Team retreat in Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo

This past weekend I was in Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, about 10 hours from Guadalajara, for a team work retreat with the other missionaries here in Mexico doing student ministry. It was a great weekend of hearing about the ministries going on in other cities, planning for the coming year, and getting to know my team better. And of course, it didn't hurt that our retreat was at a beautiful beach! I do want to clarify though that we did work while there!

My supervisors here: Steve and Laura Young work with students in Queretaro. They will be going on stateside assignment this summer for a year. Don and Edith Kennedy live in Puebla and are the strategy coordinators for student work here in Mexico. They have been here for about 28 years. Both of these couples have been such an encouragement to me already during my time here. A couple of days we went out to a beach in a bay area that you had to take a boat to get to. Here is Amy (a journeyman in Puebla) and I getting ready to go enjoy the beach! Amy and I always have fun when we get to see each other so it was nice to spend the weekend with her.



Our student ministries team here in Mexico: These are the American missionaries doing student work here...our whole team includes many Mexicans that we work with in different cities of Mexico.

The sunset on the Pacific Ocean was absolutely beautiful!

The four of us journeymen here in Mexico that do student work. Since we are all in different cities (Josh in Monterrey, me in Guadalajara, Amy in Puebla, and Nolan in Queretaro) it is always good to be able to meet up and spend some time together.
On our last day we went snorkeling in the Pacific and it was amazing! I think it was one of the coolest things I have ever done. We saw so many different kinds of fish and one time I was swimming right in the middle of a school of fish. Amy even saw a stingray while we were out.
My favorite thing was being able to see the mountains from the beach....the best of both worlds! They are so beautiful together and that isn't something we are used to seeing in the States.