Tomorrow? Really!?!?!

I can't believe we're travelling back to the States tomorrow! Really looking forward to the trip, to enjoy some quality time with family and friends.

Things here have been hectic to say the least. As I blogged last time, I spent a whole week inside recovering from a bacterial infection in my stomach. Glad that's over! The following week was my last week to conduct my studies, and thanks to some torrential rain on Friday, I managed to see almost everyone at some point in the week. Despite the rain, or actually thanks to the rain, I conducted 8 studies on Friday and visited two others!! So, all but two studies were happy to have someone else call on them while we're gone, and the two that want to wait for me, are still going to be getting a visit, even if it's just to keep them up to date with the magazines!

I am now going to take this opportunity to make a bit of a shameless plea on behalf of our dear friends here in Nicaragua. 

Last year we brought clothes and shoes back that some of you kindly donated and the friends were delighted. This year, I'd like to concentrate on taking children's clothes and shoes. So, if anyone has any gently used kids clothes or shoes, or even small toys, really small ones, then let me know. We're each bringing a suitcase inside a suitcase so that we'll have room to take some stuff back for the friends (and ourselves!!).

Also, I have a dear, dear friend who just started regular pioneering. She has a small netbook/mini laptop which she uses frequently to show the latest videos from the website to her bible students. She's come a long way to get to this point of pioneering, and she's also been selflessly volunteering every Monday at our assembly hall to help maintain it. Well, a couple of Monday's ago she had her netbook plugged in while cleaning at the assembly hall when, POW, there was a power surge and it FRIED her computer. She was sooooooo distressed, poor thing. She was mostly upset because she uses it for theocratic purposes, and now she's without. And it's not like the friends here have the funds to buy a new one.

Soooo, the point of this sob story is, if anyone has a netbook (she would prefer small since she carries it to studies with her), or even a tablet that you've stopped using because you got a new one, I would like to buy it from you for her. Let me know if you, or anyone you know, has one for sale.

And yesterday a brother said that if I found anyone getting rid of an old cell phone, to get it for him! Haha!

Ok, well, I'm done begging! I hope this blog post doesn't seem inappropriate. But I know how loving Jehovah's organization is, and I'm always looking for little ways to show the friends here how much I appreciate them since they take such good care of us and are so generous despite being of limited means.

Well, hasta luego!

The Wonder Diet!

So, I've discovered a new way to lose lots of weight in a week - get yourself a stomach infection! YAY!!! I think I'll make some big money selling this idea!

Seriously though, I don't know that I've lost any weight this week, but Sunday was the last time I ate a real meal. Since then I've had 3 slices of toast and maybe 4 bananas. Oh and some oatmeal! And today I really went all out and ate a baked potato - not the skin though.

Yeah, it's been a rough week! Just comes with the territory I guess, every now and then you get some bacteria in you that makes you stay home for a while. I wouldn't have minded a week off service most other times of the year, but since next week is my last week conducting my studies until we get back, I was looking forward to conducting them this week too. But what can you do! 

I've sent Charley to the store every day I think buying re-hydration drink mix! I've been burning through the stuff! He brought me strawberry flavor today - woohooo!!! And I have a Bible study who just happens to be a doctor too, so she read the results of the lab test (I won't go into details on that part of the story!!) and prescribed me antibiotics and some other stuff and it's slowly doing it's work I think. And I was surprised to see I have no parasites! I just assumed I had given them permanent residence in my stomach when I paid for my visa. 

Living in town at moments like these is such an advantage. All of those kinds of errands are so much simpler and cheaper with a little motorbike and having everything and everyone just right there!

But you know, it's not like we never get sick in the States either. And at least here getting sick is a much cheaper affair! Lab test $4.00. Doctor reading results $4.00. Medication for a week $8.00. Getting to stay home and read and watch movies and blog - Priceless!

But all in all, things are good. Time is just flying by so fast I can't even keep track of it. Service is hectic and I'm at the point that I need to give some studies away. But our upcoming trip will maybe sift out who is really going to stick with it, and maybe some of the sisters who take care of them for me, can keep one here and there! Although it's hard, because you do get attached to all of these people you study with.

