Thursday, July 31

Day 2 in San Diego has flown by! We started the day with a dental hygiene presentation given my Marci Hooton followed by a brand new smoking prevention initiative presented by Chris Casper later in the morning. In between, the students worked on presentations and came up with creative songs and dances to relay the new information they learned. The students are becoming more and more enthusiastic as they become more comfortable with the healthcare material and gain a better understanding of what their specific roles will be on the mission.

The mood was filled with additional excitement, and eager anticipation, because the students knew that mission assignments would be announced at dinner. In the afternoon, the students heard from Dottie Ryan who taught the nutrition module. In between activities today, I got the chance to speak with students about the experience at mission training thus far. As expected, the students offered rave reviews. Louise Kavanaugh from Ireland told me, “It’s really great that Mission Training has brought all of us together. Being given the opportunity to discuss our ideas and concerns with each other and the ELC members is very helpful.” In addition, I spoke to Brooke Hogan from Virginia who explained, “Being at the Mission Training Workshop has been amazing. Working with students from different countries has offered unique perspectives to the group. Also, I am thankful for the presentations about cultural sensitivity because this will help significantly in preparing for my mission.”

Tonight, our whole Mission Training group including the 46 participants, the ELC members, the sponsors, and the staff headed to Mission Beach for dinner. We ate dinner at a great seafood restaurant called Nick’s (I had the mahi mahi and it was delicious) and then we went out onto the beach for the announcement of the mission assignments! All of the students were beyond thrilled with their assignments which included missions to India, Venezuela, China, Madagascar, Mexico, and more! Tomorrow morning’s activities will conclude this summer’s mission training workshop thus sending a great group of students on their way to overseas missions in the coming year!

- Molly Rubin

(from left) Jed Rooney, Danielle Brantner and Lindsay Brown give a dental hygiene presentation. Photo by Molly Rubin

Students present a song on nutrition (from left) Connie Conti, Alexis Hionis, Victoria Stabile, Jacob Keller, Neil Farrell and Lily Walter. Photo by Molly Rubin.