Putting up the sails for Jehovah's winds of change

Well, it's been almost three months and it never ceases to amaze me how time flies and things change!

Last time I blogged we were getting ready for Memorial season. We had a lovely Memorial. Charley was supposed to give the talk but unfortunately he got REALLY sick that day and for the first time ever, he missed the Memorial. The speaker from our sister congregation who was going to be giving the talk at the Memorial after ours very kindly volunteered to step in, much to the relief of our other elder as he wasn't exactly prepared to step in last minute! We literally realized a couple of hours before it was time to start that there was no way Charley was going to make it! We think he had Zika, which had him down for about 10 days. Ironically the only day he was so sick that he couldn't get out of bed, was that day! Of all the days in the year!! Oh well, he's made a full recovery and is just fine now. He doesn't like the attention so dont' tell him I blogged about that haha!

So the Memorial was tinged with a little sadness for me, being there without Charley, but I was very happy to see about a dozen people there who Charley and I had invited. And for our congregation of 85 publishers we had an amazing 298 in attendance! Not sure how we fit them all inside the Kingdom Hall, but we did. This was our first indoor Memorial since we moved down here. I have to admit there's something special about having it outdoors and being able to see the full moon, but it was a lot less work to get the inside of the hall ready this year!

Some of my studies at Memorial (they all arrived before me!)

Hall starting to fill up for Memorial

Ready to head out, alone!

The week after that was originally the special talk, but that was postponed to the following week since we had a Headquarters Representative Visit to the Central America Branch (located in Mexico City) and so we enjoyed a wonderful program recorded from Mexico. We had some technical difficulties about 2 hours into the program, but we managed to listen to the rest even if we couldn't all see the speaker! Lovely talks. Izak Marais gave a great talk about dealing with anxiety. Just taking one day at a time, or sometimes, just one hour at a time. It was very encouraging along with some interesting videos about the opposition our brothers faced in Mexico trying to build a Kingdom Hall, and the violence that our brothers in El Salvador have to deal with as they go about their ministry.

Back in August 2015 we had a flight voucher getting ready to expire so we booked a trip to visit my sister-in-law and her husband in NM and then a week in NY. The only dates we knew there was something special going on was the Memorial, and then the special talk. So we booked it to leave a few days after the Special Talk. Of course, then came the Branch visit, which changed the date of the Special Talk to the following week, and then we get our announcement of circuit assembly the week after that! It was too late to change our arrangements, so we just had to miss the Special Talk and Circuit Assembly. At least we had managed to go to the English assembly back in January so we didn't miss the program.

We had a fantastic time in NM and NY. My sister-in-law and husband are serving in an English congregation but also helping get the ministry going in the Tewa language. There are various reservations where the Tewa people live, although they don't allow door to door ministry there. But they are finding other ways to reach them. A brother in the congregation is fluent, and so they had their first talk in Tewa in April. Some from the territory came and it was a real success. It was so nice to see them and Charley's parents again, and to learn more about this newly opening field, and also to enjoy Jehovah's creation in a new part of the country that we hadn't visited before.

The view from my sister-in-law's house

The family at Bandilier National Park

Beautiful view at Bandilier National Park

My mother-in-law trying out cave-living!

Charley's sister and her husband

Part of the reservation where they live

Kingdom Hall platform. The congregation was very welcoming. They even had a little get together for us and interviewed us and saw pictures of life here in Nicaragua. Very encouraging time!

Looking out over the Rio Grande

Hot springs right by the freezing cold Rio Grande (ask Charley, I didn't get in the river, just the hot pool!)

And of course a trip to Bethel is always a fun time. We went to Walkill and Brooklyn. Got to spend some time with friends in Bethel who we hadn't seen for years. And said our goodbyes to Brooklyn Bethel! Also visited Charley's old congregations in the Bronx and spent some time with some of the friends there. Also enjoyed a beautiful stroll around the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens (it's free on Tuesday's if you're ever there). Got there first thing in the morning before it got busy, and then headed to Bethel to see the Bible exhibit that wasn't there yet last time we had visited. Also got to sit and hang out with an old brother in Bethel who doesn't have the health to work anymore, but comes to the lobby every day and shares experiences and photographs from his years in International Construction. That was a TREAT for sure! Wonderful to see such faithful older ones. And we were able to do the second MET tour - Integrity. Had a great tour guide. Super interesting tour!

Newark Airport

FINALLY got to meet Sophia and Caleb!

