A little bit of culture shock.

I have a little time alone this morning, so I figured I would write!
I thought it would be fun to let you guys in on some of the cultural differences that I am experiencing here, and just things that I am not used to.

First, I have driven a car once in over a month, and that one time was for approximately 3 minutes. So weird! Not gonna lie, I miss my little stick shift car, haha. Also, I haven't worn a seatbelt since I got here, sorry mom and Eric Bradley!! They just don't do that! Its not uncommon to pack ten Mexicans into a car that fits four. We have an 12 passenger church van and I was told their record of people they have fit in it is somewhere around 34!!! Babies don't use carseats, they just ride on their mother's lap. Sooooooo different from the United States.

We get fresh fruit about once a week when the fruit and veggie truck drives through town. It is all so cheap! I spend about eleven dollars each time he comes and I get enough for the whole week. Its awesome, but sometimes I wish I could just go to the grocery store whenever I need something. We also buy purified water at the store in big Culligan jugs, but sometimes they run out and we can't buy it for a week or so. You really don't know what you've got until its gone. Luckily they have small bottled waters, so I just buy a bunch of those.

Its so easy to lose track of time here. I have found it incredibly freeing to not have a pressing agenda all the time. I find myself forgetting what day of the week it is and never knowing what time it is during the day. I kinda love it! The town I live in is so peaceful. There are mountains everywhere and when the sun is setting just at the right time it all looks like a painted picture. Takes my breath away every single time. That is one thing that I will NEVER get tired of.

I've seen two live tarantulas since I've been here... lets just say I could go the rest of my life without seeing one again. Snakes, as well. I hate snakes.

Last night we had church kickball, youth against adults! It was a blast! I discovered something about myself... I get pretty excited during sports. I'm sure it was quite funny for them to watch me jumping and shouting, all the while, having no idea what I was saying!

I STARTED TEACHING! AHHHH!!
I love it! So much! I am teaching 7th-9th grade, which is Middle School here. My schedule is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9-10:30am. It is so much fun! A bit of a challenge, but I like it. Each grade is on a different level of English, so every other day I am preparing different lesson plans, and I am actually finding myself learning things too! It feels so weird that I am doing this without any experience or schooling. It is a totally different experience for me and I feel so blessed and honored to do it.
When I took Spanish in high school our teacher had all of the students choose Spanish names, and those were the names that we went by in class. I did the same thing with my students, except for with American names! I named a lot of them after my friends, haha! There is a Grace, Amy, Nathan, Adam, Eric, Lindsay, Chris, Daniel, Zoe, Brittney, etc. Being around people with your guys' names makes me miss you less, haha! ;) One girl chose the name Miley... can you tell our news here is WAY behind? The second she said that I thought, "If only she knew...".

Here is a photo with some of my students during recess! 

Well, there is a little update! Miss you guys!

Learning how to worship.

Up until now, most of my posts have been updates on how things are going in Mexico...

Well, this one is a little bit more personal.

Today, I learned how to worship.

Now, you may think that sounds odd, I surely did. I've been a Christian for 15 years. I've grown up singing in church, and hearing the talks about how worship is more than just singing. I've read Romans 12:1 about offering our bodies as spiritual acts of worship. I was even a worship intern at my church for two years! I've heard it all. If I am completely honest with you, my favorite form of worship is singing, though I am not very good at it, haha. My home church has a congregation in the thousands, our worship team is incredible and I have the opportunity to worship corporately with them every week. One of my favorite sounds is when the church is singing so loud that you can hear everyone over the instruments. You can hear thousands of voices singing as one voice to our Almighty Creator. It is so beautiful. I think until now I have taken that for granted. 

Since I've been in Mexico, I have noticed that corporate worship is one of the things I miss most. We worship as a church here four times a week, but it is so hard for me because I don't understand the words. I don't know what I am singing, so usually I spend that time praying quietly to myself about whatever The Lord brings to my mind. I knew before leaving that I would struggle with this in particular, but I didn't think it would be this hard. 

This morning, Heidi came into my room and told me that her and Conrad were going to Bacerac (a nearby town) and that they'd be home soon. I quickly realized that this meant that I would be alone. Completely alone. Just me. No one else. You have to understand, this was a big deal to me. I have only been alone maybe one other time in the three and a half weeks that I have been here. The discipline of solitude is something that I learned about from my college pastor, Bobby Moore, and it is one that I try to practice often. Here, however, that is very difficult.

