So, all of our precious cargo (and I am referring to our parents and Mark and Beth, not just the gifts they brought us...haha) arrived safely on Tuesday. (For those of you who knew how apprehensive Doug was to fly, you will be amused to find out that he absolutely LOVED flying! Go figure.....) What an exciting day to get to see everyone again! We sweated it out in Guayaquil...by the way, hats off to those serving in the Dominican Rep., I just don't see how you do it! Then Wednesday we took the bus ride home from Guayaquil...what an experience! The bus ride is normally a little curvy and bumpy and about 4 hours long. Well, for whatever reason, the bus went the longer way around, which made the trip even more curvy, even more bumpy and 5 hours long! But Doug and Judy were real troopers, they never once complained, even when the bus driver's helper started to pass out the barf bags to some in the back that were not doing so well! YUCK! At least we didn't smell anything!....But, we finally got here and settled into our little apartment!
Judy went with me this morning in service, she did a presentation for the memorial invitation and even read some paragraphs on my bible study. She did really well! The morning started out walking to the territory in the rain, and I mean POURING rain, but it did clear up. The only bummer was I had some calls to do way up in the rurals, so we both have shoes covered in MUD! I felt a little better about my habitual afternoon nap, when even Judy, with her never-ending energy, took a nap this afternoon after our crazy morning!
This evening Chad took Doug on some of his studies and they had a nice time. Chad had a really good experience this evening with a Doctor that Doug Willis had met in service one morning and who told him that she was extremely busy, but please come back in the afternoon another day. So, Chad decided to stop this afternoon and talk to her. She immediately invited them in, although she thought they were Mormons (evidently she has a brother who is a mormon, so she was going to talk to them). But, she still talked with Chad after she found out who we are... Chad gave her a memorial invitation (which was the original reason that Doug had stopped) Chad mentioned that it appeared that she has an interest in the Bible, and she said that she attends a "Catholic Bible Study Group". Chad showed her the Bible Teach book and she said that she really wouldn't be interested since she already studies the Bible. But, Chad decided to share the questions on pg. 6 and asked her if she had ever wondered about any of them. Right away she picked out the 2 questions on death and said that she always wondered about that. She mentioned that "the teaching" is that when we die our body dies and our spirit continues to live on. But, then she said, "But there is no proof for that teaching in the Bible". So, Chad asked her where she thought we could find that proof and she answered the Bible. Just then, a patient showed up and she actually went out and asked the patient if he could wait a minute while she continued to talk to Chad! WOW! So, she says to Chad, "Well, let's pick a specific date and time for you to come back so that I can make sure that I don't schedule any patients for that hour!" (I think that Chad could handle that! haha) So, that is what they did and Chad is looking forward to stopping back to start the study! Another great day in service!
Tomorrow we will do some sight-seeing here in Cuenca, so that will be really nice!
I can already tell that sadly the next 2 weeks are going to FLY by....but that is what they say when you are having fun!...
Miss you all!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Reaping the Benefits of Beth's Good Work.....
The first month that we had the special day of offering bible studies with the direct approach, our friend Beth, who is serving here from New Zealand, started a study with a lady. She had her study every week for about 3 weeks and then Beth and Mark went home to NZ to visit for 6 weeks, so she asked me to study with Luz while she was gone. We have been having the study pretty regularly for the past 5 weeks. She has 3 boys, ages 11, 9 and 6. It really is a sad story. Luz is very poor and is a single mom. The oldest boy, Patricio, has always attended school and is very smart. The sad thing is that the 9 year old, Jonathan, has never attended school because she doesn't have the money to send him. So, although he is sweet as sugar, and super friendly, he can't read.
Jonathan has touched my heart since the moment I met him. The first time that I went there, I studied with his mom, while he cleaned the whole kitchen and looked after his 6 year old brother, who we think has autism. He was so interested in the fact that we were studying the bible that I told him the next week I could bring my husband and he could study with him. His eyes lit up and he excitedly said he would love to study!
So, Chad came the following week and studied with the 2 younger boys (well, he studied with Jonathan, and tries to keep the 6 year old, Pedro, from interrupting his mom's study). Chad also fell in love with little Jonathan. So, the next week, Chad bought notebooks and pencils for all the boys and gave them to them. His goal though, is to help to teach Jonathan how to read and write. When he told Jonathan that he would like to help him, Jonathan had such a HUGE smile on his face and excitedly began to practice tracing the letters that Chad wrote on the first page.
Anyway, we have been studying with them while Beth is gone. I study with her in the living room, and Chad studies with the 3 boys in their bedroom, and then afterwards he gives Jonathan a little lesson in reading and writing. They are PRECIOUS little boys. Patricio, the 11 year old told us that he has vacation from school this coming week, so Chad tried to set up an extra study with him during his time off. I almost cried when he told us that he can't study because he has to work...Work? He is 11! He told us that all week, he will be working from 8 am to 9 at night selling CD's. My heart just bleeds for these kids....they just don't have a childhood. Such a sad life....