Walkill dining room with a couple whose congregation Charley was in back in his Bethel days

We even got a personal tour of the slaughter house at Walkill! 

Hiking near Walkill

Charley triplets on the Bridge across the Hudson

Taking a break on our hike with our friends who serve in Walkill.

Charley's old Kingdom Hall in the Bronx

These kids were 6 and 10 when Charley was in the same congregation with them! Now the son is in Bethel. How time flies! 

Enjoyed some wonderful hospitality from these dear friends in the Bronx.

Ran into some old friends unexpectedly! Fabulous views from 90 Sands residence building

Buildings that used to be Bethel, now sold and being repurposed! So strange to see!

Our trip away also meant that I missed being present for a very exciting occasion. One of my bible students got baptized at the assembly that we missed. I'm so very proud of her and it's been such a joy to see her make spiritual progress. It was a very emotional day for her, so it was probably just as well that I wasn't here, otherwise we might have flooded the assembly hall with tears!! But my good friend took lots of pictures and a video that she sent to me that night so I got to enjoy it from afar! This is my first study here that I've been able to see through to baptism, so it was so sad not to be there but in a way it helped prepare me and her for the separation that was to come. (see next paragraph!)

Since we've come back we've been reassigned to a new congregation. The CO talked to us about it before we traveled, and then it was confirmed when we got back. We had been in our congregation since it was formed almost 3 years ago and it was very difficult to say Goodbye. We're still close by, in the same city, same section of the circuit, but it was still tough to leave. Our new congregation has welcomed us with open arms. They had a need-greater couple in their congregation since it formed three years ago too, who were also our very close friends, but they had to head back to the States. That left the congregation with just one elder, who was just recently appointed, so off we went to support them! We're still settling in, getting to know a new part of our family and finding our way around the territory. The couple who left passed on studies to us so that's helped with the transition. We all miss the other couple so very much, but such is life in this ever-changing world.

So we've enjoyed over the past two weeks a welcome party at our new hall, and a goodbye party at our old hall. I'm all partied out now!! 

Some of the friends at our new congregation

They danced Marimba for us

And the kids sang the Life of a Pioneer song

At our going away party with our old congregation. And I finally had an excuse to wear my Indian tunic!

Since the last post another SKE class came and went too! We again got to enjoy helping with their special lunch the final day of class. This time it was an Hawaiian themed event. I got to be a waitress again and felt a lot less nervous this time since we'd done it once before! We didn't go to the graduation this time, but enjoyed being a part of the lunch that day. 

SKE Hawaiian lunch complete with pina colada in real pineapple cups! 

So, now we have the wonderful privilege of cooking for the School for Circuit Overseer's and Their Wives. I'm not sure if that's the proper title, but you get what I mean! They just started arriving on Thursday so we cooked, but only half of them were there. The school starts today so this coming Thursday we'll get to see them all together. One of our previous CO's is in the class so it was nice to see them arriving. And I met one brother who is a CO in El Salvador. So they have come from across the region to the school. The course lasts a month, and I think there will be three classes, so we'll get to see a lot of CO's come and go! Charley has been covering on Tuesday's too in the kitchen while someone else is out of the country, so it's been a busy time, what with that, and the move to a new congregation, and some other privileges that he has coming up that I'll blog about as they happen! I've learned a lot from Charley about never turning down assignments. "No" is not in his vocabulary and I really admire him for that. 

There's also a new hall under construction in the next town along from us, so we've been a couple of times to help out. It's always fun to get to help and spend time working with friends from around the area and the hard-working construction group who make such sacrifices to help get Kingdom Halls built all over the country.

At construction in nearby Nindiri

Well, that's enough for now. Hope you're all doing well. "Talk" to you again maybe in September?! Enjoy Regional Convention season and remember not to talk to me about it until after September 25th! This is the first year we've had to wait until the new service year to get to a convention, so we'll see if we can make it through without hearing anything!! I've heard it's incredible, so we're really looking forward to it. The way time flies it'll be September before we know it!

I leave you with some other random pictures from daily Nica life!

Transportation solutions!

Our banana (or plantain, not sure yet)

Nica air conditioning!

Saying goodbye to bible studies in our old territory

Everybody loves a Become Jehovah's Friend video!

Lunch with some of the sisters in our old congregation

Finally some pictures with this post

We just got home from our second School for Kingdom Evangelizers (SKE) graduation and I thought I'd post an update. There are pictures at the end if you'd prefer to skip all the words and look at them instead!