When Heidi had come into my room, I was reading my bible. After her and Conrad left I felt an urge to worship. But how? My hearts desire was to sing... and to sing in English. So I did something that I have never done before. I picked up my phone, opened my music, and turned on Hillsong. I started to sing.  It was just me. I wasn't surrounded by thousands of other people, there wasn't any live instruments, no worship leader. Just me and Jesus. At first it felt a little weird. Maybe unfamiliar is a better word, but let me tell you, it was one of the most intimate times I have ever had in worship. I felt The Lord wrap his arms around me, comfort me, be near to me. It was indescribable. I was brought to tears. I sat on my bed weeping in front of my King.

In that moment, I learned how to worship. Now, I am not saying that corporate worship isn't important, because it is, but I think that we all need to have moments of intimacy and solitude with Jesus. I think that he desires to be worshiped in that way. He desires moments with just you. Maybe you are already really good at setting aside time to be alone with Jesus, but if you are anything like me, things tend to get in the way. Whether it is a busy schedule, other pressing matters, kids, school, work, even ministry. Life happens. I know that, you know that, God knows that. But we must remember, Jesus desires intimacy and solitude with us.

I hope this leaves you encouraged to have that time with Jesus, because it is precious. I hope that in that time you meet Jesus in a whole new way. I hope you learn how to worship, whether it be for the very first time or for the hundredth.

Thank you for reading and sharing this journey with me. I am thankful for each and every one of you.

My Mexican vacation.

WOW! I'm exhausted. But the good kind of exhausted. Like the exhausted you feel when you are just getting home from vacation...

The last ten days were amazing! Heidi and Conrad asked me shortly after I got here if I wanted to go with them to Peñasco. They really want me to experience their life and ministry while I am here, and a lot of their life consists of traveling. It was a little weird for me though. You see, we left for vacation only a week and a half after I arrived in Huachinera, so in a way, I still felt like I was on vacation. Then we left for a real vacation... kind of threw me off, haha.

I'll start from the beginning...
We headed out on a Thurdsay to Hermosillo, the capital of Sonora (the state we live in). It was about a 4 or 5 hour drive. We only stayed there for one night, but it was really cool to see a big city. We went to dinner at a restaurant that had a real live Mariachi band!  That was very fun and very loud!

The next day we left to Puerto Peñasco, commonly known to Americans as Rocky Point. Another long drive, about 7 hours. Heidi and Conrad used to live in Peñasco before they moved to Huachinera. They were sent out as missionaries from Peñasco Christian Fellowship about 5 years ago. Our reason for going was for them to speak at the church and fill people in on how the ministry is doing in Huachinera. We were there for five days. We went to the beach multiple times, had several meals with old friends of theirs, went to a movie, went to church.
My favorite part was one dinner in particular. Stan and Becky are the pastors of Peñasco Christian Fellowship, which is in partnership with my home church, Life Center. Dave and Cheryl oversee the Mission Center that the church has. Since Life Center sends groups of missionaries to Peñasco multiple times a year, we knew a lot of the same people! It was such a blessing to be able to chat with the four of them about where I am from and to see the work that my church family has done there! The house that we had dinner in was built by a team from Life Center! How cool?! Another team from Life Center will be going to Peñasco in October and Cheryl emailed Heidi to ask if I could come! She even offered to drive to Tucson to pick me up! I feel so blessed that they want me to come back, and am praying that it will work out!

We also got to serve with a ministry called Two Fish. Heidi and Conrad's best friends are in charge of it. They feed the hungry in Peñasco Monday-Friday. There is preaching before every meal and many people have been saved through this ministry. What an amazing experience that was.
Another highlight was being able to watch my dear friend Cami on America's Got Talent. We don't get the channel in Huachinera, so we can't watch it here. Heidi and I were ecstatic when we found out we could watch it in Peñasco!

And then of course there was the beach. Mmmm. The water was so warm... the sunsets were so beautiful... it was a true blessing and I think The Lord knew that it was exactly what I needed. He is so good and gracious to us.

