Seems like it's time to write

It seems like it's time to write another blog post, but now that I sit down I can't even think what to blog about. Usually when I start a post that way, it ends up being really long!

Well, since the last blog post Charley has spent a week in Pioneer Service School and started his second week today. Even though I've seen him in the evenings I feel like I haven't seen him much because he's been studying so much! It's been hard to keep my mouth shut and let him study when I haven't seen him all day - surprised to hear that about me right?!?!

He's enjoying the school very much. I went to take the picture on Wednesday. It turned out okay although not as good as the last one which was taken with our friend Blake's camera. I hope they're happy with it, if not, oh well, they won't ask me again!

I also got to help make food the first day of the class. I got to chop carrots and potatoes, transport the food and servers, and then help serve the food, drinks, and fruit salad. It was nice to get to be a part of the lunch break that day and there was some food left over so I got a yummy lunch too and some fruit!

The day I took the picture we took so long that I missed my group for service. But the CO's wife (serving in Managua) didn't have plans with anyone so I got to take her on some of my calls, and then we went to support the new public witnessing stand that they had in the market. We were only there a little while though so we just saw one person take a book. The brothers made a very nice little stand on wheels which even folds up. It was really nice to get to work with her, learn more about their years of full-time service, and see her using her experience in the ministry.

So, I've spent the week going out in service on my own, well, without Charley I mean. Most days I've had the truck. On Thursday though I had Charley drop me off at the group since I was just going out in the morning. I somehow ended up by myself doing return visits. I only found one of them home though, but I managed not to get lost in our new territory (I prayed most of the time I was walking between calls that morning!), and when I did feel like I didn't know where to go, I prayed and two sisters from a neighboring congregation appeared from around the corner and walked me to where I needed to go!

Then I got the bus home from the market and sat next to a sweet young girl, who I started chatting with. I was able to share a couple of scriptures with her, place magazines and find out that she lives in our territory! She has the Bible Teach book already but nobody is calling on her, so I'm going next week to see if I can start a study with her! Hopefully she gave me the right address! It was a lovely end to a quiet morning.

We also had a movie night at one of our friend's house with Brenda, Caleb and Franci. Juan Carlos is coordinator in the other congregation we were in, and wanted to have us over before we all head to the States for a while. It took us about an hour to final settle on a film. It was funny how it all went down! He had bought a few videos, but they were all labeled badly (pirate videos aren't illegal here) so we put two in that when they were about to begin we realized were R rated so we turned them off. Then we looked through Netflix for ages and couldn't decide on anything. Then we chose one that Franci had seen on TV once, but after 10 minutes the language started to get bad and we realized it was rated R too. I guess when Franci watched it she watched it in Spanish and they didn't translate the bad language. So that was a shame because it looked like it would have been a good story. So, we finally ended up watching Kevin James in the Zookeeper! It was predictable, but really funny!!!

And the highlight of the night - Juan Carlos ordered PAPA JOHN'S PIZZA!!!! It even came with the little garlic butter tub - my favorite part!!!

Can you tell we haven't been in the States for almost a year. We both love Papa John's but this is probably the first time either of us wanted our picture taken with it!!

The movie gang - me, Charley, Brenda, Caleb, Juan Carlos, Franci. Look at those lovely tans!

We also got confirmation this week that we got the last two seats on the bus with Granada English congregation to go to the English District Convention in El Salvador in August! WE'RE SO EXCITED!!! It'll be like a mini international convention. It's the only English District Convention in Central America so all those serving in English down here will be going, plus other tag-alongs like us! It's right before we head to the States so we have to get all our stuff ready since we get back about 10pm Monday night and fly out 7:30 Tuesday morning!! They don't offer discounts at the hotels like they do in the States, so we just found a nice B&B online that gave us a bit of a discount for staying four nights. It looks really nice and almost every review on TripAdvisor gave it an Excellent rating.

So, time will be flying by. It's only four weeks on Wednesday until we go to El Salvador and judging by how these last four weeks flew by, no doubt the next four will too. I'm trying to get organized so that it won't be too crazy at the last minute! I say that like I've actually done something to get organized - I've thought about it a lot, that's a good start I'd say!

On a completely unrelated note, if you understand a little bit of Spanish, and want to watch something really funny, click here. A friend of mine introduced me to this today - it's HILARIOUS!