Anyway, today we went for the study, and the older boy answers the door and says, ¨come in , come in...¨ so we did. When we walk in we see Luz´mom and dad in the living room, then another really young couple comes down the stairs. I thought, oh boy, they probably can't study today since they have visitors. But, much to my surprise, they all start grabbing kitchen chairs and pulling them into the living room in a circle around me! YIKES! So, the boys drag Chad into the bedroom for their study and I have 5 people sitting there looking at me! Evidently, Luz told them that we were coming and that they all should sit in on the study to learn something about the Bible. Luz and I had already studied the chapter on Suffering that she had started with Beth, and so we had just started in the beginning in Chap. 1, but we had studied about 1/2 way through. But today she told me that she wanted to start from the beginning with the whole family...so that is what we did! We studied for an hour as a group. The mom and dad can't read very well, so they mainly just listened, but the younger couple was very attentive and answered the questions. They were excited to learn how to find scriptures in the Bible. It turns out that it is Luz' nephew and his girlfriend who live on the coast, but they came to live with Luz for the next 3 months. I guess he implied that he has some drug problems and drinking problems, but that he would like help to quit these things. So, I mentioned that studying the Bible regularly can give us the strength and desire to stop doing these things. I asked them if they would like to continue their study and they readily said yes. So, next week we have plans to go an hour early and study with the couple first, and then study with Luz....how exciting! Particularly the girlfriend showed a lot of interest. She is sooo sweet, and they both said that they had never spoken to Jehovah's Witnesses before. I gave them all an invitation to the Memorial and the young couple right away said that they would like to come, so we will see what happens.....Beth is going to have her work cut out for her when she gets back!!! (Get ready Beth!)
Oh, on that note, we are soooo excited, because Chad's parents, Doug and Judy are coming to visit us for 2 weeks! They are coming on Tuesday! This shall prove to be an adventure for them! We hope to have lots of stories and pictures for the blog...
On another very exciting note....Mark and Beth are coming home! They are landing the same day as Doug and Judy! So, we are VERY excited for Tuesday to come and be reunited with our real parents, and our substitute parents from New Zealand!!!!! We are going to Guayaquil for Tuesday and Wednesday to meet up with Doug and Judy, so you probably won't hear from us for the next few days....
Keep out of trouble!
Jonathan has touched my heart since the moment I met him. The first time that I went there, I studied with his mom, while he cleaned the whole kitchen and looked after his 6 year old brother, who we think has autism. He was so interested in the fact that we were studying the bible that I told him the next week I could bring my husband and he could study with him. His eyes lit up and he excitedly said he would love to study!
So, Chad came the following week and studied with the 2 younger boys (well, he studied with Jonathan, and tries to keep the 6 year old, Pedro, from interrupting his mom's study). Chad also fell in love with little Jonathan. So, the next week, Chad bought notebooks and pencils for all the boys and gave them to them. His goal though, is to help to teach Jonathan how to read and write. When he told Jonathan that he would like to help him, Jonathan had such a HUGE smile on his face and excitedly began to practice tracing the letters that Chad wrote on the first page.
Anyway, we have been studying with them while Beth is gone. I study with her in the living room, and Chad studies with the 3 boys in their bedroom, and then afterwards he gives Jonathan a little lesson in reading and writing. They are PRECIOUS little boys. Patricio, the 11 year old told us that he has vacation from school this coming week, so Chad tried to set up an extra study with him during his time off. I almost cried when he told us that he can't study because he has to work...Work? He is 11! He told us that all week, he will be working from 8 am to 9 at night selling CD's. My heart just bleeds for these kids....they just don't have a childhood. Such a sad life....
Anyway, today we went for the study, and the older boy answers the door and says, ¨come in , come in...¨ so we did. When we walk in we see Luz´mom and dad in the living room, then another really young couple comes down the stairs. I thought, oh boy, they probably can't study today since they have visitors. But, much to my surprise, they all start grabbing kitchen chairs and pulling them into the living room in a circle around me! YIKES! So, the boys drag Chad into the bedroom for their study and I have 5 people sitting there looking at me! Evidently, Luz told them that we were coming and that they all should sit in on the study to learn something about the Bible. Luz and I had already studied the chapter on Suffering that she had started with Beth, and so we had just started in the beginning in Chap. 1, but we had studied about 1/2 way through. But today she told me that she wanted to start from the beginning with the whole family...so that is what we did! We studied for an hour as a group. The mom and dad can't read very well, so they mainly just listened, but the younger couple was very attentive and answered the questions. They were excited to learn how to find scriptures in the Bible. It turns out that it is Luz' nephew and his girlfriend who live on the coast, but they came to live with Luz for the next 3 months. I guess he implied that he has some drug problems and drinking problems, but that he would like help to quit these things. So, I mentioned that studying the Bible regularly can give us the strength and desire to stop doing these things. I asked them if they would like to continue their study and they readily said yes. So, next week we have plans to go an hour early and study with the couple first, and then study with Luz....how exciting! Particularly the girlfriend showed a lot of interest. She is sooo sweet, and they both said that they had never spoken to Jehovah's Witnesses before. I gave them all an invitation to the Memorial and the young couple right away said that they would like to come, so we will see what happens.....Beth is going to have her work cut out for her when she gets back!!! (Get ready Beth!)
Oh, on that note, we are soooo excited, because Chad's parents, Doug and Judy are coming to visit us for 2 weeks! They are coming on Tuesday! This shall prove to be an adventure for them! We hope to have lots of stories and pictures for the blog...
