First of all, church was wonderful on Sunday, but the ward building surprised me a bit. It had every amenity that could be required for worship, but any gringo like myself that has never been to church outside of the States will be rather taken aback at the simplicity of the facility. The chapel floors are tile, the windows uninsulated, the pews hard-backed and plain (or nonexistent in same chapels, where they use more comfortable soft-backed chairs), and the building materials are simple in general. But the people quite similar to the ones I knew in Washington on my Spanish-speaking mission, and that alone makes it quite an enjoyable experience. We were able to get to know a good percentage of the relatively small ward, including some outstanding young adults and recent converts. It's that kind of flux and heterogeneity that make these wards so vibrant, fun, and just slightly unorganized. Always an adventure.
The rest of the week has been devoted (primarily) to settling into our home and sightseeing/socializing. Settling into our home requires about two words to describe it: Wal-mart and minimization. The other half, however, has been a BLAST. I have gotten to know some incredible people and a beautiful area. First of all, our guides for the majority of the time have been Jonathan Hernandez and Lalo Leal, two excellent Poblanos who knew Taylor well on his mission. Jonathan is a friendly, loving, quiet fellow. He seems to get the greatest satisfaction from being with people and just hearing them talk or talking to them. Lalo is a dynamic fellow, the only member in his family (for the time being), and a real leader. Both can be found in one of the attached pictures. One of the first days we were with them, Taylor mentioned the possibility of Lalo's going to the US to study English, and since then he's taken the idea and run with it, so I may get to see him up there as well -- which would be a real treat. He is an outstanding person.
One of our best trips was to the old Cathedral of Puebla, a sixteenth century building that is enormous and drab on the outside and beautifully colored on the interior. Gold, brightly-painted statues, tile, and stained glass decorate the walls, and as we went through I was also touched by the pious visitors that surrounded us. They were sitting and kneeling reverently all around, and I felt a nice sense of peace come over me. They are worshipping the best they know how, and I am quite sure the Lord blessses them for it. Later that night we traveled with Lalo to his ward building, where he is the president of the Young Men's organization. We got to teach them how to set up tents for their upcoming campout, play basketball and soccer in the rain, and talk with a really great group of boys. I cannot stress how much I admire these Mexican saints. It is a different culture, and there are some things that I like about US church units and organization, but I love the basic faith and passion of the Saints here.
Speaking of the people down here, I have had four conversations in the past four days that have begun to open my mind to the Mexican culture and way of life. The first was with an educated church member who drove the taxi on the way to our Career Workshop across the city. We had the singular opportunity to discuss, among other things, politics and dating customs. He is a lifetime member, as were his father and grandfather, and the biggest thing that surprised me is how similar it sounded to things I heard from members back home. Truly, the Gospel unites us in a unparalleled way! The second was a convert, also a taxi driver, and we discussed some legends of Puebla as well as employment situations and bearing trials. His perspectives were more simple, but he was so loving and respectful. Family and a non-stressful life seemed to be the most important things to him, and he made great sacrifices for the first. The second... well, I'll have to leave that for another day, but between my mission and Puebla, I think it is an enormous theme. The third conversation happened last night with Lalo's mother. Her life experiences were enormously different from the first two men I've mentioned, yet her perspectives surprisingly similar to the latter. She is not yet a member, so we spent some time talking about her son's mission and membership in the church and the pros and cons thereof. She actually seems to be fairly open to it... :) And we also talked about relationships, and houses, and most especially Mexico and what made it different. Speaking of which, the last conversation was strangely familiar -- today, on my way home from institute (awesome) I took a detour to see a Catholic church near our home. On my way in, I found myself in conversation with the security guard at the park next door. He's lived in the United States for over a decade, and we had the most curious conversation about how much he loves the system in the US, particularly the government. Scholarships, emergency healthcare aid, free public school systems, pretty much everything except the immigration laws he loves! But that same welfare policy has proved so troublesome on budget matters... well, only time will tell how this mess all works out. And the church was marvelous, particularly perched at the top of a hill as it was.
PS A note on pictures -- I'm sadly lacking in pictures for many of the things and most of the people I mention in here. I really want to be better at taking pictures with people when I meet them.
1. The church where I met that fun security guard.
2. Cathedral of Puebla - Myself, Lalo, Jonathan, and Taylor in front
3. Lalo, Jonathan, me, and Taylor on our field day together
4. Our ward building!
5. Our smoking volcano neighbor -- Popocatepétl (say that 5 times fast)
6. The inside of the church mentioned in #1. I can never get these to go in the order I want... ;)
Sounds like fun stuff Abe! Hope you continue to enjoy your adventure. It's great to be young and just go have an awesome time in another land with cool people. I have had the chance to meet many different people in my life in many countries. I have found they have the same hopes, dreams, and cares. they deal with the same things with kids and life. The cultures change but people are people and that makes it clear we all have the same creator. Our roots are the same even if the plant that grows above ground looks different.
ReplyDelete