"I Go Back" | Music and Memories

"And I go back to watchin' summer fade to fall,

Growin' up too fast and I do recall,

Wishin' time would stop right in its tracks,

Every time I hear that song, I go back, I go back,

We all have a song that somehow stamped our lives,

Takes us to another place and time..."

     Music is powerful.  Every time I turn the radio on, hit play on my iPod, or open Pandora, I'm reminded of different times and places.  "Blink" by Revive brings me back to NNEC Campmeeting 2010; "Got It Good" by Rodney Atkins reminds me of my mission trip to India; "Live Out Loud" by Steven Curtis Chapman recalls memories of being 10 and Daddy blaring it on Sabbath morning to get us up out of bed.
     But it also impacts my emotions.  When I listen to a bunch of sad songs, I find myself slightly depressed for a while.  But when I listen to upbeat, energetic music I feel like I'm on top of the world!  But we need to be careful about the music that we listen to.  While I'm in no way saying secular music is bad, or evil, I am saying that we need to choose what we listen to.  If I spend hours listening to Taylor Swift (yes, I'm a fan) I end up wishing and daydreaming about my future Knight in Shining Armor.  But if I listen to Jamie-Grace or Britt Nicole instead, I end up feeling closer to my Heavenly Father.
     I'm a huge fan of Country Music (as you might have guessed by now), but whenever I go through tough times I always end up listening to my Christian albums.  I just need the reassurance of knowing God's right there; always with me.

-Autumn Story Mott

India | Photos

Here's the link to view my pictures of India. Even if you don't have a Facebook account, this link will still let you view the pictures.

View Photos

-Autumn Story Mott

Sightseeing | Day 10

There was a death in the village we were gonna visit in, so we switched our rest day from Wednesday, to today. Although breakfast was still at 7:30am, most everyone slept in. We left the compound at 9am and headed to Vijaywada. There, we took the ferry across the river to an island. It's somewhat of a tourist attraction, so it was wicked beautiful! There are "tree houses", that you can rent for $60USD a night. Not bad!

Also on the island is a rope playground. They was the suspended rope walkway, a rope pit hung from the trees, and a rope slide, of sorts. Although most everyone got minor injuries in some way, we all had fun! :)

-Autumn S. Mott

PICTURES!

Our Medical Team | Day 8

In our group we have two nurses, an EMT and a International Lifeguard. Therefore, we should have no problem when it comes to injuries or sickness. Right...

Well, our EMT and Lifeguard are very eager to try out their medical skill. So whenever anyone gets "injured" they insist on caring for you.

Shaina pricked her finger on a safety pin while fixing her punjabi, so immediately they jumped into action. Shankar, our "doctor", washed the tiny bead of blood off with Germx on some TP. Noah ran and grabbed the three medical bags, then Josh, our EMT/"nurse", got a butterfly bandage ready.

No, we're not bored.

(We actually aren't, Shankar and Josh are being, well, Shankar and Josh.)

In other news, our meetings are going great!! Tomorrow, Sunday, we're going visiting in the village where the meeting is being held.

-Autumn Story Mott

India | Day 7

I'm so tired, but I can't fall asleep. So yesterday we got to chill for most of the time. After lunch we went into town (Ibrahimpatnam). While it was definitely smaller, it was still a little unnerving. There really weren't that many crowds around us, but this time the beggar children latched onto us. They loved to have us take pictures of us, but when PHarry bought us boiled peanuts we had to ignore their tapping on our arms. It was so heartbreaking!! I wanted more then anything to give them some, but I knew that I just couldn't. We'd instantly be surrounded by beggars. It was the hardest thing I've experienced here, yet. But when we got back, we got to hand out the toothbrushes to the students!! :) They were so excited! Then we watched while they were served supper. Shankar, Josh and Sam got to help serve!
Today we hiked up in the ruins behind the school. The view from the hills was amazing!! There were monkeys, too! When we got back, Shankar, Shaina, Josh and I had a quick water fight before lunch. Then after lunch, we had an even bigger one!! It was so nice to be able to cool off, as its consistently in the high 80s.
After drying off, we all sat down and prepared for tonight's meeting and tomorrow's church service. Some of us are preaching, others doing the children's story and health talks. Of course, I'm helping out in song service.
We drove 45 minutes to the village were our meeting was held. All and all, it went quite well!! Praise God!
Happy Sabbath!!

-Autumn Story Mott

PS: Once again, I apologize for the lack if pictures. I didn't bring a laptop over, but then again, the wifi is so slow that I doubt I could upload them very well, anyway. But here's some from my iPod.

Happy Birthday, Shaina! | Day 5

Today we went shopping in a nearby small city. Wow. There were so many people, everywhere. (Today is the last day of a 4 day holiday, so that added to the amount of people.) While we were waiting in a side street for PHarry (Pastor Harry) to exchange our money, we started to get surrounded by guys. Thankfully, Noah and Ryan picked up on it and stepped between us girls and the crowd. Then, when PHarry came with the money the crowd grew, so Shankar, Kumar and Josh stepped closer. When we walked away they realized we were being followed by 4 guys. So wherever we went, Shankar was on my left and Noah on my right, next to Rebecca. Shaina has Ryan and Sam with her. When we stopped for lunch I finally relaxed. That is, until us girls went to the bathroom next door. We forgot the TP. Shaina got the full Indian experience, while Rebecca and I only did number one. ;)
We had a chocolate cake for dessert, as it was Shaina's 18th birthday!! Afterwards, we went to a department store to get the odd items we had forgotten. The security was wicked strict. They ziptied our backpack zippers, and our plastic bags after we purchased goods.
As we were approaching the school compound, I sighed in relief; this country girl was glad to be out of the city.

-Autumn Story Mott

PS: I really don't have that many pictures of shopping in town, as I was concerned about not attracting more attention. Sorry!