After numerous mission trips to Peru, I still get excited! We will be off in a few hours and I just can't wait! I've had tons of calls this morning from friends letting us know they are praying for us as well as from the missionaries.

Even as I write, my brain is trying to create a new game for the missionaries, because they are going to drive me crazy with the donkeys!

On my very first trip to Peru, I noticed that in the entire trip I only saw one donkey..in 10 days. How Un-Latin is that??? Having grown up in South Texas, I remember my parents crossing the border to go to Mexico to buy tortillas and haircuts for my brothers. One of the most common sites was the men pulling water wagons with donkeys. So in my mind, and in the mind of most Americans, I associate donkeys with Latin America. So one donkey in 10 days was just strange.

So in orienting the next mission team, I made mention that there were no donkeys in Peru. Of course, the team sought out to prove me wrong. I told them if I didn't see it and they didn't get a picture it didn't count. So after 10 days in Peru, 18 missionaries working together, we only sited 3 donkeys and only got 1 in a picture!

So far, the La Selva 2008 team is way ahead of everyone. They spotted 6 donkeys in 10 days and took pictures of 2.

Of course, that was in La Selva. When we went to Cuzco in December, Todd and I saw donkeys EVERYWHERE! Long hair donkeys wandering in the street, tied to posts, in pens. They were everywhere! So I guess it won't take the team long to get me to admit that there are donkeys in Peru!