The following are verbatim quotations from notes written by those who have been to TOBET retreats or talks. The only editing, done with parentheses, is only done for clarification. Otherwise, the note remains as it is proper or improper grammar/spelling/concepts to stay true to their experience.
• Dear Ms. Ashour, Thank you so much for coming to talk to eigth grade. You put a topic that is hard for us to talk about and made it easy and completely unawkward. No I understand what a definitive role we have in protecting and providing for our families. You told us also about your students Zac and Fernando who truly exemplified all God wants men to be. You showed s that the body is a wonderful thing that needs to be respected and cared for as the miracle it is. From the outside looking in all of this seems like heavy stuff, but with the activities like putting our wife on a pedastle and showing us how purity is as fragile as an egg you explained to us how to treat women. We are rough, tough, and buff and need to use it to protect our future wives, all women, and Jesus’ bride the Church. In Christ, one rough, tough, and buff 8th grader
• Dear Miss Ashour, I just wanted to take some time to thank you for coming and speaking to us at our retreat. I really enjoyed all of the activities and your talks. Most of all I enjoyed the Theology of the Body talks. I was very inspired by your stories, especially the one about Fernando. I really started to think more seriously about my role as a women after you talked to us about it. Now I really think about my purity and my role as a women to be hiding and inviting. I enjoyed the egg relay because it made me realize how fragile our purity is. I have really taken the Purity Contract seriously. It Really struck me and I want to never break it. I have started to pray for my future husband to be all that you described men should. Thank you for telling the boys whatever you did (Girls retreat was Monday; boys on Tuesday) because it has worked. They treat us ladies with more respect now. I think they realize that the(y) can be both rough, tough, and buff but still protect and provide for us. I really think all of the activities really made the day fun. Another thing, the boys now see us for who we are on the inside and not just by our looks. Thank you so much. In Christ, An 8th grade girl.
• 4/29/09 Dear Ms Ashour, I greatly enjoyed your talk you gave us at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. It was the first retreat I had ever been on and it was a good experience. At first I was afraid that it would be this dull day where a person came in and lectured us about some religious topic. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised and that day turned out to be a lot of fun. You did a wonderful job in teaching us about a hard topic in a very manageable way for a bu(n)ch of eighth grade boys. I enjoyed the story you gave about Fernando. It is one of the saddest yet deeply inspiring stories I believe I have ever heard. It taught me what I needed to do in a very good way. I want to send my condolences for the loss of him. The chair analogy was also very moving. It made me truly think about all of my hardships in this life. Once more, I would like to thank you for visiting us. Sincerely yours, An 8th grade boy.
• Dear Miss Ashour, Thank you so much for teaching me the theology of the body. I learned a lot about how special and unique God created men and women. It helped me understand that each person has a different vocation, but a man and woman has different roles. The egg activity was really fun and helped me understand how fragile and delicate my purity is, and how it isn’t just virginity. The “time-machine” skit was really fun as well and helped teach me the different setting in Mass. It makes me think of Calvary and how Jesus brought His Cross, I should bring my crosses to Him. You had me about to burst into tears with the Fernando story. It is amazing he had that type of courage, and what a beautiful thing to die for! His sister is lucky to have such a courageous brother die for her purity. The clay activity helped me to see how God could’ve made us! We could’ve looked like Chewbacca!! Fortunately he didn’t and we look like the beautiful people we are. You are an inspiring speaker who has changed all of our lives. I hope you and I meet up again. Love, a changed person.
• Dear Miss Ashour, I first wanted to tell you thank you for all that you did to teach us about the Theology of the Body. You helped me understand that the body reveals the person and most of all God. There could have been many people that could have taught us this topic, but I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else. You explained this to us in a way that we could understand and grasp it. You didn’t just take this topic and give a seven hour lecture on it. You came up with fun activities and amazing stories to help us understand. Some examples you gave us for the body revealing the person and God were awesome. You had us create the most hideous creature just to show us that God could have created us like this. You helped teach us to protect and provide for our future spouses. You showed us how fragile our purity is. It is as fragile as a single egg. In the blink of an eye, it can break and shatter. This was the best retreat I have attended and I will always remember it. You helped me realize so much, and thanks to you, my entire life-style has changed. Thanks again. In Christ, 8th grade Boy.
