Rollercoaster Week

Hi everyone!

How goes it? It's been a pretty eventful week here in Chinatown. For starters, Erling hurt his knee playing soccer, is on crutches, and is gonna need an operation!

Erling with his wife Rebecca.

He's in good spirits. He hasn't missed a single meeting and is still fulfilling all of his responsibilities! Our service groups were recently rearranged, one reason being because Erling was just appointed as an elder. I'm the auxiliary overseer for his group, so in the meantime, I've been covering those duties for him (well, except yesterday because I wasn't feeling that well. Shhh!). However, he still wants to do as much as he can, which is encouraging to see. Him and I are getting together later to organize shepherding visits for those in our group. He told me, "I'll have to take taxis to get to their houses, but either way, we're doing it!"

A little update on the weather: We are currently in the peak of the rainy season, which is one of the best times of the year! Early last week, it was raining nearly all day every day. It was so cool at night and we were all saying how nice the weather was! But, of course, we spoke too soon. The past few days have been HOT with no rain, until we finally got a brief storm on Saturday. Seriously, though, that morning out in service, I was probably the grouchiest I've been in a while because of the weather. It got to the point where I said to my preaching partner, Miguel, "Okay, here's the English lesson for today." I taught him how to say, "It's so hot I'm literally going to die!" Again, teaching the important things, guys. Even the locals were complaining about the heat! We're in October, which is supposed to be the rainiest month of the year, so hopefully, we'll get some steady rain soon.

My preaching partners on Saturday, Miguel and Eliezer.

Once again, the ministry here is what makes it all worth it. You may come home feeling disgusting and like you could never be clean again, but you know that you accomplished something and gave your best. Case and point, I found one of my calls, Ervin, who I haven't been able to call on in a while. He was happy to see me and I left him the latest magazines, making plans to go back on Friday afternoon. Of course, when Friday afternoon came, it was boiling hot and I was struggling to gather the energy to go out. However, Eduardo and I went out anyway, and we got him home again! He's been out of work recently (which, let's face it, is great for starting studies with people. Come on, we all were thinking it.), so he has plenty of free time. We started a study out of chapter eight of the Good News brochure and I'll be going back Tuesday afternoon to continue it! We also had another great study with Max afterward. I gave him a copy of the Jehovah's Will brochure for us to consider at the end of each study. Again, it's always worth it to make the effort to go out!

Early preaching on Friday morning, still waking up.

I was debating whether or not to tell you guys this next piece of news. I've always tried to keep this blog as positive and as encouraging as possible, but at the same time, I think it's important to be aware of the realities that come with serving in a country like this. This is especially true for those of you who are seriously considering trying this for yourselves, so here it is: a group of us were robbed Saturday night.

Everyone is okay, rest assured. Eduardo, Chelsey, Ebony, and I went to Zach's house to watch a movie, which didn't finish til late at night. We we all live in the same neighborhood, so we were walking the usual route back to my house when we encountered two guys sitting on a street corner. As soon as they saw us, one of them came running over demanding money or anything we could give him. He had a huge rock in his hand if we resisted. They were mainly going after the girls. Eduardo gave the guy his smartphone before he could take anything from Chelsey, and I just pushed Ebony out of the way before they could get any closer to her. She had an expensive UV umbrella with her, which the guy managed to snatch and then brag about how selling it would make him rich. We were able to walk away after that, but he still managed to throw the rock anyway, which bruised Chelsey's foot. Eduardo & I made sure the girls got to their house safely, and Eduardo spent the night at my house rather than walking home alone.

That's what happened. Now, I'm sure many of you from back home are scoffing, rolling your eyes, shaking your heads, and saying, "See?! I knew it! I told you so! That's exactly why you can't go to these places!" Before you continue doing that, how about you let me explain some things first? Okay, buddy?

In reality, this was largely due to a lack of common sense on our part, and we all readily admitted that. I mean, come on...it was close to midnight and we were walking on a sketchy road. I was also carrying my leather ministry bag, which not only contained my iPad but also my wallet. I broke many of my own rules, such as never walk the streets at that time of the evening, especially with valuables.

Things to be thankful for:

• At least we were together. I was going to leave before the movie ended because I was so tired, which meant I would've encountered the thieves alone.
• Nobody was seriously hurt or injured.
• All they took was a phone and an umbrella.
• He only had a rock. He didn't have a knife or a gun. It could have been a lot worse.

Things to keep in mind:

• Crime rates may be higher here in Central America, but crime is everywhere, guys. You shouldn't assume that your area is exempt from it. Read a local newspaper and you'll see how true that is.
• I have been coming back & forth to this country for over three years now, and that was the first time I have ever had a run-in like that. Overall, I'd say I've had a very safe experience serving here.
• For the most part, robberies like that will only occur if you're careless. That doesn't only apply to this part of the world.

Things to be aware of if you're going out at night (this will sound like you've heard it all before, but you'll wanna pay attention):

• Don't be dumb. Arrange a ride home or, if it's getting late, spend the night at your friend's house. Don't go down dark streets or ones that are known to be dangerous at night. Never walk anywhere at that time of night, especially alone. Also, our experience proves that even walking with a group at that time doesn't guarantee your safety.
• Don't bring your wallet. Only bring the cash you'll need for that night's activities.
• IMPORTANT: Overall, just don't do anything that you wouldn't do back home. Would you walk home at midnight on a dark street with all of your valuables? If you would, you might need some help (which means I might need some help, too, actually...)
• ...ALSO IMPORTANT: Do not assume that something like this won't happen to you. I did for the past three years, and I got a much-needed wake-up call by means of this incident.

Rest assured that I'm in very good spirits and that my determination is just as strong as ever! I just now know that I need to be a little more cautious.

Let me sum it up by saying this: If one of the main reasons you hesitate to come to a country like this is crime, don't let it be. It's important to be cautious, but if hearing one story about a mild robbery is going to deter you from trying something like this, I'd be very sad to hear that. If you were to use experiences like this to discourage others from serving in this region, I think that would be even worse. For every story you have about crime in Central America, I've got one about crime in the States - or even just in Maine! Jehovah will protect you as long as you keep your wits about you. Nicaragua is still considered the safest country in all of Central America, and I still feel very safe where I am. Don't let one or two stories like this hold you back from experiencing one of the greatest opportunities available to you.

Wow, sorry if all of that was a bit intense! That's so unlike me. Honestly, I'm probably making more of the situation than it was, but it was a good opportunity to present my opinions on this subject, as intense as it may have been. But to even things out, here's a picture of a puppy!

Many of you have seen this before, but I can't get enough of it!

That's all for today. I better get going because I have some JW TV to watch - wait WHAT? The new broadcasting channel and language learning apps are incredible! Check them out right now! I wish I'd had the Language app available when I was first starting out. Both of them are true gifts from Jehovah.

I hope everyone is well. Miss you all and let me know how you're doing! Check back in next Monday.

Talk soon,


Sam