On another very exciting note....Mark and Beth are coming home! They are landing the same day as Doug and Judy! So, we are VERY excited for Tuesday to come and be reunited with our real parents, and our substitute parents from New Zealand!!!!! We are going to Guayaquil for Tuesday and Wednesday to meet up with Doug and Judy, so you probably won't hear from us for the next few days....
Keep out of trouble!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Ministry Updates....
Hopefully you don't get tired of hearing from us...but it seems like everyday we are having good experiences that we just want to share....
Some updates on some of the bible students....Leonardo, the man who owns the hardware store that practically asked us for a bible study continues to do well with his study. He is so nice. He isn't embarassed or nervous about what his customers will think. We study right there at the counter with him, and if a customer comes in, we pause for a minute while he takes care of them, and then we get back into the study. (you should see some of the looks we get!) One day a man came in that was a friend of Leonardo's. Leonardo just INSISTED that this man stay for the rest of the study there at the counter. So he did! We weren't sure what he thought, because at first he didn't say too much, but then all of a sudden he started to open up. He had studied the entire Bible Teach book with a brother from another congregation before and has even attended some of the meetings. But it was a few years ago, and I guess since he wasn't making enough progress, they must have stopped studying with him. But he was basically so proud of the fact that he knew Jehovah's name and the fact that he learned you can't just say that you are religious, you have to apply what you are learning. Chad offered to study with him again, but I think he isn't ready yet. But if nothing else, I think it was really nice for Leonardo to see that his friend has studied with Jehovah's Witnesses in the past and really liked what he learned! This past week he had one of his employees go upstairs to his office and bring him HIS Bible so that we could show him Jehovah's name in it. Evidently, he has been witnessing to some of his customers and many of deny that is God's name, so he wanted to know where it is in his Bible so that he could show them! He is a real joy to study with...
Berta, the woman who has attended some meetings with her grandson, is continuing to do really well. We had some confusion the past 2 weeks so we didn't study...most of it is my fault I guess. Two Fridays ago, I called her in the am to see if she could have the study and she said that yes, she wanted to study, but that I should call in the early afternoon to find out what time to study. (or that is what I heard anyway). So I tried to call her about 5 different times in the afternoon, but there was no answer. I just assumed that something came up and that she had to go out. That sunday is when I came down with the flu from you know where...so the next week I spent in bed without a voice. I tried to call her one morning to explain, but there was no answer. So, finally yesterday I called her again to check on her, and she answered the phone! The first words out of her mouth were, ¨Where have you been? I have been miserable without my study! I need your visits to keep me encouraged!¨ GULP...I felt about 1 inch tall... It turns out that the first Friday she says that she told me to come for the study in the pm, she would be home all day. So, she waited for me. Her phone wasn't working which is why she didn't pick up...YIKES...I took the blame for that one, although, I understand pretty much everything now and I am SURE that she told me to call first...oh well....then, she got a job in the mornings just for last week, which is why she wasn't home in the morning that day I tried to call....anyway....What counts is that we finally got in touch. The really encouraging thing was when I called her yesterday she said to me, ¨Do you know what I am getting ready to do? I am getting ready to take a shower. I thought that maybe you abandoned me and so I decided that with or without you I was going to go to the meeting tonight!¨ How awesome!!! (well not the part that she thought I abandoned her...haha) Sure enough, she came to the meeting. The other encouraging thing was that although in the past she told me that she could not wear skirts because she got too cold, there she was in a skirt! When I commended her for it, she told me, ¨I just decided that this was a sacrifice that I had to make for Jehovah!¨ She LOVES the meetings. She told me that she immediately felt better afterward. She also mentioned that she has been looking for work, but that she has been very careful which jobs to take, because she doesn't want a full-time job or anything that would interfere with her bible study and meetings! What appreciation! It was soo cute when they announced last night that we have 9 new baptized brothers and mentioned their names. She told me she wanted to know who they were. So each time one of them came up to introduce themselves I would tell her, ¨This person was baptized last weekend.¨ She was so happy for them and congratulated them all. She told me that she wants to go to the next assembly so she can see the baptism. We are supposed to go and have her study tomorrow afternoon.....we´ll keep you posted. I took a picture of us last night for you...it isn't a great picture, but you get the idea!
Some of the new experiences that we have been having...
Today we were doing not at homes and I walked into a little restaurant to find the owner. He was sitting at a table, but he immediately came over to me and starting chatting. I decided to offer the magazines, because there were people in the restaurant and he seemed busy. I asked him if he had seen the magazines before, and he proudly showed me all the magazines that he had gotten over the past few months. He saves them and then sometimes goes back and re-reads them. So, he gladly accepted the lastest ones. Then he gets serious and asks me for a favor. I said sure. He said, "what time are your meetings?" (He lives about 2 blocks from the kingdom hall, so he knows about our meetings). I told him our schedule and that on Saturdays we have our talk and watchtower study. He said, "Since your meeting is at 6:30 and so you will be in the area then, could you stop here before and talk to me for a few minutes? I have been reading about Job and I don't understand what exactly happened or why that happened to him. Can you stop here and explain it to me?" SURE!! It was sooo neat. So, I will definitely take Chad and see if we can start a study with him on Saturday!
