I had an incredible experience on a mission trip in El Salvador through the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging. It was difficult to see some of the extreme situations of poverty that these people lived in, but serving them and building new houses for them brought a lot of joy as well. In all of the communities we visited during our trip, we were constantly surrounded by so much joy and love! I loved playing with the children because they are very cute and so open to strangers. It is not like it is in the US, where kids are afraid to go up to people they don't know. the children and adults alike are just so ready to love others even though they may not know them at all. Also, I was impressed by how simply the people in El Salvador live their lives. They are not as attached to material things as many people are in the US. They are not caught up in technology all the time and many do not even know all these little gadgets and gizmos exist! Even the simplest device like a digital camera, is fascinating to them. Once they figured out that their face showed up on the screen they wanted a million pictures taken of each one of them. Those children are precious and I miss their happiness, joy, love, and laughter! I learned so much more than I expected to while on this trip and I am so glad I took the steps to be able to attend! It was an absolutely life changing adventure and I would recommended it to anyone who truly wants to serve those in need.