Transcript:

We were completely stuck you guys. We had no idea how we were going to move forward in the work we had sacrificed so much for. 

As you know, in May of 2023, our family sold our home and belongings and moved to Mexico with the dream of creating a refuge for youth who had little or no family support. We wanted to help them break cycles of abuse and neglect, love who they are, discover their gifts, and see how they could make a difference for good in the world. 

We thought we had a pretty responsible plan. After the sell of our home, we would have enough money to build a home in Mexico, build a ropes course, and to have a few months of savings as we tried to get people to the ropes course. So while our home was getting built, our amazing friends from CLAS ropes came out to Mexico, at their own expense and without charging us for the labor,  to build the ropes course. Not only would this bring in revenue for this refuge, but from our experience working at CLAS ropes, and later from my experience creating and running a part time school there, we knew that ropes courses were excellent tools for helping youth see that we can overcome hard things and empowering them with the ability to do so. 

Well, things didn’t exactly go according to plan. Our house wasn’t ready for us to move into it when we arrived and was it was costing more than what we were initially quoted and we ran out of resources, which was unfortunate because then the rainy season started and we saw that we would not be able to get people to the ropes course through the muddy river that was now our road. 

We saw a lot of tender mercies though. One was that Benjamin Allen donated his trucks to us after driving the ropes equipment out here from Utah. This allowed us to be able to access our home through the mud even though no one else could. We also had amazing interns stay with us over the summer who ran an awesome summer program, helped us get the garden areas started, and kept our spirits up. 

Our two oldest kids both got engaged and decided to get married within a week of each other so in August 2024, we left Mexico to bo to the United States for their weddings, thinking we would be back to Mexico in a few weeks.

However, once we were in the United States, reality kicked in. We had no more money and no way to fix the road in order to be able to make some money off the ropes course. Bill worked in the United States much of the year in order for us to have enough to live on, but not enough to fix the road so we would have the option of making money in Mexico. We were stuck and we needed a miracle. 

Meanwhile, in Meridian, Idaho, a group of teachers and administrators at Legacy Academy were getting together to decide on a service trip for their high school kids. One of the administrators had heard of our work and suggested they come help us here. It was a risky thing to do for them. They knew we were just getting started, and probably didn’t even have the capacity for so many of them. But they felt inspired to come anyway. They decided to take the risk and come on January 31st. 

Our family and team were so excited! A group so big could help get back to Mexico and get a lot done. Plus it would give us enough resources to start moving forward again. The kids and I flew out on January 8th to get things ready for them. 

We got to work cleaning, organizing, buying supplies, food,  and extra cots and pillows….

We ran out of power quite a bit over the summer while the interns stayed with us , so with the group’s trip payment we were able to buy more solar panels AND we were also able to buy water heaters so that they wouldn’t have to take cold showers! That felt like quite the luxury for us. We also booked a nearby AirBNB for the women in the group and bought some cots and pillows so the men in the group could stay at our home. 

Legacy Academy also raised 10,000 dollars for a work project and guess what we decided to do with it?  Fix the road! 

Originally we thought we would have the group work on the road, but after talking to several road experts, we decided it would be best to let them do it with their machinery and for us to focus on getting the house ready for the school we would be holding there and the yard ready for planting. 

They arrived around midnight on Saturday morning after a long day of travelling. My boys took the boys in the group and they walked through the dark, muddy road through the jungle road to get to our house and begin settling in. I took the girls to a nearby airbnb.

The next day the girls made their way to our house after getting some sleep and we began the work projects. Oh my goodness, this group knew how to work! They gathered rocks from a neigbor who had dug a bunch up, scraped mold of the sides of the house, dug holes, created garden beds, did maintenance on our cars, helped with meal prep and clean up, and cheered us up with their music, their words, their testimonies, and their example. 

During work times, the youth took and mentors took turns visiting El Corchal. El Corchal is a lake with corkscrew trees that you kayak through. It’s almost a sacred experience as you see the waterlilies, the beautiful trees, the birds, their nests, and a few hatchlings. You whisper through the experience in order to not disturb their nesting grounds. Even just the drive out there is incredible and during the walk to the kayaks, he explains about the animal life and the different trees and plants and their healing properties. 

After that first work day,  we did some ropes course activities. It so happened that Benjamin, Nathan, and Lisa Allen from CLAS ropes and Big Rock Adventres  had volunteered to come out again to do some maintenance, a safety check, and train a few facilitators for a few days and it happened to overlap for when this group would be here. In addition to all they were already doing, they helped us facilitate the groups.  The youth worked well together, laughed a lot, and shared some deep insights about what it means to move through life in a way that embraces challenges and growth.

After the ropes experience we ate dinner, and then Benjamin Allen talked to the group about the miracles he had seen in his work at CLAS ropes and our work at Find Your Path Mission and how God’s hand is in the details. He is such an inspiring man of God and we were so blessed to have him come do maintenance on the ropes course and train facilitators during the time this group would be with us. We all were blessed by his testimony. 

Their 2nd day with us was a Sunday and the group attended church with us. It was testimony meeting and one young man from our branch got up and said how happy it made him to see so many youth gathered there, and to hear the power of their singing together. 

Then thatt evening, the group visited the Discover the Bible Park and did a tour through the history of the Bible. They were impressed by what they saw and how well done it was. 

Monday there was more work in the morning and then,  and in the afternoon we invited kids in the neighborhood to the park to play games and do activities. They had fun rotating in for basketball, playing frisbee, playing card games, hand games, and painting nails. Then we went to eat dinner at our friend’s home who had been preparing most of the meals for the group. Our friends took out some guitars and there was singing and dancing. They had a devotional where Dallin, Joy, Josh and I shared a few thoughts and at the end they shared some sweet things they liked about each member of our family. It was so kind, we had so much fun, and we felt so loved.

Tuesday was the last work day and they were so determined to finish the projects they had started, so they worked hard and fast, scraping, digging and planting. That evening we all went to El Cuyo which is a quiet beach about an hour from us. We got to enjoy the water, each other,  and see the sunset. 

One the 5th day, the group when to see Ek Balam which is my favorite place to go see ruins. They took Dallin and Josh with them. It’s my favorite because you are able to climp the ruins, not just view them from the ground, so you can better imagine what it would have been like to live there.  

They had a tour guide who was a member of our congregation and was able to explain some things unique to our religion. They then visited a cenote and then the town of Valladolid to experience some of the culture and food of the Yucatan. 

Day five We all went to Holbox. 

Day six we said a tearful goodbye and they left for the airport.

We will always feel beyond grateful for this group who came at a time when we were completely stuck and needed a miracle. Each one of them touched our lives and the work we are doing here in ways we will never forget. We love you all!

Thank you for watching and for sharing this video. We invite you to be involved in this work with us if you are not alreadywe have some pretty urgent construction needs, and we are in need of monthly donors to in order to have stable programs that we need to provide for these youth. We woula lso jus tuse your prayers. And so I’m going to put a link under this video if you want to learn more, find out about volunteer opportunities from home or in Mexico and how you can donate. And thank you!