Day 8: Last Day of Canvassing

Weather: hot! no clouds, no wind, no humidity

Saturday was our final day of Canvassing. We spent almost the entire day walking the streets. We canvassed in Green Valley, the retirement community, and in Sahuarita. Every group had an ample amount of stories, ranging from more singing, Mormons, and even threating to call the police. Our lunch was extremely good Sonora dogs (Bacon wrapped hotdogs with the works on top). We canvassed more in the afternoon and then spent more time bonding with our hosts at church. We had pulled pork sandwiches and homemade desserts. The evening was spent playing Telestrations (Pictionary and Telephone combined). This was filled with laughter (Just ask Rachel). We are beyond blessed at the opportunities we have had to share the amazing gospel with those in southern Arizona. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel back to Minnesota tomorrow night. Our flight is supposed to land safely at 12:10AM CST on Monday.

Pastor Enter having fun with Chris

Playing with dogs while canvassing

"How many cards can I balance on my hand?"

It's even too warm for fake snowmen

Adam explaining his pictures in Telestrations

Day 7: Tucson Street Fair

Friday morning was spent walking around the Tucson street fair. This is a gathering of small vendors that sell their products in a tent. There were many free samples and lots of interesting thing for sale. There were many dips you could sample, but the best thing was the BBQ Pork Sandwiches. The lady says she can FedEx us meat overnight for our grad parties :). After a salad bar for lunch, we canvassed in Tucson for the Grace - Tucson campus. This was a good change of pace as we were able to see a different part of the area. We went back to Grace - Sahuarita and had a meal of Lasagna. Everyone went to bed relatively early to catch up on sleep.

We found the "good" donuts at the Street Fair

Some grilled meats at the Street Fair

Googie with another cactus in her foot

Sam and Jaron imposing Minnesota's dominance

Day 6: Mine over Matter

Weather: A brisk 64° with minimal sun, but still a beautiful day in AZ.

Today was our last free day of the trip. We did a lot of sightseeing around Tucson and Sahuarita. The first stop of the day was at the Copper Mine Tour. This is the only active copper mine that allows tours and we were able to see the entire process. The state of Arizona produces 60% of all the copper in the USA. Some of the highlights were... "Never mine". In all seriousness, the mine was a unique opportunity to learn about something often overlooked. Next, we went to an Asain Buffett in Tuscon. We watched basketball and ate some very good food. Everyone enjoyed eating sugar donuts. The next stop on our trip was to the Arizona - Sonora Desert Museum. This is a zoo that only has animals found in southern Arizona. We spent quite a bit of time looking at the animals and looking for a lost chaperone. The majority of students' least favorite exhibit was the cactus exhibit, because, by day 6, we are all tired of cactus. After the zoo, we stopped at Starbucks for coffee. We went back to the Heiman's house and had pancakes, eggs, hashbrowns, and sausage. The entire meal was good. The night was spent hanging out and bonding. Once the other homestay's left, we enjoyed a long game of Apples to Apples. Tomorrow we start canvassing again. Please keep us and the church in your prayers as we continue to spread the gospel to the young families of Tucson and Sahuarita.

The group looking over the copper mine

Fun Fact: All traffic in the mine drives

 on the left side of the road.

A few students inside the dump truck wheel. 

These wheels cost $50,000 EACH!

Oops...

Rachel enjoying the Desert Museum

Rachel and Nora posing near the big cat exhibit

Group picture courtesy of Bob. A really nice guy!

Can you spot the tortoise?

Chris checking for eggshells

Beautiful Arizona sunset

Day 5: Work Day

Weather: Warm, very few clouds, no rain

Wednesday morning started at 9AM. We met at Pastor's house and headed to church. The goal of the day was to clean up the church yard and make it ready to sell in the future. Tasks included removing a garden fence, cleaning up brush, and storing some odds and ends. We worked for 30 minutes then took short breaks to reapply sunscreen and drink water. Our lunch was sub sandwiches along with other sides. We worked outside until about 2:00 PM. We had a few hours of free time so we went to dairy queen for free cones. We did not go to just one dairy queen. We went to three! The highlight of this was listening to the employee's reactions when Pastor Jon asked through the drive-thru: "Hello, can we please get 15 cones?" (See video below). After eating our ice cream we hung out until our amazing chicken dinner at church.  The meal was awesome! We went to church a 7:00 PM. The preacher was from Grace - Tucson and was also a graduate of St. Croix. Wednesday night was spent watching a movie at the Heiman house. We watched A Star is Born.

Rachel and others cleaning up the tree branches

Zach digging out fence posts. 

(They are harder to remove in AZ than in MN)

Hailey moving brush

Ordering 15 free cones in the DQ drive-thru

Proof we have 15 people in the van. 

Can you count them all?

Free cone day!!

