Personal Reflexion

Until I went to Mexico, I have never really known how much you have to give of yourself to give service to others. Serving others means being completely selfless and only thinking of the person you are serving.

The service project in Mexico that touched me the most was when we went to a homeless shelter. This shelter housed 276 elderly men ranging from their late 60's to as old as 107 years old. It hurt to see the circumstances in which they lived and the personal trials each of them were facing. Many couldn't walk, talk, and a few couldn't even see. Few wore flip flops as shoes while the rest had bare feet. They had nothing but the clothes on their backs and the garden chair that they would drag with them as they walked so that they could sit down where they pleased. 

We came to a part in the activity where we took quilts we had made into a room where about 20-30 men were sitting. A man saw us carrying these quilts and immediately said, "I'm cold." We all knew his reason for saying this, and none of us moved. We all had a blanket and none of us made a motion to give our blanket to this man. Mr. Haymond had to finally tell a student to come forward and wrap a blanket around the man. The fact that we had to be told caught me by surprise. I had imagined us going to this homeless shelter and doing all of this good right and left, but I found myself frozen where I stood. I watched as Mr. Haymond wrapped a blanket around a man, gave him a hug, and kept his hand on their arm as he talked with them. Why couldn't I approach someone with such love and kindness? I felt very hesitant as I went around and talked with many of the men living in the shelter. 

This experience was really eye-opening for me. I understand now why our church is always encouraging service. Constantly serving can help us learn how to love and reach out to everyone around us. If we constantly serve, we can always approach service with the attitude that I saw Mr. Haymond approach that man. With love and complete selflessness. We were all born with the ability to serve, and the only person that can stop us is ourself.