I've been calling on an older lady, Gertrudis, from the Atlantic Coast. She speaks Spanish, English and Miskito. Strangely enough, we've never spoken English to each other yet! But I wasn't sure whether to make a regular call out of her or not. She likes to listen, you know, but wasn't sure if it was gonna be more than that. 

She doesn't know how to read, so the other day we were using the Listen to God brochure and talked about how Jehovah made Jesus in heaven before he made anything else. She was astounded. And rather distressed that her church had never told her that before. She immediately made me write the scriptures down (Colossians 1:15-17, John 6:38, John 17:5) and she said she was taking them to her preacher to find out why he hadn't explained this to her before!

There was something else too, that she said they'd never told her, but I forget what it was now. So, I felt like that was a sign that I should keep visiting her, since she has an open mind and seems to want to learn more, and find out what else she doesn't know!

On that same block, I'd been trying to call back on a girl with a busy work schedule. Well, last week I went and found a young lady who is working for her, and she invited us in like she knew us. Turns out she just moved here a month ago from Matagalpa, about 3 hours north of here, and she used to have an Italian sister visit her there. So, that was an immediate study started, just in the brochure for now. But she works there, and if she's not there, she's across the street at the house she's staying at with her cousins. We've had two studies and she seems eager to learn. Sometimes it almost feels like the angels have us keep going back to a house, not to find the original person, but until the one that really wants us to come arrives!! But, who can say for sure?!

So, those are just a couple of nice experiences I've had lately. I could go on forever but I won't do that to you, at least not today!

And since I don't like to post without a picture, I posted this on Instagram but I don't think I ever blogged it. We took our little friend Isaac (11 years old) to practice his first Bible reading on the Ministry School with the sound on and everything to help him feel prepared. He did it last week, and did so well. Unfortunately I missed his sister's being householder last night for the first time. She's 8 and I was sooooooooo sad not to be there. Shame there's no such thing as "dialing in to the meeting" here!

Happy First Anniversary, Pancasan!

Well, we just completed our first year as a congregation, Pancasan Masaya, so we decided it was time for a party! A great time was had by all. We really do have a wonderful congregation. There's been a lot of growth as I've mentioned before. It was hosted by the newest publishers in our congregation who were just announced last week. They have the perfect house for parties! And it was very well organized mostly by two of our young, ministerial servants.

We had some traditional marimba dancing and Charley and I taught some Scottish dancing. We did two dances. It was hard to get people involved, but a few said they will join in next time now that they've seen how the dances are done, so we'll see when the next time is!

After all that dancing was done, we danced the night away! Dancing is usually the theme of most parties in any Spanish congregation the world over. That's the main reason I decided to learn Spanish!

Here are some photos of the evening, and at the end a video of the marimba and Scottish dancing!

Marimba dancers - Abigail, Itzel, Giovani, Unknown old folks!, Jason, Paola, Josue & Jennifer

Pancasan, Masaya congregation plus a visitor or two!

More Pancasan. Spot the foreigner!

And more! The new publishers who hosted the party, and the brothers who organized it are in the picture with Charley.

If for some reason you're not seeing the video above, click here to view it online.

Kids say the funniest things!

Remember this page in My Book of Bible Stories?  It's the bird that brought leaves back to Noah, indicating that the floodwaters were subsiding. When I asked 6 year old Anahi today what the bird was doing, she said it was just staying where it was because the letters were in the way!!! She was dead serious too! I couldn't keep the laughter in! Kids crack me up!

Clio the Silver Bullet

Finally - a picture of Charley and I on the motorbike! This is how we look most days on our way to and from field service. Occasionally we'll throw a little something extra on my lap, like a bag of fruit from the market, a new trash can full of groceries, a microwave - you know, the usual stuff!

Well, we're having our first congregation get together - about time, we have been a congregation for a year this week! So, I need to get my Scottish ceilidh music together before we head out. Yes, we're going to try and teach our Nica friends how to dance Strip the Willow and the St. Bernard's Waltz - good times!

