Some videos

This is Mike's brother posting. These are some short videos Mike took on his trip to Iguazu falls, and a little bit of tango. We're still curious about the full story of finding the tango dancers and then "performing." I'm posting most of the videos and photos on Mike's blog, and the videos I've been converting from the full 1080 HD to a small mobile format for quicker uploads and viewing. The HD is much more impressive, especially of the falls.

-Chris

Mision Buenos Aires Oeste

I find myself typing this in an interesting location. I’m sitting in an airport in Guayaquil Ecuador because of a layover. I flew out of Buenos Aires this afternoon (Sat 2nd), and ended up here at 9:30 this evening. My flight at 7 a.m. will then take me back down to southern Peru where I will have a 5 hour layover in Lima from which I will catch my final flight back up to Northern Peru and arrive in Chiclayo tomorrow evening. I will have flown over my destination twice before finally landing on the third pass. Ridiculous.

So, the mission was incredible! Nearly three weeks of physically exhausting, frequently uncomfortable, and often mentally draining hard, hard work. I wouldn’t trade it for the world and in fact, I traded the world for it. If I were to share all of the spiritually saturated experiences I had in that short time, I would fill a good twenty pages. Instead, I will tickle your taste buds with a handful of special spiritually uplifting experiences to show a little about the life of a servant of the Lord. Before I do that, I will share a little about the incredible spiritual giants I was blessed with the privilege of serving alongside. First off, as you may know, my fulltime mission was in Guatemala years ago. So, I ask you, was it a coincidence that one of the two elders in the other companionship in our apt just happened to be the only Guatemalan in the mission? I think God knew I needed someone to translate the Argentine castellano into Guatemalan Spanish for me so I wouldn’t offend anyone ha ha. Elder Ponce is one of the most bold, courageous and faithful missionaries I’ve met, with a passion for the work and a smile that lights up a room. Elder Streadbeck, his companion, is only surpassed in physical height by his spirit and a heart big enough that the whole world could feel his love for them and he’d still have love to spare. He’s been in the field only a couple of months and already speaks Spanish better than many missionaries do after an entire mission! Now last, but most certainly not the least, is my own companion Elder Lopez. Elder Lopez is a half Mexican that didn’t speak any Spanish until the mission. No worries, he speaks it now, and quite well I might add. What can I say about the man who trained me? Elder Lopez was the District Leader and was an incredible example of not only obedience (which we all know I need. J), but he was the perfect example of a leader who demands no more than he himself is willing and capable of giving. A leader whom I saw on many occasion share a greater love for those elders under his stewardship than many people in places of higher authority. The care and concern he felt for those elders might only be surpassed by his faith in the promises God has made through His servants such as President Carter, the mission president. The man showed me everyday, unintentionally, how close he is to the Spirit by sharing scriptures perfect for each individual we spoke with. Truly, these are men of God and I found myself humbled in many instances to be in the presence of these and other soldiers of our Father in Heaven. Indeed, in a Zone Conference, the Spirit overwhelmed this body and I was left with only the ability to allow the tears to flow as they sang their title hymn of “Called To Serve”. What a blessing I was granted. Truly it was an unprecedented and a once in a lifetime opportunity.

My mission was filled with moments where in spite of my not knowing these people, the Lord used me as a mouthpiece to share just the right experiences with the people at just the right time and in many instances I was privileged to see the Spirit touch their hearts deeply, bringing many to tears. I can testify that the spirit of forgiveness worked in many hearts as we preached the gospel of repentance. I was granted the opportunity to witness young Fidel as he begins the lineage of the true followers of Christ in his immediate family by being baptized by his 17 year old cousin Alvaro who is the first in his immediate family to do the same! Awesome! We got Mary to come back to church after many years of inactivity and because of that, her daughters Mariana and Leila will soon be baptized! Incredible! Estela, a widow with her two daughters has committed to baptism in two weeks after having read the Book of Mormon faithfully and recognizing its divine nature! How cool is that?! Then we have Veronica who is only waiting to be married in order to be baptized! She already considers herself a member! The field is white my dear friends, just thrust in that sickle already!

