I will say that there are many things I learned from my experience as a Salesian Lay Missioner. Many of them are everyday things that provide a deeper understanding of the great opportunities and gifts we have in the United States, but as well realizing that happiness can and does exist in simplicity, which is one of the things I loved and miss about Bolivia.

The greatest thing that I learned is trust; particularly trust in God. There are many obstacles that hinder our ability to trust God, others and ourselves. They may be past experiences, doubt, fear, etc. To be a great Christian – no matter your social or educational background, we all need to rely on God and we are able to do this through trust. It is the most challenging thing to do as adult American because we are cultured to become independent citizens after leaving our parents. However, being a missionary my sense of dependency (or perhaps, co-dependency) on God was revived. Trusting God enabled me to further trust in the gifts God has given to me and then that trust was extended to others.