My decision to go to Honduras

Hi all! Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to read about my upcoming adventure. I've recently decided to sign up for a mission trip with my church. This is the first time I've ever thought of doing something like this and I'm super excited about traveling to another country and making a difference in the lives of a family in need. There are about ten of us that will be traveling and we will be building a home for a woman named Edith and her family.

Originally the mission was to travel to Mexico to build a home there for a different family and I had signed up about a month or so ago thinking I should have enough time to put money aside to go. I have never been to Mexico and I thought what better reason to go (instead of the one that most people go for - spring break and partying). Well, in this last month I had been unexpectedly laid of from my 9-5 job and thought maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to sign up for something that I wasn't sure that I could afford. Within this month the church decided against sending a group of people to Mexico for safety reasons and changed the plans to travel to Roatan, Honduras. In addition, the trip is scheduled for March, the week of my fathers birthday, and I had a hard time deciding on if I should still try to go or not since this is always a hard month on my mother (my father passed away 7 years ago now - it just doesn't seem like it has been that long). Well I was talking with my friend Marah and she said to me - Lynnie, if your dad was alive would he want you to go? to which I replied "yes, of course", so she said to me - you have to go, and do it in memory of him. So here I am, attempting to raise money to go on this trip that seems like it could never happen for me. I will need to pay for our travel costs well before March so I've decided to start blogging about my exciting adventure so that my friends and family know what I am up to and can follow my fundraising efforts. My goal is to raise at least $2,000 for my trip as well as the building materials for the home there.

If you are local to the Seattle area I am doing a raffle for a catered meal by one of Seattle's finest chefs,  Nathan Crave (yes, Marah's husband). He (actually she - thanks Marah and Nate!! You guys are the BEST!!) has offered up his time and services as a donation towards my fundraising efforts. There is a suggested donation of $10 per raffle ticket (you can definitely purchase/enter more that once for better odds at winning) and a winner will be selected and announced Thanksgiving weekend. He will work with whomever the winner is to create a menu specifically for you and your family. If you would like to donate online with a credit or debit card, simply click on the link below (I have created a secure paypal account). Otherwise please email me your address lynnie.ochoa@gmail.com and I will send you a self addressed stamped envelope so you can send me a check or money order in the mail.

Thank you for all your support for this great cause. Blessings to you and your famly during this holiday season! And remember - it is a tax deductible donation :)

Donate online here: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=DTQXQH46FW68N