Episode 14

Two friends are testing their microphones before recording a podcast. They say a prayer and adjust their audio settings. They introduce their guest, a missionary named Austin, and discuss his journey to faith and becoming a focus missionary. They talk about their personal prayer lives and the importance of listening to God. They emphasize the need for silence and patience in prayer. Talking to your microphone? Testing one two, is it picking me up? Or am I just going to have to hold it? Hold it how close you have to be. Yeah, you guys are pretty close. Testing one two, testing one two. That's kind of funny. We're just going to have to trust that it sounds alright. When we edit. Are you wearing your headset? I want us both to and I'm not. I'll keep mine off, you can check my audio. One two, one two, hello. Do I have to get right here? I mean, I would just hold it. You know what, I'm just going to hold my microphone. How, you got to, this part right here. Level it up, there you go. Everybody ready? Oh wait, we got to say a prayer. Would you like to lead us? Father, Son, Holy Spirit, come Holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit. Father, I give you thanks and praise for this day. I give you thanks and praise for the gifts of our lives. The gifts that it is to be able to share. Our experiences, our knowledge, our wisdom. All the good things that you've done in our lives. I just ask that you be present during this time, during this podcast. Plus our conversation. Plus all the people who will like hear. Hear this podcast. That they encounter you in a new way, or even in an old way. Let our, let our gaze, our conversations be always on you. Let it be for your greater glory. Mother Mary, grab this in your mantle, and just as you lead all to your Son, we ask that you plead on our behalf. This podcast might lead people to your Son. So we say, Hail Mary. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Oh shoot. What'd you get? I'm turning down the sensitivity because now it's going to sound a lot clearer. And, do I sound clear? Yeah, you sound really good. Because if I had the sensitivity up, I could literally hear every move that Tony touched in that mic. Alright, so how's it going to work? Did he break down the intro for you? So, we're just going to do like, hi. Don't pull hard on here. It doesn't matter. Don't worry. It's going to be okay. He's got it. Just put the cord on top. There you go. That'll work. Okay. Here we go. Ready? Yeah. Ready. Yeah. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Lost Sheet Podcast. I'm Nazario Pangelo. And I'm Cole Vincent. And we have our lovely guest, Mr. Austin. Finish your last name, please. Austin Dow. Austin Dow is a focused missionary here at the University of Alabama. And we also, we're just so excited for you to be on the podcast. Thank you for coming on. Good. Yeah. I'm super excited. Thanks for having me. Yeah, absolutely. So, we're going to dive first off into a little bit about yourself, a little bit about focus and your missionary work. And then, Austin himself brought a quote that, you know, has meant a lot to him and his life. And we're going to dive into that as well. So, a quote is still coming along. So, wait for that. But, Austin, first off, we have to just talk about, let's start with, you know, your journey to focus. You know, how did you really come to grow in your faith? When, at the point in your life, were you like, yeah, I'm giving myself, you know, my life to God? Not just as a missionary, but just in general. You know, when were you like, I'm ready to take this faith thing to another level? Yeah. So, at the end of high school, I kind of like fell away from my faith. Just a lot was happening. Friends, family-wise, and yeah, I just fell away from the sacraments. Never stopped going to Mass, but stopped receiving communion, stopped going to confession. And when I got to college, I'm actually the first on my mom's side of the family to move away from college. And I knew that, yeah, I didn't want to stop going to Mass, because I didn't want to lie to my parents or my grandparents if they asked me, you still going to Mass? So I was like, alright, I'm just going to at least let go every Sunday. But, I found myself hanging around the Catholic Center and meeting all these people, and I was like, what's going on? Like, all these people seem really happy. And I was like, God, what the heck? But, as time went on and I got to spend time with people, I slowly began to share my story with them, and these people who became my friends just latched on to me. And, long story short, they I like to say that I was loved back to life. This is like, my fellow students, but also people who were involved in Focus and Focus Missionaries. I was blessed to be able to go to SEEK, and then the very first Focus conference I went to was called SLS, they don't do it anymore. But, yeah, really getting to encounter the Lord and fall in love with Him again through authentic friendship, the Eucharist. And so, yeah, when I was discerning whether or not, like, just what I wanted to do after college, I was invited to consider applying for Focus. And, I remember, yeah, I I throw in an application, and I'm just like, ugh, I really don't want to do this. Like, I I should