Annual Pio Mtg

We just got back from our annual pioneer meeting with the elders and it was a BLAST!! Are you allowed to say that about a meeting of spiritual instruction? haha Well in our neck of the woods I suppose you are :) All of our pioneers were able to attend, plus four of our elders making a total of 22 people. Afterwards we enjoyed baked chicken with a delicious kind of barbeque sauce, rice, and coffee. Then for desert we had pecan pie, scones, and hot chocolate! It was so delicious.
Me and lacey at one point in the evening found ourselves in a corner just taking it all in, watching everyone enjoy themselves, the laughing, the smiles, the warm faces, it just brought an overwhelmingly content feeling inside us. Several starting telling jokes and a few of the elders in their very endearing broken english thanked all of us for being there and for enjoying the privilege of pioneering. What can I say we just had a great night! :)

In the way of other news there is a new service experience that I'd like to relate. About a month ago I was doing canvassing with Lacey and at one house we asked if anyone spoke english, you know our usual bit and then when we received the customary "no" we asked if they knew anyone in the area who did speak english, at this point at times we hear the craziest things, my mother in laws sister knows english maybe or my best friends neighbors child might be studying, usually things that lead us on a wild goose chase. Well at this particular door the woman told me that at a Yarn store there was a woman named Bertha that spoke english. This yarn store she said was down to the main avenue and in a market behind the large supermarket. Although I didnt write these instructions down (bad example) I kept thinking about them for days kicking myself telling myself I needed to at least make the effort and try to find her. So that next Friday, when we were looking for a return visit, I decided to see where those directions led me. And they were spot on, there was a yarn store in a market behind the large supermarket and the woman who owns it speaks english and her name is Bertha go figure. When we finally spoke to her personally she accepted literature and explained she had received an invitation to the meetings and a letter in the mail. Much to our surprise after only one return visit, she came to the meeting this Wednesday :). We have studied twice and she said her plan is to attend the meeting every wednesday. Our studies have been excellent and I will certainly let you know how she progresses. Just another bit of blessings in our ministry here.
We leave you with the thought at
Ps 133:1-For how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity",
as we are filled with appreciation for our brotherhood after such an upbuilding evening !!
Much love to all!

We are "Fat" with blessings :)

This week has been very enjoyable and busy :) We haven't taken out the bikes though, just a lot of walking in service. I had a new call this week that I took Micah Hedger on with me. Haha, he told me when we finally got there "This is a looong way to walk Lacey!!!!" But it was well worth it. It was an older man that I had found in the territory 2 weeks ago. He and his wife came to the door and we found out they were from Colorado. He was very friendly and said that he would like for us to come back and explain some of our beliefs to him. Oh yea, and he's a minister of the Church of Christ. I was a little apprehensive going back, like what am I getting myself into, and we decided on the subject of Jesus and salvation. So finally this week I went back. He was so warm and invited us in to sit down. On the table he had his bible, and after the small chitchat, he said "Now I really don't want to argue" haha, I was relieved and assured him that neither did we. Then proceeded an hour and half long conversation where we shared several scriptures supporting that Jehovah and Jesus are distinct and separate personages (he's very trinitarian). He would write each scripture down in his notebook and then carefully and thoughtfully read each one. He would ask questions to make sure he understood what we were saying, and then pose his ideas. It was all very calm and relaxed and thought provoking. I don't think we overturned that strongly entrenched idea of his, but he did say we gave him something to think about. Towards the end of the convo he said he would like very much for us to come back and continue our discussion. He joked and said we could talk about something more lighthearted, like Christmas and why we don't celebrate, but we also decided to talk about heaven and paradise earth. This is the first call I've ever had like this. I think its nice to just lay out the truth in its entirety and have him take it all in. He said that no other Jehovah's Witness that has called on him has come back a second time. So I was very happy to do so and look forward to our further discussions.

Also on thursdays a fairly new sister in our hall, Claudia, has been going with me on my bible studies. She is originally from Tapachula, Chiapas. She has a 15 year old son and is married to a brother from Oaxaca who is a doctor. She is such a pleasure to have accompany me. I love how she is such a people person, I have already learned a lot just by being in her company. I feel bad because a lot of times there are so many indigenous people who come up to me selling things that I don't even look at them but just say "no gracias". Well when they came up to her she just talked with them and complimented them on their work and told them she didn't have money right now. Their whole face changed when she talked, she really dignified them, and I learned something....Also when we were in a cambi on the way back from a study she chatted up a gentleman who worked for the radio. She had the whole cambi enthralled with the conversation and laughing too. She placed magazines with him too. We often talk about food and cooking on the long walks to my studies. So far she has taught me how to make two dishes that will "kill any Mexican man, or any man for that matter" as she says because they are so good :) She also helped me this week to reason with my study Claudia about the Trinity teaching. I didn't mention that she has 2 painful and taxing sicknesses that she deals with, yet she is always positive and laughing, you would never know...

Also today I re-started a bible study that had been a doorstep study, and today she, Brenda, invited us in. We covered two questions in the Truth tract. She was very talkative about how she felt and responded well to what the Bible had to say. Afterwards she offered us a snack....cookies? a warm drink? candy? Nope. She offered us a oaxaqueno delight....chapulinos. They are fried grasshoppers with lime and chile :) And yes, we ate them, and yes, they were good :)

Also, a funny story....Today we called on one of my longtime RV's Ana Claudia. We were supposed to study today but she was very busy cooking for a party. Also her little boy was sick with vomiting and she said that her husband was out getting medicine, suppositories, for his "colita, his a**, you know you just put them there the a**" haha, we knew what she meant, it was just so funny her word usage, I didn't have the heart to correct her :) Last week she had complimented Summer on how beautiful and thin she looked. This week as we were about to leave she looked at Summer and said "Don't fat again. Pleeease, don't fat again!" I thought she meant fart, but soon enough realized she was telling Summer not to get fat, but to stay thin. We just about died laughing there on the spot, but thankfully we kept our composure and kept the laughter in till we got to the car. Summer was not offended but we were both very tickled.