It's hard to believe 2015 is gone and we're already well into the first quarter of 2016. It's been a good year so far. We started off the year with a month's visit from Charley's mam, Katie. She really enjoyed her first trip to Nicaragua, and we had a great time with her. We got to take her to the mountains, the beach, the largest freshwater lake in Central America, the laguna, out in service, to an English circuit assembly. It was a busy but fun time. She was also a big help around the house doing most of the cooking while she was here!! I enjoyed that!!! Masaya (where we live) reminded her a lot of rural Indiana and Kentucky where she spent her childhood. She said she felt like she had travelled back in time. That pretty much sums up life around here. It's like the United States 40-50 years ago! 

I also got to make a quick trip to Indianapolis. I took advantage of the chance to travel back with Katie and spent 5 days in Indy for a wedding of a dear friend. Charley stayed here and enjoyed the peace and quiet without me around constantly talking! 

And this month, just like our brothers and sisters around the world, we are busy inviting people to and preparing for the Memorial. Our territory is not that big, and our congregation has supported the campaign very well, so we covered our territory in a week like most here in the city. But there are so many people live in one house here that you can keep going around the same houses and finding more people who haven't seen the invitation. It's also been nice to make use of the video. People tend not to say "No" when you ask if you can show them a video. It adds a nice new aspect to our ministry. Not everyone here has a phone or tablet that they can show videos on, but those who do have made good use of it and I think people in our territory have enjoyed it.

We're also having a blast still working in the SKE kitchen on Thursdays. Our meeting schedule changed this year, and now our midweek meeting is on Thursdays, so that makes for an interesting day!! We finish up half an hour early so that we can shower and get ready at the Educational Center. Then we go directly to the meeting from there! I'm usually exhausted by the time I sit down at the hall! We're thinking about getting a car since that trip on a Thursday when the rainy season begins won't exactly be fun! Cars are more expensive here than in the States, but hopefully we can find a little, cheap, reliable one to use on days when the bike just doesn't quite provide us with what we need!

This week was the last week of the current class, so we worked our normal day on Thursday, and then we also worked Friday to help with a special, final lunch for the students, instructors, and educational center staff. It was SO much fun! Charley was assigned to cook, and I was assigned as a waitress!!! I have NEVER waited a table before, so it was quite the learning experience. Of course our customers were very polite and not demanding at all, and we didn't have to worry too much since we wouldn't be getting any tips!! But of course we wanted them to enjoy the experience so I was nervous. We got a little training in the morning, and it all went very smoothly. We served soup, then salad, then shrimp scampi over linguini, then cupcakes and cake pops. The kitchen cleaned and removed the tails of 400 shrimp! Then I spent most of the afternoon helping wash the piles and piles of dishes!

It was exhausting, but we all had a wonderful time and the students really seemed to enjoy the treat. The tables were all beautifully decorated by some of the other kitchen volunteers. It's all volunteers in the kitchen now, no more permanent kitchen staff living there, so it takes a lot of coordination but it's all gone very well. Such a special privilege to be able to work there and see the students enjoy what we prepare for them. It also nice getting to interact with some of the students since we don't normally get to spend much time with them. Nice to put faces with the names we see on the fridges when we deliver their breakfast pack each Thursday afternoon!

The graduation ceremony was a treat. Excellent talks by the instructors and other brothers. And some wonderful experiences from the ministry and personal comments from some of the students. So encouraging to hear the sacrifices that they made to be able to attend the school for two months. One single sister sold all her stuff, including her bed and her beloved bike, since she was coming from the distant Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua in Puerto Cabezas and wanted to be available to go wherever she was assigned without necessarily having to return for her stuff. As it turns out she was assigned elsewhere, nowhere near there, so I'm sure she's glad that she made that decision. So nice to see our single sisters reaching out and being put to good use in the organization.

Some were sent back to their current assignments, others were sent to new places. This class (Class #52) had 9 couples, 2 single brothers, and 3 single sisters in it. They were all either from Honduras or Nicaragua. We also received greetings from classes 50, 51, 53 and 54 being held in Mexico, Panama and Guatemala. They are all also graduating this weekend or next. It's kind of neat to think that a Gilead class graduated this weekend too! We got to enjoy our own mini-Gilead graduation here!!

And now for 500 photographs of recent events!!! If you want to see them larger I think you can click on each picture if you're reading this directly on our site www.indybrits.com Until the next time...

