Back in the Saddle Again

Well, I am back in the shadow of Saddle Mountain (Cerro de la Silla, pictured below) and the new semester has started here in Monterrey. This summer has been good and fun and crazy and frustrating and about a million other things. I have seen people at their best and worst and through it all I have seen God at work in our lives. I could write several books about all that has gone on in my life over the last month and a half, but I know most of you are impatient (like me), so I will spare you for now. If anything you read peaks your interest and you want ''the rest of the story'' you can always send me an email or post a comment, which I always enjoy.



There is no way I can cover the last month and a half in one post, so I am going to try to hit the highlights tonight, and I will hopefully catch up on some details over the next week or so. Okay, here we go...

The last week of June I went on a mission trip to the central part of Mexico, better known as the Heart of Darkenss. The following picture is of my awesome boss Steve and I while on that trip. When I say awesome, I am serious. How many bosses respond to a big wedgie by kissing you on the cheek? I only know of one.



Anyway, I returned to Monterrey in time to welcome a volunteer group from my home church in Florence, Kentucky on June 30th. The youth and their leaders did an unbelievable job at three different locations over the course of a week, painting and restoring church buildings in the morning and afternoon, and leading vacation Bible schools in the evenings. They also built great relationships with the youth and pastors at several churches and got to do a little sight seeing as well. I said goodbye to them on a Friday and began to prepare for another volunteer group to arrive the next day. The pictures below are of me with friends Will and David, who I am hoping will come to Monterrey in the spring to study.





Okay, that Saturday I got up and went to work in Alianza as I so often do on Saturday mornings. I returned home in the early afternoon to find that my apartment had been robbed for the second time in about five weeks. This time the theives completely busted the locks out of the wood door. They stole my computer and my phone, which is one reason why I haven't been the best communicator as of late. Anyway, the robbery slowed me down a little bit, but the show must go on. The volunteers from Corpus Christi, Texas arrived that night, and they also did a very good job here in town. They assisted with vacation Bible schools at four churches and also had the opportunity to prayer walk the campus of Tec de Monterrey.

Two days after the Texas group left town I was off on a little trip of my own. My friend and fellow missionary Nolan came to Monterrey and we jumped on a bus to Zacatecas. We spent six days traveling to several cities to meet with other Christians who work with university students here in Mexico. We hit Tepic and Puerto Vallarta before arriving in Nolan's city of Querétaro. The following pictures are of Nolan and I at a silver mine in Zacatecas and at the beach in Puerto Vallarta. We went swimming for about 20 minutes right in front of Elizabeth Taylor's house.





Upon returning to Querétaro, we had spent about 36 hours on buses over five days. We really enjoyed hanging out with the super cool Q-town crew and getting some well-needed rest for a day and a half before heading to a company meeting in the town of Leon, Guanajuato. The following picture is of us goofing off at Nolan's apartment.



The following two pictures were taken about 15 seconds apart. Our Mexican friends tend to think it is really cold if it gets below 70 degrees.



Nolan and I, on the other hand, are always comfortable in our American t-shirts.



The meetings in Leon were a great time of learning and fellowship with other missionaries, and I met many cool people that I hope to see again soon. Since most of the missionaries here in Mexico only get to see each other once a year, it was a special week. I also enjoyed eating at some good American restaurants, like Italiani's (twice). The following picture is of Nolan and I about to throw our friend Joel in the pool. Joel is holding his plaque recognizing several years of missionary service. I am taking a poll, so vote now on whether or not you think Joel stayed dry.



This picture is of some missionary kids that we made friends with while in Leon. Michel, Miles, and the Lizard are about as cool as they come.



After the mission meeting, I returned to Querétaro for a day or two and then went to Mexico City to have some tests done. I got some results today and they said that I am perfectly normal, but we all know that isn't true. You have to be at least half crazy to do this job. Anyway, after using the bathroom at the largest McDonald's in Latin America, I boarded a bus back home to Monterrey. I have been back in town for about a week, and things are doing anything but slowing down. I will have to fill you in on all the things going on here in the next few days, but for right now I am going to leave you with a picture of something I did on Tuesday night. I wanted a good way to display all of the fun things I have done in the last few months, so I got a little creative on my bedroom wall. The picture below is made up of about 90 smaller pictures, each one about 3 x 4 inches in size.



Jesus said, ''Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.'' This fish is a good reminder for me. Well, I hope you have enjoyed getting caught up on joshonamission. I hope to hear from all of you soon. Dios les bendiga!