Well, thats a just few good things that have been happening this week....Summer will share some more with you later :)

Whats new

Well here we are at the end of the year already!! Its hard to believe me and Lacey are rounding out our second year serving here in San Cris. Things have gone really well and here are a few updates on some field service experiences our congregation has had.

If you are a regular follower of the blog you might remember a doctor we told you about. His name is Solomon and he had several questions on Gods name and other hang ups as well that have inhibited his spiritual progress. Well for a time no one was able to find him so as to call on him but recently he has been contacted by several different brothers. And after months and months of several different ones visiting him he has decided to study. He has kept up his appointments too for all of this last month. He has also expressed interest in attending the meetings so we hope to see him with us at the Kingdom Hall soon! We'll let you know how it goes.

Also we have had in our congregation several men who are studying and have been regularly attending the meetings. About a year ago at our circuit assembly our district overseer encouraged us all to focus on the head of the family, to bring more men into the truth because then more likely they will influence their families. So that is exactly what has seemed to happen, several men students attend the meetings, even one accompanied us the District Convention in Merida, riding on the bus for 16 hours!

Lacey and I both have students that were raised in the United States but have had to move back here in the recent years. They are both 12 years old and both studying in the Bible Teach book and the Young People Ask Vol II. This week we invited them both to our house for pizza, sundaes, and a movie. It was really fun and we hope this helps them feel more comfortable with us so that they will take us up on our many invitations to go to the meetings.

Today we took our bikes to go do our bible studies. I have one new bible student that today showed me the Bible Stories book in spanish that she recieved 30 years ago. She said she learned most of what the bible says from that book and she loves it dearly. You can tell too because she has taken good care of it and even now that she is married and has a child of her own she reads to him out of it. We are going to get her a book in English so she can read to her little boy as well. After we went to that study we rode to a call of Laceys in the area, who generally is hard to find at home but today we found her :) I played with her 1 year old son so that lacey and her could talk. They ended up on the discussion of hell. Not exactly a light conversation for a Sunday afternoon. But surprisingly she really accepted what lace showed her and she said it was a very new thought for her but that she was going to think about it more. We are to continue that discussion next Sunday.

Well there are some other experiences we've had but these are the most recent within the last few weeks. We are doing very well and enjoying the weather. It has been beautiful and only cold at night. Its good for us to enjoy it now for I hear that it wont continue for long, the cold season is going to hit hard, at least thats what the locals say. We have really enjoyed having our bikes too. Today was so much fun and we even rode them to the meeting, which let me tell you, was mostly uphill! But we plan on doing that every Sunday from now on as long as the weather permits. We will post photos of our bikes for you all to see and also from the convention and our dinner with Claudia.

Hope everyone is doing well!

A New Mode of Transport :D

Hello everyone :) These past few weeks have been going very good, some ups and downs but overall good. My studies are doing well. We did have Claudia over for dinner, and she helped herself to thirds so I think she enjoyed it :) Also, Summer and I will have over our young bible students tomorrow for pizza and a movie. Both of them are 12 years old and miss the food from the states (junk food) so we will introduce them to each other tomorrow. Summer's study is Mari and mine is Suemi, hopefully we will get some pictures of the pretty girls to post on here. They are both very shy so hopefully me and Summer can keep it interesting for them :) My other study Victoria is doing well, always so pleasant and ready to study. However this last study I regretfully found out she still believes in the Trinity. I suppose its good to know, but it was a little disappointing that somehow we studied all about Jesus and I missed that she still believed he was part of a Trinity. Tomorrow we will be studying in the appendix of the BT book to hopefully clear that up. I will let yall know how it goes. Any tips or good lines of reasoning you have used are welcome ;) Remember, they are very Catholic here :) Oh, also exciting this week is that me and Summer got bikes!!!! Gas has just been too expensive and well, we just wanted bikes because they are a great alternative to walking :) Summer's is green and mine is pink with a basket. The first day we rode them to the service meeting we came upon two of the brothers and one said "Wow!!!!" Hahaha, he was so impressed with us. The other asked if it was difficult to ride with skirts, hmmm, good question :) We wear tights and leggings, in case you were wondering....Well, thanks for checking in on us, all you loyal readers, and thanks for all the personal emails, they mean so much to me.

Like a Fresh Breeze

So I'm back, and its been great. Summer had been taking care of my studies so it was nice that when I returned they were already scheduled for me to study with them. My youngest study, Suemi, had us stay after the study so we could eat with her family. It was very good, and her mother told us that we are welcome to eat there whenever we wanted, it was our home too she said. My other study Claudia now moved into her own salon and when I went to study with her 2 of her sisters were there along with her co-worker. After we read the first paragraph and I asked the question she translated it to spanish and all the girls were thinking about their answer. It was so interactive and enjoyable, they all were thinking about the subject matter and commenting. It was unexpected to be studying with 3 different women (2 in spanish) but great nonetheless. My other study Victoria is progressing quite well. We just went over 1914 and she grasped it and was impressed that the Bible even had those calculations in it. I am still working with all my studies to try and get them to the meetings, but it will be well worth the effort when they do finally come. Actually, Summer and I will be having Claudia over for some good association and American food that she missed, fried chicken and mashed potatoes. It should be a good time. Actually, when I first got back I was surprised how hot it was. The sun here is just so intense and strong, it burns you quite quickly. But as soon as you get in the shade the freshest breeze you've ever felt in your life refreshes you and you forget you were ever hot in the first place. It kind of reminds me of any difficulty or challenge of living here in Mexico. Its like that hot sun that burns for a minute, but then that crisp mountain breeze refreshes you, all the good things of being here--the service, the friends, the good experiences, the beauty of the land, the beauty of the organization---and you forget that you were ever hot. Its just like that in fact :)