SKE Graduation - Class 52 - Nicaragua. Charley ran into an ex-Bethel buddy for the second time at the graduation. This time it was a brother who is still in the States, and whose sister-in-law was graduating from this class.

Pictures from the special lunch we helped with for the SKE students on Friday

The beautiful decorations, and the beautiful waitresses of course! And some of the fabulous food!

Family Worship with my study Sonia and her son Max. We learned about Samson, and made (and ate) Memorial bread!

Some pictures that my mother-in-law took of all the fabulous flowers we see around us here every week

My regular pioneer acceptance letter from 1996 - March 1st was 20 years pioneering for me. Looking forward to the next 20!

Our new little house that we love so much. Katie got some great shots of it!

First day of the Memorial campaign

Isaac's chicken on his hat - you know, as you do!

Sunday meeting with my cousin Wendy and her hubby and little girl (Hollister had vanished) on my brief visit back to Indy

Flores and Matthews families at my in-laws house

Vicky and Erica - a dear mother and daughter in my mam and dad's congregation

And my lovely, great-aunt Glennis

Goofing around in the photo booth at the wedding I went back to Indianapolis for

My dear friend Katrina on her big day! Her husband is originally from Liberia so the guys all wore traditional West African wedding outfits. Very cool indeed!

With Katrina and her beautiful bridesmaids

Some of the groom's family in their traditional outfits

Been a long time since I've had to put that many clothes on for field service!!

Some of our young girls did some traditional dancing for my mother-in-law on her last day here

Katie's new Nicaraguan grandchildren!

Visiting the Robleto's who we used to be in Indy with, and who we first visited when we came to Nicaragua for the first time almost 6 years ago

Delicious lunch with a couple from England who serve in Spanish down here about 45 minutes from us

Taking Katie and a family from our congregation to Granada, a popular tourist destination here.

Relaxing at the Laguna de Apoyo

Katie at the English circuit assembly with a sister who serves a couple of hours north of here (far right) and the one sister who was baptized at the assembly that day. So nice to see older ones coming into the truth like that.

So, this is a funny story. To cut a long story short, we don't have water every day here, so we keep this trash can full of water for the days we don't have any. Well, while Katie was here we had two weeks where we only had water for 2 days of each week. One day the water came when we were out in service so she decided to help do laundry for us. She used the water out of the bucket to fill up the washer since that was quicker, and then planned on filling the big trash can back up. Well, before the washing could be done, or the bucket could be filled, the water went off again! That afternoon it came back, so she continued with her project, but apparently there is no check valve in our system, so in the end the water went out again, while the hose was in the bucket, and it sucked all the water back out so we ended up with NO water at all, less than we'd had at the beginning of the day!!!! It's amazing how we all managed to shower with one little bucket of water the next day. And then in the evening the next day it came back!!! Good times!!! 

Katie surveying the beach at San Juan del Sur

The hotel we stayed at. That's our little house there on the left. Beautiful place!

At the meeting with two of our students

My 91-year old study, with her niece and friend at their first meeting. She even commented!!

At Masaya volcano

Delivering breakfast at the educational center

Katie was a huge help in the kitchen at the educational center

Waterfall near Matagalpa, a few hours north of where we live

Selva Negra, Matagalpa

The mountains of Jinotega, where our friends Aaron and Tasha live

Katie finally got to ride on a school bus! Not the most comfortable 2 1/2 hour ride for those of us with long legs!!

Charley and Katie on our faithful little motorbike!

Maybe the next one will have pictures!

So, almost 3 months have gone by and what a lot of changes both on a personal level, and on an organizational level. We live in such exciting times in Jehovah’s organization. And we’re just doing our little bit to try and keep up with the chariot.

The projector that we bought on our last trip has been such a wonderful blessing for the congregation, and not just our congregation, but the projector now lives at the hall so all three congregations benefit from it. I mentioned in my last blog post that we showed the August broadcast. The turnout wasn’t all that great though. So in September we had it right after our Sunday meeting and almost everyone, including students, stayed to watch it. That was all it took! Of course, Nicaragua was featured in the September broadcast, and just 30 minutes down the road too, so that really was exciting for the local friends. I think the August turnout wasn’t that great partly because so many just didn’t understand what this “broadcast” thing was all about! But once they saw September, now they’re always asking when the next one is, and you can just feel the buzz in the hall every month when it’s time! Jehovah really is richly blessing his people in these last days and providing just the encouragement we need. Up until now the song at the end of each broadcast was in English, with Spanish subtitles. But imagine everyone’s surprise and excitement when November’s song was SUNG IN SPANISH!!!!! Very thrilling! Not sure if that was just a one off since they were making an appeal to inactive ones. We’ll have to wait and see what December brings.