probably, like, just go to grad school. I graduated with a psychology degree. And, yeah, so, throw in the application, get invited to interview, and, like, I just have so much anxiety throughout this weekend. And, I get to my last interview, and my two interviewers are like, they look at me, and they're like, are you okay? And I was like, no, I'm not. And they're like, what's wrong? And I said, just, like, very honestly, like, I hate this. I hate that I want to do this. I hate that, like, I feel like the Lord is calling me to this. And as soon as I said that, like, I just felt so much peace. I was, like, finally honest with myself. Like, I was encountered so deeply by the Lord through the people at my Catholic center. I went to Texas A&M, by the way. Giga Maggie's. Real tight. But, yeah, like, once we're encountered by Jesus, like, truly encountered, like, there's no going back. Like, He loves us back to life, and then He asks us, like, will you do the same? And so, yeah, I waited, got the offer, and accepted immediately. So, that's how I got involved with FOCUS, and that's how I ended up here as a missionary at the University of Alabama. So, as a fellow Christian, I always like to talk to other people about what their personal prayer looks like, and I was just wondering, what does it look like for you as a FOCUS missionary? It doesn't have to, you don't have to go too personal, but just, what does your prayer life look like? Like, what do you do for personal prayer? Yeah, a really cool thing that is built into every FOCUS missionary schedule is a daily Holy Hour and a daily Mass. And so, yeah, like, we, ideally, it's in front of the Blessed Sacrament, but a lot of times, yeah, I just, we just get to spend time with the Lord. Like, everything we do is dependent on Him and His grace. Is that what you wanted? Like, did you want, like, details of how I pray my Holy Hour? Well, either way, you can go either way with it. I was just curious, like, what do you, like, when you're sitting there praying to God, what do you, what's your version of, what's your form of prayer? I know other people like to talk and, like, communicate, others just pray, like, prayers like our Father and so on, and other people just like to have conversations with Him, and I'm just wondering, like, what way do you like to approach it most out of that? I would say conversation, meditative, contemplative prayer. Yeah, it's like, you want to spend time with the people that you love. You want to talk to them. And with the Lord, it's like, He knows me better than anyone else. He knows me better than I know myself. And so, especially as a missionary, I'm like, yeah, Jesus, I need you to tell me what to do. I can't do this. I can't be holy. I can't do mission without you. But, yeah, like, entering into prayer, I think what really helps me get into the mindset is just placing yourself in the presence of the one who loves you. A lot of times, I'll, the first thing I say to the Lord is, like, alright, Lord, like, I'm here. Like, I'm here. And I trust that you need me. And I trust that you're here, too. And then, go from there. Yeah, and I kind of want to touch a little more on that. So, for me, when I, like, learn, when I pray, I like to have conversations with God. I like to talk through Him through my prayer life and just kind of work through what's going on in my life with Him. And I've learned, it actually has helped me become a little better of a listener, as I've learned to explore that way. Because while you are talking, most of the time, you've got to learn how to listen really hard. Because His presence is not always, like, right up in front of you. Sometimes you've got to learn how to listen and learn how to see the blessings you have in your day-to-day life. And I've learned, has it helped you in that form for me? Because it sounds like, sure, you're having a conversation with God. And it sounds like, oh, this is going to turn you into a better talker. For me, it's done quite the opposite. I've learned it's helped me become a better listener. So, just wondered, has it had that impact on you at all? Or is that just me? Oh, yeah, for sure. Scripture tells us that it's, like, He speaks in the still, like, small voice. If I can remember correctly, St. John of the Cross says that those who do not know, like, those who don't know silence, no, wait, silence is God's first language. And St. Augustine would go on to say those who do not know silence do not know God. And so, it's like, can I still, myself, be able to listen to Him? Like, after I've I'm done saying all the things I need to say, like, do I have the patience? Will I allow the Lord to respond? Yeah. Yeah, because life is so fast. There's so much going on. And we always, really, the lifestyle that a lot of people lead and what the world tries to tell us is, go, go, go, go, go. You have to be continually going and going and going. And while it's amazing to strive and to do more and to work hard, those moments that you're talking about, to have that patience and that stillness, are incredibly important not just for our prayer life, just for our spiritual, mental, and physical health, as well, to just be able to slow down. And it's so awesome to be able to spend those stillness, those quiet moments with the Lord, especially