How we did last year

From the service meeting part we recieved some updates on how we have been doing. We havent been a congregation for a complete year but already we have some improvements.
Right now we have the following:
30 Regular baptized publishers
2 unbaptized publishers
0 inactive publishers
6 Auxilary Pioneers
4 Elders
3 Ministerial Servants

We are conducting a total of 59 Bible studies!! 44 of those are conducted by pioneers, 2 by our auxilary pioneers and 13 by our regular publishers. We also are currently working on finishing the english database where already we have about 600 english speakers in our territory. We still have much work to do but as you can see we are growing already!!
This year too we lost 3 of our pioneers over the summer because they moved, but we are happy to welcome a new couple from the Tuxtla Ingles congregation and they are pioneers, also the new MTS grad will be here in about a week and he also is a pioneer so that fills the void!!

Home again, Home again

Hey everyone!!!
After a brief trip to the States I'm back in San Cristobal. Lacey will be returning soon as well. Things here are going very well, the congregation was very busy while we were gone. The first ever special assembly in Chiapas in english was held in Tuxtla on September 5. There were over 300 in attendance from 6 congregations. Two of our groups were now appointed as congregations and new groups were announced also, its amazing how in just a few months the work just speeds along. There have also been many changes to our congregation. In August, our coordinator and MTS graduate, Josias, was reassigned as a special pioneer in Chihuahua! It was very sad to say goodbye to him and we will miss him sorely but we are all very happy to see Jehovah use such a skilled brother. He is really an asset wherever he goes. Also two of our sisters from Texas also returned home so we are 3 pioneers short now. So there is much work to be done! It is always difficult to leave my family and return here but once I'm here I realize the need and the work for those willing. My first meeting back we had 36 in attendance and two bible students present, when I commented the brother paused and said 'by the way welcome back' and then continued on with the Watchtower, thats just what I love about our meetings, very well arranged but relaxed at the same time :)
The rainy season is still in effect and from what I hear we missed the worst of it, judging by the numerous pot holes in the roads i'd say that is true. Everything is very overgrown and green because of the amount of rain they recieved in August. My landlords garden has 4 foot weeds! With a few lone roses peaking out amongst the overgrowth. The mornings though are positively gorgeous with the sun shining drying everything out from the night, then the late afternoons is when the rains come. So if anyone is looking to cool down from a hot summer, just come here our afternoons and nights have been very breezy and cool.
I will be posting any good experiences we have along the way, also we have our district convention in Merida coming up, this year is the first year to have 3 conventions in english we are all very excited!

Just ask!

So the other day I decided to go running and pick up some things for breakfast for me and Summer in the center, kill two birds with one stone right? Well on my way back, looking all rough after the run and a lil sweaty, I hear a conversation of a young girl and woman who obviously looked mexican but had american accents, so much so that the younger one was saying "Like blah blah blah, and like" totally american! But I hesitated because I was 1) in sweatpants and my hair was crazy and 2) I just wanted to go home and eat some pancakes! After hearing them talk though, I knew I had to approach them, I couldn't help but see some angelic direction in the situation. So finally I turn around and what do you know, they had already turned around and were two blocks in the opposite direction ahead of me. So now I had to run to catch up with them. When I did, they looked a little surprised and I even acknowledged that I must look a little crazy :) But that I heard them talking english and wanted to see where they were from. They were from Mexico and had just recently moved back to Chiapas after living several years in Kentucky. Wow! Great english and they live here! I then gave them the spiel of the work I do here as one of Jehovah's Witnesses, we exchanged info, and said our goodbyes. Well the next week I get a text from the woman. We then planned on talking over some coffee when she got out of work at 8. I met her and the place we ended up going was where her friend worked, and it was a bar! Albeit, it was a quiet one but a little unorthodox...I ordered a coke and quesadillas and we happened to be sitting in a quiet little nook thankfully. She opened up soooo much, telling me about her life, her current worries, how she felt she needed guidance right now. Well I was able to share really encouraging scriptures with her (1 John 3:19,20, Romans 7) and she just listened and listened. She accepted the Bible Teach book and agreed to meeting again next week. Today we had our second meeting, over lunch, and went over the first part of the book. Amongst her problems I really encouraged her to focus on one at time, and right now it would be her relationship with God. I'm so excited, she even mentioned that she wanted to come to the meetings! Lunch and a study, how perfect! ;) Well, I'll keep yall posted on her progress :) Oh, and I did talk to Josias (one of our elders) that if anyone mentions they saw me go in a bar, it was true, but that I had a coke and started a study! He laughed and said "okay"......phew!

Movie night!

This week we had a local brother join in with us for the spectacular event that we call movie night and we watched "The Last of the Dogmen", Irving made popcorn as usual it was delicious and me and lace took boysenberry pie and ice cream it was great! Just wanted to send a shout out to my Dad, that movie reminded me of you I know you really like it, Love ya and miss ya :) Hope your week goes great!

Coatza!!!

