I'm so excited about this post but have found it difficult to know how and where to start. I made a special announcement to my team and have told a few family members, but until now I haven't publicly shared the adventure on which I plan to embark next February, Lord willing.
This is the announcement I made to my team on December 1st:
Guess who's going on a trip in February ... to Guatemala ... where we source Cardamom?!? This has been a dream since September 2013 when I watched convention online and stood in my kitchen crying as I realized how huge the work dōTERRA does truly is and how it is changing the world. I promised myself that day that someday I would go on a Healing Hands trip. Yesterday I found out there were four spots left on a trip in February. Last night I decided I needed to sleep on it. This morning I woke up and saw there was only one spot left and signed up. I still can't believe it!"
I'm not sure the reality has sunk in, but last week I took a trip to the post office to renew my passport. Instead of lamenting how much I've aged in 16 years (not sure why I might think I wouldn't or shouldn't), I'm choosing to be thankful that I'm alive, I'm healthy, and I'm going to Guatemala! (But seriously, do these photos even look like the same person?)
I have also been filling my brain with as much Spanish as it can hold, as time allows. I'm hoping to put my minor in Spanish, which I earned in college 17 years ago, to good use at long last. I must admit that not only my face but also my mind has aged! However, I do believe I can make a lot of language progress in the next two months.
I'll be updating this website with details of my trip as I learn more, and after I return I'll be sure to share words, pictures, stories, and videos of what it's really like to be on the ground with dōTERRA, on location at the farm, and also visiting the distillery to watch the distillation process.
Perhaps you're wondering why I have been dreaming of going on a trip like this one. My first mission trip took me to the Philippines when I was 14 years old, and I've truly never been the same since then. I traveled to Tanzania, Mexico, and Tanzania again over the next several years, and when our children were small, my husband took mission trips to Panama and Cuba. When I found dōTERRA, I had no idea that my love for going on mission trips and my dedication to supporting mission work would meet its match with my newfound love of local, organic, and sustainably farmed food. In fact, these three worlds (essential oils, mission work, and organic foods) seemed to be unrelated interests that I held, but I couldn't have been more wrong about that.
I, the daughter of a conventional wheat farmer, grew up to have an obsessive interest in organic, sustainable farming and fair trade, so learning as much as I could about dōTERRA's farming practices was clearly essential to me as I weighed whether to use the products and especially whether to take the leap into building a business. It wasn't called "Cō-Impact Sourcing" back then, but the principles and values have held true since the inception of the company, and this quick video gives you a glimpse into what Cō-Impact entails.
That leads me to Guatemala, where dōTERRA sources Cardamom, the country's #1 export. Cardamom, a close relative to Ginger, yields such a beautiful oil, with its unmistakable spicy and warm aroma. This essential oil has many benefits, especially to the gastrointestinal and respiratory systems, and I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to be a part of the harvesting that takes place early in the year, as parts of this video show.
Soon after I made the decision to participate in the 2017 service trip, I watched the following video of dōTERRA's 2013 Healing Hands trip to Guatemala. My eyes welled with tears at the realization that I will get to be a part of whatever service project dōTERRA has in store for us.
This video features the 2016 Healing Hands service trip to Guatemala. I absolutely love that the projects taking place in the community where dōTERRA's Cardamom is grown range from installing fences and toilets to painting buildings and constructing more cost-effective wood stoves, which prevent smoke inhalation and help minimize burns for the local families as well.
Perhaps you order monthly with dōTERRA but have never paid much attention to Healing Hands. I want to close this post with a request: Please make sure to check that little "donate $1 to Healing Hands" on your order template. While you're at it, add Rose Lotion and Hope Oil Blend to your cart ($20 each, and 100% goes to Healing Hands). These are both beautiful products you'll love, and your purchase makes a huge impact. The final video below gives you a glimpse of the difference you can make with your donations.
This is what happens when the owners of a company have "impossible" dreams, big hearts, open hands, and willingness to serve others. This is what happens when 4 million Wellness Advocates and Wholesale Customers worldwide decide they can sacrifice a little. Think you can get essential oils that are better quality? Think it doesn't matter which company you buy essential oils from? Think buying from the largest essential oil company in the world means you're lining the pockets of corporate executives? Think dōTERRA is "too expensive"? I challenge you to watch this ... and think again.
Thank you for reading my exciting news and following my journey with Healing Hands. I look forward to sharing more with you over the next few months. I have a feeling I'm in for quite an adventure!
