Where To Begin???

Okay, so I am about to attempt to briefly describe what have been the 4 most stressful, strange, adventurous days of my entire life, so try to keep up.

When we last left you, I was packing the van for our trip to Canada.  We had to remove a few items that we were unsure of making it across the border with.  We did this while it was snowing.  No big deal.  We are ballers.  Earlier that week, a small pebble had hit our windshield and made a tiny dent.  We thought nothing of it and Tessa even joked that it would be funny if it connected with the other dent on the other side of the windshield.  Tessa is no longer allowed to joke.  While trying desperately to find Tessa at a Greyhound station in downtown Minneapolis, the tiny dent began to grow.  And grow some more.  And then a bit more.  You see, due to the intense cold of Minnesota, the glass decided it had had enough and cracked from one side of the windshield all the way to the other side.  Needless to day, we had to go get a new windshield.  We got this done relatively fast while playing with a small dog and marveling at the variety of hunting magazines in St. Cloud.

Finally, we began our treacherous journey to the great country of Canada.  One small thing...we had to go through North Dakota to get there, which is a bit flooded at the moment.  After many detours and having to turn around and yell at Google Maps, we made it to the border.  We sailed through what we thought would be a more difficult process, but never fear, our difficulties were just ahead.  As soon as I hit the Canadian highway, the once clear roads became quite icy and our van decided 60 mph was just too fast and began to spin and twirl with very little grace all around the highway until we fishtailed and did a complete 180, now facing oncoming traffic.  I have never been more terrified in my entire life and that is a true statement.  I had to drive 25 mph for 2 and a half hours to get 70 miles.  It was miserable.

You would think that was all, right?  Not even close.  Our first night was pretty uneventful.  We had an awesome screening.  The next morning though, we woke up and I didn't see our van parked in front of the house we were staying at.  I asked my team, "Where's the van?"  They thought I was joking, but they soon saw I was not.  We called the only towing place in the area.  They do all the towing for the entire city and we assumed it had been parked on the wrong side of the street or something.  When we called though, they said they had no record of our van and that we should call the police and file a report for a stolen vehicle.  Now, we were freaked out.  You see, we had left many valuable things in the van: the girls' passports, my video camera, 2 laptops, all of our luggage, all of our merchandise, 2 cell phones, a GPS, all of our sound and video equipment, and our cash box.  I don't know if I have ever been more stressed than I was that whole day.

Andre, our contact Sarah, and I searched the streets of Winnipeg for our van, but to no avail.  We even went to the local news station and had them do a story for the 6:00 news.  I mean, who steals from a nonprofit organization?!?  After the news broadcast, the station called us and said a viewer saw our van being towed this morning.  With police cars.  Hold on!  Rewind!  The same towing company and police station that had no record of our van being towed?  Something was wrong.  We called and asked again, only to be told they still had no record of it.  Then, the girl at the towing place apparently had an epiphany and magically found the van.  I was so furious.  I went to the towing company and called the police station on the way.  Both places got a small taste of my stress/wrath/winning sarcasm.  Due to the kindness of the man at the towing company, we did not have to pay and victoriously got our van back.  About 4 times later that day, different people reported our van to the police as we were driving it around and we had to explain 4 different times that we were in fact the owners and explain the whole messy situation.  Whew!

Today, we crossed the border and got our van searched.  It's not exactly inconspicuous.  Nothing really compared to the previous 4 days though.  There were some really high points in Canada though.  We met absolutely incredible people.  I tried poutine (french fries with gravy and white cheddar cheese...I promise it tastes better than it sounds or looks).  I got a new stamp in my passport, which is always exciting.  And through it all, I got even closer to these wonderful people I share a van with.  I don't know that it's possible to get any closer to them, but I'll let you know if/when we do.

Through it all, I am constantly drained, exhausted, and missing home, but I am also reminded every time I watch this movie how huge this situation is and how much work is left to be done.  I am still relatively young (right?) and healthy, so I am committed to doing all I can, whatever that means.  There is so much darkness left and this organization is spreading light all around the globe.  Who wouldn't want to be a part of that?

Oh yeah, and by the way, today I accepted a position as a roadie on the summer tour!  Am I crazy?  A glutton for punishment?  Ready to keep changing the world?  The answer to all of the above is a resounding yes!  Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers.  This does of course mean that I will have to raise a little more money.  Around $1,000 to be exact and I will have to raise it fast, but God provided last time and I have no reason to believe he won't do it again.  I will have 3 weeks to relax/work to raise money in Nashville and I will have to be back in San Diego on June 1st until July 31st.  If I can do 5 months, I can definitely do 2...right?  :)  For real though, I am so excited and honored to be asked back.  This organization is doing amazing things and it is humbling to be a part of those things.  

And keep an eye out for jobs for me in August when I get back to Nashville.  I love you all.  If I haven't heard from you in a while, it would mean so much to me if you would call me.  I may not be able to answer if I am in the middle of a screening, but we have lots of road time and I will eventually call you back.  

With Hope,

Brandon