So the first day of training camp we got a card that had all of our team members listed on it. When I saw one of my closest hometown friends, Rodrigo Ariceaga on there, I was SUPER disappointed.
Just kidding, it pumped me up when I saw the other two guys on my team were both from Lubbock, Texas. I know when we get back from the mission trip that we will have easy connections and good accountability because we live so close together.
Now for the girls, I didn’t know much about them in advance, but I did know that God placed us on a team for a reason and that it is going to be awesome. That was day 1.
Day 10 of training camp: I absolutely love my team and I couldn’t be more excited to live with them every day on the trip. We were vulnerable with each other, got the chance to tell each other about our lives and testimonies, and laughed until we could start to feel abs coming in.
Here is my team from left to right:
Emily, Lindsay, Stella, myself, Rodrigo, Jackson
You could say we are pretty photogenic… Even when it comes to the “silly pictures”
So I am sure you are dying to know more about these people I will be living with. Well here you go! I asked my team several questions, funny and serious, so that all of you could get to know a little about them. I won’t go into full details about there lives, I may do testimony videos sometime during the race though!
Here are the questions I asked them:
1. Choose a movie title for the story of your life.
2. What is the nerdiest thing you do in your spare time?
3. What is your favorite food?
4. What’s the strangest talent you have?
5. Where are you from, and what are one or two things you like about it?
6. What hobbies, sports, or other leisure time activities do you enjoy most?
7. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
8. What country are you most excited about and why?
9. What is one chore you would rather not do?
10. What’s your middle name?
11. What mission trips have you been on?
12. What is your personality type?
13. What are your top 2 love languages?
This is Emily Hooker!
1. Choose a movie title for the story of your life.
Clueless
2. What is the nerdiest thing you do in your spare time?
Read books
3. What is your favorite food?
BBQ- especially ribs and brisket
4. What’s the strangest talent you have?
My toe can do the worm
5. Where are you from, and what are one or two things you like about it?
Dripping Springs (about 20 minutes outside of Austin, TX). It has its own small town atmosphere and captures the Texas hill country perfectly but close enough to the city to never be bored
6. What hobbies, sports, or other leisure time activities do you enjoy most?
I like playing tennis and soccer with my friends, yoga, and also like finding new restaurants around Austin (especially tacos)
7. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
“If God loves them, then I love them” and that really impacted me
8. What country are you most excited about and why?
Ecuador! They seem to have a really rich culture that I am pumped to dive into
9. What is one chore you would rather not do?
Poop scooping my backyard after my dog
10. What’s your middle name?
Nicole
11. What mission trips have you been on?
I have been to the border of Texas/Mexico multiple times, and my favorite/most impactful trip was to San Francisco
12. What is your personality type?
ENFP
13. What are your top 2 love languages?
-Quality time
-Physical touch
This is Lindsay Shurtz!
1. Choose a movie title for the story of your life.
You can never have too many friends
2. What is the nerdiest thing you do in your spare time?
Play board games with my family
3. What is your favorite food?
Banana bread
4. What’s the strangest talent you have?
I am a gringa who can speak spanish
5. Where are you from, and what are one or two things you like about it?
Sautee Nacoochee, Georgia! It is in the mountains with so much nature and the community we lived in was a family to us
6. What hobbies, sports, or other leisure time activities do you enjoy most?
I like to play soccer, volleyball, and spike ball. I also am learning the ukulele and hanging with friends
7. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
“Just go with the flow”
8. What country are you most excited about and why?
India because I have always wanted to go and attend an Indian wedding
9. What is one chore you would rather not do?
Wiping the dust off shelves
10. What’s your middle name?
Anna
11. What mission trips have you been on?
Honduras 6 times doing VBS and construction, Tampa Florida working in a homeless shelter, and Savannah Georgia fixing a house
12. What is your personality type?
ENTJ
13. What are your top 2 love languages?
-Quality time
-Words of affirmation
This is Stella Gilchrist!
