Today was awesome! We got to chase sheep and goats down a long trail to their grazing pens this morning, and then back in the evening. Sheep just kinda follow the person leading and stay in a group, but the goats try to escape a lot. For morning chores, I got to feed the guinea hogs. They're really sweet, but they'll eat pretty much anything. Then Kayla went through the goats' pen to get to the guinea hogs, and the goats tried to steal the food. There were about ten goats crowding her to get the food, which Lauren and I found funny but Kayla didnt. I'm pretty sure she's convinced goats are evil now. Speaking of goats, because I love them so much, I got a stuffed one from the farm's store. Sorry. It's really cute. For evening chores, I fed the rabbits. They apparently give people rabbits and guinea pigs to eat. Hard to believe, because they're all adorable. Oh, and lunch was REALLY good! We had spaghetti. I thought Bruce might like that. So don't worry, I'm not starving or anything. The cook's really good. AND he looks kinda like Superman. Anyways, the pics above are of Abu, the camel, and Pudgy, the slightly overweight yellow lab. Miss you guys(kinda)!

~Alyssa

DAY 2 :)

This is a picture of Abu the camel. He is not enormous like the camel at the live nativity for those of you who saw it, but he is a good eight feet tall at the top of his head when in


<--------this position. We first saw Abu yesterday when we arrived, but we didn't really get a chance to actually meet him until afternoon chores today. This morning when we went to chores, Pastor Daven, Keith and I did not volunteer quick enough, and had to wait a long while until we could "feed" the rabbits, which basically involved Laurie giving them pellets, and me giving them hay while everyone else walked around and played with the sheep. Because of this, the three of us were given first pick of chores in the afternoon. Obviously, we chose working with the camel, among other things. Pastor Daven, Keith, Laurie, Susanna(our supervisor), and I went down to Abu's grazing pen, met him, and hooked a bridle to his collar in order to take him to the Sac. Pad. Along the way, we were forcibly stopped by Abu himself in order to let him try and eat all the grass along the way. After about twenty square feet of Abu's giant lips vaccuming up grass, we tugged him along and into the Sac. Pad. We said farewell and went on to other chores. All in all, today was a pretty great day. Love you mom and dad. Over and out,
Mike




Some of the cutest animals (in my opinion) are the baby guniea hogs. They're tiny and black and sometimes they escape from their pen to roam with the goats. We got to fed them as one of the chores this morning. It's been great here and although most of it hasn't made it to the blog yet, we really are learning alot about the world. Did you know that North America (minus mexico) accounts for 32% consumption but has only 5% of the world's population!
Miss you mom and dad!
Hannah
(PS they've got a pair of cute guniea pigs)

hi mom and dad, we drove down to the lake tonight and ate some interesting meals... so yeah I'm not writing a lot tonight but here is a message...bipolar....goodnight
~Jake


Hey mom and dad today we did chores for the first time and it was actually really fun! I fed the guinea hogs, they are a rare pig and one kept nogding my leg as I poured their food in the dish. Also one of the females had babies and they just figured out they can squeese through the bars so sometimes you find them running around the farm. The next chore we did was herding the sheep and the goats to the pasture....this one goat wouldn't stop eating along the way! I am having a good time see you soon, love you guys!
~Lauren~

Hello MOM, DAD, and JAKE :) today was the first day of doing our chores around the farm. It was really interesting because for the most part they asked for a number of volunteers and then if you raised your hand and were picked, then you did the surprise job that they had for you. Lauren, Alyssa, Hannah and I were picked to feed Guniea Hogs :) The adults are big and black and fun :) It was really cool when we had to feed the Guniea Hogs that were in the same area as the goats... and I had the food so all the goats came around me and cornered me! They had their heads in the food and I was really scared because these goats are about the same height as me... so you could imagine that I was pretty freaked out. Now Lauren and Alyssa keep making fun of me because goats creep me out =O We just listened to the Good Samaritan scripture and I really like it because it makes me think about our youth group sometimes because we kind of look out for each other. We just made a statement that all 13 of us are neighboors to each other. We worked side by side and learned side by side. Its a good feeling and I hope that we can become more like neighboors to each other and the others around the farm.. not only the workers ( who are also super friendly) but the others groups from other areas. Can't wait to be home and tell you all more in depth about our AWESOME experience :)
Love always, Kayla

Hello Everyone. Pastor Daven here.

