Walmart and Baptist Churches in the South...

I have made it 3 1/2 days of camp training.  It has been overwhelming and stretching but I have learned so much.  We are being trained in Bible Study, recreation, our specific break out sessions, crisis situations, and a little thing we like to call OMC (organized mass chaos).  It is going to be crazy to say the least.  

I know I have said this before but I absolutely love my team.  We have bonded so much these past few days and I feel like I have known them for years.  We are going through John 15 as a team which has already been so eye opening for me.  This is a verse that we use in our Family Group times.  

"Remain in me, and I will remain in you.  No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.  Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." - John 15:4.  

This is a constant reminder for me to stay rooted in Christ throughout this summer.  I have been blessed to be apart of a family group which is a group of five of us girls that are on my team.  We are there to encourage one another as the summer goes on, to uplift one another in prayer and to sit and talk about non-camp related things (which will be nice as the summer goes along).  I am excited to see how my relationships with these girls grow and I know already that some of these people I am working with will be life-long friends and for that I am blessed.  

We made our first Walmart trip last night which is a really big deal.  Walmart is our very best friend here because it is the only real connection that we have with the outside world.  But, when you have 23 people running through Walmart and you have to find everything and get out in 20 minutes...it gets stressful!  I will probably develop a new love for Walmart this summer...don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.  

I experienced a Baptist church this morning bright and early at 8:30 am.  Our whole camp staff (150 people) invaded First Baptist Church of Campbellsville.  They were happy to have us there and encouraged us in our work this summer.  It was absolutely NOTHING like Cornerstone or Second Mile to say the very least.  So, it was a new experience and one that I really did enjoy.  It is amazing to see the different ways that people worship our Lord.  I feel blessed for being able to take part in the service this morning.  

Anyway, I must go back to training but I thought I would take this opportunity during one of my breaks to update my blog.  

I love you all and am totally thankful for your continued support.  

(oh and if ya'll are wondering, the southern accent is coming along nicely and I have a few sayings that I will be bringing to the west so be prepared for that!) 

Incredible Exhaustion

These last two days have been some of the most exhausting of my life but definitely the most rewarding too!  I LOVE my team that I will be serving with this summer.  They are some really incredible people and their love for Jesus blows me away.  It is so crazy for me to be surrounded by 150 people (8 different teams) that love Jesus and love kids.  I have never seen anything like it before but it has been such a blessing these last few days.  The days have been super long thats for sure!  We wake up at 6:30 am which is 3:30 am Arizona time to start the day and go to bed around 11:30 or 12.  Talk about exhausting!  

I know many of you know how much I love YouTube videos and how much I quote them line for line.  Well...I am pleased to say that almost everyone on my team also knows all of the videos that we watch back home.  It's amazing to be able to quote Bon Qui Qui and Can I Have Yo Number!  

We have been discovering the differences in our Arizona culture and the culture in the South.  My roommate Rachel makes fun of the way I say "both" because I pronounce it "Bowl-th" and she pronounces "bow-th."  Apparently I talk weird to them but I don't mind :)  I am starting to pick up a Southern accent which I am OBSESSED with!  Oh and ya'll is coming to the west for sure.  I don't understand why you wouldn't use it.  Saying "you guys" is so much more difficult!  I have learned how to play cornhole which is such a fun game and helps with my competitive nature.  There are a plethora of bugs here and so far it hasn't rained which makes me SO happy!   

Even though this has been our first full day of training I have really felt the presence of the Lord in this place.  He is working amongst us individually, as a group and as a camp.  It is amazing to be apart of this life-changing ministry.  Can't wait to meet our kiddos or cherubs as they would call them here!  This summer our 8 Centri-Kid and Centri-Kid/Crosspoint teams will encounter 27,000 kids...please pray that we would be intentional with our relationships and that the Lord's work would be done through us.  

I love you all and once again am SO thankful for your love and support of me!  Ya'll are amazing!!

Bienvenidos a Nashville!

I have arrived!  Oh and I LOVE the South already!  I've been able to hang out with a girl from my team, Brittany, because her family is letting me stay with them so I didn't have to fly on a red-eye.  I am super thankful for that!  Tomorrow Brittany and I are back to the Nashville airport to jump on a bus to Kentucky.  Can't wait to meet the rest of my team!  

This is the day...

"This is the day that the Lord has made, I will be rejoice and be glad in it"

boy do i love old Jesus songs :)

Well TODAY IS THE DAY!  my whole life is packed in a trunk and a duffle bag and I am off to Nashville, TN!  

Tomorrow I jump on a bus and head to Campbellsville, KY for a week of training and then I'm back in the good old state of Tennessee.  

I'm getting nervous and excited that's for sure!  Saying all these goodbyes is super hard but I'm learning slowly but surely that change is good :)  

I hope you will join me in worshipping our King today for He is great and worthy of our praise! 

Addresses!!

If you decide that snail mail will be your way of communicating with me I have addresses for you! Pay attention to the dates I will be in each place...that way I will be able to get your letters.

May 25-June 3 :: Training :: Campbellsville, KY
June 3-7 :: Training Cont'd :: Lee University
June 8-12 :: Lee University
June 15-19 ::Toccoa Falls College
June 22-26 :: Toccoa Falls
June 29-July 3 ::Austin College
July 6-10 :: Lee University
July 13-17 :: Toccoa Falls
July 20-24 :: Toccoa Falls
July 27-31 :: Eagle Eyrie
August 3-7 :: Eagle Eyrie

Addresses:
Tori Einstein
Attn: CentriKid Staff
Lee University
1120 N. Ocoee St.Cleveland, TN 37320

Tori Einstein
Attn: Centrikid Staff
Toccoa Falls College
PO Box 800847
Toccoa Falls, GA 30598

Tori Einstein
Attn: CentriKid Staff
Austin College
900 N. Grand Ave. Suite 6J
Sherman, TX 75090

Tori Einstein
Attn: CentriKid Staff
Eagle Eyrie
1 Eagle Eyrie Dr.
Lynchburg, VA 24503

oh and I LOVE getting mail so send me some :)

2 days!

Well I realized that yesterday was full of a lot of lasts....the last time I will sit in a comfortable purple chair at Cornerstone, the last time I will see my siblings and their significant others, the last time I will be able to swim with my niece and I have to say that I feel SO blessed.
I am blessed to have two amazing church families that love and support me in whatever crazy things I decide to do and I have a family that I love and adore. I couldn't ask for anything more!

I have 2 days left in Phoenix and SO many people to see before I go. These next two days will be full of packing, planning and praying!

I just want to thank everyone who is praying for me and supporting me as I have an opportunity to do what I love...hang out with kids!

More is to come of course and I promise that this time I will actually be good about updating my blog!