if we're just by ourselves. Sometimes, I know you live with your Focus Missionaries, so you're around them, I'm sure, a good amount. And then you're supposed to be around all of us students, as well. I'm sure when you get those moments by yourself, you don't always want to, you know, interact with someone else. You're probably ready for some alone time. But it's incredibly important in life to, you know, spend that alone time with the Lord. And just to go more into your mission as a Focus Missionary, what is your personal mission for Focus? What do you want to do as a missionary? And how do you want to inspire people through your missionary work? Yeah, so, like I said, in college I was deeply encountered by the Lord in the Eucharist and through authentic friendship. And so, yeah, like, God became man, so that man can become God. And so, like, we have this thing, it's not this Focus exclusive thing, but we talk about Incarnational Evangelization a lot. I think we've lost this art of being able to like, live the Gospel with each other. It's not like you go to Sunday Mass or Sunday School and like, okay, that's my Jesus time. Like, that's over. The Gospel is meant to be lived out. And we can see that through the life of Jesus. He called twelve men and basically went on a three-year camping trip with them. And so, like, with being a missionary, I get to wake up every morning and meet with students, but also like, invite them into my life and then have them invite me into theirs. And I actually have a relationship. I'm not just, like, I didn't become a missionary just to talk at someone. I became a missionary so that yeah, I could encounter Jesus like through other people and people could encounter Jesus in me. And then ultimately, in the Eucharist and in the Sacraments. So, yeah. I think that's been, you know, the ultimate gift of being around the Catholic Center. Being around a U.S.-focused missionary, being around him as a roommate, is learning that aspect of living out the Gospel every day, whether it be you know, when we wake up in the morning, when we go to Daily Mass at twelve, whether we're chilling at our dorm late at night, just that whole aspect of living in every single moment. And I think that's one of the beauties of Focus and Discipleship and the way that it's teaching us in that way. Could you dive into Discipleship in a little bit and give, you know, our audience an idea of what that is and the purpose of it a little bit more? Like, Focus Discipleship? Yeah, Discipleship, yes. Yeah, Focus Discipleship. It's spiritual accompaniment. It's just, like, not on the level of spiritual direction, by the way. If you're thinking about going in a spiritual direction, please find someone trained to do that. But, Focus Discipleship is meant to build up like, once we've said yes to the Gospel, once we've accepted our Lord's saving message, then, yeah, like, we need to learn the practicals of how to do that. Whether that's, like, growing in human formation, in virtue, and all that stuff. But also, like, the main way that Focus ministers to students is, like, through Bible studies. Like, how can we lead an effective Bible study? How can we encounter like, people, like, in the Bible study setting, diving into the Word? And then, that's just, like, a really unclear answer. It's fine. But, yeah, so, like, you have someone who's walking with you, who's running with you, in your pursuit of virtue. And then, also, in your pursuit of living a life like Christ, in pursuing other people. That's a really broad overview of what discipleship is. Did you do discipleship when you were in college and have someone be your leader? Yeah. I... When was I asked into discipleship? I think it was the end of the first semester of my sophomore year. And, yeah, Focus has, like, a curriculum for it. But, like, the entire first semester that I was in discipleship, so the second semester of my sophomore year, I was just, like, I was really struggling. I was really struggling with virtue and vice and all those things. And so, like, that's what me and my first disciple would talk about a lot, is, yeah, how do I root out these vices, these sins? And then, after that, like, getting into, like, the more practical formation. Of, yeah, encountering other people. And what's it been like? You know, you did it in college. You were a disciple follower. Like, someone above you was helping you. And now, you get to be a disciple. That's discipleship leader. Now, what has it been like to be able to take that experience, that you actually being involved in the program and now being a leader of that program? Yeah. I actually started discipling people when I was in college. Like, my junior and senior year. I took on my commanded discipleship. And so, I get to continue doing that in a brand new place. And I think that's just such a gift. Because the reality is, like, discipleship, it's not a Focus exclusive thing. If everybody was living out missionary discipleship, then Focus wouldn't need to exist. And I think it's kind of cool that, I guess, it'd be part of an organization where, yeah, like, I can say that. Where it's like, if everybody lived out missionary discipleship, that would be the goal, right? Like, that everybody's just, like, living a life that is so transformed