12000 Pageviews - wow!

I just noticed that our blog reached 12000 pageviews today! Thanks for following us. And a lot of you get the blog via email so probably never even go to the online version. It's nice to know that people are still keeping up with my oftentimes terribly long blog posts!!

So, since I last blogged we had a wonderful weekend enjoying our Circuit Pioneer Session and our Circuit Assembly. 

Friday we went to help clean the assembly hall in the morning. We were assigned all of the paths around the place, picking up leaves and scrubbing them (the paths, not the leaves!). We had a really good turnout to help, probably about 150 or so. We left the place nice and clean for the assembly. In the afternoon we had our circuit pioneer session. It was originally going to be at the assembly hall, but they had to change it at the last minute to a Kingdom Hall in Masaya. The reason is that the current political party were having a rally that involved shutting down the entire main highway between Managua and Masaya so that people could walk and party along the way. For an explanation of what it was for, you can click here if you like. (The comment the reporter makes in parenthesis towards the end are rather funny - my sentiments exactly!)

So, since that's the highway that goes from the assembly hall to Masaya they moved it into Masaya so that everyone could get there. Problem is, one congregation in the circuit, and 6 of us needgreaters, live between Managua and Masaya right off that highway! So, we got to the meeting just fine. Getting home - that was another story! We debated about waiting around in Masaya until later, in the hopes that the march would be over. But then one brother went to check things out, and came back saying the police said they'd let us through.

With that promise, we all piled into the two trucks we had between us and headed out. This was around 6pm. We got a few kilometers down the highway all excited about going home, and then, oh great, policemen blocking the road. They sent us up a different road, and from that main road, we had to drive down a dirt road in the dark for about 30 minutes or more. Along the way we had to ask for directions a couple of times but we eventually came back out onto the highway about 5 or 6 km from where they redirected us. So off we go, all happy that we're just a few km from home. We pass the street where two sisters in the group live, but there were so many people partying in the street, and probably drunk, that they didn't want to get out. So we kept on going. We got 3 km further, and again, CLOSED!!!! Thankfully for everyone else, by then we were in the territory where most of them live. So we took a back road and dropped everyone off. One couple ended up spending the night at someone elses house because it was too complicated to get back home.

But we still live about 2.5 km further on, so it's not over for us yet! We take a back road that we knew because we served for 3 months in that territory, but then we get so far and it's blocked off because they're repaving it! So we start to think we'll be staying at a friend's house for a while, the night before our assembly! As we pull into a field to turn around, a little mototaxi pulls past us and follows a path through the field. So, we follow him. I'm convinced the road will be too big for the truck, but it wasn't! We crossed the field and came out on a road that took us to Ticuantepe - which is where the assembly hall is. So, now we're about 3 km PAST our house! We drove down that road, passing by the assembly hall, until we find a dirt road that leads right to the gates of the housing division we live in!

It felt so good to be home. What should have been a 20 minute drive took 90 minutes, but we made it. We also went to the assembly in a really muddy truck the next morning! And even some of those that live right in Masaya had a hard time getting past Central Park. A 10 minute trip turned into a 30 minute one for them too.

Here we are - those of us who live off the closed highway, outside the hall, debating what to do!

But the day was wonderful. We have 265 regular pioneers in the circuit, and 3 special pioneers. The Kingdom Hall was bursting at the seams! Charley and Caleb both had the privilege of giving talks on the program. That was Charley's first talk at a circuit pioneer session. And Brenda and I did a little 2-minute demonstration for him which went well. We managed to remember all of our lines! If my memory serves me correctly, that's the first time I've ever had a part on the pioneer session too. I think!

As usual there were some really good reminders and suggestions on the program. I came away with lots of things to work on as I do every year! The CO told us that we have 2048 publishers in the circuit and conduct 3036 bible studies. 1256 of those studies are conducted by the regular and special pioneers. Also, 6 new congregations were formed in the circuit since September 2012, one of those being the one we're in now.

Our friend Justin also gave a really good talk about conducting progressive studies. He's a good example of that too - he had a study baptized at the assembly on Saturday. A young man he met in the door to door ministry about 2 years ago. 