• Dear Miss Ashour, Thank you for taking the time to come talk to us about purity. I learned a lot from the retreat and your talks meant so much to me. All your different activities and lectures really made (me) reflect on how I should treat ladies. From the beginning of the retreat you grasped my attention by pointing out that Jesus is the ultimate man. You completely changed my prospective of what a man was. I’ve learned now that a real man loves his wife, but loves God more, and that a real man would do anything to provide and protect for her. You gave us one example of a man named Fernando who protected his sister(‘s) purity by dieing for her. This part was really heart-stopping for me. Fernando’s story inspired me to be more of a soldier of Christ. I also loved the activity of catching the eggs which symbolized a womans purity. In that activity I actually dove for the egg and scraped my skin! I strive one day to be as much as a soldier of Christ as Fernando was. In Christ, Rough Tough and Buff 8th grader.
• Dear Miss Ashour, Thank you so much for coming to speak to us in retreat form. It was nice to have a break for learning about what is really important. The Theology of the Body session taught me a ton of stuff I wouldn’t know otherwise. One of my favorite parts was when we learned about how fragile our purity is. Since then, I have thought about how I don’t want to lose mine until marriage. The eggs were the perfect way to portray the message. Afterward, I even signed a purity contract, and I am so glad. I also learned who women are supposed to be hiding and inviting, and the men protecting and providing. The neatest think I learned was how God could of made us all terribly ugly, and not in his image and likness. The skits we did about lying also hit me hard, as I was one of the performers. Your stories I will never forget either, especially the one about Fernando dying for his sister’s purity. After the boys’ retreat, I’ve noticed a difference in behavior, and I am so glad. The retreat was probably the most moving retreat I will ever attend. Once again, thank you, and I hope you continue to do these retreats. In Christ, an 8th grade girl.
• Dear Miss Ashour, The Body Reveals me as a person, but it also reveals my Creator God. Thank you so much for coming and speaking to our 8th grade. I learned so much from you and had so much fun doing so. My favorite part of the retreat was when we got to go outside and do egg relay’s to protect our purity and show how fragile it is. You inspired me to be so much more careful in words and actions, and I pray for my future spouse daily. The next part of the retreat that was also fun was when we visited all the different places church (Mass—her word) goes to in the short hour we are there. The activity where we “stepped into a time machine” was fun and helped me understand the mass to a deeper extent. I loved all your stories, too. After we completed that part, we got to create the “ugliest thing”, which was funny, as well. We made the ugliest thing to show how God could’ve created us…good thing we weren’t made that ugly, I’m so glad were created in God’s image and Likelyness. Everytime I’ve gone to Mass since our retreat I practice taking all our burdens up to Christ, Just like you showed us when you carried all those chairs and then dropped them. To sum it all up it was a very memorable retreat, the best one yet. I had a great time and think you are a remarkable person. I feel blessed to have you speak to our class…In Christ, Hiding and Inviting Ashley 8th Grade Student.
• Dear Miss Ashour, I wanted to thank you for coming to our school and teaching us about our relation to God. I learned with the ladder that we needed to treat ladies with more respect and put them on a high level. I learned that our job as Christians and men is to protect and provide. I enjoyed how we used Barbie and the action figure to act things out, I thought it was very funny. I also learned that the body reveals God in two ways. The first tells us about God and second it reveals the person. It real(ly) helped us to learn better with activities in between the lessons we were learning. I enjoyed the way we put a person in the middle and that we drag(g)ed him across the room. In doing that it means that each time you go to church its like going back in time. I enjoyed listening to the stories that you told us. The stories really inspired me to protect and provide. I hope you come back to this school to teach the 8th graders next year. 8th grader.
