Alex’s Discernment Journal

Hola mis amigos!

 

This summer has been incredible! So many adventures, and I am sending you this email to share with you the fruits of the summer and God’s many blessings upon me and my brother seminarians.

 

Where were you guys? 

We have been at Holy Family parish in Sabana Yegua for 4 weeks and 4 other weeks in Santiago studying Spanish at a Pontifical University.

 

What happened this summer?

We played baseball multiple times with the children of Sabana Yegua, and one time in the cul de sac of a small community near Sabana Yegua (first photo).

We visited a group of Carmelite Sisters near the mountains outside the city.

We traveled to Santo Domingo for a weekend an visited the colonial zone, which is full of buildings, forts, and Catholic churches built in the 1500s.

We helped teach the children of the parishes about the faith!

We visited the beach a couple of times, that was wonderful and so relaxing.

We visited Haiti for a weekend, multiple churches near the border and we were able to cross the border for a couple hours one day to celebrate Mass with a small community in the mountains. The Mass brought me to tears and the people were generous beyond measure.

We helped farm mangos, bananas, coconuts, and plantains… and ate a lot of them too!

We helped paint, clean, and fix up the main parish complex, and clean the cemetery as well.

We made bread with the parish bakery, I was able to live up to my German namesake Becker – meaning baker in English!

We visited waterfalls, islands, and even went fishing on the northern coast for a weekend as well. We even saw places where Pirates of the Caribbean was shot.

We prayed, broke bread, shared, loved together! What a life He gives us!

 

So many adventures, and so many blessings. Our Lord really does love to surprise us! I thought the summer was going to be filled with difficulty, frustration, and hardship. Those did come at times, but it was filled abundantly with peace, joy and countless blessings! It was very hard to say goodbye at the end of out 8 weeks. But now I can plan a trip back someday.

 

I hope you all enjoy the pictures and I look forward to seeing you all around the parish again!

 

Thank you all for your constant prayers and support! It is very important that we keep each other in our prayers, for this journey is long and narrow and we need each other to get to Heaven! So please know of my constant prayers for you and your families, and please never be afraid to reach out. I love answering questions and talking…. Basically, about anything! I hope you all have an amazing week!

 

God bless,

Alex Becker