It was another wonderful day at the mall. We had Edith and Maureen as prayer warriors and Mary Ann, Lita, Mirna, Kathleen, Diana and I as evangelists over our three hour shift at the mall. We had too many wonderful and prayerful encounters to detail! It was a very active and busy time, and we were encouraged and excited at how busy our booth was! A few highlights:

Mary Ann: As St. Paul Street Evangelists, we follow the guidelines that is, we do not evangelize children, including teenagers and the evangelists always pray together before we interact with anyone. So we were excited to be at the mall. We set up our table and before we had said our prayer together, two teenage boys came up wanting a rosary for "Good Luck" in their sports. Our beautiful evangelist Mirna immediately responded "we have our Lord that we call upon for help." They took a rosary with a smile, a thank you and great respect and left. As I pondered that quick interchange, I thought our awesome God always takes us where we are at. These young teenagers who were so respectful and open and kind were involved in their sports. We don't know their story but somehow they associated a rosary with God. Yes, their words, "I want Good Luck" at first made me cringe a bit inside but Mirna's response was perfect. It is our Lord who we call upon for help, to turn our hearts to Him. Our Lord cares about everything in our lives always, including sports.

The other encounters were beautiful. two separate encounters struck me as well, both were dads with their teenage children. both Dads profoundly thanked us for being there. Both dads were Catholic, took a rosary for themselves and for their children, and a pamphlet on how to pray the rosary. Both wanted to know more and asked about the Mysteries of the rosary and to show they where they were in pamphlet. They were thirsting ad hungry for God in their life. We prayed together acknowledging that God was drawing them to himself and wanted to bless them and their families.

Alpa: I spoke to a mom and her teenage daughter who stopped for a rosary. The mom told me that she takes her daughter to Mass every Sunday, but drops her off and picks her up. Certain Sundays, she goes inside with her, but it’s sporadic. I asked her why doesn’t attend Mass, and she just shrugged and didn’t have an answer. I asked the teenager why she felt so strongly about going to Mass by herself, and she said she feels very peaceful and it helps her mentally. She then said she struggles with anxiety. I asked her and her mother if they have ever prayed the rosary, and they both said no. I encouraged them to pray the rosary, especially when feeling anxious, especially at night, if she’s unable to fall asleep and feels the anxiety rising inside. She nodded emphatically like that would be very helpful for her. I did tell the mom to try to go inside with her daughter, she’s already at the church. She smiled and said she would think about it.

A woman approached us and took a rosary and a brochure. When we asked if she needed any prayers, she asked for prayers for her marriage and her husband. So Diana, Kathleen and I prayed with her. She was very moved by the prayers and hugged each of us. She said that the best things in life are free, hugs and prayers and thanked us for being there to pray with her. God is so good!