Mr. & Mrs. Something

Hey all,

I don't have much time to be writing right now, so let me just get one thing out of the way right off the bat: Chinandega has a library. A library. I've been living in this town for two-and-a-half years and I never knew that. Not even a good amount of the locals know it! We had our Active English conversational class there today.

Enrique looking for a book in the terribly-lit library.

We also stumbled upon some of these gems:

Do you see them?

Showing Jorgito how to download the videos with a not-at-all-fake smile.

Chinandega is always full of surprises. Anyway, last week was good. The ministry here continues to be the highlight. It's what motivates us to get out of bed and it's the reason I keep coming back to Nicaragua!

This past Friday, Zach & I went to see Jorgito, who was very excited because Sandra recently bought a Samsung tablet. The very first thing he said when we arrived was, "Sam, how can I put Caleb videos on this thing??" I cannot tell you how encouraging it was to see a six-year-old boy more concerned with that rather than with downloading more games onto his tablet. Sandra & Jorgito don't have Internet access in their house, so we weren't sure what we could do at first, but then we came up with a plan. They live just a couple of blocks away from a café with free WiFi that we frequent pretty often, so we asked Sandra if we could take Jorgito there for a little bit and download the videos directly to the tablet. She happily agreed to it, so off we went! We were able to download just about all of the videos in no time, and Jorgito was thrilled. When we got back to their place, Sandra said that she was so glad he could have the videos available to watch any time he wanted. She's been doing a great job bringing him to the meetings and keeping up with her own study. As we were leaving the house, Jorgito gave us a big thank you and immediately started watching one of the videos. I can successfully say that it was one of the most gratifying moments I've had here, one that makes all the sacrifices worth it!

The wedding party walking to the ceremony.

Now, let's talk about another first-time experience I had yesterday: Being in a Nica wedding. Right? I never expected that to happen or had planned on it happening! Picking out the wedding party is not done the way we do it the States. I can sum it up this way: Basically, the bride handpicks every single member of the wedding party, including the groomsmen, whether the groom is friends with them or not. I could explain my feelings about the matter in more detail, but hey, it's a different culture. Now what is the groom's last name? I have no idea. I only learned his first name just a couple months ago, after having already been a member of the wedding party for three months! The bride was Mayerling, a pioneer sister in my hall. She told her bridesmaids to choose whoever they wanted to escort them down the aisle. Another tradition to consider is that the wedding party always does a major dance at the wedding reception here. I know a lot of couples do that back home too, but it's expected here, so the bridesmaids basically chose their groomsmen based off of who would be a good dance partner. Trust me, I wasn't chosen for my dancing skills. My friend Darling, one of the bridesmaids, is taller than all the other brothers in my hall except me and didn't want to look like a giant, so she chose to walk down the aisle with a fellow giant.

Whatever happened to limos?

Another tradition that many couples partake in here is that on the wedding day, the whole wedding party walks from the bride's house parading around in the streets to the Kingdom Hall. Yup. It was about a twenty-minute walk during rush hour traffic. We also had to cross one of the busiest intersections in town with a huge eighteen-wheeler behind us. Yup.

Regarding the dance itself, I won't say a lot about it, but I will say it was difficult, especially for a white boy who grew up in a small town, population 6,000, and was not raised in the Latino culture! They had us practicing two to three times a week, with each practice lasting about two hours. I won't lie, guys. It was intense. There were laughs, there were there were tears, there were arguments, and oh yeah, there was dancing. The dance involved lots of jumping and salsa steps. Let me tell you about my frustration with dance lessons: Instructors always tell you the same thing. They always say, "Stop thinking about it so much! Just do it! Let the music flow through your booooody!" Yet, the second you make a mistake, it's, "SHOULDERS STRAIGHT NO YOUR FOOT GOES THAT WAY MAINTAIN EYE CONTACT! But don't think about it so much. Just have fun!" It was hard to learn, but when the time came for our performance, I just decided to finally take that advice: I stopped thinking about it so much and decided to enjoy it! While we did make a couple mistakes, it was a lot of fun and felt like a major accomplishment just the same.