1. Choose a movie title for the story of your life.
As good as it gets
2. What is the nerdiest thing you do in your spare time?
Read books
3. What is your favorite food?
Guacamole and chips
4. What’s the strangest talent you have?
I can make weirdly good icing
5. Where are you from, and what are one or two things you like about it?
Colombus, Ohio! I like the Short North which is our arts/food district downtown
6. What hobbies, sports, or other leisure time activities do you enjoy most?
I love taking photos/doing art in general, and running
7. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
“Love with everything you have always (everyone, including yourself)”
8. What country are you most excited about and why?
Any country in Africa really, I have always wanted to be a missionary there
9. What is one chore you would rather not do?
Sweeping the floor
10. What’s your middle name?
I have two: Katherine Margaret
11. What mission trips have you been on?
Jenkins Kentucky and the outskirts of downtown Columbus (mainly building or fixing homes)
12. What is your personality type?
ENFP
13. What are your top 2 love languages?
-Physical touch
-Quality time
This is Rodrigo Ariceaga!
1. Choose a movie title for the story of your life.
Adventures with Rod
2. What is the nerdiest thing you do in your spare time?
Play Dungeons and Dragons
3. What is your favorite food?
Lasagna
4. What’s the strangest talent you have?
I can speak Spanish
5. Where are you from, and what are one or two things you like about it?
Saltillo Coahuila, Mexico! I love it because my grandma still lives there.
6. What hobbies, sports, or other leisure time activities do you enjoy most?
Skate boarding
7. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
“Do everything from your heart because your mind will give up before your heart does”
8. What country are you most excited about and why?
India because I love different cultures and lots of people
9. What is one chore you would rather not do?
Throw the trash
10. What’s your middle name?
I do not have a middle name
11. What mission trips have you been on?
Never been on one
12. What is your personality type?
INTP
13. What are your top 2 love languages?
-Quality time
-Physical touch
This is Jackson Moushon!
1. Choose a movie title for the story of your life.
Never a dull moment
2. What is the nerdiest thing you do in your spare time?
I watch commentaries on video games and comic books
3. What is your favorite food?
Chocolate ice cream with strawberries mixed in
4. What’s the strangest talent you have?
I can spit really far
5. Where are you from, and what are one or two things you like about it?
I am from Lubbock, Texas! I like the people and the wide variety of restaurants
6. What hobbies, sports, or other leisure time activities do you enjoy most?
Ballet, video games, Lego’s, and reading graphic novels
7. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
“Life is 10% what you make it, and 90% how you take it”
8. What country are you most excited about and why?
I am excited for Nepal because I know so little about it
9. What is one chore you would rather not do?
I would rather not pick up the dog poop
10. What’s your middle name?
Hayes
11. What mission trips have you been on?
Mexico for 1 week, Panama for 2 weeks, and Suriname for 2 months
12. What is your personality type?
ISFJ
13. What are your top 2 love languages?
-Physical touch
-Quality time
This is Myself!
1. Choose a movie title for the story of your life.
Can’t stop, Won’t stop
2. What is the nerdiest thing you do in your spare time?
Netflix, and I like to play board games or card games
3. What is your favorite food?
Anything with meat of sea food
4. What’s the strangest talent you have?
I can eat a bean burrito in less than 15 seconds
5. Where are you from, and what are one or two things you like about it?
I am from Lubbock, Texas! I love the community I have and the college we have here: Texas Tech!
6. What hobbies, sports, or other leisure time activities do you enjoy most?
I love to play soccer, football, basketball (really any sport besides golf and bowling), and I like to watch movies and hangout with friends
7. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
“Your relationship with God is like you going up on an escalator going down. If you stop running up, you will go back to the beginning.”
8. What country are you most excited about and why?
I am most excited about Ecuador because I have been to Spanish speaking countries for missions before and I love the culture.
9. What is one chore you would rather not do?
I would rather not dust
10. What’s your middle name?
Anderson
11. What mission trips have you been on?
Arlington TX, San Antonio TX 2 times, Los Angeles 2 times, and Guatemala 2 times
12. What is your personality type?
ISTJ
13. What are your top 2 love languages?
-Quality time
-Service
I hope this gave you more of an insight of who I will be living with! Here are all of there blogs, I encourage you to subscribe to them as well to hear about there journeys!
emilkyhooker.theworldrace.org
stellagilchrist.theworldrace.org
lindsayshurtz.theworldrace.org
rodrigoariceaga.theworldrace.org
jacksonmoushon.theworldrace.org
I also am on a squad with 36 other people. We will all be going to the same countries but we will be spread out amongst the country. Here is a few pictures of them!
I am going to end my blogs with a challenge for all of you who read it. The challenge for this blog is to meet somebody new! It can be somebody at your church, or a coworker, and maybe ask them to come over for dinner. That one simple invite could be a catalyst to you sharing the love of Jesus with them, do it!
