La Florida

Hey everyone,

Here we are: 2013! It's crazy how fast time flies. I'll be back in the States in just a little over three months! But in the meantime, things have been very productive here, especially today.

It was announced last week that some brothers from a neighboring congregation, La Florida ("Flor-ee-da"), were coming to Ojo de Agua today to assist us with our territory. Apparently about seventeen of them came out last week and helped us cover an area of our territroy that we don't get to very often (I wasn't out that day. I missed out!) So we were looking forward to them coming out in the territory again.

Simon and I showed up to the group today and saw that we had four visitors in addition to the four of us that were out already. Yeah, it wasn't as much as I had expected, but hey, it was something. 

Suddenly, we heard a huge engine pulling into the Kingdom Hall driveway. We looked outside to find this...

...a truck full of more brothers and sisters from La Florida - about 40 of them!! We were shocked. The truck belongs to a Bible study who volunteered to bring everybody out to our territory - how generous is that?!

Stephan had quite a task on his hands conducting this group. Usually, we only have about four or five people out on a normal day!

After everybody was paired up, we all piled into the truck. Some stayed near the hall to preach to people around the Kingdom Hall. The rest of us took the truck out to the main road of our territory and worked some of the houses there. I had a pretty good call with a woman and placed a Listen to God brochure. That brochure is such a blessing in this territory!

Micah, my partner for the morning. Even though I'm like a foot taller, he's the same age as me!

Can anyone see Simon having the time of his life?

Once we worked a section of the main road, we all piled back into the truck and headed out to El Crucero, a four-way intersection containing roads that lead way out into the boonies, boardering Realejo's territory. We split into smaller groups to work these roads. I was assigned to nagivate a group through a road that we rarely work, a very rough road that eventually leads back to the Kingdom Hall. I knew that preaching itself would go well. I was just hoping I could get everyone back there alive!

We stopped by to check out San Cristobal. It erupted last week, but has thankfully calmed down a little bit. We've had to wear masks for the past few days, but the worst is over!

To my relief, my group succesfully made it back to the Kingdom Hall. We met up with the rest of the group and exchanged experiences. Simon found a man who used to study, has all the study publications, and wants to come to the meeting Thursday!

It was so encouraging to have such a big group. The brothers and sisters from La Florida all said they love our territory, and it was great getting to know some of them better. It's just a small sample of the love that the brotherhood gives us! Maybe they'll wanna come again??

Oh, and I couldn't resist taking this picture of a hard-working security guard...

Hope you all are well. Take care!

Sam