Abby Candid

A few of the seniors posing for a picture

Movie night with Pastor Jon Enter popcorn

Day 4: Another Day of Sun

Today's weather: 78°, mostly sunny, a slight breeze and no snow

Tuesday began with a little extra sleep. Everyone met at pastor's house where we were able to go swimming and play in their community pool. After eating lunch (brats, cheesy chicken, chips, and strawberries), we headed back up towards Tucson. We stopped at the Catholic mission church, San Xavier. We all had very good frybread with cinnamon and sugar and had a fun time feeding the ground squirrels. The next stop on our trip was the University of Arizona. We walked around the campus, stopped at the bookstore, and just observed the college atmosphere. We went back to the main campus of Grace in Tucson, had dinner (Chili + Vegan Chili)) and helped with the ESL program (English second language). This was the highlight of the day. We were able to have conversations with people who were learning English and some people were able to give childcare to the students' children. The night concluded with slushies from Eegee's (very good) and a quick Walmart stop. Everyone was stuck in the parking lot waiting for Pastor Jon to purchase 4 pom poms.

Highlights of the day:

• Having a relaxing morning at the pool.
• Feeding the ground squirrels some of our frybread.
• Googie getting pooped on by a bird.
• Taking strange pictures on the UA campus.
• Breaking the weather stripping in the van.
• "Getting those slushie thingies." - Emily
• Buy the book The Constitution Demands It: The Case For the Impeachment of Donald Trump from the campus bookstore

The Chris Tollefson vehicle

Morning of swimming

The San Xavier Misson, Tucson AZ

Feeding the ground squirrels

Googie had a "crappy" day

Exploring the UA campus

The brand new UA football practice facility

Posing in front of a sculpture

ummm...

Eating dinner before ESL

Day 3: "Only 200 feet of incline..."

Today's weather: a brisk 79° with a moderate wind, and not a hint of precipitation.

Monday was our first "free day". We had the choice of what we wanted to do. As a group, we decided to go hiking. Pastor Heiman recommend Seven Falls (arguably eight falls). He told us it was "super easy, flat, and only 200 feet of incline. It would only take you 4 hours."

In reality...

The hike crossed the river 8 times. The deepest water was almost to your waist, and it felt like we were back in Minnesota doing the polar plunge. Once to the top, the falls were amazing. We even started to swim in the frigid water. The trek downwards was relatively uneventful except for another chaperone getting lost. In total, the hike lasted about 6 hours and was over 9 miles long. There were over 3500 feet of elevation change. In the end, we had blisters, sunburn, 2 less shoes, a cactus in the foot, and so many wonderful memories. After hiking, everyone went to In-N-Out Burger and saw baseball guys and softball gals. We then went back to the Heiman's house and had brownies and ice cream sundaes.

Highlights of the day:

• The same chaperone was late [again] to Pastor Ryan's house.
• People fell over, and we had some nice laughs!
• We saw God's creation.
• In-N-Out Burger was a first time experience for most people.
• At the Heiman's, we hung out and sat by the fire.
• Everyone bonded so much today!
• We all got lots of exercise.
• Abby got extremely burnt (ouch).
• We made friends with a duck. He ate out of Katie's hand.
• Jaron scared Googie by impersonating a snake.
• Seth's rhythmic leg spasming occurred in the wee hours of the morning.

Amazing Pictures of 7 Falls here

Rachel "touching" a cactus

Sam absorbing the wonderful Arizona sunshine

A few juniors hiking

Pastor Jon enjoying the lack of country music 

(he doesn't like country music)

Sam and Allie inadvertently twinning

God's beautiful creation

Nora and Googie hiking

Lexi and Nora

Hiking

A shopping trip with Abby and Nora

Day 2: God Works in Mysterious Ways

Today's weather: A brisk 77° Partially cloudy. No wind.

Sunday morning began with Bible study and church. Once again, some people who shall not be named were late along with the people in her vehicle. As the story goes, they went to the wrong Grace Church (oops). The Bible study was about using our gifts to provide for those in the church. As for the church service, it was filled with music during the service and the fellowship afterward was a good chance to connect with members. After church, we had a very good meal of tacos, enchilada lasagna, carrots, and wonderful desserts. We canvassed in the afternoon for about four hours and then ended our day at the University of Arizona. A few of our favorite stories are below. After a recap at church, we headed up to Grace Lutheran - Tucson. This is the main campus of the church we are helping. We spent time with the campus ministry of The University of Arizona. We watched The Road To Emmaus and had a discussion about it. The night wrapped up with a game of Sting Pong (ping pong with consequences) and a plethora of bruises.

Highlights from the day:

• Hailey and Gavin walking down the sidewalk and nearly get hit by a lady
• Getting ice cream from a somewhat sketchy ice cream truck
• Visiting the new church/daycare site
• Googie getting a cactus stuck in her foot
• Most doorbells are the Big Ben chime. Gavin sang the chime at a door (see video here)
• Sam and Abby discussing the "Rich young kids with their loud cars and music".
• "Hi, my name is Sam. I mean my name is Abby."
• "I don't want to be put on the PETA watchlist!"
• The lizard moving
• Talking to the pastor of My Church
• Hearing it snowed in Minnesota (and having nothing but clear skies and 80 in Arizona) :)

The OTHER Grace Church

The backdrop of the new church

The Heiman's Lizard

University of AZ Campus Ministry

Emily and Googie Canvassing

The approximate location of NEW alter

The sketchy ice cream truck with a Grace Lutheran Flyer on it