FabFinca: Hasta luego, Guatemala!

Well, this is it! We are in the final countdown to the mission!

I finished my classes today, and I leave for Honduras in just over 24 hours. My how time has flown!

I can never express my gratitude in words, but all of the spiritual, emotional, and financial support that I have received really has me feeling so blessed. Through the support of my family, friends, and community, I have made this decision to answer God’s call to serve my neighbor, and this journey began with the blessing of my time in Guatemala.

The reason that I have been in Guatemala for the past 7+ weeks is to learn Spanish, and while doing that I have been tested and accomplished things that I never even dreamed of!

I have met 6 new friends who have become my companions on this crazy journey. I have learned to play the most fun card game ever, Euchre. I climbed a volcano to the top and roasted a marshmallow over the lava. I jumped from a 15-foot boulder into the clearest water I have ever seen. I participated in the “Antorcha,” and ran carrying a torch to celebrate the Independence of Guatemala. I have ridden in the back of pickup trucks, and climbed a mountain to watch the sunrise. I have watched more desfiles (parades) than I have ever seen in my life. I watched 10 grown men try to climb a greased telephone pole to win 500 Quetzales (about $65). I have experienced a culture that is much different than the one that I come from, but I have realized that the people are oh-so similar!

Boys life to play games and wrestle. Kids like to throw water on each other. Some adults work hard…others could work harder. Women go to the bathroom with friends. Teenagers are sometimes defiant. So familiar…

I have had so many experiences here that have made me feel like I’m living. I have laughed until my abdomen was sore, climbed through body aches, cried out of frustration, and loved beyond limits.

My greatest blessing here was Jesus working on humbling my heart to receive love more fully. Sitting in front of Jesus here in the chapel is the only thing that has remained constant-he is the same Jesus that I knew from home, and he will be the same Jesus in Honduras. What a blessing that has been. It excited me that I am starting to learn to pray in Spanish, and I am learning the mass in Spanish too, but as one former missionary reminded us, “Jesus loves us no matter how much Spanish we do or don’t know.”

So now the journey begins! We leave for Honduras Wednesday morning at 0300, and we have a 12-hour bus ride to San Pedro Sula, Honduras. We will stay overnight at the seminary there, and then the following day we will continue for an additional 8 hours to Trujillo (with maybe a retreat somewhere in between). Upon arriving there, we will start the long-awaited mission, and we will receive countless blessings in many forms, including disconnection from electronics.

“Christ has no body but yours, no hands nor feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes with which he looks with compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the world… Christ has no body on Earth but yours.” -St. Teresa of Avila