Missions in Mexico

The past week has been a pretty new and interesting experience for me. I went on missions to Oaxaca, Mexico, and I don't know what else to call it but, well, so different. And when I came back home, in a sense, I really missed living there, more than I had missed living here in the U.S. Strange, huh?

Well anyway, for the past 8 days I was serving God in Mexico through evangelizing and by teaching VBS and all. We went to two churches; Linda Vista and Chuxnaban, and I have to say, out of the two, I preferred Linda Vista much better. The weather was cooler, we literally were living in the clouds, the scenery was beautiful, the food was somewhat better, and it rained/thunderstormed a lot. It was...somewhat nice, though I had to sleep on a table there. The kids were adorable, but they were also punks, not listening to us, haha. They were cute, though. The kids at Chux were really cute too, and more well-behaved. Probably because the heat and humidity drained their energy from them. Totally understandable.

So I gave a message to the kids during VBS (which was difficult with them being so distracted) and I had to give my testimony as well as be on stage every night performing either a pantomime or a dance. It was actually pretty fun (not the message giving part, but performing on stage).

But besides that, I tried cow brains, bought things with pesos and bargained with sellers at a shopping center, made a bracelet with the kids :], didn't shower for a...few days..., learned how to flush the toilet mountain people style, had beans, rice, coffee, and tortillas almost every day, got bitten just a little bit (thank goodness), and saw an innumerous amount of stars. The sky was beautiful everywhere we went. There were also a lot of fireworks going off some days, especially in this one city we went to called Ayutla.

I also counted 30 dogs without collars and roaming around or sleeping on the way down the hill to Chuxnaban. Thirty more than I'd ever see anywhere in California. It was a sight.

Anyhow, that's pretty much the gist of my trip. I have mixed thoughts of how it affected me spiritually, but I'm glad I got to serve God somehow. Not sure if I'd go again. I seem to be more interested in the scenery and playing with kids and living in that culture than actually evangelizing and telling others about God. I'm alright with kids, but I feel weird sharing the gospel with adults. Don't ask me why, I just feel I haven't experienced enough to relate to them. I know it's probably a stupid reason, but, well, it's a valid one to me.

Anyhow, Oaxaca was awesome and I pray for those people we visited and the people who are long-term missionaries there. Dios te bendiga!