This isn't an AWESOME experience, but I thought it was neat. The other day Chad and I were walking down the street on our way to a bible study. There was a lady walking towards us, so as usual, we smiled and greeted her. She was about 10 feet past us and then she calls to us, "Excuse me. Are you Jehovah's Witnesses?" We told her we were, wondering what would happen next...but she just said to us, " Do you happen to have the latest issues of the Watchtower and Awake? I really like to read them, but I haven't gotten any in a while." So, we gladly talked to her for a minute or two and gave them to her. She said she couldn't explain to us where she lives because it is up in the mountains, but that sometimes the witnesses stop. We showed her the address for the branch inside the magazine and let her know that if she wants the witnesses to stop at her house for a bible study, she should either write to the branch or use the internet website. She agreed, and thanked us again for the magazines.....you never know what might happen! There are some advantages to standing out as foreigners! They usually know who we are!
So, that is just some of the experiences that we have been having. It is so nice to be back out in service again!
Hope things are going well in your neck of the woods!
Some updates on some of the bible students....Leonardo, the man who owns the hardware store that practically asked us for a bible study continues to do well with his study. He is so nice. He isn't embarassed or nervous about what his customers will think. We study right there at the counter with him, and if a customer comes in, we pause for a minute while he takes care of them, and then we get back into the study. (you should see some of the looks we get!) One day a man came in that was a friend of Leonardo's. Leonardo just INSISTED that this man stay for the rest of the study there at the counter. So he did! We weren't sure what he thought, because at first he didn't say too much, but then all of a sudden he started to open up. He had studied the entire Bible Teach book with a brother from another congregation before and has even attended some of the meetings. But it was a few years ago, and I guess since he wasn't making enough progress, they must have stopped studying with him. But he was basically so proud of the fact that he knew Jehovah's name and the fact that he learned you can't just say that you are religious, you have to apply what you are learning. Chad offered to study with him again, but I think he isn't ready yet. But if nothing else, I think it was really nice for Leonardo to see that his friend has studied with Jehovah's Witnesses in the past and really liked what he learned! This past week he had one of his employees go upstairs to his office and bring him HIS Bible so that we could show him Jehovah's name in it. Evidently, he has been witnessing to some of his customers and many of deny that is God's name, so he wanted to know where it is in his Bible so that he could show them! He is a real joy to study with...
Berta, the woman who has attended some meetings with her grandson, is continuing to do really well. We had some confusion the past 2 weeks so we didn't study...most of it is my fault I guess. Two Fridays ago, I called her in the am to see if she could have the study and she said that yes, she wanted to study, but that I should call in the early afternoon to find out what time to study. (or that is what I heard anyway). So I tried to call her about 5 different times in the afternoon, but there was no answer. I just assumed that something came up and that she had to go out. That sunday is when I came down with the flu from you know where...so the next week I spent in bed without a voice. I tried to call her one morning to explain, but there was no answer. So, finally yesterday I called her again to check on her, and she answered the phone! The first words out of her mouth were, ¨Where have you been? I have been miserable without my study! I need your visits to keep me encouraged!¨ GULP...I felt about 1 inch tall... It turns out that the first Friday she says that she told me to come for the study in the pm, she would be home all day. So, she waited for me. Her phone wasn't working which is why she didn't pick up...YIKES...I took the blame for that one, although, I understand pretty much everything now and I am SURE that she told me to call first...oh well....then, she got a job in the mornings just for last week, which is why she wasn't home in the morning that day I tried to call....anyway....What counts is that we finally got in touch. The really encouraging thing was when I called her yesterday she said to me, ¨Do you know what I am getting ready to do? I am getting ready to take a shower. I thought that maybe you abandoned me and so I decided that with or without you I was going to go to the meeting tonight!¨ How awesome!!! (well not the part that she thought I abandoned her...haha) Sure enough, she came to the meeting. The other encouraging thing was that although in the past she told me that she could not wear skirts because she got too cold, there she was in a skirt! When I commended her for it, she told me, ¨I just decided that this was a sacrifice that I had to make for Jehovah!¨ She LOVES the meetings. She told me that she immediately felt better afterward. She also mentioned that she has been looking for work, but that she has been very careful which jobs to take, because she doesn't want a full-time job or anything that would interfere with her bible study and meetings! What appreciation! It was soo cute when they announced last night that we have 9 new baptized brothers and mentioned their names. She told me she wanted to know who they were. So each time one of them came up to introduce themselves I would tell her, ¨This person was baptized last weekend.¨ She was so happy for them and congratulated them all. She told me that she wants to go to the next assembly so she can see the baptism. We are supposed to go and have her study tomorrow afternoon.....we´ll keep you posted. I took a picture of us last night for you...it isn't a great picture, but you get the idea!
Some of the new experiences that we have been having...
Today we were doing not at homes and I walked into a little restaurant to find the owner. He was sitting at a table, but he immediately came over to me and starting chatting. I decided to offer the magazines, because there were people in the restaurant and he seemed busy. I asked him if he had seen the magazines before, and he proudly showed me all the magazines that he had gotten over the past few months. He saves them and then sometimes goes back and re-reads them. So, he gladly accepted the lastest ones. Then he gets serious and asks me for a favor. I said sure. He said, "what time are your meetings?" (He lives about 2 blocks from the kingdom hall, so he knows about our meetings). I told him our schedule and that on Saturdays we have our talk and watchtower study. He said, "Since your meeting is at 6:30 and so you will be in the area then, could you stop here before and talk to me for a few minutes? I have been reading about Job and I don't understand what exactly happened or why that happened to him. Can you stop here and explain it to me?" SURE!! It was sooo neat. So, I will definitely take Chad and see if we can start a study with him on Saturday!