The first weekend of May was a special weekend of activity. Several english congs in our circuit visited some newly appointed groups to give them a boost to their activity. Our congregation was asked to go to the coastal town of Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz. (Which is incidentally where Salma Hayek is from thats one english speaker the guys I'm sure would love to speak to!) So Lacey and I, Josias, Abraham, and Michelle Holt traveled together in 'Jairo' (our 91 Ford Explorer). Little did we know when we left at 3 in the afternoon on Friday that air conditioner would stop working leaving us delightfully sweaty the entire trip. The good news is that what we thought was about a 7 hour drive would take us only 3 hours, when we learned this we stopped in Tuxtla to see about getting the air conditioner charged, but to our dismay the frion needed is discontinued and can therefore only be found on the black market. So we decided to just travel that evening and be melted when we arrived.

The drive was beautiful through the mountains and dense jungle of Chiapas, we crossed the Puente de Chiapas at sunset and saw a breathtaking view of the river as the sun dipped below the horizon. Then we drove through a piece of Tabasco and onto the state of Veracruz that welcomed us with a soft warm salty deep breath of fresh air.

The family we stayed with was more than hospitable opening their house to us all. We met the group of Coatzacoalcos the night we came in as they had just had their congregation bible study. There are about 30 people supporting the one meeting they have in english each week and they have yet to recieve their appointment as an official group. Everyone was sooo friendly and welcoming!! After service on Saturday morning, they took us to have Coco Frios, chilled delicious coconut you get chopped open and with a straw to drink out the water then they cut it open and give you the meat to eat with chile and salt and chamoy. It was a great break for such a hot morning. We also ate lunch at a wonderful familys house whose daughter, Luz is supporting the english work. Her friend Jazmin was visiting from Veracruz, Veracruz and we all had so much fun together. The saying that coastal people are happy and friendly definitely proved true! Because it was soo hot Luz' mother told us we could go into one of the bedrooms and lie on the bed with the ac. What a relief!!! That room was a little piece of heaven! Jazmin, Luz, Lacey, Michelle, and I sat in that room and learned the spanish words we wouldnt learn in a spanish class and we taught the idioms and expressions you only know as a native speaker of english. This is where Jaz and Luz put to rest our given names and gave us nicknames we would be referred to for the rest of the weekend. Lacey was encaje, for lace in spanish, but also is used to describe a moocher! And I was of course, Verano for Summer. The rest of the time there went by so fast, we had the meeting on Sunday and service as well. Also they rented a hall for us all to go after the spanish meeting and before the english meeting to eat and talk. It was so thoughtful of them, they are truly a united family and welcomed us without reservation. It really gave us something to live up to, for when we can repay the favor to visitors to San Cristobal. After the meeting on Sunday we headed home and got into San Cris about 2 in the morning. It was better to drive in the coolness of the night. All in all it was a fantastic trip where we met so many new friends. We found some english speakers too and I even spoke to a woman from Nebraska, she was parking cars in a supermarket parking lot for a job, it was quite a surprise to see this blonde white woman in my rearview mirror. She is studying with one of the sisters and we hope that she starts attending meetings. It was a great upbuilding weekend!

Fun Stuff!!

Judith being Judith....that is cute
Asha and Zuri

Living here in Mexico has afforded us the opportunity to be apart of some really great spiritual blessings but along with that we also have lots of FUN! This past weekend we were invited by a sister and her family to go to the beach along with some brothers from Tuxtla and Shelly from here. We traveled just 2.5 hours to get to a small beach town on the Pacific called Puerto Arista. We started off the day at a small cove called Santa Brigida where the water was calm and shallow, but regretably not refreshing because the water was hot. So after having lunch, practicing our swing dance moves in the water (see photo), riding on a tube behind a boat, and eating the most delicious type of shaved ice called glorias (which is covered with sweetened condensed milk, bananas, strawberries and a cookie) we moved on to Puerto Arista. Here the water was really refreshing and we spent the afternoon having mud fights and swimming, all in a days work right :). Then we spend the night under a palapa hut outside, some slept in hammocks and the rest of us girls on an air mattress in the sand, it was inexpensive and fun. The next day although we only stayed till noon we still had time to do a human pyramid :) Then we drove back chiapanecan style with the windows down and music blaring because the air conditioning had stopped working. Other than that, it was a great and fun weekend!

Also for entertainment we have movie night with the Youngs on Tuesday night. Every week we watch a classic movie, from musicals to hitchcock, we are being schooled on it all. Along with a great movie, Irving provides gourmet popcorn, each week it is different, some weeks its salty sweet other weeks with a cajun kick but whatever the case each time it is absolutely DELICIOUS! Also free of charge we get to hear our own "turner classic movie" commentary on the movie, usually Irving is talking while Claudia is shushing him, its really funny but we've learned alot. So far we have watched, 7 brides for 7 brothers, North by Northwest, Till the Clouds Roll By, and Show Boat. Next weeks movie is Philadelphia Story and the week after that its remake into a musical High Society. Should be fun!

