March 2021 update

 March 2021 update

March was a month of changes. 

I had a new student join my grade 5-6 English class. 2 junior-high students returned to Pan de Vida after a prolonged time away. So long in fact, I didn’t think they would be returning. Also, 2 kids left the children’s home.

 I was surprised by these changes, because no one told me about them in advance. I didn’t find out until class time when I would see a new student in class or that a student was absent. As a fellow missionary told me, “one has to be flexible in Mexico.”

 Also, I had to teach English to all the students by myself. A native English speaking volunteer at the children’s home could no longer assist me anymore. Also, an English teacher that taught part-time at the children’s home had to go out of town for a couple of weeks.  So, I had to take over his classes. I had to merge a few classes together and find ways to teach classes with varied proficiency levels. I had to rely on God often for wisdom, patience and energy.

Confiscated from a student. He had all this in his pocket. His treasures were a distraction to him and his classmates. Bringing toys to class is a common problem with the young students.

Brenda got her American passport renewed at the U.S. embassy in Mexico. That was a blessing because previously, all Americans had to return to the United States to apply for a passport renewal and stay there until they got it. I had to do this last year.  This was due to the response to Covid.

However, in March, the U.S. embassy opened up walk-in passport renewal applications for each Wednesday of the month. So, toward the end of the month, Brenda and I took a bus ride to Mexico City and returned back the same day.  It takes 3-4 hours to get to Mexico City and around 45 minutes of taxis or ride sharing to get to the Embassy from the bus station. We were grateful that my mother-in-law could watch our kids while we were gone. And we were glad that Brenda didn’t have to wait in line a long time to drop off her application.

Duane, a fellow missionary serving at Pan de Vida, came over to my house install 2 sections of our indoor stairs. He had worked on them in the shop at the orphanage.

My family and I had some of the kids over to our house for dinner on 2 separate occasions. We had a good time of fellowship.  It was nice to be able to interact with them outside of both the school and the children’s home.

My family and I were blessed with some surplus food that was donated to the children’s homes that I serve at.

Since James is walking more, he got new shoes. He is fascinated with shoes, sandals and crocs and wants to try on everyone's footwear regardless of size.

Missions website: https://cten.org/missionary/bryanottoson/