Yesterday
was our day off, so we went into Brownsville to go to the zoo and other
such fun things. For dinner they dropped us of in this shopping center
with all sorts of places to eat. Some of us went to Chick Fil A, and
after a delicious meal of chicken fingers, milk shakes, and cheesecake
we were talking to one of the employees.  Her name was Hannah and we
were just telling her about what we were doing and where we were going,
etc. She then proceeded to tell us that when we pulled up she “thought
we were hippies and was scared”. Ha. But when I really thought about
it, we kind of do look like hippies. We drive around squished into big
vans, none of us are ever actually clean, we wear a lot of tie dye
and bandannas, we all love each other a lot, we smile all the time, and
some of us are weird enough that strangers might legitimately think
we’re on drugs. But really.. we just love Jesus. So, in honor of
Hannah, I’ve comprised a list of some of the ridiculous things we do because we’re missionaries.

  • One night we were  about to have evening session and some
    girls were sitting on the ground fixing coffee for each other,
    completely and utterly undisturbed by the huge dead cockroach laying
    belly up right in the middle of them.
  • Showering is absolutely optional. The end.
  • Dreads, purple hair, nose rings, and tats have become the norm.
  • Wearing
    the exact same outfit for multiple days in a row is totally okay. This
    might actually have more to with the fact that we try to avoid doing
    laundry at all costs though.
  • Musical instruments are
    always present. Guitars, Jessica’s flute, tambourines that no one
    really knows how to play, harmonicas, drums/objects that sound remotely
    like drums, etc.
  • John Parrish has only brushed his teeth
    three times since we’ve been here. That really has nothing to do with
    being a missionary, the rest of us uphold our dental hygiene, it’s just
    super gross.
  • Sharing is caring. We all wear each other’s clothes, eat each other’s food, use each other’s stuff.
  • Facial hair is revered, sadly. All the menboys (I don’t really know what to call them anymore) stopped shaving a long time ago.
  • The three most talked about things are 1) God 2) Food 3) Poop.
  • We’re supposed to exercise every morning, but instead we play elementary school PE games. Red Rover, dodgeball, kickball, tag.
  • Due to the massive infestation of bed bugs our legs will never be the same again. They are forever scarred.
  • Having at least twelve bracelets on your wrists and ankles is common.
  • We use toilet plungers to wash our clothes.
  • We consume an average of at least four gnats with your dinner and are completely okay with it.
  • For
    a few days I was really frustrated because I couldn’t get my feet clean
    no matter how hard I scrubbed them in the shower. Then I realized that
    they weren’t actually dirty- I just had an awful Chaco tan line. 
  • Additionally, we all have probably irreversible farmer’s tans.
So, in short, I’m having an INCREDIBLE time. I’m so thankful that
God brought me here instead of to college. There’s no possible way I
could do justice to the work He’s doing here, or in my heart, so just
know that He’s being so good to me.