Sooo... after five wonderful days in Penasco, we headed to Tucson. This time only a three hour drive. Heidi and Conrad needed to help their parents with some paperwork so we were there for four days. We did some much needed shopping for clothes, school supplies, groceries, etc. They showed me some great places to eat! If you are ever in Tucson make sure you go to Eegee's! It is soooo good! Also, I enjoyed a refreshing Starbucks chai, venti of course! We also got to watch the AGT results show and see Cami move on to the semi-finals! So cool!

Yesterday we took the long trek back to Huachinera. It is about a ten hour drive if you make a few stops for food/bathroom breaks, and the closer you get to Huachinera, the curvier the roads get. Talk about carsick. Needless to say, we were thanking Jesus when we pulled in last night around 10:30.

Here are a few pictures from our trip...

So, that has been my last 10 days. School starts here tomorrow so things are about to get crazy busy! Thank you so much for reading and if you want to, please message me with some feedback! I would love to know who reads these posts! 

Love and miss you all!

The first few days.

So... I arrived in Tucson on the 29th. We spent the day running errands and such and stayed there that night. The next day we did a lot of shopping (Walmart, Costco, etc). We left Tucson on the 30th around 6pm. We drove until about 11pm when we got a hotel. The next morning (Wednesday) we got up and finished the drive, arriving in Huachinera around noon. 

That night we went to church in Bacerac. I sat in while Heidi taught the middle schoolers. Wednesday was also Heidi's birthday so we celebrated after church with Coke and snacks (a little raisin cake thing, not sure what it was). I mostly chatted with a girl whose name I cannot spell or pronounce, haha. Her and I were partners for a game we played when the Torches interns were here in April. She told me about her family and I told her that I like pizza and ice cream. What else am I supposed to talk about when my Spanish is so limited? Hahaha!

Yesterday we spent most of the day unloading all of the stuff for Daisy's (Heidi's sister) house. She is renting a house in the town square. Her and Heidi will also have their photography studio there. 

Thursday through Sunday there is an annual party in Huachinera. I don't really know what it is for but basically the town square is full of small rides, games, food and a huge stage for bands. Imagine Pig Out in the Park, but on a smaller scale, and this one goes until four or five in the morning. Heidi and Daisy opened up the studio for people to get pictures with their friends. In Tucson, we bought ingredients to make banana splits, I sold those in the kitchen. Here are a few photos from the festival...

A few funny stories...

I was telling Heidi a story and used the expression "like a deer in the headlights". Apparently she had never heard it before, so she immediately got the image in her head and couldn't stop laughing! 

Then at church I was talking to a lady who is 28 years old. I was meaning to tell her that she looked younger (joven) than she was, but I ended up telling her she looked older (viejo)!!! How embarrassing! She knew what I meant so she corrected me and we all laughed about it!

I also mixed up the words for niece and nephew (sobrina/sobrino) with the words for aunt and uncle (tia/tio). I was telling them about my nephew and putting my hand low to the ground, trying to show how small he was. They must've thought I had a midget uncle or something...

...gotta love language barriers, right? 

It has been a little difficult not having a schedule... some people would LOVE that, but I am a planner. I love knowing what is next at exactly what time. This has made it a little bit tough for me to find time to read my bible. Today I was finally able to sit down for an hour or so and just read by myself. It was actually God's perfect timing for me. He brought me to this scripture...

Psalm 62:8

Trust in him at all times, 

O people; pour out your heart before him; 

God is a refuge for us. 

How awesome?? God knew exactly what I needed to hear in that moment. I can pour out my heart fully and completely to God... when it feels like no one understands what I am feeling... when I am frustrated about not being able to understand things... when I miss my family and friends... when I am tired. I feel as though I shouldn't be feeling these things when I have only been here for a few days, but everyone tells me that the first few days are sometimes the hardest. 

God has also given me moments of peace... for example, yesterday Heidi and I were driving in the car and I asked her if I could pass as just a pale Mexican or if I just look really American... she said, "No, they willl be able to tell that you are American right off the bat!" She made a motion like she was swinging a bat and the car swerved when she took her hand off the wheel. For some reason it was so funny to us! We could not stop laughing. In that moment, I felt like family. She felt like my sister. I don't know how to explain it, but I knew that moment was from The Lord. He is a refuge and a comforter. 

The internet at Heidi and Conrad's is WAY better than I expected! I have been able to iMessage and FaceTime without any problems! If you want to keep in touch, you can message me on Facebook, or email me at shelbgeorge@gmail.com.