And we got to meet the District Overseer - for the first and last time! They've been reassigned to Mexico, so they'll be leaving Nicaragua soon. Nicaragua only has one district, the whole country, so they've done a lot of travelling in the 2 years they've served down here. And we had the special privilege of having Brother John Larson who has served for years in Bethel in NY, and is currently in the Mexico branch for 18 months with his wife, Tamara. He gave the concluding talk and he had to try and talk louder than the pouring rain on the zinc roof for the last few minutes of it. I think he wrapped it up a little early because of that actually. We really enjoyed having them with us for the weekend as they were at our assembly too and we got to talk to them a little bit every day.

Charley giving his talk at the pioneer session

Brenda and I doing our demonstration

Blurry picture of Brother John Larson

The packed out Kingdom Hall

Andrea - I study with her little sister Noelia whose been featured on the blog before!

Our circuit assembly went really well. We had a peak of just over 1700 there on Sunday. Six were baptized on Saturday. Our young pioneer, Jose, did the bible reading on Saturday and did a very nice job. We had heard the program in English back in October, so it was nice to hear it again. I missed all of Sunday afternoon because our congregation was assigned to see to the sister's bathrooms. Man, was THAT an experience! 

I won't go into too much detail, but there was a lot of gagging went on during the cleaning process. Most sewer systems here in Nicaragua can't handle toilet paper, so people have a trash can for that in their bathrooms. Well, at the assembly hall the plumbing CAN handle it, and there's a sign on the inside of every stall which tells you that. However, not everyone believes the signs or something, so, well, I'll leave it at that. I would be happy to have ANY other assignment at the next assembly! Thank goodness they provided us with gloves!! An oxygen mask would have been nice too, but you can't have everything I guess!

Jose doing the Bible Reading on Saturday. They could hardly get the podium short enough for him! He's been a regular pioneer for over a year, and he's only 13.

Saturday after the assembly - I forgot to get one while Charley still had his tie on! A sister told me she had a belt just like mine about 20 years ago! I said yeah, so did my mam, and now it's mine!!

Our faithful travelling sisters. Left to right: Elizabeth Olivares (CO's wife), Sister Galindo (DO's wife, forgot her first name), and Tamara Larson currently serving with her husband at the Mexico branch, previously served at Wallkill.

Me and Brenda - they are in the other section of the circuit now but came to visit for the afternoon.

So, that was the weekend. This week we've had a good time out in service. I have an established study now in our new territory, and had some really good return visits this week too. I also had good studies with those from my old territory that I haven't turned over yet. It's so hard to want to pass them on, but as we get busier in our new territory, it will become too hard to keep my old studies anyway.

We're also getting to know our new congregation better working with them in the ministry. I worked with a young 22-year old sister called Socorro the other day. What a fight she has had to serve Jehovah. It was so encouraging to hear her story and think about how easy I've always had it. She started studying when she was 12 but faced severe opposition from her family. She kept going though, was baptized at 16, ended up leaving home at 19 and had a hard time finding work and a place to live, but thanks to the love of the brothers and sisters she's got a good place now and is faithfully serving Jehovah. There are so many young ones here who respond to the truth at a young age, when nobody else in their family does, and it's so encouraging to hear their experiences and see their faith in action.

Oh, and Masaya had a tornado. At first I didn't believe it, but then I realized it was true! It affected a brother's house too, and then this week his mam died. He's had a rough month. Here's the news story on the tornado. It hit right in our old territory and near our Kingdom Hall when we were on our way to the meeting. We didn't see it, but everyone was talking about it when we got there.

And exciting news for the end - we bought our tickets to go back and visit home!!!!! We've been hanging on, waiting for the prices to come down, and they finally did. So, on September 3rd at 5:45pm we'll touch down in Indianapolis, and will be there about 2 1/2 months, until November 20th!!! YAY!!!!! We're really excited about seeing everyone. I wish we could somehow afford a visit to England too, but that's not going to happen! But at least we'll be there a day before my Aunty Lesley goes back to England so we'll get to see her. 

I guess that also answers the question of whether we are only staying for a year. We enjoyed our first year so much that we've decided to extend our time down here. So, we'll see what the future holds. Stay tuned!

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Aching but happy!

I just couldn't wait to share pictures from yesterday. Our congregation was invited to support the construction of a new Kingdom Hall in Casares. It's a small coastal town just over an hour from where we live and has about 42 publishers. Back in February I blogged about our trip to the beach with my mam and dad and how we saw the hall they are currently using. Here's a reminder picture of what that hall looks like.

