Hello everyone, I hope you’re having a lovely morning, afternoon, or evening! It’s time for my annual post about my West Virginia mission trip! This year, two of my plans had overlapped each other, so I (with a friend) arrived a day late to the mission trip this year (hence the first day being Sunday rather than the usual Saturday).

psst… you can read about my past trips here!

Sunday | 07.21.24

My friend, Ben, and I left from summer camp (a day early) at around 3:30 in the afternoon. Almost two hours later, we made our first “official” stop: good ol’ 7-Eleven. I got some gummy bears and vitamin water, then just slept. Around 7:00, we stopped for dinner at a neat little Hawaiian-themed restaurant. It was beautiful. We ate outside under a giant pavilion and there were waterfalls, foliage everywhere, and a pathway from the main building to where we were sitting. We also got a gluten-free strawberry shortcake, which was absolutely delicious! When we got back on the road again, we put in the wrong address which set us back about fifteen minutes or so. We got to the camp around 9:30, which was not bad at all! There was a lot of “revamping” done to the camp, especially the dining area, which was exciting to see! I unpacked and got myself situated and went to bed around 11:00.

Monday | 07.22.24

I woke up at 5:00 am and immediately started my little Fairmont morning routine: go to the bathroom, get dressed, do skincare, take my meds, get coffee, then watch the sunrise as I do my devotions. While I was doing my skincare, however, I got to chatting with a woman from my church as well as someone from a different church. For breakfast, I had grits, a banana, two orange wedges, and bacon. We always leave for the worksite soon after eating. I cleaned off a shed roof, shoveled a ton of dirt, and laid down gravel for the (soon-to-be) sidewalk. I left early with some other folks and actually got a whole shower before dinner! I hate rushing myself, so that is very rare for me…

For dinner, I ate gluten-free pasta, salad, and pudding. My friend, Alex, put all three pudding flavors in the same bowl, then mixed it; spoiler alert, it just turned brown. Before the worship time started, the couple from my church who was leading the singing announced my birthday and everyone sang to me! After worship, we had our routine team debrief, then Alex, Ben, my younger brother, and I went to the camp store! I got a klondike, a rice krispie, and three stickers. Toward the end of the day, folks usually start playing some more volleyball, and another church even brought a 9-Square set! However, Alex, Ben, and I were trying to figure out a place to put Ben’s hammock—the best spot had been taken already. We ended up putting one end around a porch post and the other through two windows in the cabin to secure it around a support of the cabin itself. We took turns in it and chatted, then I got ready for bed around 9:23 that night!

Tuesday | 07.23.24

I woke up at 5:00 am again but felt exhausted, despite getting to bed even ealier than I did the night before. I even dozed off a bit during my morning devotions. I ate some candy and drank coffee in an attempt to wake myself up more (which, in hind sight, is probably among the worst things to do…) For breakfast, I ate grits, ham, eggs, a banana, and two orange wedges. I spent the morning painting a shed in the backyard of one of our hosts. We accidentally left our lunch at the camp, so that ran a little late. I ate a sandwich, two gluten-free Oreos, popcorn, trail mix, and a fruit bar (same as pretty much every day this week). In the afternoon, I painted some more with my younger brother, E, and B. We were right by a fence, and there was some sort of factory, warehouse, etc. looking structure on the other side and somehow that devolved into us pretending to be in trench warfare.

We went back to the worksite around 4:00, which meant I was able to take a shower before dinner again! I ate a salad, coleslaw, broccoli, chicken, ice cream, and pudding. Then, I sat in the hammock and read until worship time, which was a vibe and a half. After worship and debrief, I organized some things, and was all ready for bed by 9:37! I sat on the porch and chatted with Alex and Ben, then braided M’s hair. I then got to bed a little after 10:00pm.

Wednesday | 07.24.24

I decided to give myself some more sleep this morning, so I woke up at 5:30. I still had enough time for my typical routine until breakfast, where I ate grits, two orange wedges, a banana, and bacon. At the worksite, I put some sealant on wooden porch floors and helped to remove and replace some boards on the doors of the shed we were painting. For lunch, someone brought cookies or cake or something, but I was given frozen yogurt since I’m gluten-free, but it was delicious! Wednesdays are our half-days, so we left the site after lunch, but arrived at camp with only thirty minutes to spare, so I didn’t get a shower. But, fortunately, I didn’t do anything too strenuous or dirty during the morning! I just hung out on the cabin porch until we left to go bowling which was our afternoon activity. However, in that time, the main female leader in our group was on hold with the restaurant for that night, but had to do something, so she left it with me—then, of course, the person picked up. Fortunately, I was given the information needed for the reservation, but I was certainly caught off-guard.

On the way to the alley, I rode with Alex, Ben, and my younger brother, and I got to be DJ! We all met up with my sister, Emma, my brother-in-law, and my niece who came down to visit for the day. While bowling, I “granny-tossed” some of them, and I think I actually got a strike at one point! We left the alley earlier than I thought, but then waited outside the restaurant for about 30-45 minutes once we got there. But, I got some quality niece-time in the grass in the meantime! Once we were seated, I sat with Alex, Ben, Emma, my brother-in-law, niece, and then one of the younger girls (I think she just wanted to be by the baby). I ordered my first alcoholic drink ever, and the waitress ID’d me, which felt really cool; I just felt like a cool big kid. It ended up being huge, and I didn’t know my limits, so I only drank a bit, just to play it safe; Alex and Ben finished the rest of it. I wasn’t able to finish my food, but sent it home with Emma, since her family was driving back home that night. We stopped at our favorite place on the way back to camp: Dairy Creme Corner. I made the dumb mistake of getting a cookie dough avalanche (lots of gluten, btw), and felt gross and tired; who coulda guessed that would happen?! I crashed before it even hit 10:00 that night.