Yes, there is video evidence of this.

They also asked me to play some music at the reception.
I did two songs in English and one in Spanish (well, with some
English lyrics). It was nerve-wracking, but fun to try!

Sidenote: This is probably not a need-to-know thing, but I'll share it anyway because...well, that's what I do. I swallowed a fly during the dance, guys. Actually, I didn't even swallow it. It flew RIGHT INTO MY MOUTH during the song and was stuck in my teeth. I thought, "Oh man, I either have to swallow this or spit it out. Either way, I lose." I tried to spit it out very subtly, which just resulted in getting drool on my pants and me trying to subtly wipe it off later in the song. You can see all of it on the video. Wow. Sometimes I feel like I may reveal too much to you guys, but hey, we're family!

Now that it's done, I'm realizing that although the experience was busy and stressful, it was also a lot of fun. It was cool to be a part of a wedding in another country! I've definitely got some interesting stories that I know I'll be telling for years to come.

The wedding party with the newlyweds themselves, Rudy and Mayerling...something.

Thanks for reading. Hope you all are well!

Talk soon,


Sam

Acting School

Hello!

I'm a couple days late in posting this, mainly because Monday was busier than expected and I don't have anything too exciting to report. But don't close your browser! There will probably some substantial ramblings or rants at some point in this post.

For starters, our midweek meeting has changed from Wednesday to Tuesday. Yes, that's the most thrilling thing that happened last week. Anyway, our hall did an awesome job singing the new song! You can tell that I really mean that by my expression in this picture:

After practicing the song the first time. I was...happy.

Seriously, though, it went really well! We listened to it once and everyone nailed it on the first try. During the second time, I was feeling it so much that I even had to stop myself from walking in the aisle fist-pumping and taking it to the streets. Joy, just pure joy.

The change in the schedule has called for changing up my witnessing schedule a little bit. Zach leads a Wednesday afternoon group in El Limonal, a part of Ojo de Agua's territory. The group doesn't have much support, so I've been going out there with him on Wednesday afternoons the past couple of weeks. It's nice to get away from the city for an afternoon. I had forgotten how peaceful and quiet it is in Ojo's territory. Apparently, I can't escape it completely!

Zach doing a return visit. Ain't he phenomenal?

View of San Cristobal from La Colonia de la Policia.

As for the heat, we're slowly but surely entering the hotter time of the year. Today was the hottest it's been in a while (96° F, 36­­° C), but come April, we'll be wishing for those temperatures back. Sidenote: The mosquitoes have been RELENTLESS since I've been back. Seriously. RELENTLESS. That has everybody paranoid about getting chikungunya, a disease that is supposed to be worse than dengue fever. There have been a lot of reported cases of it in town, but it's hard to know for sure. Many of those reported cases are accurate, but then there are other people who immediately jump to these conclusions: Got a headache? Chikungunya. Did you just sneeze? Chikungunya. You have a slight itch on your arm? Chikungunya. But yes, you do need to be prepared. Thankfully, the mosquitoes have calmed down a little the past couple of days.

Miguelito receiving his gift today, complete with new pens.
(Sidenote: Bree took one of them for herself. Unbelievable.)

In other news, Miguel, a 13-year-old brother in our hall, has started regular pioneering this month! His parents began studying a couple of years ago, and all three of them were baptized last year. He's an awesome kid. He's got such a great attitude and spirit. Even when his parents don't make it to the meetings, he is always there no matter what and comes out preaching on his own whenever he has the chance, including every day of school vacation. When asked how he was planning on pioneering with school and everything, he said he would be taking out a personal territory to work in the afternoons after school. I don't know many kids that age who would have the motivation to do that on their own, but he does! As a gift, Ben & Bree got him a new return visit book. They even labeled it with all the different locations of our territory.