Twelve of us from our congregation went to support the work yesterday. They don't have Regional Building Committees here like they do in the States and England. They have Kingdom Hall Construction Groups here instead. You can read a bit more about them in an article that was in 2008 February 1st Watchtower pages 21-23. Half of the group was there yesterday at the Casares project, and the other half were finishing off another hall in Nicaragua. Now that Mexico oversees the work in Nicaragua the group never knows where they'll be off to next. One of the sisters in the group said they spent 6 months in Honduras not long ago. 

The construction here is obviously different to the halls in the States. They are generally smaller and a lot simpler. So there is a lot of heavy labor to be done, and that's what we did yesterday. One brother from our group used to be on the construction team so he spent the day welding and doing other skilled jobs. And the rest of us transported sand, or mixed concrete. Charley and I both worked mixing and moving concrete. The building is made of concrete blocks which are hollow inside, they put rebar in, and then you pour in the concrete. You'll see what I mean more or less in the pictures. It was tiring, and I'm aching today, but we had a GREAT time! 

One funny thing that happened to Charley and I in the afternoon was that our arms turned yellow, especially the hairs on our arms. Like bright yellow! At first I couldn't figure out why, but then realized it was some kind of reaction between the concrete and the sunblock that we put on at lunch time. Thankfully it washed off though!!

You also have to take your own food on the projects. The local sisters cook for the construction group members, but the rest of the volunteers provide for themselves. There isn't a catering crew in the group, and it's just too expensive for the local congregation to feed all the volunteers. But it wasn't any problem to take our own lunch. 

Well, here are some pictures from the day.

Panoramic of the site

Reyner, one of our new pioneers, mixing concrete. This was his job all day long.

Miguel helped put concrete in the buckets, and Jael (Reyner's wife), Charley and I carried them to pour them in the walls.

Jael coming back with her empty bucket. The bathrooms are at this end of the hall.

The construction group's container where we got needed supplies from

Abby (who had to watch from the sidelines - no kids on site), her mam Lesbia, and Joseling. They worked hard, I just caught them taking a little break. 

The end closest to me in this picture is where the stage will be

Jennifer, Jocelyn & Socorro. They all worked really hard. You'd think it was cold looking at their clothes. It wasn't! That's just how people protect themselves from the sun down here.

The local sisters washed the construction groups clothes for them too. And that hut back there is the toilet - it was a real, flushable one - I was very impressed!!

A young, local brother came to give free haircuts too!

I thought this was a funny scene - unloading and shoveling sand on one side - hair salon on the other!

This is our congregation's coordinator, Wilber, who used to be on the construction group back in his single days.

And to prove that I worked too, here we are at the end of the day. Charley was clever enough to bring a change of clothes. I had to travel home like that!! And no, that's not a bandage on my arm, it's part of an old sock that I put on to stop the bucket of concrete from rubbing on my arm so much. That patch of my arm is sore today!

So, what most of us would never have chosen to do as a job, what most of us wouldn't do if someone paid us to, we did joyfully yesterday because we were doing it for Jehovah and our brothers. We're looking forward to the 31st when we're assigned to go back and help again. It was a lovely experience, first time we'd been to a construction project down here, but definitely not the last. And it was our first outing with members of our new congregation so that made it special too.

And to finish, here are a few random pictures that I either just realized I had on my little camera, or someone emailed to me because I didn't take any that day.

This is from a dinner our friends invited us to back in April. We had pelibuey that night. 

VIP at the Cinema. The film (Superman) was not that great, but we enjoyed the seats!

That's how I like to sit for a film! And even though it was more expensive for the fancy seats, it was still cheaper than seeing a film in the States.

We've driven past this place a million times near our house, but finally went to eat there.

And while we were there with our friends who stayed with us for the English assembly, these two girls showed up with free bottles of beer and free bottle openers!! We were happy campers that evening!!

Delicious burger and fries at Flayers - I'd recommend going there!

YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pizza night at our place. Blake, (unfortunately Madalyne was sick in bed that evening) Charley, me, Didi, Laura, Caleb, Brenda, Veronica & Adina (her hubby Justin took the picture because he HATES being in them!). It's so nice to spend time with others who are serving down here. We also enjoy being in the same circuit with all these great people.

And we enjoyed eating the pizzas we made!!!!

We're looking forward to a busy, refreshing weekend with assembly cleaning tomorrow morning, circuit pioneer session in the afternoon, and circuit assembly Saturday and Sunday! Yes, it's July, and we're just now FINALLY going to our circuit assembly!!!