At Last......

Hello everyone! How are you doing? Well, the Kingdom Hall is officially finished and we had our first meeting there yesterday! It is beautiful! We are so privileged to be able to have this "new" KH! We miss the construction group...they really did come to be like family and we miss being with all the brothers and sisters everyday, but on a positive note, we have been able to get back out in service again!! FINALLY! Yesterday and today I went out (since we actually didn't stop working at the KH and cleaning up the kitchen until Saturday). Jehovah, as usual, has made my first 2 days back in the routine thoroughly enjoyable! There is a young girl, Alexandra (probably about 20 years old that has been studying with a sister in our cong. for a few months and attends all the meetings)....she is really sweet and doing a great job! Recently her younger brothers have also been studying and all 3 are now enrolled in the theocratic ministry school! Chad and I always make a point to talk to them because they are just making such an effort! Anyway, on Friday night, the one younger brother gave his first talk! So, the mom came also for the first time and she was really nice, we invited her back. A few minutes later Alexandra came up to me and said that her other sister would like to study the Bible also, and she was hoping that I could study with her! OF COURSE!!! I was so excited! So, Sunday morning Chad and I went for the study and I came to appreciate their efforts even more! They live really far in the campo (or rurals). You have to take the bus all the way up into the mountains to the end of the line. Then you get off and have to walk another 10 minutes to get to their house! I asked her about what they do when they have to go to the meetings because the bus line that goes to their house didn't take them to the other KH that we were meeting at during the remodel. Because they don't have a lot of money, they walk down the mountain to the other bus line about 20 minutes and then get on the other bus line! They do the same on the trip home, but it is completely dark then! I almost had a tear in my eye when she told me. Even though they aren't even unbaptized publishers yet, they are ALWAYS at the meetings and never miss! WOW... Anyway, we got there for the first study and they all came out to greet us with HUGE smiles. We started the study with the sister, Jessica, and shortly thereafter the younger brother (who already has his own study) and the mom (who has never studied before) come and sit down with us for the study! The mom was answering and everything! She said that she didn't have her own Bible, and I happened to have one in my bag...you should have seen the smiles on the kids faces when she accepted it and told me that she would like to start to study! They were sooo happy! We had such a nice time with them and the meeting was in the afternoon on Sunday so of course we invited the mom and sister, who have never really been there, except once. We were so excited when we got to the meeting and there was the whole family! Mom and 4 kids sitting there! The 3 that are in the TMS had such HUGE smiles on their faces! It was wonderful....

There were also 2 good experiences with neighbors due to the remodel that we know of. First, the lady that rented us the lot for the "storage shed" who lives about a block from the KH. Her house is right next to the lot, so of course, she saw us everyday. She used to be very opposed, even when we would knock on her door, she was pretty rude to us, so we wondered how she would be during the remodel, but she was had the only available empty lot near the hall, so we had to use her. She was relatively nice most of the time, a few times she complained about things, or would try to get more money out of us, but of course, the brothers always treated her kindly and respectfully. We always greeted her when we passed by or gave her a smile....
Anyway, the last day, after we had torn down the storage shed they were raking up the stones ((you see, the lot was a mud pit, so the brothers put down stones on the floor of the bodega so it wouldn't be so muddy. Anyway, she had a fit and told them that they would have to rake up the stones when we were done so that she could plant things in the lot (which as we all know, she has never planted anything in the lot! ) But the brothers very dutifully raked up all the stones (not a fun job, eh?)) While they were doing that, she came out and started talking to one of the brothers and started asking questions like: How is the organization set up? How is the work financed? What do you believe about the virgin Mary? The brother was talking to her about a 1/2 hour answering questions. Then the daughter came out and was asking questions too. In the end, she had so many questions that the brother couldn't answer them all. So, he offered to stop back with his wife to answer more of the questions and she readily said, "yes"! We were all shocked! She used to be soo opposed, and now maybe she will be a bible study!

The other good experience was with a neighbor of the "kitchen". Our kitchen for the build was in a brothers house of course. The neighbor has been having trouble with depression and has been seeing a therapist. A few weeks ago the therapist told her that she needed to be around happy people, she needed to try and laugh more and think positively. So, the other day, she came by and was talking to the sister that lives in the house. She said that she wanted to thank her because we had been the therapy that she needed! How? She said that everyday she would sit out in her back yard (on the other side of the wall) and listen to us laugh in the kitchen! She wanted to know why we were always so happy and laughing even though we were working so hard! So, of course, the sister told her that we were happy because we serve Jehovah and we are really a worldwide family! The woman was so impressed with our happy spirit that she accepted a bible study with a sister from one of the other congregations! So the sister told me that I started a study just by laughing all the time!

The remodel was truly a once in a lifetime experience. To see the smiles on the brothers faces yesterday as they were walking into the new KH was so rewarding! Thank you to all you brothers that contribute to the Kingdom Hall fund! It was truly a blessing to see that money at work! I hope to have some pictures of the finished product in the next few days.

I posted a few pictures of my day back out in service today! We worked up in the mountains, and I felt like I had just been let out of prison! The scenery, the fresh air, the preaching...I LOVED it! It sure is good to be back......