After a few technical issues, we have finally managed to jump onto their network and will be posting photos alongside of our words soon. Today was a wonderful day on the farm. I awoke early for a run watching steam rise off of the local bogs as I ran up hill and over dale. It was quite chilly as we awoke, but early morning sun burned off the chill quickly as we started chores. We helped lead goats and sheep from their evening residence to some pastures for the day. We walked through the global village which has lodgings from all over the world to represent those places and people served by the mission of Heifer. Following lunch we did our first service project which mainly consisted of weeding and watering vegetable beds. This has all been matched by several classroom experiences where we have learned about the distrubtion of population and food across the world, the 12 cornerstones of Heifer and so much more. The food is out of this world, the view equally as spectacular and these young people representing us amazingly well. I can't wait to see what they tell you about from today!

DAY 1!

Hey guys! Its the youth and we are currently in our cabin at the Heifer farm in Rutland Massachusetts!!!!
Hi MOM and DAD and JAKE!!! This is a really cool place! The food is amazing! Mom, I need you to make me some type of stir fry when I get back! There's this cool camel here and his name is Abu! And he was born here in Massachusetts! He dances! Well, he sways back and forth! And there are rabbits and a dog! And goats and water buffalo! And COWS :) We are having a blast so far! Can't wait to see you! Tell Sabrina I miss her even though she probably doesn't care. And try and remember to wash my sheets! -Kayla-

Hey everyone the farm is so cool and we are having a great time (: The food is awesome and the peas were my favorite. Even my brother Joshua Jensen would like them.
Hey mom and dad! Guess what I saw this adorable baby goat and I think it would be pretty awesome if we could get one!!! Haha just kidding I know you would probably kick me out of the house. Tomorrow I hope to put pictures on because this place is really beautiful and its amazing hat they do to help people. I'll see you on Saturday and try not to have to much fun without me! ~Lauren~

Hey people, not really gonna write an essay ^^, but its fun here and we all arrived safe and sound with no major casualties*. So we are waking up at 8:15 tomorrow morning to start some farm chores and work. Will give another report tomorrow.
*I slammed my head really really hard.
~Jake

The scenery here is beautiful. Our cabin?/bunk room overlooks all the lower ground, and apparently on clear days you can see Boston (although it sounds like there are some trees in the way too). The goats are so friendly! They're like dogs and will come bump you to be petted more. The food was delicious! But I think we'll need some new adjectives because we'll probably be saying that every day.
Love to you all,
Hannah

It's awesome here! We've just had a tour of the whole farm. I never knew that goats could be so sweet. They're like dogs in a way, because they're happy to just hang out while you pet them. The same with Abu, the camel, except for he gets bored after a few moments and wanders off. Kayla was right though, he can dance! I'm going to get a video of it. The scenery is beautiful, and I would be happy to just take pictures all day, but my camera memory card is running out of room! It's really cool to see how all the parts of the farm fit together so that people can just live off of the land. We're all having a great time. I cant wait to tell you all about it when we get back.
Love you Mom, Dad, and Bruce,
Alyssa

The ride here was ridiculously amusing. For those of you who didn't know, we had walkie-talkies, which made the ride insane. After about five minutes, they deviated in purpose from sending important information to singing, fighting childishly, and just beeping each other. Even though it took seven and a half hours, it only felt like three with all the fun we were having. When we got to the farm, we were given a warm welcome, after which a tour took place of the entire farm. I took a bunch of pictures, and we all met some very nice goats and chickens. So far the experience has been really good. Love you Mom and Dad. Over and out,
Convoy Leader Mike

That is after Jensen's mother managed to let her go...

An excited group of 10 youth and 3 adults left for Overlook Farm at 7:25 am.

Thank you for your prayers and please continue to watch the blog for updates on our Mission Trip. Thank you for all your support.

Beginning

This is the blog for the Elma UMC Youth Mission trip to Overlook Farm in Rutland, MA and is designed for the sole purpose of allowing the congregation of ELMA UMC to follow and enjoy the trip with the youth of the church.