A few experiences

I thought I would include a few recent experiences I have had....Before I left to the states a few months ago, I was walking home from service in a hugely predominant Tzotzil area. As I was walking I heard this rough little kid voice say "Hey, you speak english?" I turned and it was a kid about 11 or 12 years old, spoke perfect english! He told me he was staying with his dad's family here because his mom had to go back to the states to bury her dad. I learned that he had been in a few foster homes in the states as well. When I offered him the magazines he declined, but then when I showed him the section for young people and an article on animals he took them quite readily. Well, his name was Joe and he pointed out his house for me down the road. I told him that I was gonna be gone for a few weeks but that I would visit him when I got back if he hadn't returned home by then. Well, I did. I went to that big log house and knocked, all the while a ton of Tzotzil people in the neighborhood were staring at me and Sum. Nobody came, and then one of the locals told me they would knock. They not only knocked but they yelled for the owner to come on out, they had someone out here waiting! I was surprised when a blonde woman with green eyes came to the door and said "Can I help you?" This was Joe's mom, Tanya, from Texas. She was so pleasant and even gave me her number to text her and see if Joe could come to the Sunday meeting. When I returned I offered her a study from the BT book which she accepted as well as a Bible. As we were sitting there in her little front room we met the other children, all 6 of them :) We are supposed to start the study this week, and I'm very excited because she already has questions. The whole experience was exciting to me because it was an unexpected area to find someone (or for them to find me), as well as that I remembered Joe and returned :)

The next experience is brief, but it reminded me to always be thinking of kingdom interests, no matter where we are. I had to take a sprinter bus to Tuxtla last week (45 minutes away). I was in the very back seat and then a woman and her child and husband squeezed in. I was so cramped for room, but I ignored it. Then on the road right out of town the little girl vomited, and so then I was cramped and smelling not so good stuff. I wanted to tell the woman to give me more space or something, but I kept quiet. I decided to say a prayer for that morning of field service. As soon as I said amen, I looked and the woman had pulled out a spanish BT book and was highlighting in it. I just thought to myself "Thank you Jehovah, I see..." So I started a conversation with her in spanish. Turns out she was in chapter 3, and was in between teachers as she was moving to Tuxtla for her husband's work. Her grandparents were witnesses as well as various aunts and uncles. She told me that her husband wasn't interested and also expressed concern to the effect that she was worried of being alone. I assured her with Jesus words that we gain brothers and sisters and family many times over when we put Jehovah first. We continued an encouraging conversation until her stop. I was reminded by that experience to always be on the alert for opportunities to witness or encourage someone...

Catch up :)

Well, I thought I would finally sit down and update part of this blog when things slowed down, after the memorial, after the C.O. visit, after the circuit assembly.....But things just keep moving along quite rapidly, and happily so :) Lots of good things have been going on and I wish I could write it chronologically or in some outlined manner, but my brain just doesn't work that way....so here goes...Our C.O. visit was great, Larry and Provi Klein, the second set of english C.O.'s ever in Mexico (now there are more, 5 circuits). They were energetic and encouraging, so nice having them. Brother Klein gave us helpful suggestions to improve the quality of our ministry like MAF (make a friend), BIG (Before I go), OIF--sounds yiddish :) but its the "Oh I forgot" tactic, and there were many others. They have a very self-sacrificing spirit and love for the ministry, it was nice to get to know them a little better this time around. As for our circuit assembly, it was in Merida in the the Yucatan. That means it was a looong ways away from San Cris (16 hours). We hired a van that fit 14 of us. And although the trip itself wasn't first class, the company was. Even with swollen feet, sweaty bodies, cramped legs, and a touch of nausea our group was in good spirits laughing and singing (we all sang the kingdom melodies were gonna use at the assembly). Also, Summer stepped up to the plate and did an impromptu interview for our pioneer meeting. I believe there were close to 150 present at the meeting, so that was encouraging. Also, a funny story...after the meeting I began talking to a sister serving in Cozumel who was also interviewed with Summer. During her interview she said that while in the states she did lighthouse work, 8-10 hours. So I asked her where she originally was from, Arkansas she told me. Then I said "So they have lighthouses in Arkansas?" thinking how strange that was. She then graciously said, "No dear, I do light house work, around the house." Needless to say, the conversation ended shortly thereafter :) No, she was very nice about my blonde moment :) As for the assembly, it was incredible, sooo encouraging. There was a newly baptized sister initially found in informal witnessing in Playa del Carmen, from Britain and about in her 60s. Its so nice to see new ones added to Jehovah's organization. Makes us want to work harder than before, seeing each person we call on or study with as our potential brother or sister. One experience I found especially encouraging was a married couple serving in Playa del Carmen who have been serving here in Mexico close to 10 years. They spoke of certain difficulties like not being able to find sufficient work or being away from family. The brother then said that while there were many tears shed during those especially difficult times that Jehovah always gave them a reason to be joyful and they never went without a meal during those times. It was nice to see that perspective, especially when you may feel discouraged. Well, thats just a quick, real quick, overview....

Circuit Assembly in Merida

Last week we attended the circuit assembly in Merida, Yucatan. It was the theme "Safeguard your Spirituality". What great talks! We really enjoyed the information. There were three baptized and one was a woman from Britain that was found in the informal witnessing work, she also had an interview and reinactment with her bible teacher in the afternoon part. That was very encouraging to have a foreigner baptized.

Also it was announced that starting the new service year we will have assemblies in Tuxtla. They are likely to be a little smaller since we will lose the congregations in the Yucatan but we will gain some new congregations and groups from Oaxaca, the neighboring state to Chiapas. We are so excited to have a circuit assembly so close. As for our district conventions we will either be assigned to Queretaro or Merida, we are waiting to get our assignment. As for this last trip to Merida for a circuit assembly is concerned we definitely went out with a bang. Meaning it was a memorable trip. We left on Thursday morning at 3:30am. It took 16 hours to get to Merida. There were 16 of us riding in a van, needless to say we all got a little closer :). On the way we stopped at Misol ha, a waterfall, to swim and eat, then we traveled to Campeche and stopped there again to have dinner, then on to Merida. To entertain ourselves, we sang songs in the van and considered the daily text together. Everyone I can say honestly was quite uncomfortable but it was worth the drive to hear such an awesome assembly.