Finally, for the demo this week on how to react to an irate person, Rolando was faced with a tough decision when it came to choosing who would play the role of the angry householder. He would have to choose someone who is known for having a naturally angry disposition, someone who takes pleasure in putting others down, someone who could bring a child to tears just by staring daggers at them. At last, the villain was cast:

LOL he chose Bree. We were all flummoxed by this choice. Flummoxed. What was the reasoning behind it? Would you choose a kitten to scare away thieves? Would you unleash a ladybug to kill a cockroach? Would you scare your younger sibling with a picture of a butterfly? No? Then why on Earth would you think Bree, of ALL PEOPLE, could be capable of yelling at Jehovah's Witnesses, or anyone at all?!?! Okay, I'm done being mean, and now I'll tell you that she did a really good job, in all seriousness. We may have had to practice it with her about 50 times to get her to stop sounding so nice, but she got it down pat. (You'd think that after being a part of our family for all these years, she would know how to shout!) Plus, Rolando is smart, and I have to give him credit for making a bold and fun choice. Sidenote: That was the angriest I had ever seen Bree in the entire time I've known her, aside from one time when she refused to share some cookies. She would be the nicest do-not-call ever. (Other sidenote: She gave me permission to write all that.)

Alright, that's all I have to report this week. Things are going really well, but as always, I miss all of you back home. Let me know what's new!


Take care,

Sam

The Best of Both Worlds?

Hi all,

After a very eventful three-week excursion to the States, I've made it back to Nica once again, even if the airline lost my checked bag. Yeah, that's just one little tidbit to share from my trip, and if you'd like to know more, grab a juice box, shoot me an e-mail, and we'll talk about the ongoing trials and tribulations of a lad named Sam Roberts.

ANYWHO, there were a lot of memorable moments from the trip, most notably my friend Jared's wedding! He actually came to visit me for a week in February last year, but things were so busy at the time that I didn't end up blogging about it, so here's a picture from that trip.

He's been a good friend of mine for some time now, so it was great to be home for the big day, although I missed the ceremony. Again, e-mail me.

Me with Jared & Jocelyn

We'll have more on that trip later. For now, let me talk about what I arrived back in Nica just in time for: our assembly day! It was exhausting having just returned from the States, but it was still a fun weekend. Saturday was the big pioneer meeting before the assembly. There's a double Kingdom Hall here in Chinandega, which perfectly held all 288 present! They had the speakers in one of the halls and a video feed into the other hall. We were on the side with the video feed, which worked very well. Many brothers and sisters from our hall had parts, including Rolando, Leticia, Renee, Elvis, Meyling, and Elieth.

Yes, I'm talking about the brother on the screen.

This is Thomas Bear. He and his wife having been serving here for quite some time now. They're both German, and his accent comes through very strong when he speaks Spanish. Honestly, I think it sounds awesome! I could listen to him all day. He had two really good illustrations. First, he spoke of being in an airplane that's about to crash when the oxygen masks are released. You are seated next to a ten-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl. Who do you make sure has their mask on first - the boy, the girl, or yourself? Actually, airlines emphasize that you need to put your own mask on first before you can be in a position to help anyone else! Similarly, we need to be sure that we are taking care of ourselves spiritually before we can be in a position to offer help or encouragement to anyone else. The other illustration he used had to do with our personal desires. He talked about how Google memorizes the things you search for and is able to remember your favorite items, no matter when you searched for them. If Google has the ability to remember the things that peak your interest the most, how much more so does Satan! It emphasized the need for us to be on guard more than ever.

The Chinandega sun shining down just as powerful as ever.

Once again, we had a busy night of sound preparation before the session. Many brothers stayed past midnight. I would have stayed longer, but I was still suffering from my severe one-hour jet lag, so I decided to call it a night.

I had an assignment that I'd never had before for this assembly: letreros. Basically, Ben & I were in charge of putting up signs on the offices of the various departments - administration, chairman's office, sound, and yes, even a sign for our department: the sign department. We also had to have my laptop on hand in case we needed to print off emergency women's bathroom signs, which I actually had to do quite a few times. Would the whole thing fall apart without us? Two things: 1) Hey, someone has to do it, and 2) I got to sit it in a somewhat-air-conditioned office for the day, so I'll take it!

No, I did not spell administration wrong.

