Congradulations Seth and Drew! :) Love you!

Yesterday, Friday June 22nd, my two dear brothers Drew Braun and Seth Gogolin were ordained priests for the Diocese of Duluth. I am going to say for all of the things that were hard to miss back home this was probably the hardest. I think that I had a mental block for the weeks coming up to the ordination because I was just going to be to depressed that I missed it. Drew and Seth have been such an important part of my life ever since I met them in late May 2009. Drew and Seth will both make amazing priests and I am so excited to see them in their ministries when I return home.

The church is in need of so many vocations to the priesthood and I truly feel grateful for their decision to spend their lives serving the church. They always inspire me to be a better person and help me to see the good in life. My friendship with the both of them has been instrumental into forming my deepened faith and self confidence before I departed for Guyana. I am blessed to call them my friends and my brothers. May God bless them during their priesthood and give them the strength to Shepard his flock.

A group of volunteers from Misericordia University had been in town for the past couple of weeks and on Tuesday night they had a dinner for all of the people who helped them during their short stay. As Mercy volunteers we had them over at our house last Saturday for pizza and a theological reflection. It was nice to have them in our house and show them a little bit of what our life was like. It was good for me to hear the questions that they would ask because I know that my friends and family back home will ask me similar questions when I return home. It was good to connect with them for that one last time on Tuesday night. Rosaline one of the Mercy Sister Novices helped to show them how to do some Guyanese dancing, although I don't think they really got a good taste it was at least a little peep. I am always grateful for people who come and do short term volunteer work, maybe not because they make a huge impact but because I know it will impact them when they go back home. I just pray they are mindful of the materialism of life in the states and that their experience in Guyana may encourage them to live a little more simply.

Friday our school once again went on the annual trip to the New Amersterdam Prison. This is the only female prison in Guyana. The trip is to help to encourage the students to see what life in prison is like so that they are discouraged from committing crimes in the future. Our tour begins across the street from the prision in the officers clubhouse where we are given an overview of the prison. After that we go into the women's prison and the girls are allowed to go in an talk with the female prisoners. Having been there the year before there was a couple of women I had spoken with the year before so I went over to see how they were doing. One of the girls who was incarcerated for capital offense was still awaiting her court date in the high court. She shared with me that while she was in prison her mother had died and that she had gone to the funeral just last week. They allowed her to go to service for half and hour and then they brought her back to the prison. She was the same individual who told me that one wrong decision can change your life in a matter of seconds.

One of the other teachers knew the girl from before she went into prison and she talked about how she was a really nice girl. One of the problems the teacher said was that people in the area she lives often carry weapons for the sake of carrying weapon. In the heat of an angry moment the weapon becomes something you just don't carry anymore... The girl had a knife on her and pulled it out to scare her partner which ended up starting a fight... Sometimes people forget that in moments of passion we do not think rationally - this is why we always encourage our students to not carry weapons because even if you tell yourself you would never use it you don't know what would happen in a moment of passion.

The day finished with a quick tour of the male prison that is adjacent and a session where five prisoners came up and told us their stories. I really enjoy when the prisoners tell their stories because they help me to remember that no one is immune from making a grave mistake. One of the girls reminded all the students that life can be fast but don't get caught up in the wrong things. There are more important things than sex, drugs and alcohol. Any solution to a problem that seems to good to be true probably is. 

I really enjoyed spending the day with my students and hanging out with my co-workers. I sat next to my co-worker Ms. Oneika and we listen to Lady Gaga on my I pod. :) I really enjoy working with Ms. Oneika because we always are laughing about something. She really knows how to crack a joke and take the stress out of school. Sir Niall my other co-worker was also on our bus and he has a similar personality. Between the three of us there is always some joke being made. I thank God every day for co-workers who make the job bearable. No man is an island and it's important to be able to lean on each other.

I hope you all have a very blessed week. Praying for everyone in Duluth and the surrounding areas who were affected by the floods.

All my love,

Ashley Ann