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It was a Saturday morning. I woke up early, got dressed, and prepped my lugage. I wore a white t-shirt with the words "The Great Comission" on it, which was given by the school; Pairing it with long dark blue jeans and white shoes. Taking a step outside my house, I took a deep breath and embarked out on a new journey.

I arrived at Gambir Station at 9.30 a.m. There, I met up with my friend and gathered with others that was in Solo 1 at the North Hall. We took pictures together and did the thing where we form a circle and put our hands in the middle, raising them at the count of three. (I'm not sure what it's called.) Finally, Ms Sabina gave us our tickets; And it was time to say our (temporary) goodbyes to Jakarta.

We boarded on the train at 10.30 a.m. I was seated at Executive 2 at row 3D. Along the ride, I didn't do much. All I did was sleep, eat, and scroll on social media. Although, at around 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., I met up with my friend named Valerie at the canteen and had fun. After a long 8 hours that felt like it took forever, we finally arrived in Solo.

Getting of the train, we took another photo together and got onto the bus. This time, we were heading off to get dinner. At the restaurant, we all sat near our mini group's members on this long singular table. We had all already ordered earlier on in the train, so we didn't need to go through the hastle of ordering again. One by one, our dinner was served and we gathered together in prayer.

The dinner was okay, it wasn't the best but it's fine. The thing is, I ordered beef teriyaki; But instead, my order got switched with someone else's chicken teriyaki. Meanwhile, the person beside me named Valexa had originally ordered chicken teriyaki, but was switched with my beef teriyaki. I had tried to convince him to switch back but he didn't believe me, so I just shrugged it off and ate the chicken teriyaki.

After dinner, we were headed off to the hotel; Our final destination of the day. At the hotel, I checked in with Valerie and went to our room which was on the 11th floor. I unpacked my lugage and got washed before finally heading to bed.

That's all that happened on the first day of my Mission Trip to Solo.

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On my first day in Solo, I woke up at 5.30 a.m and got ready to go to church. I took a bath and wore my batik shirt, with long black pants, and white shoes. I headed down the elevator to eat breakfast. After eating breakfast, Valerie and I went to the lobby to start church rehearsals. Everyone was gathered at the lobby, except the ones who were accompanying Ms Sabina to the Supermarket to buy supplies.

For the church service, I was one of the 4 who was going to be singing. To tell you the truth, I hadn't practiced the songs at all, nor have I memorized them, except for maybe 1 song. During the church rehearsals, we just listened to the melody and sang a bit. But I wasn't confident I could do it. When church rehearsals ended, I went off and talked a bit with my friend. That was when Ms Sabina and the others finally came back from shopping for the supplies.

Valerie and I went back to the lobby where everyone was gathered. The atmosphere had changed into a serious one. I was confused on what was going on, when suddenly Ms Sabina asked if we all had rehearsed seriously or not. She sounded very disappointed in us, saying that it has been long since she sent us all the songs and told us to practice. Yet, no one had memorized the songs. She ended her lecture with saying that from that point on, she hopes that we will all take this Mission Trip more seriously. Then we all promised to her that we will be better.

After that moment, we all went to the bus and went to a museum for only 10 minutes; Since Ms Sabina decided to cut the time for rehearsals in the church. We arrived to the church and the people there were so kind. They prepared some snacks for our arrival and helped us with our rehearsals. I made sure to pay extra attention to the rehearsals so I don't mess up.

In the end, the other singers and I aced the melodies of the songs. Dare I say that we did an amazing job. Good thing they gave us the paper with the lyrics of all the songs. Otherwise, we would've failed in the service. For our special performance, we sang 'Bejana-Mu'. Everyone applauded and I felt proud of us! I want to say special thanks to the people who worked at the church, they were super kind to us and provided us with both lunch and dinner. (Which tasted delicious.) ❤️

We said our goodbyes and thanks to everyone in the church and journeyed back to the hotel. I felt so exhausted and my throat was sore but it was worth it. Valerie and I went to our hotel room. I talked with her for a bit after showering. Finally, we went to bed.

That's the end of day 1.

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On the second day, I woke up early in the morning to get ready to go to an Orphanage. That day I wore the HnW t-shirt & shorts. I ate breakfast and entered the bus filled with nervousness and anticipation. Hours went by and we had finally arrived at our destination. As the bus parked in front of the orphanage, I mustered all my courage for what was about to come.

