So here’s the saga of my visa for those of you wondering why I was back in the states for so long (three weeks) or for those of you wondering why I was back at all. I hope this can clear up confusion, make those of you who support me financially and through prayer more aware of why I was spending my times in the states instead of in Mexico, and honestly just help me process all the craziness that has been these past three weeks.
Probably about a month and a half before I was leaving Mexico, to come home for one of my best friend’s wedding (#lovetheluginbills), we decided to also start the process to obtain my temporary residency visa. This will allow me to stay here in Mexico and come and go without any problems for a year. I was supposed to get papers while I was here in Mexico and then try to get an appointment at a Mexican consulate in the states while I was home. Things obviously did not work out as easily as planned.
Setback number 1: I didn’t get the papers for my visa from Mexico until 9:45 at night on Thursday of the first week I was in the states, when we thought it might come that Monday or Tuesday. I still can’t say why it took SO LONG to get my papers approved and to me, but they did end up taking a lot longer than expected.
Setback number 2: with the craziness of the wedding that Saturday, I didn’t call the nearest consulates until the following week. When I did call, Chicago said they didn’t have appointments until the 19th of June, literally 2 weeks later. I never was able to get into good contact with the consulate in Omaha, and then finally, Wednesday of that week, I got in touch with the consulate in St. Paul, Minnesota. They were able to give me an appointment for the next day, but said I would have to come back after my papers had been approved and pick it all up. I took what I could get.
So the next day, we went up to Minneapolis and turned everything in. I should mention that, of course, good ‘ol Cedar Rapids Iowa nor Des Moines had Mexican Consulates, so the closest consulates were each about 4 hours away, making having to go twice a pain, but necessary. The first meeting was an easy 30 minute ordeal, everything went fine.
Setback number 3: The waiting game. I then had to wait a week for them to finally call me and set up another time to drive up to St. Paul and get everything. They finally did and we set up a tie for this past Monday and we went up and got everything. Another super easy meeting, everything approved and a cool new paper in my passport.
I was on a flight back to Mexico City the next day (yesterday)!
I guess the bottom line is that I can’t explain why this process was so much more involved, difficult, and slow for me than it has been for other participants. For those of you supporting me who were concerned about me not being here doing my work, I want to reiterate that really, this process was very much so out of my control and being delayed for so long was not my fault (nor anybody else’s). Thanks for your understanding and patience through this process, believe me it has been a real struggle for me. I want to thank you for your prayers as well over this process and my time at home. They were much needed.
As I was home, I kept trying to find a purpose or reason why it had been so delayed and trying to find out what God was gonna teach me. Well I have gained a ton of patience and a greater understanding that I can’t control everything, Sometime things just don’t work out how we expect or would’ve liked but…. It did work out in the end.
I was also able to see some family who were visiting from out of town, and that was a real blessing. It was great to spend quite a bit of unexpected time with an aunt, uncle and cousins I don’t get to see very often, and other family and friends in town as well. I was expecting this to be a hectic whirlwind of a trip but it actually ended up being nice, despite experiencing the dissonance and stress of not being able to do my work/activities here. Probably the most frustrating part of being home for so long unexpectedly is having to constantly communicate and explain things to the leaders of the ministries I’m working with down here. Thankfully, they have all been super understanding through it all. It’s also a funny navigating the dichotomy of trying to get back to somewhere while everyone else (especially family from out of town) is more or less excited you’re “stranded”. I also know that 3 weeks might not seem like a big deal t some of you, but when other people are supporting my time here, and I only have so much time every week here in my main ministry… it suddenly became a very big deal. So maybe that’s why I feel I owe this explanation.
I’m still reflecting on what God did with my extra time at home and hope to find more insight into that… maybe I’m just reaching for justification at this point. But really the important things are 1. ONE OF MY BEST FRIEND S GOT MARRIED AND I WAS ABLE TO MAKE THE TRIP BACK FOR IT AND 2. I HAVE MY VISA AND AM A TEMPORARY RESIDENT OF MEXICO!
Anyway, Thanks for letting me ramble on about this. I promise an update on the ministries early next week as well. I hope you know I’m doing my best here and just trying to let God use me as he will during the rest of my time here.