I also mentioned our little trip away to Managua to the English congregation where we got to spend the weekend with a couple of Geordies serving there. We had a FANTASTIC time with them! So very encouraging to see the “not-so-young” making such sacrifices to serve so far away from home in such a very different culture. The first thing they said when we walked through the door was, “do you want a cup of tea, kettle’s on”. Ahhhhhhh I felt like I was back home, except for the sweltering heat!

In October we had a lovely Regional Convention. We had a peak of about 2400 which is pretty much the max amount that will fit in the assembly hall. On Saturday we had 30 baptized, including a couple in their late-50’s from our congregation. Charley had the privilege of giving two talks and did a very nice job, although I may be a little biased on that score! Between the two talks he also had 4 participants, 3 of whom are in our congregation, and two of whom I don’t think have been on an assembly program before so that was exciting! Charley interviewed our dear sister Francis who was in the hospital a while ago with the threat of getting her leg amputated. In the end they only took off three toes, but it’s a long, slow recovery. She also suffered the murder of her husband about 18 months ago, and since they didn’t have children, she’s been left alone to support herself. Of course her spiritual family has taken care of her, and her example of faith is of great encouragement to us all in the congregation and circuit.

Also in October the youngest son of the family that we were first came to visit here in 2010 got married. I got talked in to taking his wedding pictures and it was so nice to spend the day with them all. It’s like being with family when we’re with them since we know them from back in Indy. Also, the next day, another of their son’s, and his wife, graduated from the first class of SKE held here at our Educational Center, behind our assembly hall. It used to be the Nicaragua branch, but now has been repurposed. There were 22 graduates, including 4 single sisters. It was my first theocratic school graduation ceremony live, so it was all very exciting!

We’re also enjoying the privilege of working on Thursday’s in the Educational Center kitchen. I’m not sure how much of an asset I am, but Charley has experience from his Bethel days, and I’m learning to make myself useful! I really enjoy it. We worked for a few months in the assembly hall, and now since about 6 weeks ago we’ve been in the kitchen. There is currently a class in session, so we get to see the students briefly for an hour after lunch when some come to do their work assignments in the kitchen.

And it’s funny how sacrifices always lead to unexpected blessings. At first, I wasn’t just super excited about the idea of volunteering one day a week at the assembly hall/educational center. But we decided we should go ahead and apply. Of course, I’ve really enjoyed it, and as a result of it we are living in a lovely new little house!

As I mentioned in my last blog post the house we were living in went up for sale. It took a little longer to sell than expected, but last weekend we made the move. The house we’re in now belongs to the couple who take care of the assembly hall. I don’t think they’ve ever actually lived in it, but they built it to have available whenever they may need it. Now, if we hadn’t started working there, (and if I didn’t talk such a lot), they would never have known of our need, and we’d never have got the chance to live in this house. It hasn’t been a week yet but we’re pretty much settled in and absolutely loving it! We live right next door to the owner’s fleshly sister and her family, who are also witnesses. And in true Nicaraguan style not a day has gone by that they haven’t brought us something to eat or drink! And they have dogs who are really sweet, but pretend to be vicious when people they don’t know come, which makes us feel safe. And it’s at the end of a dirt alley where there aren’t really any other houses, but lots of trees, so it’s sooooooo much cooler than the other houses we’ve lived in here. It’s smaller, but we feel so at home in it.

There have also been a couple of construction projects going on that we’ve been to on numerous occasions. One Kingdom Hall is now finished, and the other will be done before the end of December I think. It’s hard, physical work in the sun, but it’s always a fun time working with brothers and sisters from different areas.

Our congregation also continues to grow. My study, Sonia, became a publisher at the end of September. She is doing really well and already conducts a Bible study with a lady she found door to door. Her little boy, Max, also loves the ministry and always looks so cute with his hat and briefcase! She also gave her first talk on the TMS this week. I was her householder and she did a GREAT job! About a week after she became a publisher, another lady, 70-year-old Miriam, was approved too. Then two weeks ago Pablo became a publisher. He used to have really long, long hair and a beard, but it’s all gone now and he looks really happy to be part of the congregation. He even went to the construction project this week too. And then just this Tuesday night, Isaias was approved to be a publisher! So we’ve had 4 new publishers in just the last 3 months!

