swimming & guinness. NOT swimming in Guinness...

Get excited folks cause this is your FIRST OFFICIAL UPDATE FROM KELSIE IN IRELAND!!

Almost a month into ministry I have been having a

terrific time and I am so happy to be here in Ireland doing God's work. Our team has been done retreats in four counties so far; Donegal, Down, Wexford, and right now we're in county Galway. To be specific I am in Tuam, Co. Galwa

y. It is not pronounced Tu-am, its more like "tchoom", don't say it wrong they'll correct you swiftly. I think the best thing about Tuam i

s the three priests that we h

ave been eating dinner with each night. They just have the most amazing sense of humor and instantly ma

ke us feel comfortable with their jokes and entertaining stories. But somehow they are able to balance out with answering all the cr

azy questions that we come up with, some of the

m our own and some of them from retreatants. The recent topics "do ghosts exist?", "have you ever done an exorsism?", and I think tonight I'll ask "is there a limit to how much water you can make holy?" I'm hoping the answer is "No, I cou

ld bless your backyard pool or perhaps even the whole atlantic ocean." I mean, honestly, how cool would it be to swim in holy water! Really cool.

Retreats have been so good, I'm really enjoying the

ministry. I gave my first talk two weeks ago and I'm meant to give it again this Friday. It is slightly scary getting up before all the young people, but I just try to remember that it isn't me who they need to hear from, it's God so I just channel the Holy Spirit and it's all good.

Today we performed a drama in which I played the main part, which was also scary, but I am getting used to being called upon to do things that I find scary.

The country as a whole is simply beautiful. Everydrive we take my eyes are either glued to the window or shut shut while I'm napping cause I am tired from all the hard work. We do get some play time too though. Almost once a week we've had a "team day", which is just a day that we spend together as a team doing whatever for bonding and having fun. Last week we went to the beach and I got the chance to swim in the Irish sea! It was amazing cold, but so worth it. One of my teammates took a video of it, so perhaps eventually I will be able to share the experience with you all.

I also was able to experience my first official Irish Guinness. NET has a one drink

policy, and I personally hold fast to the belief that there is no finer one drink than a pint of Guinness. It was the first item on my Ireland To Do List that I was able to check off. When we get the chance to go out as a team to the pub it is really revolutionary to most bartenders that a group of young people would just have one drink, but it's kind of cool that we also get the chance to explain why and evangelize through our recreation. Bartenders need Jesus too.

Well it is getting late and I do have to be up in the morning and looking and feeling my best for retreat, but I'll leave you all with these pictures and hopefully I'll pop on again to give some more updates soon.

God bless & keep praying for me!

Slan go foill! (goodbye in Irish)

PS: I asked the priests and they said there's no limit to how much water they can make holy. Sweet, eh?