Grace

October has been crazy and full of fun! I'm engaged, Curtis Martin (founder of FOCUS) came to ASU, and it's officially fall in AZ (it's in the 80's)! So an updated on our engagement is that we have a date, May 31, 2014 and have taken our engagement pictures. It's all very exciting. 

Curtis Martin, president and founder of FOCUS came to ASU! It was such a huge honor to have him here on campus. He spoke at a Newman event called Spark Your Faith. I was emcee for the night and Curtis spoke on how the college campus is the epicenter for the New Evangelization. Around 400 people came to the event!

Lunch with Curtis and the team!
Curtis is on the far right. 

Speaking his words of wisdom.

Maggie, one of our students and Curtis.

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Silly girls excited for Curtis Martin!

Here's some more exciting things going on:

Spreading the word out on campus!

Fall break hiking trip!

Amy and I spending time with Jason Aldean!
Don't worry, that tat is fake. ;)

Maggie and I at Mu Epsilon Theta's pledge presentation party!

MEO Pledge Presentation Party

Tailgating for the SunDevils on Homecoming!

Tailgating!

God has placed beautiful women in my life to minister to. I'm so grateful for all the grace He's given me. I think it's easy to complain about the long nights, busy schedule, and all the stuff I have to do, but I think about it and then determine that I wouldn't change a thing. Over 100 women are involved in a weekly Bible study, I have the honor of mentoring 9 women who lead their own study, and have several more beginning to learn. The need to share the Gospel is urgent and I'm thankful God thinks I can help further His Kingdom. 

Please keep Katie and Samantha in your prayers as they prepare to interview to become FOCUS missionaries. There is a great need for laborers, but sadly, there are few. If you know of anyone who would be a great FOCUS missionary, please let me know! I would love to help them through the process. FOCUS is on 83 campuses, but our goal is to be on 100 for the 2014-2015 school year! Pray for laborers to rise up! 

Love, Anna

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Saying "YES"

Typically my blog is used to keep everyone up-to-date on my work as a missionary, but last night my wonderful boyfriend (now fiancé), James, asked me to marry him! EVERYONE keeps asking me how he did it and for the story behind the ring, so here it goes...

James picked me up from my house around 6 pm and he was really paranoid about his shoe choice, which is weird because he always wears tennis shoes, but yesterday he wasn't. He decided that we needed to go back to his house to change his shoes, which I naturally thought was dumb. I don't care about his shoes, but I later found out he was just nervous, wanted his shoes to match, and if you know James, you know he can't match well. :)

We went to Scottsdale and ate at a pizza place which is where we had our first "official" date. After that we just walked around downtown Scottsdale, talked, ate ice cream, and laughed a lot. Around 8 pm James gets a text from Fr. Clements, our boss and Priest at the Newman center, saying that he needs James' help getting ready for a development meeting the next day. I was annoyed because Fr. Clements knew it was our date night, but who can say no to a Priest?!

We show up to the Newman center, which is under construction, and Fr. Clements tells us to go into the new Adoration chapel and he'll be in there in a minute. At the back of the room was a table with a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe (she holds a special place in my heart) and a Rosary. James then said all these nice things and asked me to be his wife!

Asking me!

My pretty picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe!

My Rosary.
He said that every time I pray it,  I can remember the moment he asked me to be his wife. :)

After he proposed, he took me into the Church and Fr. Clements was up on the altar with the candles lit, ready for Mass. It was so beautiful and perfect. Fr. Clements said Mass just for the two of us, blessed my ring, picture, and Rosary. The proposal was beautiful and everything I could ever dream of wanting. 

Okay, so the ring! 

The ring is a turquoise, diamond, and gold Le Vian ring. He bought it in Scottsdale at a tiny jewelers that specializes in Le Vian. 

Why turquoise? Well, I have never wanted a traditional engagement ring. I've actually always just wanted a band, but James wanted something a little more traditional and special than that, so we compromised. Turquoise is one of my favorite stones, when Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego she was wearing a blue mantel with stars, and well, I'm Native American. HA. I wanted gold because most of my jewelry is silver and my ring should be more special. There's also little diamonds on the side, which fits what James wanted. Plus- there's only 1 of my ring in the whole world and it's on my finger!

Overall, I'm SOOO happy! James is perfect, my ring is perfect, and I know our life will be perfect with God at the center. 

Thank you to Father Clements for being so sneaky and awesome and to Milly, our photographer! Oh, and to James, for thinking I'm cool enough to be his future wife!

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Sharing His Word

I am happy to say that Bible studies are going well! Nine students started leading a Bible study for the first time this semester and I couldn't be more happy or proud of them. I'm leading 4 myself and mentoring 12 women 1 on 1 this semester! Praise God. 

When I first started leading a Bible study as a student, I was so nervous, but God blessed me in many ways by doing it. Leading my own study confirmed that God wanted me to be a missionary, my women brought so much joy to my week, and one even became a Sister (Elizabeth Cotter is now Sister Gabriella)! I had never studied scripture in such an intense way than when I first started leading a study. I think I learned more in that one year than I had my whole life growing up in the Catholic faith. It was beautiful and opened me up to much more than I even knew at the time.

I am still touched and pushed by the women in my studies. They are all such unique gifts to me and help me draw closer to our Lord. I pray everyday that the women leading their studies receive the grace and understanding of what it means to be a disciple that I have. To do the Will of God can be scary!