by Christ that they can't help, but still go out and do the same. But, that wouldn't be holding them in a fallen world, so. Yeah. Well, you talk about being a gift and having a gift that you're able to do. So, I think that brings us perfectly to our quote that you so perfectly provided for us. Here's the quote right for you guys. Man cannot fully find himself except through the sincere gift of himself. I'll read it one more time. Man cannot fully find himself except through the sincere gift of himself. Also, could you just tell us a little bit about where you first heard this quote and where you got it from and just, like, the context around this quote. Yeah, so, one of my best friends in college, he recently just got married, but he loves JP too, and JP too actually quoted this in one of his homilies, but it was, I believe it's from an encyclical, called Gaudium et Spes, which means hope and joy. Joy and hope. Yeah, and I thought that it really just encompassed what my experience was like in college. That somebody was a gift, like, several people were a gift to me in friendship, and I was like, this is great, but my life has become so much more abundant when I was able to, like, pour myself out to, like, my own Bible study and my own Bible study guys. So, I think it goes back to what you were talking about, that when you first got there and you were around the Catholic Center, you saw these people and you saw that they were happy, right? You talked about that and you yourself at that time didn't feel happy, but those people were, you know, really being a gift to you, and then now you're able to be a gift to other people, and would you say that you are as happy or in that happy space that, you know, those people that you first encountered at your Texas A&M Catholic Center, you think you have, you know, finding that same happiness that they had? Yeah, I definitely do. Like, I think it goes back to the fact that we were made for communion. Like, and we can get into all that, but it's made in the image and likeness of God. If that truly is the case, and it is, it is. But, like, who is God? God is communion, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Three in one. So we too, if we are created in that image, then we are also created for communion. The Father who gives Himself completely to the Son, and the Son who gives Himself completely to the Father, and, like, that complete, like, self-giving takes on, like, a whole other person of the Trinity, which is the Holy Spirit. That is a very simplified version, explanation. But, it, of course, we would find fulfillment if we were able to give of ourselves, and then another gives back. I think that's also so beautifully reflected in the sacrament of marriage. Like, a husband who gives himself completely to his wife, a wife who gives herself completely to her husband. It comes from that life. Yeah, so. I've really enjoyed diving into this quote when you gave it to me. So, I like to pick it apart a little bit, and just breaking it down from top to bottom, because it's basically agape if you're going to break it down, which is, like, the highest form of love. It's the love of self-giving, giving yourself to others, giving pretty much every part of you that you have to somebody else, essentially. And, breaking it down, I got a couple different, like, topics, side topics, that make up this agape. And, I finally got it down to two, and it was self-mastery and learning how to self-love. Because, in order to learn how to love yourself, you have to learn how to give yourself to others as well. And, in order to master your own senses and grow in yourself, you have to learn how to give yourself as well. And, I kind of broke it down to those two things. And, I just thought it was so profound, because there's so much that makes up agape. There's so much. And, it's not this simple, you have to do this, this, this. It's very complex. But, in a sense, it's learning how to love, which is what God's there for. And so, throughout our lives, I found learning that giving myself to others isn't always the easiest thing to do. But, when I was closest to God, it became easier and easier and easier, because I was learning how to love myself, and I was learning how to accept His love. And, once I had learned His gift of giving love to others, I was learning to give that love back to somebody else. And, like I said, self-mastering self-love, I'm learning how to love myself more, and love the things about myself, and being less fake around other people. And, just before we got here, I was listening to Jordan Peterson talk, and he said, the first step in understanding yourself is to learn that you don't understand yourself. You don't. And, to start that off, because you can't start thinking you know yourself, because if you think you know yourself, then maybe you really haven't found yourself yet. There's just a very long process, and I don't think you'll ever will until the end of your life. And, that's in Heaven, because that's when you're with God, essentially. And so, like Father Mgaga likes to say, what are we searching for, or who are we searching for? And, I think, in essence, we're searching for God through ourselves. And, I kind of think that's what our life is about. It's our life goal. Which