How August Was For Me

Hi all,

Well, here we are in September. August went by very fast, but it sure was immensely busy (See what I did there? Bam!). The tract campaign made it all the more exciting.

During all the month's activity, it was hard to find time to write. I won't lie, guys...I've got a lot to report, but I'll do my best to keep it short and sweet - he said, just before everyone closed their browser windows. Don't worry. I won't be offended if you skip the reading and just look at the preeeeetty pictures.

Okay, let's get to it!

The first Sunday of the month, our congregation organized a day to preach in Rancherias, one of the rural congregations in our circuit. We had a lot of support for the trip!

 

 

Rolando, our coordinator, leading the massive group.

Rancherias has a beautiful territory, and we were able to reach a lot of people. It's a very rural territory, but you'd actually be surprised by the number of people who use their phones to go online or travel into the city to use the Internet. So they still appreciated the tract about the website very much!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I said, it's a beautiful territory! (I said that already, right?)

Really? We had to be on the parched side of the field?!

For me, the majority of the month consisted of familiarizing myself with my new territory in La Norte. Overall, I really like it! Because the territory is so big, we've got a nice mix of urban and rural areas. Although preaching in city areas has been new and refreshing, sometimes, I miss the peace and quiet of rural witnessing.

A typical part of our territory. I have a feeling I'm not in Ojo anymore!

And we have some rural areas as well. Best of both worlds!

 

Even though there are more distractions in the city territory, people are still very receptive. I've got three studies going right now, and one good return visit that I think will develop into a study soon.

Erling having a doorstep study.

I've been showing people videos from the website any chance I get. People love them! I've started two studies with them.

Elvis placing a tract with a triciclo driver.

We've been starting early at the bus station a lot. It's always a great way to start the day. A few weeks ago, a boy and his little sister came up to me asking for a copy of the tract. I gave them a copy, which they fought over until I gave them another copy so they could each have one. They got really excited when I showed them how they could watch the videos about Caleb! As they ran off to school, all I could think was, "I'm so glad I don't have kids and that I don't have to mediate fights over who gets to use the computer."

Jefté preaching to a shop owner on an early morning.

I spoke to a guy who works in the bus terminal - wait, actually he approached me while I was trying to give a tract to a different guy - anyway, he listened in on our conversation and then asked for a copy of our Bible! He was genuine and he said he likes the easy-to-understand language of the New World Translation, so I'll be bringing him his copy tomorrow.

Erling placing a tract out in door-to-door.

Last week, I went out preaching with my friends Fernando and Denise in their territory, La Picota. It's a very rural area like Ojo and Rancherias, and their territory is massive! My favorite part of the day was when Fernando studied with a group of kids while Denise was having a study with one of their mothers. He's been going over the Learn From the Great Teacher book with them, and a couple of them have their own copies. He makes it very fun for them. They all love to get involved. He asked them what their favorite book is, and two of them held up the Great Teacher book, shouting at the same time, "This one!!"

Each of the kids loved showing off their reading skills.

Before the study, I showed the kids a couple of the Caleb videos. At first, there were four kids...

...and then there were seven! And another girl came along afterward!

It was really cute (sorry, I couldn't think of another word...sweet? Nice?) and they're all really smart kids.

You can tell these girls are totally thinking, "Girl, do you think he knows he's white?"

Jefté, knowing I was desperate for hours last month, helped me out by taking me on some of his late-night Bible studies. We always have a great time.

Notice that the tracts are different? The sign language tract is different, and it looks awesome!

One of Jef's calls watching the "Why Study the Bible?" video.

This next one has a bit of a story behind it. You might remember me mentioning my progressive study, Jorge. While I was in the States this summer, I got a call from my friend Zach, who was covering the study for me, saying Jorge had passed away unexpectedly. It really caught me off-guard, and I didn't take it well. Jorge and his family were always one of the biggest sources of encouragement to me down here, and without that, I began to question whether or not I had really accomplished anything during my time in Nicaragua. It was was one of the things that held me back from returning, to be honest. However, I knew that the best thing to do was to go back and get some closure.

Jorge at his first meeting a year-and-a-half ago.

As hard as it was, I'm very glad I did it. I spoke to his wife, Sandra, and she said it has been difficult for her, but she knows the best thing to do is to continue on with her study. When I saw their son Jorgito again, he ran right up to me, calling me "Uncle Sam" as usual and gave me a big hug. Sandra and I then discussed a new idea...the possibility of me studying with Jorgito. She said that would make her very happy, especially since Jorgito no longer has a male figure in his life to teach him the Bible, and that it would be best for me to do it. Jorgito was overjoyed at the thought, and we've been going of the Bible Story book ever since. It's helped both of us a lot. One thing that has especially comforted me is knowing that Jorge died doing the best thing, and that his life was worlds better when he was studying than it was years ago. He always told me to never forget his family. How could I, Jorge?

