Living Water

Bible studies are SO amazing! All my studies are up and running and I love them! The women are so wonderful and seem dedicated to growing in their faith. The 1st week I chose to do my absolute favorite study, The Samaritan Woman (John 4:4-42). Many of the women had never read the study, so it was great to hear what they had to say about the parable. I recommend all of you reading it! It's so great. If you'd like to go through the study yourself, I'll post it at the very bottom. :) The 2nd week we covered Genesis 2:15-18 and 3:1-13. The main purpose of the study was to go over temptations and especially ones that college students face. We also went over how all of us have a purpose in life and talked about how we can fulfill God's purpose for us. It was awesome! 

Life has been crazy since Bible studies have started! I'm constantly meeting up with girls, prepping for study, or getting ready for an event. It's such an amazing job and I feel blessed to do it every single day. 

One night after Mass and Adoration we played shaving cream whiffle ball with our students. It's exactly like baseball except you play with whiffle balls and fill them with shaving cream. Once you hit the ball, the shaving cream flies everywhere. It's possibly the greatest game on earth. We played in the middle of campus at night, so other students could join in if they wanted to play too!

I had so much shaving cream on me!

Me creating the teams for shaving cream baseball.

Praying with Fr. Muir after the game.

 My Bible studies chalked campus last Monday night. We took chalk and wrote messages of love and encouragement on the sidewalks of campus. They loved it. A lot of students stopped to ask us what we were doing, some helped us chalk, and some we even presented the gospel to! I wrote: "If you are who you are meant to be, you will set the world on fire." by Saint Catherine of Sienna and these 2 guys stopped and talked to me for awhile. They said that they were having a deep conversation and that the quote really spoke to them. It was so cool to see them open up to me and for me to share a little bit of my faith with them. 

The world would not be the same without you.

You're here for a reason.

Some of the women who helped chalk campus.

After Mass and Adoration this past week we had a luau themed dinner for students. We grilled chicken, decorated the basement of the church, and had cool music playing in the background. 

Playing with the confetti on the tables. :)

Some of the students.

Confetti from the tables. It's our club look.

My team director, James, goofing off while cleaning up.
His dream is to become a model.

We also held a Pro-Life Poll on campus. Some of our student leaders went to a training on how to speak to people who are Pro-choice with the hopes of changing their mind or enlightening them about what it means to be Pro-life. We had a sign that said: "Should Abortion remain legal?" People could come up and sign their name on the "yes" or "no" side and write their reasoning. We were there to ask them about their decision and hold a conversation with them. It was simply amazing. One girl even scratched her name off the yes side and changed it to no! So cool! The majority of students said that yes, they want abortion to remain legal, but many of them didn't know why or know any facts behind it. We also had brochures that had pictures of what an aborted child looks like, but we'd only show them if they wanted to see one. I honestly had a great experience with it. I didn't know all the answers to the questions I was asked and I only got yelled at once (she thought I was stupid for not wanting to abort babies who were conceived through rape)! 

Our sign.

Some of my Bible study girls helping out.

More Bible study girls. They all did so well!

On Friday night some of the women from my studies and some of the men went to pray in front of Dream Palace. It's a strip club located very close to campus. It actually made me really sad. I've never been very close to a strip club and the whole scene was just degrading. I can't believe people actually go there. We prayed a rosary for the women inside, the men entering, for the owner, and for the club to be shut down. Hopefully at least 1 man turned away that night or 1 woman chose to leave. 

Walking to the club.

This weekend I decided to take some time off and have fun. I've been so focused on starting Bible study, meeting women, and planning/doing events that I've had very little time for myself, SO I went to the GRAND CANYON!!!! I fell in love. God is so awesome. It was totally the best trip EVER.

Ahhhhhhhmazing!

Zach(weirdo with his shirt off), James, and me at the Grand Canyon!!!

I would love to just sit here and pray every day.
FYI: I totally climbed out on a ledge to take this. I could have fallen into the Grand Canyon.
It would have been an okay way to die.

I know this was very long, but so much has been happening! I'm more in love with my job than I ever could have imagined. I already love so many of the women in my studies and I know it's only going to get better! Thank you for going on this journey with me. :) Anna

Here's the study if you'd like to go through it yourself! Do it. It's my favorite. 

• Is there a certain verse, word, or phrase that stands out to you? What touched your heart while reading this parable?
• Why is it strange that Jesus passes through Samaria?
  • Jews and Samaritans didn't get along
  • Originally there was 12 tribes in Israel. A war happened and they split. 10 Northern=Samaritans, 2 Southern=Jews
• What is Jesus doing?
  • Taking a risk to share the gospel
• What time of day is it?
  • Noon
• Why is this significant?
  • Hottest part of the day. The woman doesn't want to meet anyone at the well. All of the other women go in the morning when it's cool and they socialize. The woman is shunned.
• What's symbolic about Jesus sitting?
  • Always sits when He teaches. He's about to teach the woman something. The Pope also sits when he teaches
• Why does he start the conversation about water?
  • An invitation; relatable. He's also the Living Water
• Why did Jesus meet her at a well?
  • Symbolic of wanting to dig into a deeper relationship
  • He doesn't meet her at a spring
  • Jesus is the only one that can fill our need for love.
  • yet, we keep trying to fill the void with other things. He's the Living Water that truly satisfies. Jesus is the only answer to everyone's longing love.
• How many husbands does the woman have?
  • 5
  • What's this symbolize? -The Samaratins worshiped 5 gods...symbolic of those gods
• Why were the disciples amazed He was talking to a woman?
  • discuss. Not traditional for men to talk to women
  • I think it's funny the disciples still even questioned him
• What's significant about the woman leaving the jar behind?
  • Leaving her old life. She's now filled with the Living Water
• Did you notice the course of her conversion?
  • Sir (v 11) Prophet (v19) Messiah (v29)
  • sir-ordinary man
  • prophet-great teacher
  • Messiah-savior of the world
• She left her old life to proclaim the gospel. Can anyone think of a time when you were living the wrong life and then came back to Jesus?
• What did she do when she ran into the town?
  • Gave her testimony
• What's a testimony?
  • Personal journey with Christ. Can also be your conversion story. 
  • A form of the gospel!!! Can share and possibly bring someone else to Christ. 
  • Many people can relate to testimonies. 
  • We're all called to share the gospel, so we're also called to share our testimony.
• Challenge: Start thinking about what your testimony is. Everyone has one. 1/2 through the semester my women are going to have to share their testimony with the group and to at least 1 stranger.