, since we brought Catherine home on Sunday, we’ve had a stretch of time off and have been spending it at Heather’s cottage in Ottawa, Ontario. It’s so pretty, right on the lake! And it’s just been REFRESHING! to be in one place for more than two nights, with a lighter schedule just to stop, breathe and connect deeper with God and my team. Yesterday I woke up early to sit on the beach and wait for the sunrise – my favorite way to wake up! – and then we went to spend the day in Montreal… We went shopping downtown and then while Jessica continued to shop with her friend from McGill Erika, Heather and I took the Metro out to Old Montreal where we had crepes (again!), took a carriage ride through the streets and just walked around and explored! It was a lot of fun, especially since my family took a trip there two summers ago – it made me less homesick in a weird way…:) This morning we raked the leaves at the cottage for Heather’s family which I actually found fun! And other than a trip to Ikea – because Jessica has never been – we don’t have too many plans for the rest of the week… just relaxing and connecting again as a team. It’s been such a blessing to have this week off to travel, to relax and to just be together as a team and grow closer and reenergize before completing our final stretch of our last tour! Saturday we leave for Moncton where we have another five days off and staying with some of Kylagh’s friends with trips up to Halifax and PEI planned in there… Should be a lot fun! And then next Friday events continue in Trenton, NS; Deer Lake, Grand Falls Windsor, Lewisporte, Victoria, Gander, NL; Truro, NS; Orangeville, Kitchener, and Kanata, Ontario before returning to MANITOBA!!! on May 17th!

SO that is a SUPER LONG update… I’ll update again soon… I hope!
Pray for these next few days off that our team would continue to have FUN together and grow closer to one another and in our faith walks so that we can be united and strong to carry out the rest of our tour! And of course, for myself at least, continue to pray against homesickness! I don’t want to waste these last forty days anxious for something that will be there when I return… Missing you & loving you!