I served in an area called Moreno. It primarily covered a very poor area with mostly dirt or rather muddy roads, since it either rained or was cloudy nearly every day I was there. We worked nonstop everyday, walking quickly to each house so as to help the greatest amount of people we could. Weekly we would speak to over 150 people in the streets and on the buses and trains. Fear of speaking to strangers is a luxury a missionary must live without. On more than one occasion we would speak to entire buses both cumulatively and then individually. My first week in the field I had a cold and my feet were covered in blisters that I kept finding for the next two weeks since my shoes didn’t fit nor were they designed for that. They, along with all of my missionary clothing were borrowed. This last week I also had stomach flu, but with all of these things, the work must always go on. When you know you have something so special that everyone needs, these are just petty annoyances.

Everyday a missionary wakes up at 6:30 am and begins his day with exercise until 7 and then food and getting cleaned up until 8.
Then he studies the scriptures, both modern and old to increase the Spirit’s ability to use him/her as a tool. From 9-10am the companionship studies together from the inspired manual Preach My Gospel so they can better understand how to deliver the messages properly and effectively to the anxiously awaiting ears. For the last half hour before hittin the dirt they study the language in order to make sure nothing will stand in the way of a clear communication of the Spirit to the hearts of those willing to accept. The faithful missionary then steps out into the field and speaks to every man, woman, and child of the truths that will bring salvation and pure happiness. He does this for the next 11 hours or so when they finally return home only to sit down for 30 minutes and plan how to be most efficient and effective in the following day and what the needs of each individual investigator are so that they can meet them and prepare them for the waters of baptism. Then, if you are like my comp, and have the task of being a District or Zone Leader, you spend whatever precious little time you have left til lights out, calling every missionary under your stewardship and making sure all is in order. Personal time…what’s that?

The chance to step into the field again with the experiences I’ve had, allowed me to hopefully reach some people who may have been more difficult to reach. At the very least, I pray I was more than just a companion. If no one else was changed or affected by my service, I certainly was and I thank my God frequently that I was able to meet and interact with such incredible members like Vanesa who helped us out day in and day out. She has only been a member for months, but the fire is so powerful inside her it is nearly impossible to avoid ignition. I thank her and many others for the example of what we all should be.

Well, I have written enough for now and must attempt to sleep in this airport. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27

Iguazu

It's been a crazy busy week and a half. The day after I arrived here in Buenos Aires, my parents were asked by the mission president to go out to the areas in the campo (country) and take a few things to the missionaries out there, as well as observe a new branch president out in one of the areas. So, the morning after my arrival we began our three-day trip into the campo. The first day was pretty incredible as we were able to stop at a zoo in the city of Lujan, which provides visitors with an opportunity to fulfill dreams, or at the very least, to fulfill some of my lifelong dreams! They said they were one of three (or five, I can't remember) zoos in the world that allow you to enter into the cages with, not just lion and tiger cubs, but with actual fully grown lions, tigers, and yes, even bears, oh my! As I entered the cages and walked up to those giant cats with their massive paws and huge heads, it was easy to understand why these are the masters of their domains. Then, as I was handed a bottle of milk and instructed to squirt the milk into my hand as the course tongue completely engulfed my hand when they lapped it up, it became all too easy to want to give into the temptation to wrap your arms around the beasts and just love'em to pieces! Unfortunately, if you were to give in to that temptation, you would probably be the one that ended up in pieces. One of the younger cubs was growling while I was petting him because they had just given him a piece of meat and he was a bit protective. I must admit, even for a little guy, it was intimidating, considering their paws are bigger than my hands. I was given the opportunity to feed some howler monkeys and was amazed at how soft the skin on their hands is. I would have guessed it might have been rough and callused from climbing around, but I apparently not. As awesome of an experience as it was, I couldn't help but wish that they all could've had more room since the enclosures were smaller than you might see at a typical zoo in the states, not that any of the animals know any better since they were all born and bread in captivity, but still.

