Vamos!

Well I think this blogger app might be a good thing! For those of you who follow us on Instagram it will seem a bit repetitive but not everyone does I guess.

Had a busy weekend as usual. Maybe a bit more than usual. Sadly we went to a funeral on Saturday afternoon. Our dear, 88-year old Bro. Taleno died suddenly on Friday. The brother who gave the talk did a beautiful job of remembering him and giving a witness to the brother's family. He'd been baptized 47 years but nobody else in his family ever supported him. He was such a sweet, faithful old brother. The congregation took care of all his needs and we enjoyed taking him his breakfast on Wednesday mornings. He'll be missed and probably a bit disappointed to discover he missed Armageddon but we look forward to seeing him again!

Sunday we went to a nearby English congregation and Charley gave the talk. The first two times he tried to introduce a scripture he said "vamos", and he said "y" instead of "and" a few times but all in all he did a good job! We enjoyed hospitality with a few of the friends and I even managed to enjoy most of the motorbike ride there and back!

Unfortunately I'm covered head-to-toe in a rash which looks like Zika. It's going around like crazy although I don't think even the doctors can agree on what it is! But it's not too bad. Just a little itchy! So, while I got to spend the day laying around watching movies, Charley worked hard outside and got our water tank connected! Very exciting since we only have one day of running water every third day from the city. Now we'll have it daily!

Well, that's it for now. I leave you with a picture of our water tank!

Just a picture or two

I have the Blogger app on my phone now so I thought I'd try and share pics as I post them also on Instagram. That way you won't have to dig through a mile long blog post once every three or four months!

Below is a picture of a few of us saying goodbye to Shawn who has moved back to the States. Sad to see her go but she'll no doubt be a blessing to any congregation she serves in. We are also pleased to have been able to buy a bed from her, and a bookcase and crock pot and some more fans for the house. Lots of reminders of her around here!

Below that, is an idea of the progress of the nearby Kingdom Hall construction in Nindiri. You can see how it looked May 2nd and how it looked when we went to work yesterday. Really admire the hard-working construction group, especially the amazing wives in the group. Quite an exhausting schedule they keep.

And then one of my favorite pics from our going away party that one of the young ones sent me. I just love this pic for some reason. I miss my Pancasan buddies!

Well, not sure how this app formats things so hopefully this post comes out legible and with the photos actually included and in the order I commented on them! If not, I'm sure you'll figure it out!

Housesitting opportunity in Masaya - June 15th for six weeks

POSTING THIS AD ON BEHALF OF SOME NEEDGREATER FRIENDS HERE IN MASAYA

CONTACT ME FOR MORE INFORMATION OR LOOK FOR THE AD ON NEEDGR8R.ORG

Want to try out Spanish ministry in an amazing territory?

We are serving in Masaya but have to leave for 5-6 weeks at short notice, so we need someone to care for our house and pets (dog & cat) from June 15th .

Beautiful 1-bedroom house in quiet surroundings by a lake and a volcano. On the edge of the city so easy access to all amenities. Good-sized garden with fruit trees. We have never had any problems with crime or the neighbours.

There is a choice of many congregations within walking distance and the territories are small so transport is not essential. Bible studies grow on trees.

The cat is not domesticated but an ocelot in a large cage. Full instructions provided.

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!