is why I found it so interesting that you provided it, because I feel like this is your motto. This is your focus missionary motto. And, I was like, man, this is so neat. He is practicing agape day by day, because your goal is to lead others to Christ. That's why you're a missionary. And, it's like, wow, this is so neat. I've never heard it broken down this way. So, I just want to say it was really nice to hear that. The, I guess you can call it the mission statement of focus, is to know Christ Jesus, and to fulfill the Great Commission. And, it is, like, the order of that is so, so crucial. Like, to know Christ Jesus first. That we, as missionaries, would know His love for us, first and foremost. I think something really cool that that was said to me when training, and has been told to me a couple of times, is, yeah, if the only soul that is saved by you being a missionary is your own, then it is worth it. Then it has done its job. Because, like, yeah, the first thing is to know Christ Jesus. And, to know His love for me, and to, like, completely give myself to that. Just as He did for, like, me. And then, like, naturally from that, naturally, like, the desire to zeal for souls is going to come. Absolutely. Absolutely. And, there's definitely a couple ways that we could go about this. But, one thing that popped in my head, that we've talked about on our podcast that I got from what you were talking about, is, you know, we've talked about having, you know, sometimes, when we get ready to do this podcast, or, like, in the weeks before, or days before, that we feel a certain type of, you know, shame, or guilt, or a feeling of unworthiness to be able to make this podcast. And, what you're saying about, you know, knowing Christ Jesus as being the first part of the mission, and that first part, and that's the most important part before you can even get to the other part, it makes me think of this. And, in that moment, when I feel this way, and I feel like I'm not worthy for that, that it's a calling from God that I need to dive more into knowing Him. And, to be able to get on this podcast, and speak, and have that zeal, and that longing for other people, I need to know His love even deeper. I need to know that, you know, I need to know how much He loves me, and that I don't need to feel this shame, or this guilt, and this unworthiness, because that's how much He loves us. And, His love is so strong, that it is leading us to want to do these things, because we've encountered it. And, it's very interesting that you brought that up, and I like that. I like that a lot. That, you know, if we're the only person, we're the only soul that is saved through our mission from knowing Christ, then it's worth it. I like that a lot. Thank you for that. It's very funny. This is very much like the Josiah Clink quote we talked about. If I'm the only thing that they read, let the words they read be what you wrote. And, so it's kind of like, oh, if I'm the only thing that they're going to see in my life, let the words that I live, let me live through you, so that they can see that. And, even if I don't bring them, at least I'm living through you throughout my life. And, it's kind of crazy, I never really thought, we kind of did something on this, but we didn't go as deep as this. And, so this is a whole new level. I kind of like three steps that I broke it, another, I like breaking down, I like charts, you know. So, I thought of three steps to help find yourself. Obviously, there's a lot more things you can do. But, three that I thought were really neat, and I think were good ways to grow, is personal prayer, building true relationships, and then living authentically. And, I think that kind of goes with Agathe, especially the live authentically one, because I think that's the most important out of all three, is being real with yourself, by being real for others. You can't be fake around other people, because then how are you going to find yourself if you're not being who you are? And, you see that a lot today, in today's time, especially with people walking around and not being who they are around other people, and then going back and being a completely different person. You're like, how am I supposed to build an authentic relationship with you if this isn't even you? And, then you're like, well, then who am I? Am I doing the same thing? And, then everybody's worried about being authentic. And, again, I just feel like this all flows back to being a missionary, because I feel like y'all are called towards personal prayer. Y'all are called towards living authentically. And, then y'all go to different places and build relationships. And, there's just so much depth to this quote, and I think it really perfectly encapsulates what it means to be a missionary. And, I'm not a missionary myself, but just seeing the way you present yourself. And, when we go to the Catholic Center and hang out with you guys and all the other folks, missionaries, and just seeing your love for Christ and you guys living out these three things, it shows that y'all are giving agape to us. And, we feel it. Like, it's definitely something that's out there. It doesn't go unnoticed. So, I want to thank you for that. It's been really great for me in college, because it's built my faith a