This isn't an AWESOME experience, but I thought it was neat. The other day Chad and I were walking down the street on our way to a bible study. There was a lady walking towards us, so as usual, we smiled and greeted her. She was about 10 feet past us and then she calls to us, "Excuse me. Are you Jehovah's Witnesses?" We told her we were, wondering what would happen next...but she just said to us, " Do you happen to have the latest issues of the Watchtower and Awake? I really like to read them, but I haven't gotten any in a while." So, we gladly talked to her for a minute or two and gave them to her. She said she couldn't explain to us where she lives because it is up in the mountains, but that sometimes the witnesses stop. We showed her the address for the branch inside the magazine and let her know that if she wants the witnesses to stop at her house for a bible study, she should either write to the branch or use the internet website. She agreed, and thanked us again for the magazines.....you never know what might happen! There are some advantages to standing out as foreigners! They usually know who we are!
So, that is just some of the experiences that we have been having. It is so nice to be back out in service again!
Hope things are going well in your neck of the woods!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
The Circuit Assembly
We had an AWESOME Circuit Assembly this weekend! Even though it was technically the third time that I had heard it (and my head was still a little foggy from my never-ending sickness)...it still was wonderful! The baptism was the highlight, especially for our congregation. Out of the 18 baptized, 9 of them were from our congregation! The amazing thing is that only one of them was a young person who had been raised in the truth. The other 8 have studied and come into the truth right out of the territory! It was just such a wonderful day...we are so proud of all of them and their efforts. Nataly and Gonzolo, of course, were among those baptized...(I do have to say I will miss being able to count my time when they ask us their many Bible questions!) haha
What a wonderful program! They mentioned some statistics for the circuit. Cuenca recently formed a new circuit, so we lost some congregations. We have 8 congregations on our side, and our attendance was close to 1200. We have 150 pioneers in the circuit this year and have 3 new isolated groups. One of the groups has been having so much growth it is about to become a new congregation! It really gives new meaning to the talks where they stress that there is still so much more work to do in the territory. There are still people coming into the truth! So, keep up the good work in your respective congregations....
I put together a little video of some of the highlights of the weekend! Sorry, I didn't take as many pictures as usual because I was still feeling a little under the weather....
We miss you all very much and hope that you are all doing well.
What a wonderful program! They mentioned some statistics for the circuit. Cuenca recently formed a new circuit, so we lost some congregations. We have 8 congregations on our side, and our attendance was close to 1200. We have 150 pioneers in the circuit this year and have 3 new isolated groups. One of the groups has been having so much growth it is about to become a new congregation! It really gives new meaning to the talks where they stress that there is still so much more work to do in the territory. There are still people coming into the truth! So, keep up the good work in your respective congregations....
I put together a little video of some of the highlights of the weekend! Sorry, I didn't take as many pictures as usual because I was still feeling a little under the weather....
We miss you all very much and hope that you are all doing well.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Rodulfo and Kids
Michele´s going to do a blog on the whole Assembly, maybe later today or tommorrow, but we thought we would give you an update on one of the studies we have, Rodulfo. You may remember him from a blog earlier this month. He is the one who had the stroke. Well, Rodulfo, his 22 year old daughter, and his grandson, Johnny (who asked for a bible study on the phone) all came to the assembly on Saturday. Needless to say, we were thoroughly excited. The little guy, 8, has been studying for two weeks now out of the Great Teacher book and this week asked when he was going to get to study the Bible Teach book like his grandfather. So, next week we are going to do both. We haven't studied with anyone else in the family as of yet, but hopefully that will change soon. Anyway, I took another brother in the congregation, Guillermo, along with me on the study. Guillermo is one of the few in the congregation who has a car (he also has a bus that he uses to take larger groups places) and is always offering his vehicles to help the brothers with anything spiritual. He also lives close to Rodulfo and so I thought it would be great if Guillermo could pick up Rodulfo for the Saturday meetings. Being the ¨piker¨ (Slacker in NewZealandish) that I am, I figured the Assembly would be too much for them and did not invite them. I only invited them to the public talk and Watchtower study next week. Guillermo quickly jumped in and invited them to the assembly, probably thinking I was lacking iniciative (I was). Much to my delighted surprise, the three that came quickly said yes. There are probably eleven in total that live in the house, all children, spouses of children, and grandchildren of Rodulfo. Hopefully we can get them all interested. We are getting better, but we still are not in the habit like we should be of preaching to everyone in a house. We know that there are a lot of brothers in the congregation who study with whole households, but we still have in the back of our minds the American way of thinking, that another in the house may be opposed and cause problems. In time, in time... Anyway, the study with Rodulfo is going great, and after the assembly, he immediately asked about other meetings. INCREDIBLE!!! He walks very slowly and uses a crutch. It was so impressive to see him struggling to get into the van and then slowly making his way into the assembly hall. It took sooo much effort for him to be there! It was really encouraging. So we imagine he will come next Saturday and hopefully others, too. I'm going to make it a point to ask at least one of the family this week if they would be interested in studying. Who knows, maybe it'll work....
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Michele´s Sick!!!