The people there were so kind. They opened their arms wide and welcomed us to their humble abode. I can't help but feel moved by them. There was this one kid (boy that was 5 years old) that kept giving Valerie and I love hearts and it was adorable 😭. I made friends with these two girls and we made a 3D house puzzle together. They were very friendly. In fact, I took a picture with them. (The picture above for this day is the picture I took with them)

Everything was going well. Until I felt something run down my cheek. All the joy and laughter in there moved me. They looked so happy and harmonious even though they didn't have parents. Meanwhile, here I am; Someone who is considered privileged, but still complains and is ungrateful sometimes. I felt ashamed. Seeing them made me appreciate the life that God has given to me, and all the little things in my life.

I left the orphanage feeling a sense of gratitude in myself. Arriving at the hotel, I got washed and dressed in my pajamas. Ms Sabina had ordered sate ayam for us, but she accidentally ordered ayam geprek too. So there was double the food. We all gathered downstairs on the ground floor lobby to eat it. It was a comfy experience with everyone there.

When everyone finished dinner, we all went back to our hotel rooms and went to bed.

That's the end of day 2.

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Chapter 3: "Redemption in the Face of Failure"

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Chapter 3: "Redemption in the Face of Failure"

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I kinda messed up on the third day.. So basically, on the third day, we had to wake up earlier than usual since there were two places we needed to go to that day. But I was so exhausted, I just kept sleeping even though I heard the alarm. Yeah, I'm guilty as charged. 😭 Valerie also woke up late due to exhaustion and the bus had left us behind. So, Ms. Sabina told us to order GoCar; Good thing the destination was only 6 minutes away.

I got changed and ate breakfast quickly, got into the taxi and finally arrived at the Kindergarten. We went inside the kindergarten and got a short lecture from Ms. Sabina (I'm sorry Ms. Sabi 🤕) After that humiliating situation, I pledged to never wake up late again and to make up for my mistake.

I worked hard and contributed to the Kindergarten service. The kids there were so cute! We danced the chicken dance, played charades, did some coloring, and made choco balls. Interacting with them and seeing them smile cheered me up from my sour mood that morning. When it was time to go, I gave all the kids high fives and we gave them lots of snacks for them to bring home.

Then, we went back into the bus and got lunch. To be honest, I forgot what we ate but it was some sort of soup with rice? Or was it noodles? The point is, it was a type of soup from Solo. It tasted warm and yummy. (I'm a soup enjoyer. 😋) After lunch we got back into the bus and went to the same school we were at before for kindergarten. But this time, we were going to give our service to the junior highschool students.

My time with the JHS students was so fun. Lyndon, Ko Bryan, and I hosted a game of Jeopardy for class 7A and it was a success. The kids had ALOT of fun. They were so competitive and lively, it reminded me of my junior highschool days. I enjoyed my time hosting the game. At the end of the game, we gave the winner character nano legos. And those who did not win still got lolipops.

I gathered back with the others, and felt a sense of hapiness in myself. Ms. Sabina greeted me with a hug and a smile on her face. She told me, "Good job." And I swear, I've never felt so proud of myself until that day.

Finally, we went back to hotel. I ate bakso soup for dinner; it was not very fulfilling since there was no rice or noodles. But that's fine since I ate instant noodles before eating the bakso soup. After dinner, I got washed and instantly went to bed with a smile on my face.

That's the end of day 3.

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SD WW Kartasura, Panti Werdha Bakti Dharma Kasih, Museum Pura Mangkunegaran

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On the fourth day, I was in such a terrible state. I had a headache and my head felt really heavy. Even so, I got ready as usual and went into the bus to go to an elementary school.

My experience at the elementary school was kind of stressful. We were divided into multiple small teams to guide each class. But the thing is, everything was so rushed and I was so confused on what we had to do. I felt so stressed and unprepared. I didn't even know what time they had break or what time we would end our service. Because there was no information about it in the group chat. So I just trusted my senior and went with the flow. And in the end, everything worked out.

In the elementary school, we did some activities like games, making choco balls, and storytelling. I was in charge of storytelling for grade 3, along with two other people; ko Calvin and Rahel. Ko Calvin and Rahel did the story telling about Noah's ark, while I did the question and answer session. One memorable moment about the storytelling, was when this one kid started started crying because she couldn't get the answer right. And she tried to answer other questions, but the teachers didn't let her; Because they wanted to give others a chance. I felt bad for her. All in all, I had fun doing story telling.

After a long day of service we went to eat at a restaurant. The food was okay, could be better but I can't complain since I chose it.

The day doesn't end there. We still had one more destination left. Which was a museum. The museum was interesting and the stuff inside there was nice. My friends and I goofed around and I laughed so hard. We took pictures and headed back to the bus for the hotel.

At the end of the day, I got washed and headed straight to bed. Little did I know, something was going to happen on the fifth day...

That's the end of day four.

