Already missing Florida..

So I am sitting here at my Aunt and Uncle’s place in Olympia, WA. The past few weeks have been some of the best weeks of my life as well as the most exhausting. On July 20th, for our project Wednesday we went to New Smyrna Beach. Before going to the beach that morning, Leslie and I and the other project couples went to breakfast at the Polynesian resort and that was a lot of fun! Leon, my friend from Brazil was able to come with us to the beach for our project day. On the car ride to the beach we got into a great spiritual conversation, and I was able to share the gospel with him again. We also talked about the importance of learning about other people and their beliefs before we talk to them about spiritual things. It’s important because if you step into their shoes they don’t feel stepped on or forced into anything. The beach was a lot of fun, and super relaxing and it was great to be able to talk to Leon. The next day my friend Luke from Wisconsin, Leon, and I went to EPCOT and had a lot of fun hanging out there. The next day Leslie and I went on a day to a Mexican restaurant and that was really nice and that night it was back to work. Saturday I got sick so I had to call in to work. I was able to get some much needed rest and relaxation. On Sunday, I went to Celebration for church and spent the afternoon resting, and that night I went back to work. Monday was our last bible study and we talked about the armor of God, and what that means and the importance of that. That night I worked and afterwards several of us went to Steak n Shake and it was a lot of fun. I didn’t get home until 5:30 am that night! Tuesday was share day and my friend Krista and I shared at the Mall at Millenia. It went pretty well; we shared the gospel with a Buddhist and went through the Quest surveys with a few other people. That night began our 24 hour fast at 9pm. Wednesday was our fast/serve day. That morning the co-director Ashton and I began the day talking about the reasoning behind the fast: to humble ourselves and refocus our thoughts on Christ. Then we got to spend an hour and a half time with the Lord which was much needed and very refreshing. Afterwards we all went to different volunteer opportunities: Habitat for Humanity restore, a Historical society, and the Kissimmee Salvation Army. All three of the volunteer places went great and it was awesome to see God pull through with the opportunities because the day before we were frantically trying to find places that needed help. After the volunteering, we came back and had two movie options, either the Passion of the Christ or the Jesus film. I watched the Passion, and left early to go get some Chik-fil-A. We broke the fast with some delicious chicken sandwiches at 9pm and debriefed about the day. The fast came at a perfect time where there was a lot of conflict happening and we really needed to refocus on Christ. On Thursday, Leslie and I got to go on a date and spend the day together. We went to animal kingdom and rode some rides, and then we went to EPCOT and went on rides. We got to go dinner at the Japanese Pavillion (Leslie loves sushi  ). We ended the night by riding Soarin’ California. I slept in on Friday and then Leon moved his stuff into my place because he was planning on staying with me for the weekend. I met my atheist friend Tyler for lunch. We had an awesome time chatting and talked about politics, spiritual things, and just life in general. I had not been able to connect with him in a while so it was great to connect again. That night I worked and came home around 3 and talked to Leon for a bit. A couple hours later Blake, Luke, and I woke up and went to breakfast at the Grand Floridian to say goodbye to co-workers. It was a lot of fun, but really sad at the same time. Afterwards, Blake, Luke, Leon and I went to Hollywood Studios. It was a ton of fun to get to hangout with Leon. I worked again that night. Sunday morning Leon came with to church and he said that he really enjoyed it! That afternoon Leon had to move out of my place because it was against project guidelines to have overnight guests. I was pretty mad, and I felt terrible. It was my fault though for not checking with the staff on the guidelines. The staff director showed me a lot of grace though and even offered for Leon to stay at his place. Leon found an affordable hotel though, and I helped him move in there. Sunday night I worked.



Monday morning all of the men on project made the women a surprise breakfast and that was a lot of fun! Leon even came to that. Afterwards Leon and I went to the mall and had an awesome time hanging out. We talked about spiritual things and I was able to share with him my beliefs on heaven and hell and why we need to believe in Jesus. Afterwards I gave him a bible and suggested that he should start reading in John. He was so excited to read the bible and he told me he was going to start reading right away. That night was my last night of work, and it was pretty sad. Several of us from project and co-workers went out to Denny’s for the last night. It was really fun but hard to say goodbye. Afterwards Luke, Leon, and I went to Walmart and then Leon dropped us off. I cried so much after saying goodbye to him. I am so thankful to the Lord for giving us the opportunity to be friends and that I got to show him Christ and invest in his life. I pray that he reads the bible and God softens his heart and he would realize his need for Christ! Tuesday morning we had a project meeting with the staff directors that returned to talk about wrapping up the project and to prepare ourselves. Afterwards, a few of us went to Cici’s with some co-workers and got to say goodbyes to them. After that, Leslie and I and the other couples went over to Emily’s apartment (Emily was my carpool driver for the summer) and she made us a delicious Lazagna dinner. It was so nice of her. After dinner, Leslie and I, Morgan, Chad, and Rosa all went to the Magic Kingdom and had a great time hanging out. We came back that night and made puppy chow and stayed up until 4 am. A couple hours later, Danny and I met with Tyler and one of Danny’s friends who is on Cru staff for breakfast. Danny’s friend Eric and Tyler were able to dialogue back and forth and really connected. I am sad that we had to say bye to Tyler but I am excited that Tyler has a connection to Christians close by to him especially since he will be starting school at UCF in the fall. Right after breakfast, we had our directors lunch with the staff and it was amazing. We were able to share the good and the bad of the summer. I was so humbled in my director role. I am used to so much encouragement, and I barely had any of that from project people. I was really broken and criticized, but I am so thankful for that because I finally realized that I have to find my identity in Christ and not in pleasing others. I have found my identity in pleasing others for so long and God is finally revealing how much that has had a hold on my life. The funny thing is, at the end of project banquet and other things that night. I received so much encouragement from people on the way I led. I was kind of shocked from what I heard because I really felt like a failure. That night we watched our end of project videos, which were awesome (and I plan on posting those on here when I can) . Afterwards we watched the Wishes fireworks one last time at the Polynesian. After the fireworks Leslie, Morgan, Chad, and I got pictures with Mickey and Minnie and they turned out great! After that our whole project watched the Kiss Goodnight show and started saying goodbyes. It was pretty sad. Chad, Morgan, Rosa, Leslie, and I went to get some good old dole whip and then drove home, and when we got back to the resort we shared testimonies and how much our friendships meant to each other. Afterwards I began packing at about 3 am and went around saying more goodbyes. At 5:30, Leslie, my roommates, Luke, and Ashton (my roommate Stephen’s girlfriend) all drove to the airport to say goodbyes. All of them meant so much to me this summer! I was in such a strange emotional state being sad and exhausted and rushing to make my flight. I spent 3 hours on a plane to Minneapolis and then got on another 3 hour flight to Washington which is where I am now. It’s been super hard being here. I am definitely suffering from PPD (post project depression). Also, my grandma is dying of cancer and it is super hard being out here, so please pray for her. Thank you all for the prayer and support you have given me this summer. It was such an amazing summer and I’m glad that I went and I’m excited to see what God does on campus at SCSU this fall. I’ll be out west until the 17th and then it’s back to Minnesota!
God bless,
Berto