![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Market-630x287.jpg?resize=630%2C287\")
<\/a><\/p>\nOn our fifth day of the El Salvador mission we acted much more like tourists than missionaries. We drove to Antigua Guatemala, did some quick shopping and then found the Monastery turned hotel turned (five star) restaurant to eat some really good food (and use a good restroom). I\u2019m not sure I would say we are expert missionaries but clearly, we make lousy tourists. First, our bus broke down when our driver failed to fill the tank with the correct gasoline. Two hours later, we started again with a new bus. We believed the trip would take 4 hours each direction, but we had failed to factor in at least an hour to get 20 some missionaries through customs.<\/p>\n
So the trip actually took about 7 hours to get there and 5 hours to get back. Needless to say, our shopping was rushed. We also rushed trying to find the monastery. So the 7 block trip turned into a 14 block trip and ended at the wrong monastery turned hotel turned restaurant. Evidently Guatemalan tourists all long to eat like monks. At least they want to eat like rich 16th centaury monks, who evidently ate quite well. But our \u201cday off\u201d was in many ways more tiring than our days working for the church. So I wasn\u2019t quite sure what, if anything, this had accomplished\u2026 until the ride home.<\/p>\n
On the ride home most of Austin mission team lined up in seats next to each other. Being the quiet person I am, mainly just sat an listened as our little team got to know each other, caught up, joked and chatted for 5 straight hours. Every member of the body of Christ belongs to every other member of the body of Christ. Mission work is notorious for forming life long friendships, relationships, sometimes even marriages. And these are the relationships provide the spark that keeps the body moving through the long struggle for justice. As I watched these relationships form and grow I was more than pleased we took the trip to Guatemala. Sooner or later the 4 extra hours of travel and how horribly lost we got in Guatemala will just be one more thing to joke about. The important thing is we will be laughing together.<\/p>\n
So my Challenge to you for day 5 will be pretty easy. Spend some time with some good Catholic friends. Be sure to catch up and joke around. And when your done spend some time together praying for the people of El Salvador. Together we are a great body and a great body can do great things.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mission El Salvador Day 5 On our fifth day of the El Salvador mission we acted much more like tourists than missionaries. We drove to Antigua Guatemala, did some quick shopping and then found the Monastery turned hotel turned (five star) restaurant to eat some really good food (and use a good restroom). I\u2019m not… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":96,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,926,91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-blog","category-el-salvador","category-young-adult","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20906,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/08\/mission-el-salvador-day-0\/","url_meta":{"origin":21141,"position":0},"title":"Mission El Salvador Day 0","author":"Trenton Henrichson","date":"August 6, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Young Adult Mission to El Salvador Day 0 \u00a0 My next couple posts are going to be different. They are going to be shorter. They will come in more rapid succession. My spelling may be worse (not that it wasn\u2019t bad enough already). Oh yes and after this one, they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "El Salvador"","block_context":{"text":"El Salvador","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/el-salvador\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21256,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/08\/mission-el-salvador-day-7\/","url_meta":{"origin":21141,"position":1},"title":"Mission El Salvador Day 7","author":"Trenton Henrichson","date":"August 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Mission El Salvador Day 7 Early in the morning of the seventh day of El Salvador I spent delivering supplies to a school in one of the Villages we have worked with here in El Salvador.\u00a0 Meghan delivered supplies to the school and day care in the other. Once again\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/rhouse.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":20998,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/08\/mission-el-salvador-day-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":21141,"position":2},"title":"Mission El Salvador Day 1","author":"Trenton Henrichson","date":"August 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Mission El Salvador Day 1 Most of the first day was spent getting to El Salvador. My journey started at 5 am Austin time and didn\u2019t pass through customs until 1 pm El Salvadoran time. El Salvador has had a little less than half a day to open my eyes.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/DSC03604.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21316,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/08\/mission-el-salvador-day-8\/","url_meta":{"origin":21141,"position":3},"title":"Mission El Salvador Day 8","author":"Trenton Henrichson","date":"August 14, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Mission El Salvador Day 8 For our last full day in El Salvador I returned once more to the construction site. There was a foundation still to be dug and I was determined to see it as complete as possible before I left. Others returned to the daycare to get\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21038,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/08\/mission-el-salvador-day-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":21141,"position":4},"title":"Mission El Salvador Day 2","author":"Trenton Henrichson","date":"August 8, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Mission El Salvador Day 2: The missioners in El Salvador truly run the gamut of ages, sexes, professions and experience with mission work. Every night Sister Gloria makes a list of the sites that need workers and what roles (construction or child play) each site needs. She then allows the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Leveling-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":133200,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/07\/see-no-evil-reflections-on-laudato-si-part-ii\/","url_meta":{"origin":21141,"position":5},"title":"See No Evil: Reflections on Laudato Si’ Part II","author":"Trenton Henrichson","date":"July 28, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This is my second reflection on Pope Francis\u2019 new Encyclical Laudato Si addressed to every person living on this planet and added to the official Catholic doctrine. I hope my reflection is beneficial to you, but I (and Austin CNM) encourage you to read the document yourself here. 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