• Dear Mrs. Ashour, Thank you for coming to our school. It was really fun and I really learned a lot! I learned to put the ladies first, and to respect them. O.K. I knew that but you really reinforced it. Purity is as delicate as an egg. And the activities that broke up the speeches were fun. I enjoyed throwing beanie babies at my friends and dinosaurs. I enjoyed it a lot. In Christ, Justin
• Dear Ms. Ashour, Thanks for all that you taught us during the retreat. I learned a great deal of things like how to treat, respect, protect, and provide for women. I am not the best listener due to ADD, but the activities you had us do really helped me understand. My favorite activitie was the egg relay that taught us how fragel our purity is. Ever since the retreat I have been praying for my future spous. You gave us many talks that were tough to listen to but taught us a lot, like the one when the guy got killed because he was protecting his sister’s purity. I also enjoyed when we did the skits on how people often tend to use other people just to get stuff. That taught us how to respect everyone. Thanks for that Wonderful retreat. In Christ, Rob
• Dear Miss Ashour, You were awesome. I personally expected just readings and meditation, but I was far off. I liked the funny, random beginning with the spinning of the ball. Making the “ugliest creature” was maybe too fun, but I still was left wondering about the story “Tow eyes to see, two arms to hug,” makes a point. It will take only a guy to understand those boys’ opinions on ‘guns as hands’ ‘horns as heads’ ideas. The body-soul and how it reveals a person and God was a nice lecture. Even if I was pretend-yelling and fighting at my friend, it was fun and we’re still friends. The two persons, one mind and body, and the other soul, made it very visual about sin and how it destroys a person. I felt heartbroken about the story of that girls being harassed. Her brother’s a true man and saint to shed his blood for her. And the example of women being hiding and inviting…It all makes sense, Catholic teaching or not. The boys took on the “protect and provide” advice very well, just so you know. And thank you for putting the importance and resemblance of Baptism into perspective for me. Now I feel even more welcome. (She was subsequently baptized at the Easter Vigil). And even though I thought of it before, the time-travel activity struck me. Every Mass, Jesus and all the saints and angels are present. It’s a wonder why so many people can’t pay attention…I had so much fun. God bless! Victoria.
• Dear Miss Ashour, Thank you so much for coming to our school and talking to us about the theology of the body. The way you explained it really helped me to understand it better. The activities we did were so much fun. It was a very special day to me especially because it was my birthday. I really liked how you started with a fun story and not a boring lecture. I know that some of us girls are really excited about finding the tunnel at Nolan. One of the activities that stood out to me was the one where we showed how going to Mass is taking us back in time to the crucifixion and taking us to the future. Not only was it fun to drag and be dragged in a sleeping bag around the room to the different “times” but it really got me to think about what is really happening during Mass. Another activity that made me think was the one about our souls. When we had two people stand up, one was the body and one was the soul, and everytime the body told a lie, the soul stepped farther and farther away. The egg toss and the sculptures were fun, too. It (the egg toss) made me realize how easily purity can be broken. The sculptures showed how God made us the way we are for a reason. Thank you so much; I will never forget this day. Sincerely, Vanessa
• Dear Miss Ashour, Thank you for coming and visiting us. I really enjoyed everything that you did for us. My favorite stuff that we did was making those ugly creatures because they help us realize that God made us like this so that we can love each other in God’s image. Another thing that we did was the egg race. It was really fun. I love how it explains how fragile our purity is and that we should protect it. I also wanted to thank you that we got to sign a purity contract and we all got medals. It was a great experience for me and I will never forget it. I wish that I could meet you again or go on another retreat with you someday, but throughout the entire retreat my favorite thing that we all did was when we were asking our friends for stuff. It was very fun and there were a lot of great skits. That was my best retreat I ever had. Your friend, 8th grade boy.
From a Chaperone and Parent:
Dear Monica and Board of Directors of TOBET,