Emails from Mexico...

Dan is doing well on his mission trip in Galeana, Mexico, as far as I know - his phone doesn't work and the Internet is spotty at best down there. However, he actually only has two days left until he comes home! He asked me to post excerpts from his emails on the blog to update everyone on how he's doing. Hopefully when he comes back, he can either write a post about it (thanks for the idea, Andrea!) or at least put up some of his pictures.

Day 2 (First email):
today was fun, we literally went to a village in the middle in the mountains. its like going back 100 years in time. except they do have electricity. i did a whole lot of stuff today, it was kinda like whoever needed help i helped out. Grant [the pastor of Fellowship Bible Church] and i shared some resources with a pastor, i babysat the little kiddoes, and i also helped out in the pharmacy. being in these tiny villages in the middle of nowhere really gives you a new perspective on how much we have.

Day 4:
yesterday was good, we went to a different rancho, still in the middle of nowhere, i helped out a little in the pharmacy and the dentist again, but mostly was helping grant talk to some pastors. the hotel is pretty bare bones but after spending all day in a rancho its more than enough. my neck got super sun burnt yesterday even though i put on sunblock, so today i think im wearing my rain jacket all day regardless of the weather. it has been really neat to cultivate relationships with new people. obviously grant is probably the person ive connected most with. i'm starting to get pretty worn out, outside all day in the elements really takes it out of you, i think translating also drains me mentally. grant is really appreciative of my help and i think is pretty impressed, but in these situations i get a little frustrated becuase i realize how much spanish i dont know.

Day 5 (today):
yesterday was a pretty cool day. once again we drove about 2 hours into the mountains on dirt roads in the middle of nowhere. its amazing that there are these communities that you would never know they were there. i really think we are serving some of the poorest people in mexico. yesterday grant and i were looking forward to meeting with a pastor in this community that grant had met last year. when we got there we learned that this pastor's son had died in an accident at work, he fell from like 50 feet. the accident was on wednesday and he died friday evening. grant and i and another translator were able to meet with his family and express our condolences and also give this pastor some resources. it was quite an emotional experience to meet with him and his family in their home, which was basically a two room shack with dirt floors and have the opportunity to pray for him in his family. the most amazing part was when this pastor prayed and the focus of his prayer was thanking god for bringing us there during this time of need and asking the lord to bless us and our church. i couldnt believe that at this time of intense pain for him and his family the focus of his prayers was on us, and not on his own needs. this type of selflessness is not seen very often. so combining that with the extremely humble surrounding was quite an experience.

I'm excited for Dan to come home but it sounds like he's doing great things down there, and helping out a lot. :-)