decisions, decisions.

okay, so after changing it for the third time, i've finally stuck with a title.
it may not be as good. but whatever.

probably from camping. a while ago?

it was in an old 4h folder, so whatever.

AND...

I decided to post part of my letter from my mexico thank you's, partly for Anna, if she's even reading this ;)

Dear friends and family,

We have been back from Mexico for a month now, and finally after several hectic weeks, have a chance to give you an update on our trip.

The weather was unheard of as the locals told us. I think it didn’t get much above 80 degrees while we were there which made work conditions great. In the evening it actually got cold enough for a long sleeve shirt or light jacket. This of course made sleeping conditions ideal.

Our daily schedule started with devotions from 7:00 – 7:30 followed by breakfast and then a teaching segment at 8:00 where we learned more about God’s call to missions. We were off to the work site by 10:00 and didn’t return until the house was complete. Some days this was 3:30 or 4:00 other days later. Once we were all loaded for the next day we cleaned up a little and went out to get something to eat. On Tuesday and Thursday there was an evening meeting with a guest speaker. We built Monday through Thursday and on Friday some of the group went to the orphanage and the others stayed back to load trucks for the following week.

Mikaela and I were in different work groups which probably kept Dad off her case! The conditions were a little rough as showers were limited to an offsite location. My group had one during the week in Mexico and waited till we got back to San Diego for the second. Other had three… like…

Mikaela

Yes, my group did have three showers, which we were all very grateful for. I think Dad is just jealous he didn’t get as many.

When people ask me “how was Mexico?” I’m never quite sure how to respond, because while I could call it a good experience, what I learned through Caravan ministries and the poverty in Mexico that I saw was unreal. The houses that we would build for these families were small than my bedroom, and now I can’t even believe that before the trip I would complain about not having enough space in my room. But what was even more amazing was that these people were so happy, excited, and thankful for this 12x12 house we built them. And even though I still don’t know what I want to do after high school, listening to the speakers at Caravan have made me consider going into missions.

My group had a really cool experience on Wednesday at our building site. The father of the family had told us that he had a job interview and would be back later to help us finish the house. (Another neat thing was that his English was very good so it made communicating a lot easier) While he was leaving, my group decided to stop what we were doing and take a minute to pray that this man would do well at his interview and hopefully get the job so he could support his family. What we didn’t know was that while we were praying for him, one of the adults in our group was walking the man to his car and praying for him as well. Later, when the father of the family returned, he happily informed us that he had gotten the job! It was so amazing to see God answer a prayer right before our eyes!

I learned so much on this trip- from my story above, I learned that when you pray, you have to believe that what you’re praying for will really happen. I also learned that I need to be more thankful for what God has given me, and that since God’s will is that no one should perish, He has called us all to go to the lost and share the message of Christ.