I have been to Mexico twice in my life. The first time was to visit my wife’s grandmother. She had just gotten out of the hospital and had lost her foot to diabetes. It was an interesting trip. My wife is a germaphobe. Mexico isn’t sterilely clean. When we got to her uncle’s house, we were given the boy’s room to sleep in. The people were sweet to us and I was considered the honored guest. My wife was just family. But my wife got to visit with her grandmother. It was the last time she saw her. I got the opportunity to share the gospel with her family.

The second time I went into Mexico was to work on an orphanage. A husband and wife missionary couple, from our church, asked the men of our church to come help repair the orphanage. We were about nine men. We loaded up a van with tools, weed eaters, lawnmowers and hope. Traveling to Mexico was still pretty simple. It didn’t require passports. It was simply checking in at the border and getting a permission slip to travel in the country. The orphanage is in Victoria, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. There was another missionary couple from our church in Victoria. We got to visit with them. I was asked to speak at a local high school English class about my work. It was very interesting. The class were beginners in English. They were bright, attentive young people who wanted to speak a second language. As a spoke in English, one young girl translated into Spanish. They listen and asked questions. They were Juniors or Seniors in high school. I enjoyed myself immensely.

My wife, family and I went to South Dakota on a home missionary trip to the Native American people. It last for a month. We stayed in the church, because there was a foul up in the house we were going to stay in. Our second son caught the flu and had diarrhea. We feed him Gator Aid for a month, to keep up his electrolytes. Native American are very wary of White people. I saw that it would take longer than we had to reach to local people. But I did what I could help the church. My wife got to see part of the country that she had never seen before. Each time that we did something for the gospel of Jesus, we learned variable lessons. Truths about ourselves and the gospel. But that what journey’s are for, to learn.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com