The program was great - very frank and very much-needed. There were 32 baptized and a peak attendance of 3,169. Sidenote: my study Edwin lives right next door to the stadium. He could hear the whole program without even leaving his property, which isn't a bad deal. What's even better is that in the middle of the morning session, everyone was distracted by three toddlers who came out of nowhere running across the perimeter of the outfield. Sure enough, they were Edwin's kids. Yup, that's my study!

Taking down the sound system after the session. Here's a Where's Waldo activity: Find Ben!

Now that the busy weekend is over, I'm looking forward to getting back to my routine here. I'm really enjoying how things have been going, and that helped me to realize something while I was in Maine. I know I come back from every trip with a new lesson learned, and there have probably been some inconsistencies over the past few years, but this one was actually liberating. Everyone who has served in another land while traveling back & forth to their home country knows what it's like to live in two completely different worlds. In my case, the struggle has been being very close to both my friends in Nicaragua and my friends back home. Every time I go back to Maine, it's hard to leave for long periods of time knowing that time doesn't stand still while I'm away. People carry on with their lives, and I know it's a bit selfish, but you do feel cut off from everybody in a sense. It's not easy, but over time, I've realized that I'm still very close to my good friends back home, and being away has helped some of us to even strengthen our friendships. While I may not be actively involved in what happens back home anymore, I've maintained close ties with the people I love, and that's enough. I wouldn't trade the friendships I've made here in Nicaragua for anything in the world, and for now, this is the best place for me to be. At times, though, I wish I could have it both ways - be fully involved here in Nicaragua and still be fully involved in life back home, while being able to take advantage of all the luxuries there as well. However, here is the lesson: You can't have the best of both worlds. I know that might sound sad, but when I realized that, it was a huge relief. Right now, I feel like I have the best of my world in Nicaragua, and while I may not have everything back in Maine, I have all I need. Having that in mind is helping me to focus on what a privilege it is for me to be where I am and to be doing what I'm doing.

Okay, that's enough sap for one post. Talk to you all on Monday!

Take care,


Sam

Accomplishments

Hello!

I've been back in the States for a little over a week now, and while I love seeing my friends and family here, I gotta say, guys: I'm missing Nica. Weird, right?! Every time I come home, I don't think about Nica at all whatsoever because it's hard to think about Nica when you're so busy stuffing your face with hamburgers and hot dogs since, you know, that's what all Americans eat three times a day every day. Actually, I really miss Nicaragua because I feel like I've finally gotten into the right place and a great routine down there. So yes, I miss it! However, instead of continuing whining, a skill in which I exceed, I will fill everyone in on the events that took place before I came home.

For starters, I finally did one of the things I've been the most afraid to do during my whole time in Nicaragua: drive.

"I'm Erling Téllez and I approve this message."

Anyone who has been to Nicaragua, or Central America for that matter, understands what a big risk that is! Here is the basic principle of driving in Nicaragua: You and ONLY YOU have the right of way - not pedestrians, not any other vehicle, not roadkill, only you. You don't have to wait for anybody. You just go as fast as you can and if anyone dares to get in your way, it's their fault, not yours! It sounds nice until you're on the receiving end. In retrospect, it probably wasn't that big of a deal, but nonetheless, it was another goal accomplished! On this particular day, we went with a group of friends in our hall to a beach in Corinto. It was a great afternoon spent with people who have become great friends.

Us with Erling, Rebecca, Jennifer, & Douglas.

Another major accomplishment occurred, but for Ben and Bree: they did their first demonstration in Spanish together. It was the demo about starting a Bible study on the first Saturday of the month, and they smashed it.

As for what happened next, well...remember San Cristobal? The volcano adjacent to Chinandega? Remember how it erupted right when I arrived in town in September 2012?

Remember how it erupted again just three months later and spewed ash all over town, resulting in many damaged lungs and evacuations?

Yeah, I was walking to get my morning coffee that day when I looked up and saw THIS.

Well, we hiked it last week! (Kids, please do not look to me as a good example.)

