Memorial season, go, go, go!

Hello everyone!

Hope you are all having a wonderful Memorial season and are enjoying following up on the interest shown.

Here all is well. It's been really hectic this month, since April 1st we haven't had a single day off to just relax, so this morning I stayed home for a bit to try and get some rest, do some studying, and get a bit of baking done. It smells really good in here right now!!

Our two biggest events this month were the Memorial, obviously, and the Central America branch (formerly called Mexico branch) had a visit from Bro. Losch of the Governing Body. The three-hour program was streamed out to all congregations who could get connected, and since we have the advantage of using the CO's internet connection at the hall, we had a trouble-free viewing of the program.

It started with a beautiful Watchtower Summary by Armando Ochoa. It was a wonderful lesson anyway, and he did such a wonderful job of summarizing it. Very nice indeed.

Then a report on the region supervised by the Central America branch which stretches from Mexico to Panama. There are 980, 897 publishers in the region, 807,000 of which are in Mexico. The rest of us are pretty little!! There are over 1,300,000 studies being conducted, 1 million of which are in Mexico alone. We had a 2.2% increase as a region, and in Bethel there are 18 nationalities represented and there is translation being done in 58 languages. A lot of those translation groups have now moved, or are in the process of moving out of Bethel and into the areas where the language is widely spoken. No other organization goes to such lengths to translate into so many indigenous languages.

Then Brother Losch gave his talk, which was the rest of the program. He made some really interesting points. He talked a lot about higher education, what dangers it exposes our young ones to. He mentioned that some parents are encouraging it so that their children can take care of them in their old age. He asked those parents "Where's your sense of urgency? Where is your trust in Jehovah?" He was very direct with some of the things he said, which I really liked! And the phrase I liked most on that subject was "Higher education is not enough for Jehovah's people. We need the HIGHEST education, the one that Jehovah provides by means of the variety of theocratic schools".

He also emphasized why we do what we do. That we preach principally, not to save lives, but because of our love for Jehovah and our desire to contribute to the sanctification of his name. And that we don't do Bible reading just to gain knowledge, but primarily to get to know Jehovah better, to increase our love for him. He said if we say we don't have time, well, we have to FIND the time. And I liked what he said - "When we do our Bible reading despite being tired, we give Jehovah even more reason to love us". What a loving God we have!

And something that I personally feel I need to work on, good works. He pointed out that preaching is not enough. We have to balance our time so that we can also do fine works, especially for our brothers and sisters. Dorcas was known for her fine works, not her zeal in the ministry, although she was no doubt a zealous evangelizer. Sometimes I get so caught up with studies and field service that I don't take out the time to just visit the sick, and do things for the friends, so that was a good reminder for me!

He also reminded us of the need to preach in small groups, small, small, small he said! Well, he said pequeno, but I'm translating! His Spanish is pretty good so it was nice to get to listen to it without the need of an interpreter. 

The three speakers, and a little shot of us singing. It was nice how they showed the auditorium in Mexico during the song so we felt like we were there with them!

Of course, the other highlight of this month was the Memorial. I had my doubts about how we were going to make our Memorial location look pretty, but I think we pulled it off! We have about 73 publishers now but we had 222 in attendance. Don Oracio came, the man in the wheelchair, and my study Ruth who also brought her two kids, teenage niece and a friend. And we had some other studies there, but mostly those who go every year anyway. I was really excited that Ruth came though, and that she brought guests! I haven't had chance to sit and talk to her yet about it, but she seemed to enjoy it. That was her first meeting, so hopefully it won't be her last! The electricity had been going out quite a bit in the week leading up to the Memorial, and as you may have seen on the news we've had quite a lot of earthquakes and aftershocks around here, although only one did much damage and it wasn't in our area. But, thankfully for the Memorial there were no rumbles, and the electricity didn't go out until we were putting the last item from the stage into the truck to take it away! Good timing I thought!

Here are some pictures which you may have already seen on Instagram!

Our studies and return visits. Don Oracio, in the wheelchair, told me the other day that of all the religious organizations he's visited, this is the only one he's really liked. He's so very impressed and doesn't plan on going anywhere else!

Our congregation. Some came in taxis, others on bikes, and a few in a cart!! Haha, that was actually afterwards. I think they were coming to pick something up, and so the girls got in and let their brother push them!

Charley did a wonderful job. The chairman was our Coordinator, Wilber. We had two beautiful flower arrangements made for just $15 a piece, and I had my first french braid in over a decade!!

More of our congregation

Who needs curlers when you have plastic straws?! I love people's ingenuity here!

We also had some lovely visitors for a few days. They are friends of friends from the State of Washington, and they came to Nicaragua for a few weeks to immerse themselves in Spanish. I also think they maybe got bitten by the needgreater bug because by the end of the trip they didn't want to leave, and they said "see you soon"!! We got to take them out in service in Masaya (we almost killed them with two long, hot days!) and we took them up to El Crucero too where we spent our first month in Nicaragua way back when!

This is the BEST smoothie place in Masaya, and they had the brilliant idea of making giant tables and chairs! 

Our friend, Steven, also got a custom made, leather service bag with his name on it, made in Masaya. It only took the guy two days to make it, and I'm in love with it!! I might just have to design one myself now for the meetings!

After our morning in service up in El Crucero with Mario Robleto. Steven & Chloe are the cute couple on Charley's left.

We also spent a nice evening at TGI Friday's with Steven & Chloe, Monica, Veronica and Brenda & Caleb.

I was horrified when I realized I had eaten the ENTIRE burger. I was sure I'd have half of it left. I guess I worked up an appetite that day or something!

I also just have to share this picture and story, for those of you who haven't already seen it on Instagram! I've managed to live here 18 months without ever riding on a motorbike, but the Sunday that Charley went to pick Steven & Chloe up he left me in Masaya at a cafe with some friends. I hoped he'd be back before the cafe closed, but he wasn't. So I had to get on a motorbike and pretend not to be nervous! Since I'm a rookie they made me get in the middle. It was a bonding experience if nothing else!! Just a shame that I was wearing a really long, narrow dress that evening. Yes, that's a dress in the picture, not shorts!!!

Thankfully we didn't have very far to go. Just a few blogs on small, city streets.

And last, but absolutely not least, a shout out to our dear friends Veronica & Monica Iglesias. We had to say goodbye to Monica, and it might have been our last time with Veronica too, last week. Veronica has been here about 3 years, and she's a true missionary. Like someone once expressed it, "She makes me feel like a little grandma shuffling around in my slippers down here". I admire her immensely, as I do all single sisters serving where the need is greater. Her sister Monica came for four months and was a trooper too. So, Monica is heading back to the States, and Veronica is off to serve on the pioneer campaign for a couple of months in Guatemala - like I said, missionary through and through! And since we'll be gone July and part of August we might not see her again since she's heading back to the States in August to see what far-flung part of the earth she'll go to next!

So, we spent some time with these wonderful girls over the last week, and best wishes to you both, and thanks for the inspiration! Oh, and Monica, if you're reading this, can you send the pictures you took of us together in Granada, please? The crazy hair ones!

Caleb, Brenda, Veronica, Monica, their cousin Maddy who came to visit, and us, after enjoying fabulous pizza in Granada! Yum!!

Veronica, Brenda, Caleb, me, and Monica just before the motorbike ride! 

Same folks again, enjoying some Gelato in Granada.

Well, now you know why I had to take this morning off to recover!! Between theocratic activities and socializing with great friends, it's been a rather exhausting month so far!! 

The rest of this month looks to be equally busy, but maybe May will be calmer. That's what I say every month, MAYBE!