Our last day in Mexico was a time of tears, and a time of great adventures.
This is Carlos.
Carlos made our ministry and free time in Mexico extra fun and special.
We met Carlos at a nearby fabric shop where he works.
Whenever we were playing soccer, or going to church, we could always depend on Carlos to come with a few of his friends.
The first time Carlos came to church with us he accepted Christ, and he hasn’t looked back since.
From that day on we could always depend on Carlos to be at every activity we had, whether it was ministry or fun time.
Our last day in Mexico Carlos and his family invited us to go horseback riding at the family ranch.
It was so much fun to see how they lived and to have such an incredible experience together before we said goodbye.
We rode in the back of a truck out to the country.
We kept asking him how much farther, and he would gage it by the amount of fence gates we had to go through.
When we arrived at the ranch they treated us with coconut milk straight from the tree.
A quick look at the pigs, and then it was off to the horses we would ride.
Mexican horses are so tiny, and we had a fun time laughing at each other as we sat in the mini saddles.
Then the adventure began.
Carlos, his older brother Jose, and his little sister took us out of the gates into the pasture for the adventure of a lifetime.
James and I rode the old gray mare who wasn’t what she used to be, but we enjoyed our slow trot as everyone galloped ahead.
They took us out into the most beautiful countryside I had seen.
We rode through thistles and puddles of mud.
There was one point where our horse sank in mud up to his saddle, and we thought it was all over, but she pulled through as we hung on with all of our might.
We rode for about an hour, watched a beautiful sunset, and listened to the howling monkeys far off in the distance.
When we arrived back to the ranch Carlos mom had made us an awesome dinner of tortas and a drink that tasted like tortilla water.
We spent the rest of the night saying our goodbyes.
Carlos little sister gave each of us girls a bracelet off her hand, and in return I gave her my necklace so that she could always remember the crazy American missionaries.
It was so fun getting to know his family and really learning about their lives.
Carlos was definitely a blessing to us from God.
We all love him so much and think of him as a friend and a brother.
At sixteen he is so amazingly humble and hungry for God.
Although I cant speak Spanish very well yet, he was always eager to try to understand me and laugh at my efforts.
More than anything in Mexico, I will miss Carlos and his family.
It was so hard for all of us as we waved goodbye and watched him drive away.
But at the same time it was one of my happiest moments because I know that though I may never see him again in this life, I will get to hang out with him in heaven, and that to me is enough!