Memorial

Sum is wearing heels, I just can't do it here :) I'm always shorter that way :)

The memorial this year was incredible. We had 69 in attendance. Last year at the very first english memorial in San Cris there were about 5 new ones present. But this year....wait for it....we had 13!!! It was so exciting for us. A brother from Mexico City came to give the talk and it was excellent. He gave a really nice and very understandable illustration about being in credit card debt up to our ears and only being able to make a minimum payment for the rest of our lives, meaning we would never be able to pay it off. But then one day a benefactor pays off your debt for you, how thankful you would be and what a weight off your shoulders. Of course we would want to show our appreciation! Using this illustration it made it simple for us to grasp on a small scale what enormous thing Jehovah did for us by providing his son. A bible student from New York was present and I overheard him tell the brother over and over how amazed he was at the talk and how much he enjoyed it. This man incidentally just the day before broke the world record for bending 7 in. nails, thats right you can check him out on youtube and he lives right here in San Cris and is studying the Bible, go figure! A bible student of Lacey's attended and also two of the ones I invited came. One was a girl named Karla, I had been texting her all day and reminding her about the memorial but she sounded unsure if she would come. Then about 15 minutes into the talk she came in! I was so happy, she listened intently and afterwards said to me, "I know I havent had time to study with you and I have been so busy, but I really do want to learn. " I dont plan on giving up on such an appreciative attitude! Also the woman I mentioned early that was found in informal witnessing has been studying regularly ever week, Sis Young told me that she hasnt ever had a bible student that so readily accepted bible truth. We are excited to see how her study progresses.

It was a great Memorial!!

We're BACK!

Hello All!

Lacey and I traveled to the states for a few weeks to visit family soooo that is the reason why we have not updated our blog. We arrived here in Mexico on Monday. It was just in time too, because this week with have the visit of the English Circuit Overseer. It has been a busy week so far but really excellent. We are all enjoying the Memorial invitation work. Although we all have 'personal english territories' (which is a list of names in the city of those that speak english, whether we have met them or they are interested or not) the next three days we are focusing on our return visits to also invite them to the talk on Sunday. The goal is to have 60 in attendance and I really hope that we exceed that number. Tonight we had a really encouraging thing happen, a woman that had just been found in the street work and invited to the meeting, actually came! She has a study set up with one of the sisters for tomorrow! She has been searching for truths and has been studying the bible on her own. So likely she has lots of questions. Our sister Claudia Young is going to be studying with her. We'll let you know how it goes. Also if any are wondering about the Doctor from San Fransisco, we are still calling on him, maybe he will attend the memorial, but he still has reservations about the translation of Yahweh into modern languages. But we are not giving up on him.
Well we are glad to be back to good ol' Mexico, even having mexican experiences right away. Because we flew in at night and didnt go to the ATM we didnt have many pesos with us just some dollars and spare change. The night we left from Tuxtla to drive to San Cristobal we scraped together 26 pesos to put gas in the car to get home, and 40 pesos for the toll road, then the next morning we needed milk for our coffee and in the house found 10 and half pesos to purchase a liter of milk which was 2 and half pesos less than what we needed, so the really nice neighborhood tienda woman gave it to us anyway and I paid her back later. Gotta love the kindness here!!
Sorry for being MIA for almost a month but
Keep reading we'll be posting things next month and pictures from Memorial!!
Thanks

San Antonio El Paraje

We were giddy on those bikes :)
local territory
Berenice and Teresita
Pasture shot :)
Full grown sugar cane
Zuri, Berenice, me and Sum
Our host family
Santi
Santi, his sister Rebecca and their cousin Dani
Our last lunch, chicken mole
Elvie, Chony and me, right before we left
Guess who the big guy is? Santiago :)
Santi and his loco bici
the game ran into the evening

Elvie


Zuri, he loves sports :)

Just smellin the roses
A park the sisters took us to where they usually picnic. We loved the trees!
posin pretty

we also started teaching Bere how to ride a bike
Lupita and Dani
Local raggamuffins posing for their picture, they loooved seeing themselves on camera, laughing and laughing :)

Gaby, Summer, and Chony before our bike riding lesson
Berenice resting before lunch in her "hamoco"
Break time with Mari next to me and Elvi on the far right
she didn't know I was taking a picture
My service group that morning, mostly all related
the brothers enjoying the shade :) what a great place to have a break
Beautiful!
morning service group
before breakfast bertha and martha doing laundry, and teresita and cesar
Look! See the way he's leaning away from me? He loves me!!! :)
Summer and Lupita and Chony
Gotcha Jose!
Afternoon service group and the sugar cane too
A local family we ate lunch with and too the one we later laughed with during the yearbook reading
We loved loved loved riding bikes around the town!!!
Lunch time :)
Biggest drumstick I've ever eaten in my life, 3X the size of a normal one!
Sisters making tortillas, sooo good :) they put them in that hollowed out gourd to keep warm
The famed truck that held 50 people at once
Sweet Dani, and the back of Elvie
Beauuuutiful field and trees. They plant around the trees, they don't cut them :)
Enjoying the ride

We are sitting here trying to assimilate the amazing experience we had last week. I dont think that words can with justice fully express how full of beauty and blessings our trip was. The only thing to do is to try to drench the story with the feel of what we loved, learned, and won't ever forget about our 6 days in San Antonio El Paraje...

Why we were there..