lot. And, now I'm proceeding to try to get other kids from my old high school here, because I'm like, guys, I promise you there's more to Alabama than just football and big frat parties. I was like, there's a lot. Like, the community here, the Christian faith, it's being built up. And, I promise you, if you live college the way you should, and the way you want to to grow in faith, you can do it. Like, it's possible. I'm living it right now, and I have people around me that are helping me grow. And, you're definitely a big part of that. So, I just want to say thank you for that. It's been like, y'all are freaking awesome. It's so cool to be around y'all. Wow. They're freshmen? I didn't know that. I'm just kidding. No, your words mean a lot. Thank you. I think it was interesting how you said, if we're all missionaries, then you wouldn't need to be a missionary. And, it kind of goes back to your whole mission, discipleship, that we all are called to be exactly what your goal is as a missionary. We all should be called to be a missionary in our own lives. And, for you, that missionary calling has been to come to the University of Alabama. And, who knows where it's going to go from here? You don't know that for sure. I don't know it at all. Only God knows where you're going to leave. But, in different ways, we all have a missionary calling. And, as you broke down in your three steps, personal prayer, authenticity, relationships. Ah, dude, you listen solid. I do. Okay. So, in reality, we all should be doing those three things in our lives, whether we are a focus missionary or we are just a student. But, those things are going to lead to being a missionary in our own lives because of everything you guys have said. You know, we don't have to go into that anymore. But, the way we are all called to be missionaries in our own ways. And, for me, I think one of what I thought of, which, from what you were talking about, is the way that the family is, how God set up the family to be its own version of a missionary and of discipleship in the way that mothers and fathers are supposed to have that missionary feel to them to their children. You look like you are about to say something over there. I understand. When you moved like this way to talk, I was listening to it. And, it kind of sounds distant when you go like this. So, maybe you want me to keep it from you? Yeah. There you go. Okay. Got it. Anyways, but, yes. And, just thinking about how that works with the family and how God developed the family to be that area of missionary work where that you know, when people go to college, you know, they are prepared to be missionaries to maybe other people that didn't have the same, you know, situation that they had growing up. And, just thinking a lot about how we all can be missionaries in our own lives. And, you know, you guys are striving to be missionaries, but you're also teaching so many people to be missionaries. And, that's so awesome that you get to spread that message. I'm so glad that we were able to come here and encounter you guys and, you know, follow in your missionary footsteps. You know, leading up to this episode, I was like, okay, Austin's on the podcast. Austin's on the podcast. And, I just kept replaying. First time we met, you and, Carlos, was it Rory? Rory. It's Rory. You and Rory. And, it was the first time we've ever been, I mean, besides a tour. I went with Lexus Gallegos on a tour before I even came here. He got me here. So, thanks, Lexus. Anyways, I remember meeting you guys for the first time. It was on, what was it called? I believe it was the Block Party. No, it was before that. It was like the first thing. Nacho Bar Night? It was Nacho Bar Night. We had talked and Chris Marcus was with you guys. I remember that. And, he looked like a surfer dude because his hair was wild. And, I was like, because I didn't know, I didn't know at first that y'all were Focus Missionaries. But, I was like, man, this is awesome. They're like fired up in their faith right now. This feels great. It's like, this is really good fresh air. And, y'all were going to play Pickleball that night or something. And, y'all wanted to talk to us about the Block Party the next day. And, I was like, okay, they're getting us involved. Let's go. Let's go. Let's just dive into it. And, so I just kept replaying that over and over again. And, I'm like thinking, there's thousands of kids across America that are living this exact same moment with a different missionary. With a different person that's introducing them to something. And, like, this mission that they're called towards is so beautiful on so many different levels. And, so I just kept replaying that over and over in my mind. And, I just thought, wow. How honored were we to be one of those kids that got touched by y'all's mission. I was like, it's just so neat. I don't know. It's just really cool. I just can't think about it. I've looked it up on to see how many different universities you guys have focused missionaries at. And, my girlfriend goes to a university that doesn't have focused missionaries there. And, I don't know if there's a way to put an application for a school. But, I would love to do that. Because, not only would I love for my girlfriend to be able to be involved with FOCUS and all the