The trip into the campo continued about 500km out to the outskirts of the mission. It was a beautiful ride.
The campo reminds me of driving through the central states of the US. Farmlands as far as the eye could see. No variance in elevation. The vast landscape was also riddled at times with marshes and wetlands with all sorts of different species of birds, the most exotic of which were the flamingos. It was a bit different to see them in the wild.

It's strange being surrounded by a language that is so familiar to me and yet so foreign at the same time. I find the words entering my ear almost like English, but as I attempt to formulate them, they seem to get lost somewhere between my mind and my tongue. It's coming back, but it is frustrating at times.

On Tues I took my first solo adventure into the big city by train and subway. I spent the afternoon wandering the city in hopes of finding the famed tango dancers. I wandered miles, and found some beautiful sights including the cemetery where Evita Peron is buried and a beautiful catholic cathedral along with a couple of basilicas. The port was gorgeous, filled with old-fashioned frigates and modern hydrofoils. The city, full of high-rises and skyscrapers was every bit as modern and civilized as any you might find in the US. The people are kind, for the most part, and while I enjoy being greeted with kisses and a huge from the lovely ladies, I must confess I was taken a little off guard the first time a guy did it to me. I'm pretty confident I will never get used to seeing or receiving that particular salutation from the guys. As I continued to wander, I saw their Casa Rosada (Pink House) and various other famous landmarks, but no tango dancers. So, before I gave up and headed back to the train I decided to walk down Avenida Florida one last time and see the beautiful shops. This time as I meandered I found various street performers including a band that was quite good, a couple of statue guys (people pretending to be statues), and some jugglers. Then, on my way back, I saw them! Tango dancers! The tango has always been one of my favorite dances and as I watched them perform, it was magical. I'm not sure if it was the music, or the dancing, or the combination this time that really got to me, but I truly felt the power of the emotions behind the movements as they danced...For a few moments...I really missed it all. Her...in my arms. Holding her close, body to body. Swaying and swirling the two become one. The intensity as I look into her eyes. The emotions of love, desire, and passion, if only for that brief moment, are as real as she is when she melts into my arms and lays her head on my chest. Now that, my friends, is dance. The ability to create emotions where none existed. The capability of igniting feelings that might have forever remained buried in ones heart. I felt the power that night and it stuck with me as I returned to the apt fulfilled. I got to see my tango and I wasn't disappointed.

On Wed. evening of this week, my parents and I boarded a nice double-decker bus and spent the next 18 hrs on it as we drove overnight up to Puerto Iguazu, a city on the border of Paraguay and Brazil. The landscape changed drastically from a somewhat temperate climate to being one of a subtropical nature. I began to feel a little more like I felt when I served my mission in Guatemala. We visited the national park of Iguazu Falls and it was indescribably incredible! We rode a boat right up underneath one of the falls and got soaked, but the highlights definitely included seeing some of the wildlife and walking through the rainforests.

The Garganta del Diablo was awe-inspiring at 50 meters taller than Niagra and the falls spanned such a vast length it was amazing and so beautiful. As I stood near the Garganta I felt the power of this, God's creation, and it was humbling. An interesting thing to note as we were crossing the river on a boat over to an island, there was a young lady we met, by the name of Mara. She is from Peru, but studied in Canada and is currently doing almost exactly what I'm doing. She has been out for 5 months already and expects the rest of her journey to take another 3 months or so. As much as I would never recommend for any female to do a trek like that alone, I commend her for living her dream and letting nothing stand in her way.

In closing, I leave you with a note that I will be beginning a mini mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Buenos Aires West mission, Argentina, starting tomorrow and going for the next three weeks. I will still be logging my adventures. I don't know if I will have the opportunity to post them during that time, but I will do my best. I am a bit nervous about the whole thing. Things have changed a bit since I served my mission. I know that God will be with me. With Him by my side, I know I am up to the task, but it still has some interesting potentialities. As of tomorrow I will be Elder Cox...again.