Thursday | 07.25.24

I finished my routine and everything by about 6:40, but I should have brought better/more to do for my devotions. We had cleaning duty, so we had to be at the pavilion by 6:45 clean the tables and set up. I ate pretty much the same thing as previous days for breakfast, but add an egg in for some extra protein. We had some new rearrangements for the worksite that day: Alex, Ben, another man, and I went to a church building that was being partially turned into a rehabilitation center for addicts. We did some interior painting (which I love!), but then a homeless man walked right in during the morning. He was there to speak with the pastor, who wasn’t in that day. So he just chilled and just chatted with us; he even helped us paint a bit! For lunch, we headed back to the main worksite, but it began downpouring halfway through us eating. We scattered to get under the two or three tents we had, but eventually moved to the garage to continue eating and do our little devotions/singing that happens during lunchtime. For the afternoon, one of the high school girls, E, joined our church-painting group. As we were all painting, we somehow got on the topic of telling school stories and such, and Alex told one of the funniest stories I had ever heard. E and I were painting near the baseboards and such and were literally rolling on the floor laughing.

We got back to camp with almost an hour to spare before dinner, so I showered, then was somehow roped into a game called “Silent Football.” However, we only got the explanation before having to set up for dinner. I ate coleslaw, mashed potatoes, green beans, ham, pudding, and a salad. After dinner clean-up, I learned that I was chosen to help one of our host’s daughters move out of her college apartment later that night. So, after worship and a quick debrief, Alex, Ben, two of the male leaders, M, and I left for the university. We didn’t get there until 10:00pm, and we had to wait for our host and her daughter to arrive as well. Overall, it took about an hour to pack everything up before driving to our host’s house where the daughter would be staying. At this point, it was about midnight, and our car was listening to Mongolian Throat Singing Techno, which was a very interesting vibe. We quickly unpacked everything into the garage, then eventually got back to camp around 1:45am. I literally just took off my shoes and accessories, then plopped in bed.

Friday | 07.26.24

I slept in big time this morning—6:30. I just got dressed, took my meds, then got coffee. I felt better than I thought I would, despite only getting around three or four hours of sleep. I ate my typical breakfast, packed my bag, then joined everyone else on the porch for worksite assignments. I was part of the church-painting crew again along with another one of the high school girls, A. I did little tasks around the church before leaving to a past host’s house whom we had grown close to over the years. We did a bit of yardwork at her house which included lots of crawling in, under, and behind huge bushes, ripping at massive vines, and putting my whole body weight into trying to uproot a giant. We took a break and left to join everyone else for lunch, then continued to do more yardwork afterwards and chatted with her for the rest of the afternoon. We left around 4:00, eventually arrived at the camp to unload, then showered. I did some organizing and planning until dinner, which was a bit later, so all of our hosts for the week could come and join us at camp! I ate four bunless hot dogs, salad, coleslaw, and pudding, then took a little nap in the hammock until worship. We spent a bit of time after worship to further chat with our hosts who had come, then I headed toward the amphitheater where the bonfire was this year.

It was quite nice having it in the amphitheater because it’s closer to the cabins and you don’t have to walk through as much (potentially) wet grass. Alex, Ben, and I chilled on some seats that were a few rows away from the fire; it was that hot. There were a bunch of kids running around and playing, then they “chose” Alex and made him sit on a log off to the side of the fire. I’m not sure what their goal or desire was. As a few more folks from my church came down, we took our annual bonfire pictures, chatted for a bit, then Alex began telling his story from Thursday afternoon while strumming my ukulele. Somehow, it eventually turned into a hymn sing, thanks to some of the programs from worship. It went on for about half an hour or so, until we called it a night around 11:00.

Saturday | 07.27.24

I woke around 5:30 am again to begin packing up and cleaning. It didn’t take long; I like to think I’ve mastered packing/unpacking for this trip. Once we finished packing everything up and piling into vehicles, we left and got to Cracker Barrel around 7:00. I had the “Country Boy Breakfast,” which included three dippy eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, and fried apples. I also got a caramel latte, of course. At some point during the meal, someone ordered me and M a brownie and ice cream dish since we both celebrated our birthdays this week. I couldn’t have the brownie, so I gave it to one of the younger girls in our group. Afterwards, some of us looked around the shop area, but were quickly hurried along to get going again. I was in a car with both of my younger brothers and Ben. I think I slept for at least some part of the drive and got a picture of my younger brother sleeping, too.

Quotes of Fairmont 2024

*anything about Norwegians and/or Bingo*

B: what do you use your thumbs for other than thumbs-up and texting?
M: picking things up.

*we’re in the trenches*

my younger brother: last time I had an orange, I pulled an [E]… I coughed

M: we’re not teasing you, we’re complaining about you to your face.

B: did you shut the door in my face ‘cuz I’m black?

my younger brother’s and my song (sung to the tune of “Country Roads” by John Denver):
Country roads, mayonnaise, oreos, gatorade. Throw your boots off and chew the rubber. Country roads, mayonnaise.

my younger brother after making a fart noise: shhhh!

*my younger brother running across camp just to burp in my ear, then run away again*

P: I can get ice cream anytime
AS: where”
P: anywhere you want it…

AR: no more poop jokes…
C: this is a poop fact

Have you ever been on a mission trip? What kind of work do you prefer? Kids or construction? If you have any fun trip stories feel free to leave them in the comments! I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day or night. Keep on loving others and seeking the Lord!