missionary stuff, all the discipleship stuff. But, just that whole university. And, just every university needs it. And, we all need FOCUS to be there. Because of everything that we talk about you. We talk about your missionaries around you. You guys do incredible work. And, that's why I've tried to see if I could get my girlfriend to come down here. So, I could be with all the missionaries down here. But, seriously. Like, if there's a way to get more. If we can have a calling for more missionaries. Whatever donations we need to fund up here. Whatever needs to happen to get this FOCUS spread onto more campuses would be amazing. Because, we've seen at the University of Alabama obviously, there's a lot of people that go here. And, it's known for us to talk about football and parties. But, we've seen an incredible influx of people come to the Catholic Center. Because of what FOCUS has done. Luckily, from Nick Saban providing money to be able to build a nice center for us to hang out. But, there's been so many people that have been able to interact with different people. Whether they're Catholic or not. To be able to meet up at the Catholic Center. And, be able to do all these things. And, to not have that at certain universities is sad to hear. And, it just gives us more to strive for. More zeal to keep bringing this to different campuses and different people around the world for sure. Yeah, yeah. A lot of FOCUS's resources are available online on their website and stuff. And so, like, digital outreach. I don't speak on behalf of FOCUS by any means. Like, in any official capacity. But, I know that they do digital outreach. So, if you want to, yeah, like, have a relationship with a missionary. If FOCUS isn't on your campus, like, there's a way for that to happen. And then, you can also, like, petition to, like, your local bishop. And say, hey, like, we think that this would be really great for, like, our college campus. Or, like, our diocese. And so, yeah, like, those are just, like, some ways. And, like, all of our discipleship articles, Bible studies, and all that, like, are online for people to use. And, like, something really cool about the FOCUS Bible studies is there's guides for them. So, if you are wanting, like, your own, like, personal formation, you can go. You can look them up. You can read through them. You can read through the discipleship articles. You can, like, read through them with other people. And, yeah, like, Shameless plug right there. Hey, we're not opposed to it, though. We love FOCUS. Y'all have done great. And, I want y'all's mission to spread as far as possible. A lot of people need to feel it. And I know a lot of people deserve it, too. So, yeah. You got anything else? I'm trying to think. Because I'm loving this conversation. I really want it to end. It's going pretty well. I'm trying to think of some more things to dive into. But we are at the 40-minute mark. We are at the 40-minute mark. Austin, would you, if we can think of anything, would you like to keep going, if we can think of anything? I'm down for it. Peace game. Peace game. All right. What else can we explore in the chat? I have a question written down, but I'm trying to remember if you've answered it or not. But I'm going to ask it anyways. So, this quote says that you cannot fully find yourself except through the sincere gift of yourself. What are you finding out about yourself through giving yourself through your missionary work? Tough question. Yeah. Giving other people Jesus is so much better than just, like, giving, like, just, like, plainly yourself. And so, I think of St. Paul when he says, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And what is more authentic? What is more authentic with yourself than to live in the identity of the son or daughter of the Father? To live in, like, in the joy of the Gospel. So, that's what I'm continuing to learn. I'm continuing to learn that I, in the sincere gifts of myself, the sincere gift is Jesus living in me. And so, because of that, everything else that is not of God in me must be destroyed. Which is hard. It's hard, like, when the Lord prunes and he purifies, it is painful. But, there is no good Friday without an Easter Sunday. Yeah, it's still Easter. So, happy Easter. Yeah. Do you ever find it super challenging to, you know, be sincere in your giving of yourself? Oh, yeah. Pride is a huge thing. It's like, you want, like, this desire for, like, people to, like, see you and, like, acknowledge you and, like, all these things. But, the beautiful thing is that, yeah, just simply from this quote, is that we do not find ourselves by, like, navel-gazing. By just looking to ourselves and, like, seeking our own interests. But, rather, to look at the cross. And, I believe, I believe that Christ was the most joyful man on the cross. Because, on Calvary, he, he says, like, Father, into your hands. In the garden, he says, Father, your will be done. He says, Father, forgive them. And, so, and, so, yeah, it's hard. Like, self-preservation is a thing. Self-exaltation is a thing. But, when that's all we seek, when, like, that's when we get lost in pleasure-seeking and living for the chiefs or else. And, anybody who has done that, like, this is myself included, it's pretty empty. Yeah. I had a