I would like to share something to think about. Years ago when I first was called to serve a mission, the call was to serve in Buenos Aires, Argentina, not to Guatemala. Things happened, and choices were made that required me to wait many months before leaving on my mission. Due to the length of time of the wait, the call to Buenos Aires was changed and I was then called to Guatemala. Years have past since then. When I first returned from my mission, I had frequent dreams of being back on the mission and I would wake up in a panic only to find relief in the fact that it was only a dream. Slowly over the years the dreams remained similar, but my response to them upon awakening changed from a feeling of panic, to one of longing. This had persisted up until about three or four months ago when the dream came, but something was different. It didn’t feel right. In the dream it wasn’t my place. It was my mission, but it I felt like I didn’t belong there. In the dream I spoke with the mission president, who then told me that my mission lay elsewhere. When I awoke I laid in bed thinking about the meaning and my mind turned to this trip that I had been planning. I felt stronger than ever that I needed to come to these foreign lands and serve the people in whatever ways I could. I knew then, as I know now. I am where God needs me. I had no idea that when I would arrive here I would find the mission to be more than 30 missionaries short due to inability to obtain visas. Areas in this mission have been shut down. The president has tried to keep them open with mini missionaries, but some have to leave and he found himself short by one, and here I am. God’s hand in all things. That’s what it boils down to. I am here now, to fulfill my mission to Buenos Aires that I was called to those many years ago.

For pictures visit my Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/media/albums/?id=104255429694798

I'm here...uh...or there...

On the morning of May 2, 2012 I boarded a plane heading for Las Vegas, in Reno. On the plane ride I sat next to Jane, a 55 yr old woman who was on her way home to Houston TX after a visit to an old sorority sister that she hadn't seen in many many years. The reason for the visit was, as she put it, bitter-sweat. Her friend was dying from pancreatic cancer. After months of chemo not working, she had decided enough was enough and that she wanted to be able to enjoy what little time she might have left. Since being off the chemo, the doctors have given her about a month. What would you do, if you had a month left to live? She chose to invite all of the people she loves and to mend ways with as many as needed. Jane told me stories the entire flight. Even though I had initiated the conversation, she had no problems taking it from there. There were moments when she'd be laughing so hard that I almost couldn't tell if she was crying and I wasn't sure if I should laugh or cry with her. It reminded me of a friend that I have that when she gets laughing hard enough she will genuinely start to cry and I never know whether to laugh with her or hold her close to comfort her. When Jane laughed, it would fill the plane, and while I believe there were a few that wished she'd be quiet, I'm confident that the majority were jealous of me because I got to sit next to Jane. She shared with me a moment where a mutual friend of her's and her sick friend turned to the sick friend and said, "I hope you know, I'm not coming to your funeral.". The statement was made because she didn't feel she could handle the emotions. The ill friend's response was, "You just did.". What an interesting way to look at it. I suppose in a sense we are all dying and are therefore always attending each others funerals. I know that initially sounds a little morbid, but if you think about it in another sense it can be quite meaningful. So, as the song states, "Live like you were dying." and as Jane's friend did, make the most of what you've been given. I recently read a passage of scripture that had a spelling nuance that I hadn't noticed before. The scripture is in the book of Helaman in The Book of Mormon, it's chapter 12 and it says something to the effect of turning away from wisdom's paths. Notice that paths is plural. How often do we have multiple paths presented to us that are all good, or how often does God give us multiple chances to correct the path we are on? As we turn away from one wise path, He doesn't give up, but rather He gives us another wise path, and another, and another. We are only in real trouble if we keep turning away from wisdom's paths and give up trying. So, in the example of Jane's friend, lets "Live like we were dying" and seek out our loved ones and mend wrongs. 

