The laugh of Jacob was so contagious that my cheeks were frozen in a permanent smile. Jacob and his family were Josh and I’s host in Merida, Mexico. They took us into their home and cooked us an amazing Italian dinner (I know not what I expected being in Mexico, but very delicious). I really loved getting to know this family, because I got to see the culture and learn about the people of Merida first-hand. They shared their stories of how they came to have a relationship with Jesus Christ and showed us a photo album with pictures of all of their favorite vacation spots.
While we were in Merida Josh and I worked with a team to paint a special needs school as well as run a special olympics. The day of the special olympics was so incredible. The children were so excited to get their faces painted, especially Christopher who had me paint spiderman on his face. The children were dancing and racing to gather balloons, while the parents got to enjoy watching them have the time of their lives. To culminate the day we celebrated by spraying silly string and having the children hit a pinata that was filled with cookies.
Besides getting the opportunity to serve Shalom church as well as the school, we got to enjoy so many beautiful sites. Josh and I took a carriage ride through downtown at midnight, went to Chichen Itza Mayan ruins, jumped 30 feet into a Senote (an underground lake) and swam in the ocean. Josh also baptised Emma Johnson, a girl who came on the mission trip with us, in one of the Senotes. It was really special that Josh was able to do that for Emma and I know he will never forget that day. I posted a couple pictures from our trip below.