question. I'm trying to remember. Okay, I got it. So, obviously, missionary, you're trying to reach a lot of people. Obviously, you have a lot of good, but you also have some times when you try to reach out to people and it doesn't go so well. Could you talk about, you know, just how do you, what is your mindset when you reach out to somebody and it just doesn't really go very well? Like, they're very, you know, either they just push you away, they're just don't respond at all. Just, like, there's moments where you're trying to give Jesus to people, but they're just not accepting it. How do you handle those moments? I'm sure, you know, they come around a good amount. Yeah, like, there is a temptation where I was like, oh, like, that kind of hurts, like, my personal pride. Like, why was I, like, not good enough? Why was I not cool enough? Um, but I think um, the Lord has, in His mercy, has given me, like, a heart for these people. Where it's just like, yeah, my heart breaks because, like, I want so, like, the Lord wants so much for you. I want so much for you. Um, but the hope is, uh, like, we read in scripture the story of the rich young man who is like, teacher, like, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus goes through, like, you must, like, follow the commandments. Like, I've done these since my youth. And He's like, sell everything you have and come follow me. And He walks away sad. But there's a line, there's a line there, that, um, I believe it's, I believe it's in Mark's gospel. But he, he puts a line in there that says, Jesus, looking at Him, loved Him. The only person who would have known that, or, like, the way it's been interpreted, is, like, the only person who would have known that is the person that Jesus was looking at. And so, legend has it, is that it was, it was Mark. Was it Mark or Luke? I can't remember. Um, I'm a Holy Spirit. But it was, it was Mark or Luke that, like, that was, that was the rich young man. And he would come back and he would actually write the gospel. Like, one of the, like, one of the gospels. Um, and so there's hope. And I, like, when people say no, we say in focus, a no is just a slow yes. And so we continue to pray for them. And, um, and hope that the Lord will do something. So, yeah. I like that. I like that a lot. Um, yeah, I got nothing else. You came in just to ask me the question, so I'm just letting you go. Do you have, you know, just one final message that you would like to give, you know, to us as your fellow podcaster and, you know, to the audience. Just one final message that you would like to give with this, these final moments that you have. Final message. Um, yeah, for y'all. Like, this is really cool, like, what y'all are doing. There's a lot of there's a lot of things on media nowadays. And so it's awesome to see that young people are, um, yeah, willing to put good stuff out there that lead people to Jesus. And so, yeah, what a gift. Like, praise God for it. Um, for the audience. I don't know, I feel like we've talked about a lot that they can, they can chew on. But yeah, anyone who needs to hear it, like, the Lord loves you. He loves you and He seeks you. He's pursuing you. And, like, my prayer for, like, all of our listeners is that um, whether in a new or old way, uh, that you can encounter the Lord's love for you in a profound way. That you were made for heaven. And that, yeah, we are an Easter people. Like, He did first, so we shall do. Uh, and so, yeah, I pray that the joy of the gospel, uh, might come alive in your hearts and yeah. So, that's that's all I got. We appreciate that. We appreciate you coming on. It's been, uh, you know, just a blast, a blessing and a blast to have you on this podcast and just have you around and in our lives this past year as the semester comes to a close. And we're so thankful that we were able to get you on here before, you know, this semester ends. We hope that you'll be back next semester as our Focus Missionary. And who knows, maybe we can, you know, have a part two. Maybe get the other Focus Missionaries on. So, we'd love to have that. Thank you all, sincerely. Thank you for everything you've done for us. Yeah, thanks for having me. Alright, guys. So, we, uh, really enjoyed this episode. We have a surprise guest who will be coming on next week. We won't say his or her name, but be expecting that. It'll be fun. Cool episode. Our bracelets came in, finally. If you know us or know anybody else that knows us, we can get it to you. Just send us a message or try to get somebody to pick it up for you. I'll be coming back to St. Bernard in beginning of May so I can try to get some of y'all then who are at St. Bernard and Coleman or in that area. Nazario's heading back to Kentucky when? Two weeks. Two weeks. So, he can try to get it. Yep, thumbs up to that. He can try to get it to them anytime soon. Anytime around there. So, just let him know. Other than that, we'll see y'all next week. God bless. Adios. Awesome. Very fun. That was awesome. Great. Wow, we ended, like, right at 530, guys. Yeah, I kept cuz I was looking at it the entire time. I was like, I don't want him to go over. I don't want him to go over. Cuz I knew he had somewhere to be and I didn't want you to be late for it or whatever. It's just, literally, just didn't.