Anyway, back to my trip. After a long chat with Jane (or rather after listening to Jane talk to me for an hour and a half.), we arrived at the Las Vegas airport, and after waiting in the security checkpoint line for an hour and a half, I finally boarded my flight bound for Mexico City. The flight was beautifully sunny, right up until the approach to Mexico City where clouds began to appear. As we lowered into the clouds, everything was black as night even though I knew the sun was out somewhere behind them. Through a break in the grey and black below me I saw a red glow atop what looked to be a mountain. It was either an extremely condensed fire, or as I suspect, it was a volcano. It looked more like lava, but I wasn't able to get a clear enough look before the darkness engulfed my sight again. A few minutes later we gradually dropped below the clouds. Even with the clouds eclipsing the sun's light, the Earth began to glow with red and orange lights as far as the eye could see. It seemed to light up the world the way thousands of candles would light a dark room. Miles and miles of flickering lights like jewels scattered across black velvet so densely that each jewel seemed to blend with the next. Truly this was a magnificent sight. Upon arrival at the aeropuerto I had no troubles (other than the fact that  there was no gate assigned for my next flight to Buenos Aires) getting to my next flight quickly. After sitting and waiting for a couple of hours, it finally showed that I was to head to a specific gate where the plane had already arrived and we were ready to board.

It was an 8 hr plus long flight, where I slept for much of the way. When I awoke, I looked out my window and could see that we had just passed over what I could only assume to be the Andes mountains. It was the morning of the 3rd and my first sight when I cracked open the shades was a desert with a volcano in the middle of it. It was gorgeous! After crossing the barren desert below, it eventually turned into the Argentine campo (country), all of which is flat as flat can be. From the Andes to Buenos Aires on the opposite side of the country there seems to be no variance in elevation whatsoever.

At the aeropuerto I made my way through customs and getting my visa quickly only to find myself waiting for 10-15 mins alone wondering if my parents had forgotten me and realizing just how handy it is to have a cell phone. I guess that's what I get for having missionaries come to pick me up. They are on the Lord's schedule. When they got there it was a wonderful reunion and along the way home we saw the Buenos Aires temple (which is under remodeling and will be rededicated in Sept). Such amazing buildings!

Everything here is very European mixed with Latin America. Home for now, is the twelfth floor of an apt building. The elevators are...interesting. The afternoon was spent at the mission office where I met the mission president, President Carter. As it turns out, about 30 missionaries have been held up in the USA awaiting their visas and won't make it down until June 5th. So...well...President Carter has more or less called me to serve as a missionary in the Buenos Aires West Mission starting sometime around the fifteenth or this month and going until the beginning of June! How cool is that!? I'm so excited! I hope it all actually works out so I can. I'll update as soon as I have more information. I'll post again in a couple of days, hopefully.

