expect the unexpected.

Walking with students through 1-on-1 discipleship I have been able to see their desire to grow in their faith. We have walked together through different areas that make someone a strong disciple of Jesus. There have also been opportunities to challenge them and help them see the benefits of stepping outside of their comfort zone. 

God has been good and has shown me how to trust that he truly works in our lives in his own and perfect timing. At the beginning of the year things started off great. I started discipleship with two freshman girls. Two-thirds into the semester one of the girls had to move back home. It was confusing. I didn’t understand why a curveball was thrown her way when she was having a good first semester, the Lord was working in her heart, and she was growing a lot. She went home and I haven’t been in contact with her since then. However, that opened up the opportunity for my team leader to invite me to disciple another student who really was yearning to run in her faith.
 
Ashton is a junior in college, and she and her boyfriend have loved playing board games with us missionaries. They introduced us to Ticket To Ride (which I then asked for as a Christmas gift). She was part of the women’s group that I co-led with another student.  I got to know her as a friend as I spent time with her during the fall. This semester as we started discipleship together, we talked about everyday prayer, the sacraments, scripture, virtue, and fasting. We opened up the Catechism together and read what the Church says about the virtues of Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance. We got to do service work with a couple other students and we’ve continued to get together to play board games.
 
It has been a blessing to see how the Lord was preparing both of our hearts. My heart needed to let go of the set schedule that I had in my mind of discipling someone- which was to walk with a student for a whole year. For her it was to see that she too wanted to take things more seriously, to be kept accountable, and to be asked to step out of her comfort zone because she knew she wanted to run.
 
We’ve gone through a Lenten book together, she led a Lenten bible study by herself, and I saw her step up in leading conversations. I hope that next semester she is able to continue running in her faith during her last semester and that she can inspire underclassmen to follow in her steps!

Greetings from Whitewater, Wisconsin! My
name is Jocelyn Marin and I am a first-year
missionary with Brew City Catholic, serving at
the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

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