Actually, we semi-hiked it. We wanted to reach the top by sunrise, mainly because hiking it in the hot sun would've tripled the difficulty. That involved staying up until 2:00 AM and riding with the tour guides to a farm where the trail began. The drive to the farm was supposed to take about an hour, but the road was pretty rough - rough, but not impossible to navigate. All that is required is some ambition and work ethic, neither of which our truck driver had. We weren't even halfway to the farm when we got stuck in a rough patch of the road. We could have easily made it out and did everything we could to guide our driver out of it, but he seriously would not listen to a word we said. He did the opposite of everything we suggested and even when we tried to smooth out the path for him, he refused to drive through. I can understand that it was 2:00 in the morning, man, but we're paying you for a service! We spent about 45 minutes arguing with him/trying to help him until we realized how much time we had wasted. He wasn't going to drive us there, so we had no choice but to just leave him (along with the truck) and walk to the farm ourselves.

Walking to the farm was a hike itself. It took about two hours, and it was just as physically exerting. We were supposed to reach the farm by 3:00 so we could make it to the top of the volcano by sunrise, but we didn't arrive at the farm until about 5:00. I would've preferred to just finish the whole hike anyway since we had already gotten that far, but I also had to leave for the airport at 4:30 that afternoon. Actually, I would've finished it anyway, but another brother in our group who was leaving on the same flight as I was still needed to get back to León to pack his things. All of that, along with the fact a few others in our group weren't feeling that well, led us to the decision to call it a day (or night? We all got mixed up!) and finish it another time. We were disappointed, but we didn't consider the trip a waste by any means! While we were waiting for another truck to come pick us up from the farm to bring us back into town, we still managed to hike up a portion of the trail to get some decent photos.

Pretty satisfying view!

I have to say, being able to view Chinandega from the volcano that has been the background in so many of my photos all this time was a very satisfying experience. For once, the town itself was in the background! It has been such an intriguing aspect of my time in Chinandega ever since I arrived, and it was very cool finally checking it out. Although we only did a portion of the hike, it still felt like another major accomplishment - this time, for all of us. 

Don't be fooled. The top was a lot further than it looked!

After making it back to town, it was a mad rush to get ready before I had to leave for the airport. I will say, though, that it was frustrating having lost an entire night's sleep and not finishing the hike! It really threw off the rest of the week, but I've managed to catch up on all that sleep now, thankfully. I even slept on the airplanes, which I've never been able to do! Now, I've got a few weeks left here in the States and then it's back to Chinatown. I'll report during that time if there's anything worth reporting!

The result of me checking to see if my camera timer was working. Apparently, it was.

Sidenote: I noticed that this page has now gotten over 25,000 visits. Thank you all for keeping up with me!

Take care,


Sam

The Sea House

Hello!

Yes, I know, I've missed a few weeks, but we've had a lot going on, which I will proceed to explain in this long post, so kick back, relax, and please keep your cursor away from that exit button!

A few weeks ago marked a historic event for some of our friends in La Norte as Bree showed them how to concoct one of the most intriguing concoctions in all of concoctivity: a burrito.

Before I get 37 comments saying, "Don't they eat burritos every day three times a day?", let me just tell you: No, they do not. Burritos are a Mexican dish. Mexican things come from Mexico. Mexico is not Nicaragua. Good night.

It was very entertaining to watch Bree show them the ropes. Although they turned out a tad too spicy, it was a smashing success, so much so that Mayerling demanded a copy of the recipe for herself! And, of course, yet again, the night had to turn into a mini-dance party.

My studies with Jorgito have been going well, and now, thanks to Eduardo and Zach, they've gotten even better. They came up with the idea to get all of the coloring and picture activities from the website bound into several books for the kids in Ojo, and they gave me a copy to give to Jorgito! I gave it to him on Friday and he loved it. We did the picture activity about Noah's ark and were able to have a good talk about the lessons learned. Since he and Sandra are attending meetings now, we also watched the new Caleb video about commenting.