Gear

Graduation

As far as things go concerning my trip, I have altered a couple of things in regards to how the trip will begin. I reached a point last time I wrote, where I needed to still get visas for both Paraguay and Brazil within a month. Well, in order to have been able to accomplish that I would have needed to expedite them, which would have cost me at the least $40 extra per visa and there was still no guarantee I would have had them along with my passport returned to me by the the time I leave. That's my own fault for procrastinating. So instead I called the Paraguayan consulate in LA who told me I could get the visa at a consulate in Buenos Aires. I tried to contact the Brazilian consulate in LA to find out the same information, but they did not even offer the option of speaking with a live person and their machine did not offer the answers I sought. So as things currently stand, I will purchase my Paraguayan visa in South America and attempt to do the same for Brazil. If this is not possible, then I suppose I shall have to postpone visiting Brazil until a future trip. Sad day. On a different note, in my preparations for the trip I have purchased some clothing that is supposedly pretty high quality since it comes with a lifetime guarantee on it. Not to mention it is the same brand that one of my heroes Bear Grylls wears on all of his adventures. It is somewhat costly, but if it comes with a lifetime guarantee then I am willing to pay. I also purchased my new camera, the Nikon aw100, which I hope will prove to be a fabulous camera that will bring you photos and videos that make you feel as though you are with me. I have yet to test them and I have yet to attempt to post anything of the sort for your viewing. I will try to learn and practice those skills in these coming two weeks so stay tuned. I would like to reiterate to all of you reading this blog to please feel free to share this blog with anyone, whether they know me or not. I do hope to not only help inspire people to live their own dreams, but I truly desire to help people along the way. I firmly believe that if enough people follow this that the odds of it inspiring someone to do even more than I can, will increase tremendously. So please feel free to guide people to this site. I have been terribly busy with finals and final projects that unfortunately this is all I really have to report. I finish finals on Tues and walk at graduation on Fri. The time in between needs to be spent in preparation for this trip so my next post should show a finalizing of most everything.
On a side note that does not wholly pertain to this trip, I would like to share with you another inspiring story I just experienced over the weekend. It is a perfect example of little miracles in our lives and a testament to the FACT that God truly does listen and answer our prayers. My friend Matt Thomas was in town yesterday so he and I randomly decided to go up into the mountains for a drive and a visit to one of our favorite locations on Earth. Well the last couple of miles of the drive are on a dirt road and the elevation is such that there is still snow, though not in too large of quantities. As we were pressing through the crux of the drive, the Ford Expedition we were in, slid into a deep snow bank and got stuck. We spent the next three and half hours that evening digging and trying all manner of ways to free the vehicle, but it was to no avail and we ultimately were soaked, exhausted, and fairly discouraged to the point that we decided to give it up for the night and set up camp and wake up early to start again. After about five or six hours of sleep, we arose and packed up and hiked back the mile or so to the vehicle which had sunk even deeper in the night. For the four hours that followed we dug and pushed and cranked with our come-along and managed to move the vehicle about thirty feet only to get it even more stuck than it was before. As the Expedition sank deeper and deeper into the snow, our hearts followed it as we became discouraged and were left at a loss in regards to what more could be done. As you may know, or have come to assume, I am a religious man who loves my God though I am frequently stubborn and prideful and, all too often, ignore or set aside His guidance in the ridiculous notion that I know what is best (something I have been working on all my life to be rid of). This occasion was no exception. All morning the thought would enter my mind that we should pray together to our God and seek His help, but I would brush it off with the excuse that my silent prayers would suffice. Each time this would happen, I would offer a prayer in my mind. Well, this continued for the entire morning, right up to the point when we sat with spirits dampened, even more than our soaked clothes, thinking we would have to hike a long ways back to the lodge where we had camped at to get additional tools that probably wouldn't even help anyway. Just before we decided to head back I finally gave in to the Spirit's whisperings and suggested that we offer a prayer. After all, what could it hurt? So I offered the prayer as humbly as this prideful heart could. Upon closing it, we looked up at each other and I said, "Shall we give it one last try?" Matt agreed that we should and jumped into the driver's seat. Now, I would have you remember that we had just barely tried before the prayer, but we were so high-centered that the wheels weren't even touching in some spots and the wheels just spun in place. He turned it on and I jumped back on the back of the suv. As he pressed the gas peddle, the vehicle began to move, as a matter of fact, it backed out as if it were on dry ground! As soon as we were out of the bank, we looked at each other with somewhat stunned looks and I said, in my bewilderment, "Uh, can you say, praise God.". Matt responded with, "You know...you could have suggested we pray yesterday." So we packed up and came home with no further incidents. I was reminded of a few lessons from this experience. Number one is that God is there and He DOES listen to our every word that is spoken sincerely. He wants to help us, but awaits the demonstration of our faith through the action of asking Him. My heart was in the right place in the sense that I did pray to Him silently multiple times, but He wanted to teach me a different lesson. God wanted me to show Him that I was listening to Him (and not just talking), and that I would obey quickly. Perhaps as my mom suggested, He is trying to train me for my trip when it may be necessary for me to heed His guidance immediately. As you can see, I have a long way to go, considering the fact that it took me four hours before I finally listened. Pride can be a painfully exhausting thing sometimes. Our Father loves His children and desires nothing less than their happiness. This can only come through our immediate obedience to His commandments and His guidance. It is my prayer that we can all be quicker than I was to listen to love. It will save us from a lot of unnecessary suffering and pain as I so adeptly discovered.

