Hello all. I am writing you after a delightful weekend of relaxing in Gaming. These pictures are from the town we live in and I found out that there are only about 2000 residents. It is a very small city with only one small street, the parish church, and lots of beautiful local people who seem intrigued at the fact that there are lots of American students living in the Kartause. From my understanding of the situation they do not really understand the program as an international exchange program, probably due to the language barrier. When I go walking through the town most people know who the Americans are. The little boys especially are fun to talk to because I think they are learning English in school so they usually say "Hello" really excitedly and that is about the extent of it : ) The parish church isn't locked during the day so it is a joy to stop in and pray there.

This weekend I found myself a little bench next to a lake where I spent the afternoon in the sun watching the swan, ducks, frogs, and fishes. It was a beautiful afternoon of reading, praying, being, walking, and getting a taste of the people here in Gaming. I was supposed to go for a hike, but we got rained out. Today was the feast of Divine Mercy and we celebrated it with a holy hour at 3 pm. What is this Divine Mercy? Well, to be honest it is incomprehensible. The best illustration I have of my experience of the Lord's Divine Mercy for us is the ungranted and unconditional love of a father, who lovingly lets His gaze rest on his children. The father who holds his children close to his heart for no reason, nothing the chid has done, but rather, because the Father just loves. We are given the choice to accept the embrace or not. In the face of unconditional love we realize how hardened our hearts are. For someone who really knows of Divine Mercy turn to Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska : )

I send much love and I will see you all in a number of days. "Divine Mercy, lifting us out of every misery, I trust in You." - Notebook II (949)