You'll probably notice very quickly by the spelling errors and missed words that Michele is NOT!! the one typing. Yep, she´s sick, so it is up to me to keep all our loving fans occupied. You will also quickly notice the lack of depth. :-) My life's concerns right now revolve around my dell laptop that stopped working the first week in January. Yes, the first week in January. January 19th, after visiting several repair shops, I found a little shop in the center that seemed to know what they were doing. They quickly diagnosed the problem as the main board and said they would get back to me with a price. Two weeks later (having not received a call) I decided to call and find out what was happening. The technician mentioned a price, but quickly said that he hadn't been able to substantiate the price. He promised to call the next day with the confirmed price. Two weeks later I decided to call again. This time i spoke with a different technician and he gave me a price double the original. I requested the first price (It was
better :-) and they said I would have to speak with the first technician. We are now at about a month. At this point, please keep in mind that I have given no authorization to do anything. Two days later I called again hoping to at least get the information off the disk. The second technician offered a price of 30 dollars to simply put my hard drive in an external hard drive case. ¨Sounds good to me, can I come right now and pick it up along with my computer?¨ ¨Sure¨ they reply. When I arrived there, they don't seem to recognize me without describing the computer (p.s. this happens every time I call on the phone, too. I like to think I speak perfect Spansih, just like a Cuencano, but who are we kidding. It kind of took me by surprise though when they didn´t recognize the 6'2¨ red faced Gringo that dropped off the dell) In any case, they ran around, one to the other, as if to say ¨Have you seen this guys' dell?¨ ¨Wait,¨ I think to myself, ¨Did I not just speak to YOU on the phone and YOU said it was ready for me to pick up?¨ They finally realize that it is actually at their OTHER office and will be there in 30 minutes (this by ecuadorian terms means 2 hours), and P.S. the main board has arrived and your computer is done!!!!!! Yippee!! Hey, I'll wait two hours for my computer, this is great. Two hours later, like clockwork, the guy shows up.........with just my hard drive. ¨There was a bit of a timing issue. The technicians did not have time to reboot, reinstall, re..... the computer. But, here you go, take the info and bring back the hard drive tommorrow.¨ What...bring it back tommorrow???? Long story less long, they let me have an $80 external hard drive with all my information on it until my computer gets done, which they said (middle of feb.) would be done tuesday. That´s pretty much the story. The latest saga is that the computer is at the office, but the technician lost the power adapter, so they are buying a new one at no cost to me.
I have learned a great deal about the ecuadorian people throughout this ordeal. Although they have absolutely no concept of time or the meaning of customer service, they can truly be nice! It is now March 11, and they say it will be done tommorrow. :-)
Thank you for listening, Sorry for rambling. Don't worry, Michele will be back soon.
On a semi-deep note. I seem to remeber thinking as a child that 30 was old. Having just turned 31 and buying a partial plate (that's dentures for those who haven't reached the golden years yet) I am now quite certain the 30 is old.
better :-) and they said I would have to speak with the first technician. We are now at about a month. At this point, please keep in mind that I have given no authorization to do anything. Two days later I called again hoping to at least get the information off the disk. The second technician offered a price of 30 dollars to simply put my hard drive in an external hard drive case. ¨Sounds good to me, can I come right now and pick it up along with my computer?¨ ¨Sure¨ they reply. When I arrived there, they don't seem to recognize me without describing the computer (p.s. this happens every time I call on the phone, too. I like to think I speak perfect Spansih, just like a Cuencano, but who are we kidding. It kind of took me by surprise though when they didn´t recognize the 6'2¨ red faced Gringo that dropped off the dell) In any case, they ran around, one to the other, as if to say ¨Have you seen this guys' dell?¨ ¨Wait,¨ I think to myself, ¨Did I not just speak to YOU on the phone and YOU said it was ready for me to pick up?¨ They finally realize that it is actually at their OTHER office and will be there in 30 minutes (this by ecuadorian terms means 2 hours), and P.S. the main board has arrived and your computer is done!!!!!! Yippee!! Hey, I'll wait two hours for my computer, this is great. Two hours later, like clockwork, the guy shows up.........with just my hard drive. ¨There was a bit of a timing issue. The technicians did not have time to reboot, reinstall, re..... the computer. But, here you go, take the info and bring back the hard drive tommorrow.¨ What...bring it back tommorrow???? Long story less long, they let me have an $80 external hard drive with all my information on it until my computer gets done, which they said (middle of feb.) would be done tuesday. That´s pretty much the story. The latest saga is that the computer is at the office, but the technician lost the power adapter, so they are buying a new one at no cost to me.
I have learned a great deal about the ecuadorian people throughout this ordeal. Although they have absolutely no concept of time or the meaning of customer service, they can truly be nice! It is now March 11, and they say it will be done tommorrow. :-)
Thank you for listening, Sorry for rambling. Don't worry, Michele will be back soon.
On a semi-deep note. I seem to remeber thinking as a child that 30 was old. Having just turned 31 and buying a partial plate (that's dentures for those who haven't reached the golden years yet) I am now quite certain the 30 is old.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Meet Elvia Kobos.....