Alright, now let me get to the big stuff. For the very first time, my parents came to visit Nicaragua! Actually, it wasn't just them. Bree's father, Lenny, and my sister, Kayla, also came down! They only had a week free to come down over Thanksgiving break, but we made the most of their time here. For starters, this is how they were welcomed at the very quiet airport:

 

The fact that I'm writing this more than two weeks after the fact but still being able to vividly remember specific moments from their visit says a lot - my sister having an argument over getting ripped off within the first five minutes of their arrival, my parents not realizing that my friend Moisés could actually speak English, my mother bargaining with a street vendor, just so many moments. *Sigh.*

For starters, the Mainers spent the weekend in Chinandega to meet everyone and see where I've been hanging out all this time. It was a very surreal experience for me. I've been coming back and forth to Nicaragua for over three years now, and during that time, I had always imagined how my parents would act in different situations, and to see all of it become reality was worth the wait. After a day of kicking back at the nicest hotel in town (perks!), they came to La Norte's public meeting.

The Roberts & the Martins taking over Chinandega.

The meeting was a fun experience for everyone. We helped the visitors prepare their own comments and they all did a great job delivering them! It was also really nice for them to meet my friends in La Norte. Even though nobody had a language in common, everyone was nonetheless thrilled to meet each other. Sidenote: One of my studies, Edwin, came to that meeting with three of his seven kids! I was so happy, but I couldn't sit with his family and mine at the same time, so my friend Braulio looked after him for me. The kids also behaved perfectly for the whole duration. Hopefully, he'll come to more in the future!

Sunday was another memorable day. My dad, Kayla, and Lenny came out witnessing with us, an experience which can only be summed up by this picture:

Any caption ideas for what the man on the left is most likely thinking would be readily accepted.

Renee helping Kayla prepare for her turn.

All teasing aside (well, maybe not all), it was one of the most memorable mornings of service I've ever had. In addition to everyone being troopers by walking in the hot sun and humid air for two full hours, seeing them willingly participate with their simple presentations was more than I ever could have asked for. I don't think they truly understood what we've been dealing with here until that morning! We had as easy of a morning as we could have had, though, and ending it with some cold drinks at the café downtown.

Lenny doing a great job on his presentation.

That night, we had a good ol' fashioned Nica fiesta for the family. A lot of our friends from La Norte came as well as Ervin & Yorleni, my two good old friends from Ojo de Agua. There was dancing, there was games, and there was gallo pinto, prepared by yours truly! Yeah. That's right. I did it. Well...I did have a bit of help from Tanya, Chelsey, and Darling, but it turned out great! We actually made way too much of it, but thankfully, everyone was willing to bring some home with them. But you see, a Nica fiesta includes many other things besides the aforementioned. Other necessary happenings include an excess of soda, a lack of enough fans, and an inconceivable amount of sweating. My family had the pleasure of experiencing it all.

If you're wondering why I'm making these pictures so small, it's because I'm trying to cram way too much into one post. But you can enlarge the pictures by just clicking on them!

After the party, we finished off the week by renting an incredible house in San Juan del Sur. Considering it was the first real vacation my parents ever had since they got married, they wanted to go all out, and boy did they ever. 

 

The house was the perfect getaway, and being able to experience it not only with my family but as well as with close friends that might as well be family was pretty cool as well.

The whole visit was one which none of us will forget for sure! Many of my friends also told me that meeting my family helped them to understand why I am the way I am a lot more. Good thing or bad thing?

Okay, that's seriously all I can write for now, because did I mention I'm writing this from Maine?! I'm just back for a few weeks for a wedding and then I'll be back in Chinatown for Memorial season. I've got more to report on things that happened before I left Nicaragua, so I'll try to write about that ASAP!

Talk soon,


Sam

Only in Nicaragua

Hello there!

I was just looking through all the pictures I took over the past week and if I were to judge the entire week based off of these photos, I would only say that it was...interesting?

For one thing, the guys and I went to the local performing arts theater to watch one of our English students in her dance recital...

A manly way to spend your Friday night.

...I managed to construct a 5-4-3-2-1 card house, which is a new personal record...

It had to be photographed as it will probably never happen again.

