Thanks

What a month! Elections, Fall, and Thanksgiving. All things that seem somewhat far away and slightly unreal to me here in Oaxaca.

Election: My literature class is based off of the statement: “Everything is an Argument.” I’m sure parents are thrilled. We talk about how everything (a painting, a song, a book) has an argument. The author is making a statement. Our job is to see how they make their argument, decide whether or not they argued well, and make our own statement about their work. The class has lively debates on the books we read, and we even debate topics covered in other classes! Well, the Election in the USA created an opportunity for us to discuss arguments even more. Even though we live in a different country, all of my students care deeply about the future of the country they will be eventually moving to, and it was neat watching them discuss this topic. What most of you probably didn’t know is that we had an election here in Oaxaca as well. Our new governor started this month, and as a result, the entire city has been shut down for days. The blockaders have decided to show the new governor their “power” and start his term off with a statement. We had to cancel two days of school! The most common approach to arguments is to not. We are told to stop arguing, and yet we are surrounded by arguments that are heated, disrespectful, and without end. The important lesson the class has taken from this is that, even though we are often told not to argue, there is a way to argue properly and respectfully. As a class, we have decided to learn that way so the students can find their own voices and be heard.

Fall and Thanksgiving: I truly miss fall in Prescott. The trees changed color, the temperature dropped to the perfect amount of cold (I can wear a scarf, but I don’t need 3 jackets or hate everything). Oaxaca is still warm and the trees don’t change.

But we have moved into a different kind of season here (and I’m not just talking about the fact that we can finally listen to Christmas music again). As a missionary community, families come and go. Deep friendships are built, and even though it is hard to say goodbye, being a part of a missionary community is the best. Now that we are a couple of months into the school year, we have all gotten to know each other better. We are at the “family” point. For example: I have had 3 Thanksgiving dinners in the past two weeks, none of them on Thanksgiving Day. We love to get together and fellowship. We had a Fun Fall Festival in which we spent weeks preparing to host…ourselves! The entire school got together to play games and eat tacos.

My family went to the beach for Thanksgiving (it’s our tradition), and there ended up being over 30 missionary friends there spending vacation time together. Our community becomes the family we miss from our passport countries, and it makes the holidays special and homey. I’m truly thankful for the people who serve in Oaxaca, for the opportunity I have to serve here, and for the incredible place we find ourselves in.

Other things: I am the Jr/Sr Class sponsor, and as such, I had the privilege of going on a retreat with them this month. We headed up to a house in the village and spent three days bonding. We played hilarious team-building games, we hiked for hours in the rain, we played tag in the dark, and Isaac (another returning MK) and I were able to talk to them about their personalities and spiritual gifts.

We got to see them learn about themselves and their classmates. Seeing them discuss their strengths and promise to build each other up was so awesome. We laughed and ate s’mores and forgot to sleep. It was an incredible experience to pour into these MKs the way others poured into me when I was at that age. It was exciting to see them embarking into their next stage just as I finish it myself. It was encouraging to see a group of youth so caring and close; so on-fire for Christ and ministry.

November was a memorable month!

Thank you for your prayers, support, and encouragement. I am truly blessed and thankful.

Gracias,

Ruth