Buenos dias y saludos del corazon de Mexico. I have been on a roller coaster these past couple weeks (both literally and figuratively speaking). A couple Saturdays ago was the wedding of my roommate Gerardo up in Mexico City. I really didn’t know what to expect, being as I have never been to a foreign wedding before. Gerardo told me a little of how the wedding would be, but I was still looking forward to seeing if it would be any different than what I was used to. The wedding was at a normal church like one we have in the States. Everything was very elegant and the ceremony actually wasn’t that different than a normal American wedding. The message of the ceremony was a great one, because not only did they have the normal marriage passages, but also made the Gospel message the main point of the service. Since most of Gerardo and Elsa’s families aren’t saved, it was a perfect way to reach them. One thing that I had never seen before at a wedding was when Gerardo got down on his knees and washed the feet of his bride during the ceremony. This was a very emotional moment and an act of love, servant hood and humility that Christ first demonstrated to us on the last night of His life.
These past couple weeks I have been living with the Mexican family and taking Spanish lessons. I have improved my skills quite a bit and am learning a lot of words they don’t teach you in school such as salvation, faith, mercy, love, sacrifice and many more words found in the Gospel. We also are going through a devotional book that is completely in Spanish and I read passages from the Bible in Spanish to familiarize myself with La Palabra de Dios en espanol.
Those were a few of the highs of the past weeks, but one low that I have grown very familiar to is being sick while here. I had gotten sick the morning of the wedding and this time it was the longest and worst it had ever been. I was having severe pains in my stomach and was taking medicine for it, but it wasn’t going away. So we ended up going to the doctor and he said that I had a bad stomach infection. He gave me a couple different medicines for the infection but said it wasn’t going to be an easy thing to get rid of, and it wasn’t. I was sick for about a week and a half with this problem which made daily chores that much more difficult, but through prayer and medicine, the pain and infection subsided and I am pretty much back to 100% now. I have really been challenged with sickness a lot while I’ve been down here. That last episode was about the 4th time that I have gotten sick while being down here. There are certain things you can do to avoid getting sick, such as not drinking the water, which I of course have not been drinking. But sometimes, it comes in things you eat or even the air you breathe in. I know through these hardships of sickness I am being tested and my faith strengthened. When my strength runs dry and my vision is blinded, will I endure this trial of my faith victoriously or will I turn back in defeat? Faith must be tested, because it can only become your intimate possession through conflict. The test will either prove your faith right, or it will kill it. Jesus said, “Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me” (Matthew 11:6). The ultimate thing is confidence in Jesus. “We have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end . . .” (Hebrews 3:14). Believe steadfastly on Him and everything that challenges you will strengthen your faith. There is continual testing in the life of faith up to the point of our physical death, which is the last great test. Faith is absolute trust in God— trust that could never imagine that He would forsake us (Hebrews 13:5-6).
During the week and a half there was a window of reprievement for my birthday on the 27th. I was so thankful for a temporary break from illness that I had been praying for which allowed my friends down here to take me to 6 Flags Mexico City, the literal part of "roller coaster." Although it wasn’t a completely pain free day, it was still an enjoyable birthday spent with some great friends that I have made in my time down here. I thank the Lord for allowing me to enjoy that day and also for the many many blessings He has given me over this past quarter century. Man, I’m getting old!
The Pinons, the family I’m staying with, have a friend, Raul, that comes for food or money everyday. He is not able to support himself due to something that happened to him when he was a kid. A few men mugged him when he was younger and as a result, it permanently damaged his brain. He now wanders the street, going door to door for money and food. It is very sad because he has nowhere to go and isn’t all there in the head to be able to even hold a job. So the Pinons have been helping him by giving him a little something everyday. He can be quite a character sometimes and has nicknames for everyone. When I come to the door to give him money he calls me “tio” which means ‘uncle”, even though he is probably twice my age. One day I was wearing shirt with a big Teenage Mutant Ninja turtle face on it when I answered the door. He laughed when he saw my shirt and called me Frederico. I don’t know why he called me that, but someone told me it was probably because he had a pet turtle at one time named Frederico. Now to him I am Tio Frederico, or Uncle Frederick. He is a character, but also someone that needs prayer. He needs somebody, like a relative to take him in. He has relatives that are pretty wealthy but won’t help him out. So pray that his situation improves both physically and spiritually and that God would soften the hearts of his relatives.
Well that was a long post but now it’s time for “You know you’re in Mexico when…” You know you’re in Mexico when you go to use a public restroom but realize there are no toilet paper and no toilet seat either because someone stole them, or they were never there in the first place.
Less than one month until I’m back.
Billy
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