#BraceletStory from Greg Johnson

The San Lucas Mission has a history of distributing bracelets to visitors upon their departure. Visitors are encouraged to gift two of the three bracelets to friends or family back home and tell about their experience in San Lucas. Earlier this year, we asked you to tell us your #BraceletStory. What happened to you bracelets? Who did you give them to? What stories did you tell? Each Friday this month, we’ll share with you one #BraceletStory we received.

Written by Greg Johnson. Greg has visited the San Lucas Mission multiple times with Oak Grove Presbyterian Church in Bloomington, MN.

Back in June of 2019, I was one of the chaperones for a youth trip from Oak Grove Presbyterian Church in Bloomington, Minnesota to San Lucas. And, as is the custom, I received three bracelets when I left. So what happened to the bracelets?

My siblings and their spouses and grown children have a gift exchange at Christmastime. We each bring a gift, and after a number drawing, we start. The person with #1 picks a gift from the pile on the floor. And we can steal gifts, so the person who loses the gift in a steal, can pick another gift. My sister’s daughter initially picked the gift I brought. My gift consisted of a wrapped package, which had the three bracelets taped to the top. By the way, the package contained wooden spoons made by Toribio Chajil, who is the brother of Andres.

So, the gift was stolen, first by my sister, and then by my brother’s wife. However, since a gift can be stolen only 3 times, the husband of the first person, eventually stole it back to the family. That family has three children – each was given a bracelet. Here is a picture of two of the children wearing their bracelets.