As I told you before, we have so many excellent examples in our congregation of new ones who are doing AWESOME! Elvia is one of our shining examples. I first worked with her in service about a year ago and she took me on a few of her studies. She was one that I asked how long she had been baptized, (thinking quite a few years) and she very humbly replied, "Oh, I'm not baptized yet, I hope to get baptized at the next Circuit Assembly." WOW! She said that it took her quite a few years of studying off and on with the Witnesses until she finally made the decision to take it seriously and she hasn't looked back since! She did indeed get baptized last May at our Circuit Assembly. She has older children that live at home with her and they used to give her a very hard time when she was studying. But, she told them that this was what she wanted to do and that was that. She has a little store out of her home, so she had to arrange for other people to cover for her so that she could be more regular in field service. And that she is...she is an auxiliary pioneer. I was talking to her last meeting and she said that she now has 15 bible studies, so she basically has to go out in service some part of everyday to take care of all of them! I told her that she will soon have to become a regular pioneer just to take care of all of her studies! She smiled really big and said that is definitely her goal for the near future....
Two weeks ago she gave an experience at the meeting that brought tears to my eyes: She said that although her children are not interested in the truth, she thought she should take very seriously the instructions from the branch to have a "family worship night". So, she decided to give each of the children a Bible Teach book. She explained to them that every Monday night she would be sitting in the living room, patiently waiting for them to come and join her so that they could study as a family. Whether they decided to join her or not, that is where she would be for the evening, waiting for them and that she sincerely hoped they would join her. So, the first Monday rolled around, and there she sat, patiently waiting.....one by one they all started coming in with their books in hand! Since that Monday, she has had "family worship night" with them!
I thought to myself how hard it is for some of us who have been in the truth all of our lives to have a regular family bible study, but here is this newly baptized sister, who has all the excuses in the world not to have a family bible study, and she is putting forth such effort. It is wonderful to see how Jehovah has blessed her efforts in everything!
Her example has really encouraged us, and we wanted to share her experience with all of you!
Elvia is the sister on the left!
Two weeks ago she gave an experience at the meeting that brought tears to my eyes: She said that although her children are not interested in the truth, she thought she should take very seriously the instructions from the branch to have a "family worship night". So, she decided to give each of the children a Bible Teach book. She explained to them that every Monday night she would be sitting in the living room, patiently waiting for them to come and join her so that they could study as a family. Whether they decided to join her or not, that is where she would be for the evening, waiting for them and that she sincerely hoped they would join her. So, the first Monday rolled around, and there she sat, patiently waiting.....one by one they all started coming in with their books in hand! Since that Monday, she has had "family worship night" with them!
I thought to myself how hard it is for some of us who have been in the truth all of our lives to have a regular family bible study, but here is this newly baptized sister, who has all the excuses in the world not to have a family bible study, and she is putting forth such effort. It is wonderful to see how Jehovah has blessed her efforts in everything!
Her example has really encouraged us, and we wanted to share her experience with all of you!
Elvia is the sister on the left!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Updates....
How has everyone been doing? Sorry it has been a little while since we blogged last...We just passed through ¨Carnival", which basically is 4 days of heavy partying right before they all go to church and repent for lent. But, because the majority of the partying includes drinking (and driving) and water balloon throwing (and that would be throwing indiscriminately at anyone walking down the street, dressed up or not!) the elders cancel the meetings for service. There really isn't much to do because all the stores close, even the buses and taxis are either non-existent or scarce! Anyway, we were basically holed up in the apartment for 3 days, keeping dry. So, we didn't have very much interesting information to share! But, now we are back into the swing of things!
Just to keep you updated on some of the bible students....unfortunately the pharmacist and Maribel, the pregnant lady, haven't had their study the last 2 weeks, I guess with the holiday and everything they have been super busy...I'll keep trying...
Berta, the woman who called me crying and then went to the meeting 2 Wednesday´s ago, continues to enjoy the bible study! This week we were studying the section on the name of Jehovah. She just sat there quiet for a few minutes and I asked her if she had a question. She smiled and said, "No, but this information is so impressive! I have always known the name Jehovah, but to actually learn what it means about him and what it teaches us about his qualities, it really makes me realize how insignificant we are as humans, and how wonderful God really is!" She told us that every week that she learns a little more, she realizes how much more there is to learn and since she has wasted so much time, she better get moving! She really is such a humble person. Chad has been studying with her 10 year old grandson who is really smart. We started having him memorize the bible books, so he now knows the first 5 and is excited to learn the next 5 for next week. Last night they both came to the meeting again. She pays really close attention. It was interesting when we got to the paragraph that asked for us to relate experiences of someone we know who in the past was opposed to the truth, but have changed. The brother asked the cong for a show of hands of how many people in the audience at one time were opposed to the truth and Jehovah's Witnesses and have now changed? It was so cute to see Berta raise her hand with a big smile on her face.
Chad has also been studying with a man in his 40's who had a stroke about 5 years ago and has a lot of difficulty with his motor skills, especially walking and talking. Chad first found him in the tract work and he asked Chad for a Bible. So, Chad took the Bible back and the Bible Teach book and asked him if he knows how to use the Bible, which he said that he didn't. His wife died 2 years ago and so he had questions about the resurrection that Chad mentioned. So they started studying the chapter on death and have continued studying ever since. Although it took Chad a few times until he got used to his slurred speech, they are really enjoying studying together. He goes to therapy 3 times a week and so now part of his at-home therapy is reading aloud...he studies for his bible study and reads the material aloud so he is practiced for when Chad comes. He is really smart, and although he can't read the print in the Bible very well, and usually just listens to us read, he always captures the main point. He is a really nice guy.