Well, I’m sure there are many more stories I could tell, but I think that’s more than enough for now. I don’t think blog posts are supposed to be this long, so if you made it to the end, you’re a true friend! 

"...test me out, please..."

So, since my last post we've been back to the US to work and we have been back in Nicaragua for almost a month already. 

Our trip to the States went very well, although work seemed to take up most of our time on this trip. This is the first work trip we'd done since Sept-Nov 2013 and we worked more hours in less time. I felt like we didn't get enough time with our family and friends, but we at least got to see most of them for a little bit.

When we were planning this trip we were trying to decide how long to work this year. We still have some savings, so we weren't completely broke yet, but looking to earn about a year's worth of expenses if at all possible. At first we talked about 2-3 months, but then we felt we were relying too much on ourselves and decided to put Malachi 3:10 into action. So, six weeks it was.

It truly was amazing to see how Jehovah lived up to that promise. After all was said and done, and we got back and did our calculations, we earned as much in 6 weeks, and perhaps even a little more, than we did in 10 weeks in 2013. Charley had two particularly busy weeks at Pepsi. And my old job had a big project going on (even some at work said they thought a higher power was at work in the timing of this trip!) and they gave me full-time work for the entire time we were there. And with the sale of the tract holders, and the generosity of our dear friends and family, we were able to earn enough (if we stick to last year's budget!) to last another year down here. Plus, me working full-time meant I had very little free time for shopping, so that saved us money too!! And I was able to stock up on new service clothes thanks to a fabulous sale a friend of mine had the day after we arrived (all the sweating down here makes you burn through your tops in a year). And my sister-in-law loaned us her amazingly economic car so we saved a fortune on gas too!

So, once again we saw Jehovah's hand at work in our lives. I'm sure we'll be seeing it again in these upcoming weeks or months. Unfortunately, the house we live in is up for sale now, and in the first week on the market two people came to see it already. The brother who owns it just isn't going to be able to come back and serve here, and they want to help out elsewhere, so the house is an unnecessary asset for them now, which we totally understand. So, we'll see what happens! But we've already had two offers of places to move to, so we're not worried. We know that Jehovah will take care of us. I'm actually rather impressed with how calm I've been about this whole thing! The Rachel of 5 years ago would have been panicking, but I've learned such a lot being down here, and from Charley and his endless patience and calmness, that I'm really not worried about it at all!

If anyone is interested in buying it and renting it to us though, let me know!! Haha!!

Thanks to everyone who bought a bag while we were in Indy. All of the bags were sold and with the funds we bought a projector for our hall and even have some left over for some other Kingdom Hall expenses. We've shown the August broadcast, and hope to be showing the September one this Sunday.

We ended another service year thankful to Jehovah for the privilege of serving him full-time. We spent the last day of the year at the Laguna Beach Club, our local "beach" with some other need-greaters and their visitors. All nine of us there that day are in full-time service, and we calculated 135 years of full-time service between us all, so that was pretty cool!

Charley finished up his 10th consecutive year as a regular pioneer, so now I've had him as a pioneer partner just over half of my pioneering career. We also had a wonderful circuit visit after we got back. Unfortunately, due to changes in the circuit, it was our first and last visit from that particular couple. But we're glad we at least got to know them and hope to keep in touch since they're not too far away. They were super cool, really enjoyed our week with them. And he got our SKE application forwarded on to Mexico, so we'll see if anything comes of that. In the meantime, there's plenty to do here.

We also had another ministerial servant appointed - 2nd one of our young ones appointed this year. So, now we're rather spoiled with SEVEN ministerial servants in the congregation. They are a HUGE help to our body of elders, since the body consists of two!

We'll be off to Managua English congregation in a couple of weeks. Charley is going to give the talk, and we're going to stay the weekend with a Geordie couple (from the NE of England) who are serving there, so really excited about that! It's the closest we'll get to a trip home to England anytime soon!

Well, that's the last 2 1/2 months in a nutshell. It's good to be back into the swing of things, with new goals for this service year, primarily that of dedicating more time to our studies to help them make spiritual progress. Going for quality rather than quantity. 

Hope you're all having a good start to the service year. When I get some pictures uploaded I'll make a separate post of those. For those who follow us on Instagram, you'll have seen all the pictures already.

Goodbye for now!