Un Dia en la Vida

Hi there!

People have been asking me what a typical day for us is like. So yesterday, we documented a normal day in the ministry in Ojo de Agua, from morning til night. It was definitely a productive day, so fasten your seatbelts. It's gonna be a long and crazy ride.

6:15 AM - Good morning! Simon makes the coffee (the day WILL NOT succeed without it), and I cook the eggs.

6:30 AM - We consider the day's text, and then watch an episode of whatever TV show we're currently watching on Simon's laptop hard drive.

7:15 AM - Shower and get ready for service.

7:45 AM - On our way to pick up the motorcycle from a local garage, we usually place a tract with somebody on the streets, and the people are receptive as usual. They love having things to read.

8:00 AM - Simon gets his motorcycle (on days that we are unable to take the motorcycle, we ride our bicycles out to the territory), and being the manly man that I am, I ride passenger...

8:15 AM - We arrive for the field service group. I lead the group on Wednesdays at Esperanzita's house. For a while, it looked like nobody else was gonna show up, but three sisters - Esperanzita, Paula, and Esperanza - soon arrived!

8:30 AM - We start working territory on the main road in Ojo. And we receive a very pleasant surprise - a brother in our hall named Jorge shows up! He has been sick and inactive for the past few months. However, he has been coming back to meetings the past few weeks. We usually stop in to chat with him on Wednesdays, but today, he surprises us by coming out in service with his wife! It was really encouraging.

9:30 AM - The morning is going well. I've placed three Listen to God brochures, and started another study! Simon is working with Jorge, having some nice discussions as well.

10:00 AM - Water break. We always make sure we have bottles of water with us. I wouldn't survive the brutal heat without it! Then it's back to preaching.

10:30 AM - Time to start heading back to Esperanzita's house. On the way back, I stop by José and Fatima's house. They're a couple that I study with, and I'm just confirming that we'll be studying this afternoon. The study is still on!

11:30 AM - Now we head back to Chinandega for lunch. Some days, we'll bring a lunch with us out to Ojo, but today, we'll have lunch in Chinandega.

11:45 AM - Once we get back to Chinandega, we place more tracts with people on the street. We then go back to our house and drop dead of exhaustion.

12:00 PM - Lunchtime. I usually head to one of the local coffee shops in town, Casa del Café. They've got decent coffee, air conditioning, and free WiFi - pure bliss.

1:00 PM - We prepare for the Bible studies we're gonna have in the afternoon. Conducting a Bible study in Spanish isn't easy, but it certainly is exciting!

1:30 PM - Time to head back out to Ojo. There currently isn't an official afternoon group on Wednesdays, so we usually say a prayer for ourselves and head to straight to our studies.

2:00 PM - We arrive in Ojo only to find that two of Simon's studies aren't able to have their study today. My study with José and Fatima isn't until 4:00, so in the meantime, we decide to go see another one of Simon's studies, Ariel. He lives pretty far away from the Kingdom Hall, so we usually take the motorcycle out there. However, he lives right next to a recently-harvested sugarcane field. Because of the recent harvest, the road is WAY too dusty to drive the bike through. So what do we do? We park the bike at the hall and walk! I'm not too good at guessing distances, but I'm pretty sure that this is at least a five-mile walk. Make sure you have water - this is a HOT time of the day.

2:45 PM - We finally make it to Ariel's house, only to find that he can't have his study today (???!!!). However, his brother, Anjel (Ahn-hel) is home. He loves to talk (a lot), and can't read, so we have to be very patient with him. Surprisingly, we have a really good discussion with him. Simon places the Listen to God brochure with him and starts a study! The long walk in the heat was worth it!

3:30 PM - Time to head back to the hall and onto the next study. The amount of dust and dirt on the road is unbelievable! At least the views out by the sugarcane field aren't bad to look at.

4:00 PM - After retrieving the motorcycle and taking another water break, it's time for José and Fatima's study. We're studying the second half of chapter two of the Bible Teach book, talking about the prophecy of Babylon's destruction. I'm a little nervous about how this is gonna go, because it can be a bit complicated, but it's going really well! They're understanding things very well, and they wanna come to the meeting this Sunday!

5:00 PM - We finish the study and head back to Chinandega. This is the outside of our apartment. We live on the second floor. (I have no idea whose car that is.)

5:15 PM - I am in DESPERATE need of a shower!

Before...                                                 ...After!

5:30 PM - Simon's turn to cook dinner. While he's prepping things, I'm preparing for my Bible Highlights at the meeting for Thursday. 

6:00 PM - Dinner, along with an episode of one of our favorite 90's sitcoms. :)

6:30 PM - Meeting preparation and other personal study.

8:00 PM - Some form of socialization!

10:00 PM - Sit in our rocking chairs like the old men that we are and chat about what happened throughout the day. Then it's time for bed!

I'm exhausted just from writing about all of that. Of course, not every day happens just like this, but this is definitely a typical day for us. It's certainly productive, and it's exciting to be busy in the ministry here! Needless to say, we'll be spending our day off at the beach. ;) 

Thanks for staying in touch, everyone! Talk to you all soon.

Take care,

Sam