Where do I even begin?

Well, I suppose this will be the last blog I write from Nicaragua this time around. I don’t even know where to start.

Monday the landlady arrived (she’s a sister too). Seems like she had a smooth trip here. So we spent the week doing our studies one last time and we managed to meet with the group once or twice in the mornings. It’s all a bit of a blur now. I hardly remember what we did from one day to the next. Our landlady came out in service with us too one day and came on a couple of studies with me. She seemed to enjoy everything about the experience, especially getting her feet dusty on the dirt streets and getting jostled around in the truck as we drove down said streets! Here are a few pictures of the studies I said Goodbye to this week.

The house is being painted on the inside by the same brother who has been doing repairs here for a while now. He attends the congregation we went to last time we visited, El Crucero, so it’s been nice to see him, and last week he brought his wife and son with him one day. It was really nice to spend some time with them again since we became really good friends on our last visit. Their little boy is 4 years old and can quote pretty much word for word the video about Bible prophecy. He quotes all the part about the world powers, which beast in Daniel represents which world power, and he can tell you the ruler of each of those powers. It’s amazing to listen to! When I get home and have a faster internet connection I’ll upload the videos I have of him teaching us all this stuff, although of course it’s in Spanish, but it’s still amazing! Maybe I’ll try and add subtitles!

In Nicaragua this year they organized again what they call Rutas de Precursores (Pioneer Route) which is kind of like unassigned territory in the States. This year they invited any regular or auxiliary pioneers to apply to go serve for a period of time in areas of Nicaragua that don’t get covered in the preaching work. So, in the congregation, two fleshly sisters and a married couple applied and were assigned a couple of hours from here, past Rivas, to serve. The sisters are going for two months, and the couple for one month but with the hope of extending their stay a lot longer than that. So, Friday night was their last meeting here at Piedra Quemada, since early Sunday morning, they all left for the assignment along with their families and a few brothers who were taking them. So, the Goodbye’s started on Friday, and I had to fight back the tears. I had a demonstration Friday night – they told me it was my going away present! It went well I think. And they asked Charley to give the opening prayer, which made me start crying, since I imagined it would be his last prayer at Piedra Quemada. I was wrong, but more about that in a minute.

So, on Saturday Charley went out to do a study, then we went to Masaya so that Leyla could get some things at the market, and I got a shirt that I had ordered there. We sat in the tall chairs at the tall tables again and enjoyed that amazing smoothie again. Then in the evening we went to the party that I mentioned last time. When we got there, I was accosted by three of the kids in a big group hug. I thought it was a bit odd that they all ran up to me like that. Then two of them presented us with this envelope they had decorated, and it had some beautiful letters inside about how they are going to miss us, and wish we could stay, and wish us all the best for the future, and hope to see us again. So, as it turned out, this was a going away party for us, and for the 4 who are going on the Pioneer Route! That was a nice surprise indeed. So we danced the night away and had a great time. I brought some of the Scottish Ceilidh (spelled wrong probably, but pronounced Kaylee) music and Charley and I taught them three dances!!! We had a blast! There wasn’t a lot of room, but about 8 or 10 people joined in and we had a great laugh. I don’t know if anyone got very proficient, but they certainly had fun trying to learn! And Charley was a very good teacher too despite not having done these dances much since our wedding reception! Here are a few pictures from the evening. There are more in our web album. Click here to go to the web album

My girls Priscila & Alondra

The super cool Jael

Linda, Luz Marina & Kenia

Katia & Eunice with Ovidio flying by in the background!

We got quite a few little notes from the brothers and sisters, and one dear friend gave Charley some cologne, and me, a gift set with perfume, lotion, soap, and a beautiful satin scarf in it. So there were a lot of tears shed since we had to say our final Goodbyes to those who were going to be travelling the next day (amongst whom were those I became really close to), and they were saying their Goodbyes to their dear friends in the congregation.

So, then came Sunday, the final meeting here. We spent the day cleaning the house, making spaghetti sauce, writing out cards, etc. The meeting was at 4pm, and they gave Charley the going away present of giving the Public Talk! He gave the one “Should Christians Observe a Day of Rest?” (not sure what the title is exactly in English!). I always enjoy that one because I forget the details so it’s fresh each time I hear it! He did an EXCELLENT job if I do say so myself! They had him give the opening prayer for some reason, instead of the closing one, so Sunday ended up being his last prayer, not Friday. And just before the meeting started I ran out to put a gift in the car, and saw a group of brothers who had arrived in a taxi, heading back out. I got the feeling that a speaker had arrived, and they were sent away! So I’m not quite sure what happened, but I felt a bit guilty that they’d made the trip from somewhere in a taxi only to get sent home because Charley was giving the talk instead!

After Charley was done, the chairman had some lovely words to say about us, and the congregation applauded to send their greetings back to our congregation with us. My eyes are filling up with tears just typing this. Throughout the Watchtower I cried quite a bit. Every time I heard a voice that I was going to miss so much, I just couldn’t help myself! Then the song “Myriads of Brothers” just kept making me think about all these brothers and sisters we’ve made friends with and I could hardly sing the song for crying! And then one of the elders gave the closing prayer, and said such lovely things again about us, that I just lost it and sobbed through the whole thing! After the meeting there were lots of hugs, and smiles, and tears. We got some more cards and a couple of little gifts.

We had a bunch of people over after the meeting. One last evening of pasta and conversation here! Here we all are, well minus one because a sister left before I remembered to take a picture of us all. 

Front Row, L-R - Paula, Leyla, Luz Marina, Carla & Sadrac, Rebeca, Maria
Back Row, L-R - Alan, Wilder, Jorge, Leonardo, Charley, Rachel

We had a good laugh with them all. Then we went and dropped everyone off at home. The last one we dropped off was Luz Marina. I hadn’t realized how attached she had got to us, and she cried and cried when it was time to say Goodbye. And I really am going to miss her, but no tears came at that moment. I felt kind of bad that she was crying and I wasn’t! But I cried plenty later on reading some of the letters people gave us!

So, that was the weekend. It was an emotional one for me to say the least. Just another beautiful reminder of the amazing brotherhood we have amongst Jehovah’s people. Three months ago we didn’t know any of these people, and now it’s painful to leave them all. They’ve become like a dear family to us, and we’ll all miss each other, and long to see each other again to enjoy each other’s company once more.

Looking back over these three wonderful months down here, I realize how I’ve learned to a fuller degree what’s really important, what keeping a simple eye really means, what it is to rely completely on Jehovah, how it feels to see his hand at work in your life, how special the worldwide brotherhood is, and how new experiences can make you look at life with a totally different outlook.