Jorgito watching the Noah video the other day. A few of his friends came and joined us as well!

Sorry if that was a bit too depressing! I'm doing much better now, and being in a new hall has been a very refreshing change. I've been making the most of all the changes that have occurred here, and each change has brought along new blessings.

...like having easy access to Coca-Cola, for instance!! This is how Elvis and I end each morning of service: having a cold bottle of coke (or poison, as we call it). Hey, man...when in Rome...or Chinandega?

Oh, and another reason why this past month was so crazy was that we had our convention here in Chinandega. I worked in the sound department for the first time, and it was a challenge, but a lot of fun!

With the Chinandega family!

Sound check...and butchering reading.

The sound team - a hilarious and very fun group of brothers, with whom I totally blend in.

If you couldn't tell by now, August was insane. We were encouraged to make it the best month in preaching history, and I can say for certain that for me, it was. It was a mad dash to make my pioneer hours, but I made it by the skin of my teeth! Fernando, Denise, Zach, and I went to the beach yesterday to celebrate. (Celebrating the first day of the new service year by taking a day off...? It was an exhausting month, bros.)

Fernando, Denise, and I pondering creation...and Zach being a very patient photographer.

Is that it? I think that's it. I'd better stop now before I ramble about anything else. Sorry, guys...can't say I didn't warn you. I've only been writing this for about three-and-a-half hours. What else am I gonna do on my day off? Something productive? Do you know me?!

Bring it on, new service year! (Yeah, I've got moves.)

I hope you all are well. Thank you all for your continued support and encouragement. I know I say that a lot, but I do mean it. You guys are the best! Miss you all and I'll talk to you soon.

Take care,


Sam

First Impressions of La Norte

Hello there!

Sorry that it's been a while. I know that a lot of you were waiting for a post - and by a lot of you, I mean like three of you. No worries, bros. I'm gonna fill this page up anyway.

But seriously, apologies. It's been an insanely busy month, as I'm sure this August has been for all of you as well! (Sidenote: I'm running out of ways to say it's been a busy month. I've done very busy, crazy busy, insanely busy, extremely busy...I'm gonna think of a more interesting phrase. Stay tuned. Just know that I mean it when I say it's been busy.) I've got a lot of things to catch everyone up on, but I'll do a few posts instead of trying to fit it all in one.

Settling into La Norte congregation has been a lot easier than I was expecting. Everyone has been very welcoming. I was a little nervous at first - making a good first impression in a new hall is tricky enough, and it's even trickier trying to do so in another language. A couple weeks in, though, I received my first invitation to a congregation party! To say I was excited is an understatement. I kept the invitation (no joke, it's still on my fridge). Is it obvious that I'm flattered easily?

Yes, it looks like either a Valentine's card or a birthday party invite, but it's the GESTURE, guys.

 On the night of the party, I was still excited, but I was only planning on staying for like half-an-hour. No offense, Nica friends. I've been to plenty of fiestas here, and after two-plus years, you've just about had your fill of trying to dance to music that you, as one of the whitest boys on Earth, simply will never be able to dance to. Just to prove my point, here's a picture of me at my first Nica dance party back in July 2011:

Me with Anna, an old friend from England. Look how coordinated I am! (And yes, the glasses, I know.)

 Anyway, I was planning on jetting out of there pretty soon...until I saw this:

 I asked Ladislao, the elder whose family was hosting, "Why did you have the cake written in English?" He told me, "For you! This is your welcome party!"

Okay, so I know this picture doesn't make it look like there was a ton of people there, but...wait, maybe there wasn't.

 Man, did I feel like schmuck! Of course, I stayed for the whole party. Turns out it was half my welcome party, half a going-away party for Ladislao's visiting family (who apparently went to the same international convention we did!), but hey, I'll take it! It was really nice of them, and it was a great way to break the ice. They told me (and have kept telling me) that they're really thankful and glad that I've moved in.

Any party is made ten times better with glowsticks!

After many failed attempts by others, this girl was the one who finally convinced me to get on the dance floor.

Another sidenote: The party was a lot of fun and it was a really sweet gesture...but, the cake was disgusting. I'm sorry!! Again...it's the GESTURE that counts, I know.