The Spanish Circuit Overseer, Zuri Luna and his wife, Berenice, invited us to shadow them for a week in a spanish congregation. We met the CO while we were still in the spanish congregation. They are both from Acapulco, Guerrero and have served in the circuit work for about 6 years.

Facts,

San Antonio El Paraje is not really a town complete with a bank, post office, or even a grocery store, but more of a settlement of houses. It is 1 hour and a half from San Cristobal, deep in a valley of sugar cane fields and flowing brooks. Really there is crystal clear water running everywhere, mostly is has branched off of some river or flows directly from a spot in the mountain. Most of the inhabitants rely on the cane harvest and their work year round involves, cutting, burning off the excess, weeding, and transporting the cane. We happened to arrive there in the middle of the harvest when the cane is tall, beautiful, ready to be cut with its cane blooms blowing freely in the wind leaving an almost sweet scent in the air. There is one spanish congregation consisting of about 40 publishers, 5 pioneers, and 4 elders. What about service? Territory, you may ask? Well who ever saw a house to house record or territory card here, they know every house, almost every inhabitant and dirt road by heart working their assigned area every 8 to 15 days. Most homes in the area are very very modest and humble. Usually consisting of one to 2 bedrooms and perhaps an open area to serve as a living area or a large porch for families to gather. Most bathrooms were outside with wood slats and just a toilet and a bucket of course.

Living like a CO..

We accompanied the Circuit Overseer for this week meaning our routine mimicked his. At 8 we breakfasted, then service, 12 oclock lunch, rest, service at 3 and dinner at 6:30. It was really a sweet deal. At every meal we ate with a different family making it possible for us to get to know most everyone. Each meal was humble, but always delicious. Sometimes we didnt have bowls or silverware so we just scooped up our food using corn tortillas, homeade delicious corn tortillas that is. Every morning we read and discussed the daily text, at lunch we read one chapter from the Bible with the family we were with, and at dinner we read and discussed a portion of the yearbook.

Impressions from Lacey...

This past week was really a privilege for us, spending a week with the C.O. and his wife in a small isolated territory 1 1/2 hours away from San Cristobal. As soon as they invited us to join them Summer and I jumped on that bandwagon. They instructed us that since it was their first visit there, we were to bring our own water and sheets. With that being said I didn't even pack my precious blow-dryer nor Summer her straightener. We packed lightly and modestly and were ready by 10 am this past Tuesday morning. The Spanish C.O., Zuri, and his wife, Berenice, are from Acapulco and have served in the traveling work for 7 years. We got to know them while we were still a group and part of a Spanish congregation. Zuri knows some English because they were for 2 years in an english group before entering the traveling work. On the ride to the territory we were listening to some of their favorite music from Acapulco, something about swimming in the nude and a shrimp biting a butt cheek, only in Mexico :) As we got closer to the territory Zuri changed the music to the new kingdom melodies and said we needed to "purify" our music ;) he has a good sense of humor. When we arrived to our lodging we were warmly received by the family and hundreds of small mosquitos. Unfortunately my blood was sweet, and I ended up getting tons of bites, it looked like I had the measles, it was hideous. Sum and I stayed in the two sisters’ bedroom, Elvie and Chony (22 and 20 years old). The house was very humble, like all the other brothers’ there. Most all the kitchens were outside and were with firewood. The bathroom was made with wood slats, and was humble but very clean. And the shower was made of a large bucket with a smaller bowl to pour the water over oneself. In all my years I could never get out of the shower in faster than 10 minutes, but this time I did. Splash splash, rinse rinse, shiver shiver and I was outta there! A very green way of showering I must say :) Sometimes when you visit places like this you are at first taken aback by the very humble accomodations and lack of material necessities as we would call it. No hot water, no shower, no oven, no stove, no insulation, no refrigerator, you're basically camping. And you feel a sense of pity for the brothers that they don't have what we do in the states. But let me assure you, that is only in the beginning. Summer and I were a little worried about speaking in spanish all week, but surprisingly it turned out good. We could communicate our thoughts well enough to get to know the brothers and sisters better. To describe the territory/town a little bit, it was beautiful and tranquil. We went during the sugar cane harvesting time. Everywhere we walked in the territory we were surrounded by sugar cane, tall and towering over us, blowing gently in the wind. It was so beautiful, I could have just walked all day and been just as pleased. In the paradise I would like to live somewhere that looks like it did in that little town :) And the town had a great water supply so we could also hear the sounds of rushing water in several places where there was irrigation. We mainly walked to the different territories each day, and if we didn't walk, we piled into a large truck, usually the whole service group. I included a picture of one of the trucks we rode in. I asked the brother driving how many people he could fit in there and he told me 50! I'm sure he gave me that figure out of experience. As we would walk in the territory we got to know our brothers well, although at first they were a little shy. By the end of one morning Summer had them all repeating after her some common english phrases :) One of the things I enjoyed the most was the simplicity of our time there. You could really enjoy your service and your time with your brothers because there was nothing else to do, nothing else to claim your attention really. One afternoon we went to a nearby field to teach Chony how to ride a bike. She was afraid of falling, but with me and Summer on either side of her, she learned just fine :) Really the only one who got hurt that afternoon was me, I walked straight into a barbed wire fence! The bottom wasn't there so I kept walking and didn't see the top part was still intact, my head bounced back so hard I almost didn't know what happened. It still hurts :) As for our Spanish presentations though, Summer and I did quite well. I had my intro which included a question, then I read a scripture and placed a tract. One time after completing my presentation, we continued sitting there for a further 15 seconds in silence, seemed like forever. I felt like saying "Thats all I got!" and the sister wasn't saying anything either, but the awkwardness ended when the woman asked me a question about where I was from, so I ended up being awkward and foreign very interesting ;) Since the friends visit their neighbors so often they start their introductions like "We just wanted to stop by today and share such and such with you" and then they share scriptural truths for a good 10 minutes, or longer if the person in really interested. One afternoon they arranged for a basketball game, Sum was more than delighted. Everyone played and it was a lot of fun, a lot of laughing too. All the brothers there had such beautiful qualities that we all work so hard to have like being humble, being patient, not insisting on personal preferences, being truly kind, self-sacrificing, and they are content and happy with what they have, they take pleasure in small things that don't cost a penny (or peso I guess is more fitting). When you spend time with them you see that the pity you once felt for their so-called lack of necessities now becomes an appreciation and admiration for the way they live and the way they are. That pity then becomes turned on yourself as you do a self-examination and see really that you yourself are the one who is lacking. Its a wonderful thing, our brotherhood, to have that interchange of encouragement, to be with ones whose lives are so far off from your own but joined by our love and service to Jehovah. Its a blessing. When we left it really tugged at our heart strings. After we loaded our bags I sat next to Mari (our host mom) and she started crying and saying that they would never forget us, that the memory of us would be in their hearts forever and that we really encouraged them. I just hugged her and couldn't say anything because I was beginning to cry too. And Chony and Elvie, they tried so hard not to cry but we all ended up shedding tears. I told them its not goodbye but hasta luego because we would see them again at the special assembly day in Spanish. It was a tough goodbye for both Summer and I, as most goodbyes are to us. And even though we left with tears, we left happy and encouraged, and with our new friends in our minds hearts.