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Day 5; The final day of serving others. On day five, I woke up at 5.45 a.m. to get ready to go to another elementary school. On this day, I wore the classic UPHC uniform with white shoes. Valerie told me that she wasn't feeling well and she was hurt all over. But she decided to push herself to go to the elementary school. So I supported her and told her that she should tell Ms. Sabi.

At the elementary school, we were divided into small groups again for each class. This time, I was in charge of grade 1A with ko Landon. The activities we did were simple. We played the game called "I Spy with My Little Eye", which was a game where we give clues and they have to guess the thing that we're hinting at. Next, we did origami paper airplanes. We played a tutorial video on the projector and guided them to make it. One of the kids wanted to make a shuriken. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time as they actually had an event that day for the school. Lastly, we made them make a letter for their homeroom teacher, Ms. Puput. After finishing the activities, we then took photos together and gave snacks to them.

After our service in the elementary school was complete, we were surprised with a special barongsai performance by the kids. They were so cool and their teamwork was impressive. To be able to carry your partner up in a short amount of time is no easy feat.

The performance was finished and we bidded farewell to everyone there. We went back to the hotel to change our clothes next destination. The dresscode this time was white so I wore a white classic top, low rise flared jeans, and white shoes. The next place we were about to go to was rumah atsiri; Or in english, essential home. Unfortunately, Valerie couldn't come because she felt unwell. So I told her to get some rest and left without her.

The ride to rumah atsiri was a long one. We had take away food for lunch and it was delicious. Then, I slept for the rest of the ride.

When I arrived at rumah atsiri, the first thing I did was go to the shop. There, they were selling body lotions, soaps, essential oils, perfumes, hand sanitizer, and many more. I ended up buying a perfume called "Buai" because it smelled really fragrant. I also bought 1 more for Valerie since I felt bad that she couldn't come. In rumah atsiri, we went to the museum there and I was amazed on how aesthetic the place was. From the flowers, to the art, to the sculptures, everything was beautiful. I took so many photos that day it literally took up so much of my storage.

I had alot of fun there. Talking with ci Celine was very entertaining and funny, the snacks provided by them were scrumptious, and Going to the workshop I chose (which was a hand lotion workshop) and making hand lotion was enjoyable too. Ms. Sabina even made Valerie's one for her since she was unable to attend.

I went back to the hotel after buying some oleh-oleh and when I opened the door to the hotel room, I was met with a worrying sight. Valerie had caught a fever and she was having seizures. The air conditioner was off and she was burried inside her blanket, looking like she was freezing. But in fact, she was as hot as fire. Even a glance of her condition would be enough to know that she was definitely not okay. I panicked and called my parents, asking them what to do and they told me to call Ms. Sabina. So I called Ms. Sabina in a state of fear for my friend. Ms. Sabina came as quick as she could and put a wet towel on her forhead, also feeding her some porridge as she hadn't had anything to eat for dinner at all. The whole time I was so worried for her, not sure of what I should do. But thankfully, with the help of Ms. Sabina and some other seniors, she was able to cool off a bit and have a nice sleep.

After that frightening situation, I packed my lugage and got ready for bed.

And that's the end of day 5.

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I couldn't believe it. Mission Trip is finally coming to an end... I got up early and got ready to check out of the hotel. Ms. Sabina came to my hotel room to check on Valerie and thank God she was okay that day. Otherwise, we would probably have to delay the trip back so she could have proper treatment at the hospital. We checked out of the hotel and headed straight to the bus.

Before going to the train station, we went to a souvenir shop to buy stuff. Everyone was calling their parents and asking them what they want. Meanwhile, my parents told me that I don't need to buy much because they were afraid that it would be too much of a hastle to bring home. So I only bought 1 pack of cheese sticks; Because the day before I had already bought some food.

After that, we went back to the bus and went to the train station. I bought some snacks for the ride at the train station's Indomaret and went to get my ticket checked. In the train, I was seated at Executive 7 row 4D. Throughout the whole train ride, I chilled and reflected myself about this mission trip and everything I had gone through. I had alot of fun this mission trip. Even though it could be better, it was still a good experience. I have learned alot from it and from the people in Solo. And I hope to create more memories like this through my other two mission trips in the future.

A long 8 hours passed. And before I knew it, we had finally arrived back at Jakarta. I said goodbye to everyone there and parted ways..

That's the end of my first Mission Trip.

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My first mission trip was not easy. Nonetheless, nothing in this life is easy.

I was able to go through all the hardships because of the support of God and everyone there.

Even though it wasn't perfect and could've been better, I still think we did a great job. Special thanks to everyone in Solo 1, thank you for this experience that I will never forget!!