One thing I've really enjoyed is living so close to the hall and to everyone here. It's made it much easier to cultivate friendships. A couple named Erling and Rebecca, two regular pioneers, have been really cool and welcoming. Speaking of which, he was just appointed as an elder, making five elders in our hall! It's awesome, but also kind of ridiculous, right? Like I said, the need is in other areas.

Speaking of elders (man, I am on a roll with the segues here!), the elder body has been great. Each one of them has taken the time to get to know me, especially Elvis Acuña and his family. He's a really balanced brother. More importantly, he's hilarious. We've had some really good times out witnessing. He's been teaching me a few idioms as well.

This doesn't have anything to do with the post. I just wanted to show how we go about moving and selling a bed here...and I'm trying to fill space.

Speaking of idioms (seriously, somebody give me some kind of award for segues, please), that's been the only annoying thing so far. If you've been keeping up with me since the beginning, then you know that I didn't speak a lick of Spanish when I first moved here. I learned it purely by being in the congregation and studying the publications. Hence, I speak theocratic Spanish pretty well, but conversational Spanish, not so much. So during my first couple weeks in this hall, there were a couple of occasions when a brother or sister would use an idiom, I wouldn't understand it, and they would immediately conclude, "He doesn't understand!! He needs to learn Spanish!!" Anyone who knows me knows that I don't respond well in those situations. However, patience is the key, and I'm learning new things every day!

The territory is also very nice. It's one of the biggest territories in the city, so there's a lot of potential. I'll do a separate post about how this month's campaign has been going, but let me just leave this little tidbit: for the first time in all of my sneaky photo-taking history, a householder caught me taking photos of them while the brother was preaching to them today. It was humiliating...but I still kept the pictures.

Proof that I was able to get along with a group of kids long enough to get a picture of it.

 Speaking of pictures (my incredible segues are probably getting annoying by this point), sorry for the low-quality photos and lack of many. I've mainly been taking pictures with my smartphone and tablet instead of my good camera.

Overall, this has been a very refreshing change so far. It was a tough first couple of weeks, but I once I decided to embrace the change, things really turned around. I'm really looking forward to what the next few months have in store. Hopefully that includes a Tim Horton's being constructed in Chinandega at some point. Let me dream, guys. Just let me dream.


Talk soon,
Sam

Changes, Changes!

Hello there!

Yes, it's been a while, hasn't it? I live such an incredibly busy life seeing important people and doing important things that I just haven't had time to come mingle with the common folk. Jokes, jokes! The truth is that I've just returned from working another summer in the States and I am back in Chinandega once again.

It was a busy few months back home. I picked up two really great Bible studies in my home territory, one of which came to the Memorial! That was very encouraging, and they're currently continuing their studies with two brothers in my home congregation. I also got a new job teaching English online, which is a definite answer to my prayers because it's a great way to support myself while living abroad.

In other news, a group of us serving in Chinandega had the privilege of attending the Spanish International Convention in New Jersey last month!

I'm gonna try not to blabber too much about it, but needless to say, it was an unforgettable experience. We had a peak attendance of nearly 60,000. On Saturday, 808 were baptized! They set up four different pools to speed up the process, but it still took almost the entire lunch period to get through everybody! Very encouraging to see.

As delegates, they treated us VERY well. We were in shock of how much they did for us. Every day that we boarded the bus to go to the stadium, one of these lunch bags was waiting in each and every seat for us! That's not even the half of it. They provided just about every meal, had gift bags waiting for us upon checking in at the hotel (which included special notebooks just for the convention), gave us several tours, and we received hundreds of little gifts everywhere we turned.

We also got a special tour of the Stanley Theater, one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen. That was by far and away one of the most encouraging days most of us have ever had. It included a special program (introduced by the brother above who started off by taking a selfie in front of the audience) about the theater's history and renovations.

Oh, and as one last gift for the day, as we were leaving to board our buses back to the hotel, they surprised us with another buffet accompanied by live music! They also handed out more gift backs, and before we knew it, the whole thing turned into a huge fiesta in one of the back rooms of the Stanley Theater. ?!?!?!?! The whole day was very overwhelming - in the best way possible! Jehovah really does love us and gives us just the encouragement we need. It was a day none of us will forget.

 

Over the course of the weekend, Brother Jackson came to give four talks (accompanied by a great Spanish interpreter). They looked so tiny on the field, so we were glad we had those giant screens. He is an incredible speaker, and he brought so much life to his talks that by the end of each one of them, the audience was not only applauding, but cheering! Definitely an awesome privilege.