Bioarchaeology

It's been a few weeks since my last post mostly due to the fact that I didn't have a whole lot to update. However, I am very pleased to announce that I have made some progress since my last post and I must say things are becoming more and more real. First off, two weeks ago I got my vaccinations all updated including a typhoid shot, hepatitis A and B boosters (since I've had them before), a flu shot, and last but not least, the only actually required shot which is the Yellow Fever shot. My arms were rather sore for a couple of days afterwards, but they are now taken care of. The next exciting update was an email I got this last week to go in and discuss a research opportunity with a professor of anthropology and bioarchaeologist at Utah Valley University. His name is Dr. Haagan Klaus and he has been doing research at a dig in Lambayeque Peru for several years where he has dug up many skeletons and primarily analyzes how they died along with the sacrificial practices of the ancient culture. I saw a presentation he had given at a forum and found his research to be the most interesting of all those presented so I've been trying to communicate with him about the possibilities of joining him down there this summer. After entering his office he spent about ten mins telling me various reasons why he can't take me down there as one of his students citing lack of finances, space, and other logistics as reasons. I found myself wondering why he didn't just tell me he couldn't use me in an email, but just as I was about to lose all hope, he paused and said, "Now, that all being said, I'd love to have you show up anyway." You can imagine my surprise. He then proceeded to tell me that he'd love to have me come help them out in the month of June when they will be doing a lot of the work on the skeletons and he would show me the ropes and give me a taste of being a bioarchaeologist so I can decide if that might be a path of interest for me. He then gave me a list of about six textbook sized books to read up on before I meet them down there, you know, just some light reading. So that's probably the most interesting news I have to share so far. Also I have been given the opportunity to fly down to Buenos Aires to begin my adventure by meeting up with my wonderful parents who have been serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in that area for a little over a year now. So the plan is to spend a week or so with them as they give me le gran tour of that area after which I will decide what to do before I make my way up to Peru to meet with Dr. Klaus. Unfortunately due to the fact that it will only be a couple of weeks in between time I may have to fly to Peru from one of the larger cities in the southern region of South America in order to make it in a timely fashion. So that would mean that I would then do the rest of the hitch-hiking after the dig sometime around July.
On a different note it's been an interesting couple of weeks in regards to this trek as I've discussed it with a couple of people that have been nothing but supportive up until now. I am finding that for whatever reason people are only now beginning to express concern and doubts in regards to my sanity and my sense of responsibility. I feel as though many people are brushing this trip off as "just another one of Mike's adventures." or an avoidance of committing to something and rushing me to get home and be done with this and be "responsible". Others seem to be trying to get me to avoid certain areas or countries or to be a lot more cautious than what they know I will be. I will say this, I don't plan on being stupid on purpose as I might have done in years past, I value life, even my own believe it or not. However, you may all be comforted to know that I will not go where God tells me not to. Therefore you may find peace in knowing that whatever happens to me while on this journey is truly God's will and that good, will come of it even if it seems like none can. Know that I know in my heart that I am doing what is right for me right now and there is no one and nothing that will deter me from it save it be through inspiration from God himself. Sometimes in life there are people who are like the crabs in a bucket who upon seeing you attempt to aspire or overcome will pull you down back into the bucket. They may not do so unintentionally and they may even do so under the umbrella of love. However, if anyone tries to pull you down or keep you from being all you are genetically capable of being (a literal son or daughter of a very real God), then I advise you to sincerely consider what was said and acknowledge where it stems from (most likely a misguided or misinformed love), and then make a divinely inspired choice and adhere to it unshakably. I leave you with this until next time. May your dreams be what drives you and your God be what guides you.