Here's an update of what's happening at ASU:

Mark Hart, know as the Bible Geek, came and spoke to about 150 ASU students!

Some students at our 1st tailgate of the semester.

A student took this while we were hiking.

House of Gold!
This is our all-women's night. 

Maggie and I at Bid Night for Mu Epsilon Theta Catholic Sorority

Some of the girls going to play a prank! ha.

Some of the new pledges of Mu Epsilon Theta making a blanket for a baby at Maggie's Place.

Amy turned 21 and she spent the night celebrating with her
favorite missionaries!

Some ASU students at Theology on Tap.

The team is excited that our founder, Curtis Martin, is coming to ASU to give a talk!

God has been keeping me pretty busy doing His work, but I'm so happy to do it. I am so fortunate to have a great team, awesome students to work with, and such a supportive family. Please pray for two of our upcoming events: FOCUS Missions Night on October 2nd and for when Curtis comes on October 16th. We'd really like to pack the Newman center for both amazing events, so please pray for students' hearts to be open! Peace and grace, Anna

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Year 2

I'm back on campus at Arizona State! It's been amazingly beautiful already. Welcome week(s) is completed and Bible studies will start within the next 2 weeks. I remember being on campus for the first time as a missionary last year and being completely scared...well, nothing has changed. 15,000 freshman isn't exactly comforting! haha. I do feel more prepared and more excited than ever to be working with all the women I had last year. 

Here's a run-down of what's been going on:

Playing Shaving Cream Baseball with around 50 students on campus!

I was attacked with shaving cream. :/

Then I got thrown into a fountain. Gross

Team ASU! This was on Freshman move-in day.
We handed out water and post cards with Mass times on them from 9-3pm.

My Roommates!
Me, Lesley, Marisa, Katie, and Emily

This year, my roommates and I decided to start an all-women's night called the House of Gold. House of Gold is another name for Mary. As women, we want to immolate Mary in everything we do! On our first House of Gold night we learned about why we decided to call the night House of Gold, made bracelets with a medal of Mary on them, and prayed! 

Over 30 women came to our first House of Gold!

Emily, my teammate and roommate painted this beautiful image of
 Our Mother for our House of Gold!

Mu Epsilon Theta, the Catholic sorority, has letters for campus!

The team at Passport! Passport is an  organizational fair for students. 

Our student missionary pool party!
I made a volleyball net out of plastic bags. :)

The team hiking on a day retreat!

The ladies of Mu Epsilon Theta at their fist meeting of the year!

Tabling after Mass to share information on our Catholic Sisterhood!

33 women are considering joining Mu Epsilon Theta Catholic Sorority this semester!
Please pray for them!

We have over 200 new students who have said they're interested in joining a Bible study. Please pray that these students remain open. I will continue to work with my women from last year and I'm starting a graduate study! I've been praying to God for Him to send me older students and He sure did! I'm already seeing God's grace being poured out at ASU this year. Thank you for your support, blessings, and love. 

All for You, Lord.

-Anna

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Returning to the Desert.

Hello friends! I've had an incredibly busy summer thus far, but also a very blessed one. I will be returning to Arizona State University this fall to complete year #2 as a missionary! Hooray! I cannot wait to see what God has planned for me and the students. Well, I just returned home to Oklahoma about a week ago. I spent 6 weeks at Ave Maria, Florida for missionary training. A lot of interesting things happened to me while there, one being, that I'm the new Team Director for ASU! Basically, I lead the team of missionaries that will be serving at ASU. I'm really pumped for this new opportunity God has given to me. 

So many people have been asking: "Anna, what are you doing while you're home?" Well, as some of you may know, missionaries have the privilege of raising their own salary. Basically, I spend my time talking to people and telling them about the mission of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS). I absolutely LOVE sharing what I do and talking about the importance of a relationship with Jesus. If you want to meet up with me, let me know! ;)

I learned A LOT at summer training. We start the day with an Eucharistic Holy Hour, go to class all day, and then have small group things at night. I also had the privilege of being a small group leader for the college of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American Saint! She was such a great fit for me and I loved growing closer to those women. Training can be kind-of intense. We learn a lot in the 5-6 weeks we're there. I am truly blessed to be apart of such a beautiful organization and to receive the quality of training that we do.

Here are some pictures of my adventures: 

This is the beautiful Church at Ave Maria. Us women had a night procession that ended inside of the Church.

We were only about 20 minutes away from the closest beach, so I spend Sundays as a beach bum.

Part of team ASU!

Dr. Sri, a super famous Catholic author and co-founder of FOCUS, taught some of our classes!

Pretty Liz who was a student at ASU and is now starting her 1st year as a missionary.

Maddy! One of my greatest friends from Texas State...we became missionaries together. :)

Ave has LOTS of alligators.

Ave aslo has LOTS of armadillos.

I found a turtle at the beach! 

I am so excited to continue my missionary journey at ASU. Please keep me, and my teammates Emily, Zach T., and Zach P in your prayers! This last year has been one of struggle, hardships, battles, and immense grace. I continue to pray for God to make me small and that I may be a servant to all, but above all to God. Please join me in prayer for the campus of ASU, the incoming freshman, and the students that are farthest away from God. Ask the Lord to send His graces upon them. 
Let's set the world on fire, Anna.

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