In that country they call Texas...

The Texan Postulant Community

Last week, Carly, Sandy and I became honorary Texans! (Sister Rebecca is already a native Texan, so she just got to reclaim her identity...)

Two weeks ago The first-year postulants and Sister Rebecca pulled out of our driveway at 4am to begin our 16-hour journey to Texas! Thankfully Sister Rebecca, our fearless leader, graciously took the first driving shift. (Because Lord knows that if I had the 4am shift, we might have ended up in Canada instead of Texas!) Thus began our 10-day apostolic trip at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.

Welcome to Aggie Land!

Why in the world were we in Texas???

At Texas A&M we met up with all 8 of our regional vocation directors from US and English-speaking Canada, for updating and collaboration.

What did we do?

We spent most of our days in meetings, but when we had pockets of free time we got to hang out with the college students at St. Mary’s Student Center on campus. It was such a blessing to meet so many young people on fire with their faith and in love with the Lord.

Even though we were in meetings most of the day, our evenings were choc-full of activities! Almost every evening one of the sisters was giving a talk on campus. On Tuesday evening, the postulants even gave a talk… (I know, scary, right!?) We were able to share some of our vocational journey with the students and gave them time to ask questions. It was such a beautiful and grace-filled evening.

Playing black-light minigolf!

Speaking of evening activities, we even played laser tag with the students one evening! (And yes, believe it or not, this WAS the NUNS’ IDEA!). During the game, two of the postulants, (who shall remain anonymous) received the titles of “most accurate player” and “highest scoring player”. I think some students were taken by surprise. Those who didn’t participate in the laser tag extravaganza, played black-light minigolf. It was a super fun night filled with a lot of joy and laughter!

Just hanging out with the "Pope"
 at the Student Center

At the end of our trip, we had the opportunity to bring our materials to three local parishes to provide book and media exhibits for the parishioners. After every Mass, I was told countless times that they would be praying for all of the postulants (AND the sisters!) especially this Lent. I was just so impressed by how genuinely warm and friendly these people are…never have I been hugged by so many strangers! It was such a beautiful example of faith filled community and it was so encouraging to be able to visit with these people.

This time we spent in Texas was so wonderful. It was such a fantastic experience, filled with a lot of joy and “Howdy’s”. 

We hope that we’ll make it back to Texas soon!

God Bless! 

-Chelsea 

Gig 'em!