Drawing fun!

So, back in November I brought a bunch of drawings, crayons, paper and stickers that my cousin sent for the kids here. She had a group of kids at her house to draw, and they all sent a picture or two for the kids here. Well, it took me until this past Saturday to get organized and get the kids together to give them the drawings, and have them draw too.

It was a great success!! All of the kids 12 and under (and then some) came to a family's house in our congregation to draw. We packed them all into the porch and with a bit of ingenuity of the sister who lives there everyone managed to have a table of some sort! I now have over 30 drawings to take back to the States for the kids there. 

We also played Pass the Parcel, a British game that I grew up playing at parties. They seemed to enjoy it and everyone got lots of sweets, so that always makes for a successful afternoon! Get them all full of sugar, and then sent them home - that's how I do things!!

Here are some pictures from the afternoon. Shout out to my cousin, Wendy, for her generosity and making our kids so happy on Saturday afternoon!

This one and the one below are the pictures that the kids sent from Indianapolis.

Let the fun begin! We had 27 kids ranging from 2 to 12 years old!

Showing off the picture they're sending to the States!

God's Word Exerts Power

As you may have guessed from the title of this post, we just had our Special Assembly Day on Saturday. What a wonderful program. The day flew by and left me with a lot to think about and work on.

We had an attendance of around 1500 which is half of our circuit. 17 were baptized, a lot of them young ones. Since we live in town now I got the congregation bus to the assembly, and Charley went on the motorbike! It was fun to get to be on the bus although I had to stand up on the way there since I was the last one to get on! It was pretty full so I was up front by the driver. But it's only about half an hour so it wasn't bad, just got a bit hot up there!

The talks were all really good. Our friend Caleb did a great job with the baptism talk. The interviews were great, one of them made me cry. Sister Reyes Vivas is in one of the congregations we share our hall with, and she's the sweetest thing. She's been baptized 44 years and she talked about the challenges she's had with her health. About 3 or 4 years ago the doctor told her she would die if she didn't have a blood transfusion. She refused of course, and since there was an assembly coming up she begged Jehovah to allow her to attend one last assembly before she died. And she made it to that assembly, and obviously she's still alive! It was just so moving because she's such a humble sister, and she has such a deep appreciation for the meetings and assemblies.

The part about young ones was also lovely. Three young ones were interviewed, and the one that stood out the most was the 24 year old Brother Vasquez. When asked what privileges he enjoys I was expecting him to say regular pioneer and ministerial servant. Well, he is a regular pioneer, but he's not a servant, he's an elder!!! He serves as secretary and school overseer and has been pioneering for 6 years. What a lovely example of what our young ones are capable of with Jehovah's help and what a blessing they are to the congregations here.

We also had the privilege of having a visiting speaker from the Central America branch in Mexico. He was one of those speakers that you forget to take notes because you're so busy just enjoying what he's saying! He gave two wonderful talks reminding us of the importance of meditating on what we read in the Bible. It's a two-edged sword but it can't cut through stone or metal, so we have to have the right heart condition for it to penetrate. He also encouraged us to support the young ones in our congregation, since Satan is busy trying to draw them away from the organization. I talked to him for a little bit and he's been in Bethel for 13 years and works in the Construction & Design department. It was his first time in Nicaragua and he seemed to be enjoying the weekend.

I also met a couple this weekend who have been serving down here for quite a while, but just recently moved into our circuit. She's from England originally and small world as it is, turns out my mam's special pioneer partner from back in the late 60's is in the same congregation as this sister's parents, in Spain! Funny how you find something in common so often in Jehovah's organization. We are such a united brotherhood.

We have quite a group of experienced brothers in our circuit now. I got to stand and listen to a missionary couple who were visiting the assembly, a missionary couple who are in our circuit now, and another couple who are here on their own, but used to be missionaries in Honduras. What a privilege to just stand and admire such pillars and learn from them. One of them was interviewed in the part about youths. How she used her youth to serve Jehovah and has no regrets. Actually, her story came out in the April 22nd 1985 Awake. It's entitled Achieving My Childhood Goal. You should read it. Made me cry!

