Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made stops in West and Waco Wednesday as he sets out to meet a goal of visiting every state in the U.S.

Zuckerberg, 32, whose net worth is estimated at more than $53 billion, toured West and visited with residents Wednesday, before meeting with about 20 local pastors at Mission Waco's World Cup Cafe & Fair Trade Market in Waco "to talk about their view of what community means to them, among other issues", according to a Mission Waco Facebook post.

Zuckerberg posted about the visit on his own Facebook page, writing "In many ways, I still don't have a clear sense of Texas. This state is complex, and everyone has a lot of layers -- as Americans, as Texans, as members of a local community, and even just as individuals. But this trip has helped me understand just how important community is, and how we're all just looking for something we can trust. We may come from different backgrounds, but we all want to find purpose and authenticity in something bigger than ourselves."

Heading back home after a great few days in Texas. Today we drove down to Waco and stopped in smaller towns along the... Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday, January 18, 2017

The visits weren’t publicized because officials were told that if media were present, his tour of the community would be cancelled.

In a Facebook post on Jan. 3, Zuckerberg said his goal by the end of the 2017 is to “get out and talk to more people about how they're living, working and thinking about the future.

“I've spent significant time in many states already, so I'll need to travel to about 30 states this year to complete this challenge,” he said in the post.

“My trips this year will take different forms -- road trips with (my wife) Priscilla, stops in small towns and universities, visits to our offices across the country, meetings with teachers and scientists, and trips to fun places you recommend along the way.”

West continues to recover after the powerful April 17, 2013 explosion at West Fertilizer, Co. that left 15 dead, about 200 injured and damaged or destroyed dozens of homes and buildings including a nursing home, a two-story apartment building and three of four of West’s schools.

West Mayor Tommy Muska didn't tell other city leaders about the visit in advance, but instead told them to meet at the community for a surprise.

Muska said Zuckerberg seemed intensely interested in how the small town has recovered.

“He just wanted to visit with us and see what our take was I guess on social media and in our city he just took it all in seemed to listen intently to a lot of people,” Muska said.

“We will just see how that develops.”

(John Carroll contributed to this story)