One of my favorite interviews over the weekend was from a brother in his 90s. Speaking about blessings he has received from his endurance, he said to the brother interviewing him, "Look around at all these people in the audience. You know who they are? They're my brothers and my family."

I got to see many old friends over the weekend as well, including my friend Lynette. She was the person who convinced me to go to the Nicaragua in the first place. Without her, I probably never would have gone to Nicaragua, attended that convention, or even be writing this blog post.

I also got to bump into my friend Bridget, the person who convinced me that I should stay in Nicaragua. She was serving in Esteli the first time I came. She helped me a great deal to get settled in and was a great pillar of support. To this day, whenever I need Nica advice, I still go to her!

On Sunday, our group had to dress full-on Nica style. Even though there were technically only one-and-a-half Nicaraguans in our group, it was a lot fun - and much easier to wear than a suit in that hot weather!

To end an incredible weekend, we spent some time in NYC, went a Yankees game (where the Red Sox crushed them!), and toured Walkhill. Afterward, Jefte and Zach came to visit me in Maine for a few days. We had a blast!

After a crazy yet very fun couple of weeks, it was time to return to Nica. Jefte, Zach, and I flew in about two weeks ago. Since then, it's been a busy time adjusting to many new changes. I'm still living in the same house, which is good because it adds a level of stability. However, this time I have changed to a new congregation. With some help and advice from my C.O., I've finally chosen a congregation that I feel comfortable in: Chinandega Norte. (Yes, Chinandega North)

My new Kingdom Hall. It's only a few blocks away from my house, which is a huge relief. I cannot tell you how good it feels to go from constantly worrying about transportation to be able to just walk to the hall.

One of the reasons I chose this congregation was that I already knew a few people from there. That made me feel much more comfortable. Surprisingly, they have many elders, servants, and pioneers - four elders, three servants, and ten pioneers. However, from what I've gathered, the major need here is for encouragement and stability. They have a fairly large territory for a city congregation. It takes them fifteen days to cover it, which is actually a long time in comparison with most other city congregations who cover their territories in just a few days. Mid-week ministry support is pretty weak. So far, there's only been about five people out on a given day, which isn't too good for a hall with 72 publishers. Our C.O. said that meeting attendance is a big problem as well. On Sundays, they are averaging 66, but that includes Bible students coming as well, so as a congregation, it's lower than that.

However, everybody has been very friendly thus far. Although I still have quite a ways to go with my Spanish, it feels good not going into it having to start from scratch. I can actually focus on getting to know these brothers and not struggle with the language. The elder body told me they are very grateful for the help.

Obviously, the need in this congregation is nowhere near as desperate as Ojo de Agua. Sometimes I think that maybe I'm being too lazy by being in this hall. However, I realized that not every hall here is going to be an Ojo de Agua. You don't need to be working yourself to death in a congregation in order to be serving where there is a greater need. Actually, it looks like this hall needs help in certain areas that Ojo doesn't. For example, overall, Ojo didn't really have any internal problems. Overall, the congregation gets along like a big family. That doesn't seem to be the case here. Also, witnessing support in Ojo improved a lot over time, whereas it is pretty weak here. The brothers in Ojo were pretty diligent about fulfilling their responsibilities as well, but according to the elder body in Norte, that is an area in which they need a great deal of help. So even though Ojo primarily needed help in that they needed more brothers to do more parts, they were doing fairly well in most other areas. With Norte, even though they have plenty of brothers, they need a lot of help in most other areas.

All in all, I spent two years in Ojo de Agua, and even though I don't have the energy for that in me anymore, I feel like I can use my experience from that to benefit this congregation. I really like it so far. I've already started three new Bible studies - one of which I'm going to go see this afternoon!

As far as the weather goes, it's been rough, honestly. Temperatures have been about as high as they are in April, and this is supposed to be a rainy month. There has been a drought that's lasted about two months now! Thankfully, it rained a couple of days ago. I was overjoyed, to say the least.

All the guys together once again (recreating the same picture we took a year ago in one of my previous posts, "Tu Palabra es la Verdad").

That's about it for now. Between adjusting to a new hall, readjusting to the heat, and living alone again, I have to say I've been missing home a lot. I thought leaving my friends and family would get easier each time, but it's been getting harder. However, I'm determined to make the most of my new situation, and each day gets easier. Nevertheless, please write or send me an e-mail to let me know how you're doing! You may not think it, but each and every message means a great deal to me. Thank you all for your love and support as usual!


Talk soon,
Sam