Every week Chad calls him to see what days he has therapy and what day he would like to study. Usually one of the kids answers the phone and asks their dad if he can have the study and lets Chad know. This week the 8 year old little boy answered. As usual he checked with Rodulfo to see if he wanted to study and then came back on the phone and told Chad that Rodulfo could study. But then the little guy asked Chad, "Can you teach me the Bible, too?" Which of course Chad said yes. It was soooo cute. So, we will see what happens with that.
There is a little hardware store down the street from where we live that we usually go to in order to charge our bus cards and Chad buys little tools here and there from the owner, named Leonardo. He is always really nice to us and always calls Chad "hermano". So, we knew he knows we are Witnesses. Recently, we have started to go there to make copies of the WT articles for our Bible students for the meetings. So, we have gotten to know him a little bit over the last few weeks. This past week we were there making copies of the WT and he says to Chad, "Is the Devil real, or is he just the bad things that we humans do?" We were coming home from service, so we had our Bibles and Chad shared a few scriptures with him and showed him the Bible Teach book. He said that he had never seen the book before, so Chad offered to stop back with the book and demonstrate the bible study to him. He readily agreed!
It was funny, because last time we were there, Chad and I had said that we really should offer to study the Bible with him, but it just never happened, either we were in a hurry, or he had customers....or maybe we were just chickening out! Who knows. But as we walked away on Friday after HE had initiated the conversation with US, we shamefully started laughing. I guess sometimes Jehovah has to bonk us on the head!...
So, that's what we've been up to the last week or two! Hope things are going well for you all! We miss you!
Just to keep you updated on some of the bible students....unfortunately the pharmacist and Maribel, the pregnant lady, haven't had their study the last 2 weeks, I guess with the holiday and everything they have been super busy...I'll keep trying...
Berta, the woman who called me crying and then went to the meeting 2 Wednesday´s ago, continues to enjoy the bible study! This week we were studying the section on the name of Jehovah. She just sat there quiet for a few minutes and I asked her if she had a question. She smiled and said, "No, but this information is so impressive! I have always known the name Jehovah, but to actually learn what it means about him and what it teaches us about his qualities, it really makes me realize how insignificant we are as humans, and how wonderful God really is!" She told us that every week that she learns a little more, she realizes how much more there is to learn and since she has wasted so much time, she better get moving! She really is such a humble person. Chad has been studying with her 10 year old grandson who is really smart. We started having him memorize the bible books, so he now knows the first 5 and is excited to learn the next 5 for next week. Last night they both came to the meeting again. She pays really close attention. It was interesting when we got to the paragraph that asked for us to relate experiences of someone we know who in the past was opposed to the truth, but have changed. The brother asked the cong for a show of hands of how many people in the audience at one time were opposed to the truth and Jehovah's Witnesses and have now changed? It was so cute to see Berta raise her hand with a big smile on her face.
Chad has also been studying with a man in his 40's who had a stroke about 5 years ago and has a lot of difficulty with his motor skills, especially walking and talking. Chad first found him in the tract work and he asked Chad for a Bible. So, Chad took the Bible back and the Bible Teach book and asked him if he knows how to use the Bible, which he said that he didn't. His wife died 2 years ago and so he had questions about the resurrection that Chad mentioned. So they started studying the chapter on death and have continued studying ever since. Although it took Chad a few times until he got used to his slurred speech, they are really enjoying studying together. He goes to therapy 3 times a week and so now part of his at-home therapy is reading aloud...he studies for his bible study and reads the material aloud so he is practiced for when Chad comes. He is really smart, and although he can't read the print in the Bible very well, and usually just listens to us read, he always captures the main point. He is a really nice guy.
Every week Chad calls him to see what days he has therapy and what day he would like to study. Usually one of the kids answers the phone and asks their dad if he can have the study and lets Chad know. This week the 8 year old little boy answered. As usual he checked with Rodulfo to see if he wanted to study and then came back on the phone and told Chad that Rodulfo could study. But then the little guy asked Chad, "Can you teach me the Bible, too?" Which of course Chad said yes. It was soooo cute. So, we will see what happens with that.
There is a little hardware store down the street from where we live that we usually go to in order to charge our bus cards and Chad buys little tools here and there from the owner, named Leonardo. He is always really nice to us and always calls Chad "hermano". So, we knew he knows we are Witnesses. Recently, we have started to go there to make copies of the WT articles for our Bible students for the meetings. So, we have gotten to know him a little bit over the last few weeks. This past week we were there making copies of the WT and he says to Chad, "Is the Devil real, or is he just the bad things that we humans do?" We were coming home from service, so we had our Bibles and Chad shared a few scriptures with him and showed him the Bible Teach book. He said that he had never seen the book before, so Chad offered to stop back with the book and demonstrate the bible study to him. He readily agreed!
It was funny, because last time we were there, Chad and I had said that we really should offer to study the Bible with him, but it just never happened, either we were in a hurry, or he had customers....or maybe we were just chickening out! Who knows. But as we walked away on Friday after HE had initiated the conversation with US, we shamefully started laughing. I guess sometimes Jehovah has to bonk us on the head!...
So, that's what we've been up to the last week or two! Hope things are going well for you all! We miss you!
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