We are in Los Angeles California for a mission trip with our church. It is a cool, dry Friday morning. Outside it is a cool 70 degrees. My youth group and I have been working in homeless shelters and food distributors all week. Today is finally our day off. We get to go to the beach! But first, we have to give away our sleeping bags, as tradition. Our youth director, Dana, is driving one of the two vans we rented. We’ve been driving them since we first got off the plane at LAX.

“We’re going to Skid Row to drop off our sleeping bags,” He announces loudly.

If you don’t know what Skid Row is, it is the street where the most homeless people live per square mile in the United States. The street is riddled with poverty and devastation. Everywhere you look you can see people in tents like it’s a campground. The street is literally filled with homeless people.

When we got there, I had some idea of Skid row when Dana explained it to us, but when I saw it, I was in shock. Some people were close to tears as we pulled up to the general area. There are people up and down the street in tents, out in the open, and walking around. We park on the side of the street on the same block as the last tent. When we get out of the van, we notice a distinct, pungent smell in the air that I am told is weed.

Everywhere we go we can smell it. There are other things, too. I can smell the body odor of some of the people from a far distance. I can see people using lighters to light something up. I can taste the dry air of California during a drought. Fences line every sidewalk, separating the sidewalk from buildings and parking lots. On the other side of the fences lie mostly flower shops with a lot of people moving in and through them.. People occasionally yell something at someone else across the street.

We start walking. My stomach gets a little anxious and nervous as we get closer to people. A couple of guys play cards on the sidewalk. People wait in line for some deal on a free phone. Everyone is either in a tent, emerging from a tent, or going to a tent. The tents were just plastic tarps held up by string from the fences and cardboard on the street. Even after four whole days of working in shelters, I still feel tension and nerves as we make our way up to a group of individuals.

We all have our sleeping bags and some have toiletries ready to give away to these people in need as we approach a group of  three women. The first woman I see has on what look like tattered children’s clothes and unclean, messy hair. Her skin is dark, wrinkled, and weathered. I choose this woman as the woman I'm going to give my bag to. Sure enough, I am the first to give away my bag to anyone. I get anxious as I see a group of more people start to approach us.

The look on my face instantly goes from relieved to nervous. The color of my skin flushes as they get closer.

I don't know what to do with a big group of people like this. It seems to me that all of us kids are nervous and worried about it as well.They keep coming and coming as we are running out of sleeping bags quickly. Then, I hear, “Hey honey can I get me one of those?!” It is a woman trying to get a sleeping bag. I couldn't help her, we were almost out. Then Dana comes out of nowhere and hands her one with the biggest smile on his face like he was handing her an award. She kind of shakes it off like it’s no big deal. Once she gets what she came over here for, then walks away hurriedly. Just like that, they are all gone. The thirty bags we had had just vanished into thin air. So did the people. They just came and left. I’m thinking that I was worrying for nothing. In the end, they are harmless people just trying to get some things to keep warm.

That week in 2015 was very eye opening for me and my youth group. We saw poverty we’d never seen before. As small-town Minnesotans, It’s not every day we get to go to Hollywood and do our best to make a difference. The people we met changed our views of the world. We worked in shelters giving food to the homeless, sorted clothes for them, and even sorted baby play-things for the new mothers. We went to a food shelf and stacked pallets of food for shelters and we made sure the food was edible. We did all sorts of things to help in California. We prayed constantly for the people we met. I still think about the things we did and the people we helped and I wonder what their life is like now.

This trip shaped the way I now live my life. I used to get mad at the little things in life and now, the way I view things is more understanding and forgiving. I used to judge people by their appearance, but now I see the good in everyone and I don’t hold grudges. I am stronger in my faith as well as a better person altogether.

I grew very close with God on this trip and I hope to go on many more mission trips in the future. Mission trips are the best way for me to grow closer with my classmates and with God. We as a group, have many eye-opening experiences and heart-felt stories about the past mission trips.

When you think about it, the people in your youth group end up being your best friends. They’ve seen you cry. You’ve seen them cry. And the bond between all of the members is one that cannot be broken.