I was also really excited to have studies at the assembly. Alejandra, she's 9 and has been studying for about a month, was there and her dad came too! First time for both of them at an assembly. I haven't had chance to talk to him yet about it, but maybe he'll be the next new study to be started!

Anahis was also there with her family. She was raised in the truth but never did anything about it. She seems to be really starting to enjoy her study and has been at more meetings lately too. She told me when we had her study last week that she had never really taken it seriously before, and that she'd never got into the deeper things like the subjects in the Appendix of the Bible Teach book that we've been studying. She has some great questions, really thinks things through, so we'll see what happens there!

And Cynthia came, and brought her two kids. She's just on fire!! She came with her young cousin who is also studying, and they got there themselves on the bus and arrived earlier than our congregation bus did! In her study last week I had been helping her see how to isolate the key phrase in a scripture that relates to the point being made in the paragraph. That seemed like a new idea to her. Funny thing is, the CO talked exactly about that in his talk about using the Bible in the ministry. We both thought of each other during that talk! 

And when we were chatting at lunch time a friend came by who just got appointed a regular pioneer this week and is on such a high!! She's a young one I had the privilege of studying with in our previous congregation. She had already baptized about 6 years, but had never studied the second book and had never really set firm roots down, always up and down spiritually. She's doing so well now though, so happy to have reached her goal of regular pioneering. When I told Cynthia why this friend was so excited, Cynthia sighed and said "I have a such a long way to go to reach my purpose". When I asked her what purpose she was referring to, she said, "To preach. To have more knowledge and share it with others". Makes you dance inside when a bible student says something like that doesn't it?!?! She really seems determined to progress and she's on the right track!

Charley and I have both been a bit sick this week. Well, him first, and now me. Charley had some stomach issues but he seems fine today, and I've had a sore throat since Saturday night. I didn't go out yesterday in an attempt to kill off whatever this is, and today we're home all day too. I have a scratchy throat still, but I think maybe I'll manage to stop it becoming a full blown cold, I hope! Lots of water and rest in between the housework and laundry!

And exciting news, Charley just went to the supermarket to pick up a few things and he found a toaster!!!! YAY!!!!! They sell almost all appliances at that store, except toasters! But it was worth the wait, he found one today! I was just saying this morning that I was really missing toast, and voila! Hahaha!!! It's the little things in life...

So, that's the main news. We had a busy week of helping clean at the assembly hall. They have a new arrangement where each congregation in the area is assigned a day to go help clean the place. Our day fell on the same week as the assembly! So we were there most of Thursday cleaning, and then again Friday morning doing pre-assembly clean! Friday was easy though. There must have been about 350 people there to help, so in about 90 minutes everything was done!! We have great support for the assembly cleaning in this circuit!

Service is going well. I started a new study last week - because I didn't already have enough! I actually don't have hardly any morning studies, all in the afternoons, so now I have a morning one. She turns out to be Cynthia's sister-in-law and she seems really interested in studying, and when she found out Cynthia studies that seemed to encourage her too. She's the only person I've ever met who named their child Job. Isn't that cute?! Job Isaias is her youngest, and the other is Elias Daniel. All bible names.

Well, I leave you with a few recent pictures. I didn't really take any at the assembly, but I have a few pictures I want to collect from other people's cameras so if I ever accomplish that I will post them in the future!

Ready for meeting - I love this picture!!

Ride home from the assembly on the congregation bus! Yes, you see mam, dad, and two boys on the seat behind. What you don't see are their two daughters - 6 on a seat made for 3, or 2 comfortably!

Ignore how dorky my hair looks in this picture, just wanted to post a shot of the dresses Brenda, Lupita and I all had made for the assembly. Material cost me $3.50, and the lady charged me $4 to make it! We're going to make a catalog and fill it with the dresses we have her make for us. Yes, dresses in plural - this was the first, but won't be the last!