1 month down...

  Mexico has definitely been quite an adventure from trying to learn the language to all the different foods they eat and even the times in which they eat.  I think, after a month, I am finally starting to adjust. I wake up each morning around 8am and have breakfast, but the girls I am staying with do not wake up until almost 9:30 or 10. Mexicans are very relaxed about everything, especially on the time things start and end. No one really has to be in to work at a specific time. It is nice to have that time of quietness in the morning before my busy day begins. I work at the church every morning from 10:30 until around 2. I do all sorts of things: filing letters and other documents for the Light Shine ministry; cleaning the church; helping with the kids at Light Shine twice a week; organizing closets and storage areas; caring for the infants in nursery for Saturday evening services; making fancy coffees and baking for the cafe; and much more!

   My favorite part, so far, has definitely been working with all the Tahamarian children in the Light Shine ministry. It is so neat to see how eager they are to learn everything they can about the Bible. They are wild and crazy before and after Light Shine, but during devotion time, they pay very close attention and answer all the questions their teacher asks them. God is definitely doing a mighty work in this ministry! 

   I have also enjoyed getting to know all the different missionaries and church members here. They are all so loving and welcoming, as well as very understanding of my lack of knowledge when it comes to Spanish. I am learning some Spanish, but it is coming very slowly. I have the basic greeting down very well. They actually say, “Thanks be to God” at the end of their greeting. For a while, I thought they were saying goodbye because it sounds like “ gracias, adios” (thanks, goodbye)but it is separated as “gracias a Dios” (thanks to God). I also learned that the word “stupid” in English translates to a curse word in Spanish. It is not a word I say very often, but I made the mistake of saying it in a casual conversation with a native speaker who also knows English. He told me NEVER to say that word again! 

  Time has definitely gone by fast here. I cannot really believe I have been here for a month. I am definitely enjoying serving the Lord in the ministry down here. It is teaching me how my everyday life should be in full service to Him no matter what I am doing. Most days, I am doing basic clerical work that no one will every know I even did, but it is not any different in God’s eyes then working one-on-one with an indian child.