...Ben, Bree, Josue, & I managed to see a movie and get the theater to ourselves...

We at least had it to ourselves for the first ten minutes of the movie.

...and as another Nicaragua first, an ice cream truck passed by the Kingdom Hall after Leon's English meeting yesterday. That's right. An ice cream truck.

"Aren't you guys wondering why we never drive this thing through town during the
day - you know, like, when it's actually hot?"

I wish I had logical explanations for why we do what we do and why I choose to photograph very mundane things, but all I can think of is...hey, it's Nicaragua.

Okay, on with the rest of the week...

Ending a hot morning with cake & coffee.

November has been treating us very well! We had another great week of service. Jefte came witnessing with us in La Colonia de la Policia on Tuesday and we had a great time. Him and I found a very interested woman with whom we were able to start a study in the Bible Teach book. She wrote down every scripture we read so that she could look it up in her own Bible later. She has children and was drawn to the lesson about how to have a happy family life. We told her that I would come back with Bree the following week to demonstrate a study, which we will be doing tomorrow. She said that she'd be waiting!

Studying with Edwin.
Also, it was cool enough
that I lasted a full hour
without rolling up my sleeves!

On Wednesday morning, nobody showed up to the group, probably because it looked like it was going to rain. However, it actually worked out very well for us. The three of us were able to go do some of our studies to fill up the morning, and it went great. I had my study with Edwin, and we switched things up by beginning the lesson in the Good News brochure about how to recognize the true religion. That really captured his attention. I'm hoping it will motivate him to make it to one of the meetings. He says his goal is to come to the meeting the week that my parents visit, which is this Saturday, as it turns out!

Renee went away for a couple weeks (Did I mention that she joined me in La Norte? Well, she did, and it's been good helping each other out once again!), and Bree covered one of her Bible studies in the meantime, Claudia. She works in Parque Central, but she always puts everything aside so that she can study. She's also been prepared for every study and looked up the scriptures ahead of time! Bree also does a great job of conducting.

As you can see, Ben has all the essential supplies for a study here: publications, sweat rag, and a bottle of 7-up.

"Do you realize how selfish I look sitting in this
chair while you just stand? You so did this on purpose."

I was also able to find another one of my studies, Erling, at home that morning. We continued our discussion of the second lesson out of the Good News brochure, and he did great. He comprehends things very well, but he is also very patient with himself. He is very humble and sincere, even to the point where he insists that I take his seat, no matter how much I protest! Honestly, I feel like a bum taking his seat like that, but we would never get anything done if we kept arguing over it. He always keeps his brochures and magazines close at hand, and he's continued reading them on his own. It's very refreshing to see, and I hope that he can make it to a meeting soon, too.

Friday morning was also very encouraging. Ben & I started a study with a woman on the first call using the "Why Study the Bible?" video. Her aunt and her grandmother are Witnesses, and she said she'd always been curious. We placed the Good News brochure with her and briefly demonstrated a study. She said she'd love to continue on with it, and once again, we told her we would bring Bree with us next week so that she could! Sidenote: Ben also started a study on the first call the same morning with a very interested guy.

Showing the video...and not really knowing what to do with my left hand.

The view while crossing the bridge into town.

I was doing calls with Erling later that morning, and he was commenting on how he's noticed the overall boost of encouragement the congregation has had as a result of us being here. He noted how people stay after the meetings to associate much more now and how ministry support has also improved. I'm not mentioning that to pat ourselves on the back, but rather to show how bittersweet it is to hear things like that. It feels really good knowing that you've been a help. I feel very much attached to this congregation already. However, the hard part is hearing those words and knowing that you won't be able to stay forever. Even just going back to the States for a few months is hard when you know it's such a substantial amount of time. But we're definitely making the most of our time here until then, and I can honestly say that my joy is being renewed day by day!

Oh, and pictures like this one also renew my joy...

Is it because one of these things is clearly different from everything else? Is it because Ben is being heavily stared at by the woman on the right? Is it because he's turning into a full-on clone of our Dad? I can't decide.

Talk soon!

Sam