Funny Highlights....

As far as cute kids go, they had a lot :) They all were just so shy that they never really took to me. Except for one little guy, Santiago. One day at lunch Zuri asked him what his name was and that he noticed someone wrote S-A-N-T-I-A-G-O on his car in the dust "Was that you?" Zuri asked very seriously. Santiago was chewing his food unphased by the question and when he finished he said "Yes" Then Zuri smiled and said "Okay", like he was just feeling this little boy out. One day we drove by him climbing in a tree and when we honked hello he froze like a little statue with a mischevious grin on his raggamuffin face. One day he passed us by while we were walking on a dirt road and he was on his little bike and I smiled and told him I wanted a ride. He smiled and said "No, este bici es loco!" (no, this bike is crazy!). Well, this little guy took to me and Summer, out of all the kids in the congregation :) I don't know what that says about us, but it was okay with me. The C.O. ended up really liking Santiago, just boyish and full of energy, friendly and a hard little worker too :) I'm sure you could pick him out in the pictures, he's the one that looks like he had too much sugar :) Summer and I also got to know Zuri and Bere quite well. They really set such a wonderful example. Both are self-sacrificing and very very genuine. What they present to the brothers is how they really are. One evening we were all very tired which made us all a little bit silly. Before heading off to dinner though, Summer said a quick goodbye to our host family's dad "Regreso ratito" is what she said which really wasn't correct spanish she realized, but then she became a little horrified because she thought she said "I'll be back little rat" and so when we told Zuri and Bere what we thought she said we were all laughing very hard. Thankfully she just left out a few articles in that sentence and "little rat" is actually "ratoncito" so she was in the clear. After we had dinner that night Zuri had one of the brothers read from the yearbook. Well his sister was looking on after him and for some reason this just tickled Berenice so that she was giggling and she even snorted. Well another sister there started laughing too and by then it was too much for me and Sum, even a little smile will get us going. So while we are all laughing this brother keeps reading as if we aren't even there. I kept looking at Zuri, fearing his disapproval, but even he was grinning. Finally at the end of the reading he asked a sister what she gleaned from it, and she very frankly responded that she didn't hear what was read because she was laughing. Me and Summer and Bere all busted up laughing, no use trying to keep it in. Then Zuri assigned us the next reading to keep us in line apparently ;) It was a very enjoyable and very lively reading to say the least. Well, speaking of a "little rat", on our last night there I awoke to some very loud crunching and munching sounds. I was startled when I realized it was coming from inside our room and that it was an animal. I immediately woke Summer up and we both listened to this creature going to town on who knows what. We were both afraid and unsure if we should flip on the light switch. First of all, the light would scare it into running. Second, it running would make us scream and us screaming would wake up our host family. And really, I was scared of seeing an ugly rat, I think the sight of it would be the worst part. So finally Summer gets in the position to turn the light on and is about to do it when I start laughing hysterically. You see, this happens when I'm afraid or really nervous, I get scared and laugh, and laugh and laugh. Its very inconvenient. So I'm laughing to the point of producing tears and Summer tells me "LACEY YOU STOP THAT! YOU STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!!" She had never spoken to me in that tone before and so I did actually stop. And then we both laughed at our odd interchange :) Finally we chickened out, covered our heads with the blanket and made sure we were all tucked in so nothing could "get us" and then we both dreamt of whatever unknown creature it was that was in the room with us (I dreamt of carniverous caterpillars and Sum of a giant serpent and a weasel). Actually, Summer just informed me that she stayed awake for awhile and went to bed with her glasses on periodically checking the corner where the feast was taking place :) LOL She's such a trooper. We also had a fun time with our spanish, I even made up a few verbs of my own :) One time I was trying to say hammock in spanish but said "hamoco" which is nothing but includes the word "moco" which is booger. So we kept that word all week when we referred to the hammock, or "hamoco" a seat for boogers :)

Well, we hope you enjoyed what we could share, thanks for reading it (it was a tad long, eh?) Much love!