Buena Vista Territory

So there's this little part of our Spanish territory that's pretty remote even by Costa Rican standards. To get to it, the only option you have is to drive through the river or use the walking bridge. The walking bridge is anchored by two huge cement posts and then it's a rope bridge that swings back and forth while you walk across. Well this rainy season from what I hear, was the worst in years. The river got so high and so rough that it overtook the bridge and tore the cement posts right out of the ground.

One sister who lives by the river had 3 feet of water in her house and had to move all her furniture to the second story until the water subsided. Good thing all the houses in the area are made out of cement with cement or tile floors!  The next picture in another type of Tico house in our territory. I know it's hard to see through the trees but this is a wood shack with an outdoor kitchen and dirt floors. The inhabitants are still very happy though and will share with you all that they have. It makes you realize how very little we actually need.

To replace the walking bridge, the locals have created a temporary fix. It is seriously a few bamboo poles and a rope to hang on to to keep your balance. And yes, there are crocodiles in the river!

On Tuesday next week, I have plans to work with a Spanish sister all day going with her on her Bible studies. This doesn't seem like a big deal but it entails about 10 miles of walking through mud, rivers and of course down the beach. I'm really looking forward to it, what an adventure! I'll tell you all about it.

Finn Rides a Horse on the Beach!

So we promised Finn that this time around we would let him ride a horse. He's never been on one before and was very excited. He wanted to make sure that grammie and papa, grandma and grandpa and Lexi and Abby all saw the pictures.

We spent the day at the beach yesterday and it ended up being a really fun day. But now I have a terrible sunburn and service actually hurt today. Oh well, it was worth it! The last picture is Finn and his friend Javan out in service this morning. They are great friends and only a few weeks apart in age.

Our English Group

So things are quite different this year to say the least. Last year the brother sent to be in charge of the English group almost died from hemorrhagic dengue fever and had to go back to the states in July. Since then the English group has had no direction and faded away during the rest of the rainy season. So now it is January, the weather is getting better and more English speaking visitors are starting to come. But there still isn't anyone taking the lead at the moment. So....it's been a challenge for us. We had our first English Watchtower Study Saturday night, but no public talk. There were 6 adults and 4 children! I know this is  an awful picture but it's the only one I have. So the key is to study very well, we all have to answer about 10-20 times! Even Finn gave like 5 comments last night. We kinda knew what we were getting ourselves into this time so we prepared ourselves. If we go out in English service, we definitely have to make arrangements ahead of time and rent a car. Our closest English territory is about a half hour drive down a bumpy dirt road. But our car group had some nice calls Saturday morning. Everyone at least let us read a scripture and took the Truth Tract. Marty and I will rent a car on Wednesdays and Fridays and make plans with our small English group to work a specific English area. On Tuesdays and possibly Thursdays, I'll join the Spanish Congregation with their local territory. I wish, I wish I kept up with my Spanish lessons when I got home last year!! I can get by though, if I go on a study, I practice reading a few shorter paragraphs and I have a presentation prepared for the Truth Tract-my go to for everyone. Oh yah, we took this picture yesterday of the bee hive connected to the outside of our house! Someone is coming tomorrow to remove it.  It's pretty cool!

  

Return to our second home!

It's been 7 months and it seems like we never left. The dirt roads are worse for wear, I guess there was a lot of flooding this rainy season and Hurricane Herman left it's mark on all the beaches. The beaches aren't as pristine this time, there is a lot of debris that the ocean hasn't taken back out to sea yet. I hear the fishing isn't as good either because the water is still so murky.  A lot of our old friends are still and it's been so nice catching up. The Spanish congregation is all the same people and they shook their heads when they realized my Spanish has gotten worse instead of better! I told them in my Spanish/English Candace language that life got in the way and my Spanish lessons unfortunately were the first to go. Tonight is our first meeting so I hope some Spanish comes back to me because only the Congregation Bible Study is in English.

Thursday Marty and I attempted to go out in service. What a shock to our systems to go from 30 degree weather to 90! We lasted 2 hours and had to go back. We were tired, sweaty and hungry. Finn was listless on my back and asked to please go home. We bought him an ice cream at the little store and walked the 2 miles on the dusty road back home. Friday service was better, we had a car with air conditioning that day and we worked some Spanish and English territory in a little town called Estrada. Don't worry, we'll get back into the swing of things! It's nice to be back.

C.O. Visit

        So this week we had the Spanish C.O. visit. They have been here 6 years, and are missionaries from Canada. Last week one of the local pioneers asked Candace to be on a demonstration at the service meeting. Well Candace was nervous thinking about having to be a Spanish householder at the meeting for service Tuesday morning, when I reminded her that we had the C.O. visit. So she asked the sister she was having the part with if she maybe meant the following week, the sister laughed and said no she meant Tuesday, but not for the meeting for service, but for the service meeting. So needless to say Candace was even more nervous now, but we all know Candace when she put her mind to something she doesn't stop until it is done right. So all day Tuesday she practiced and practiced, and when it came time to do the demonstration she nailed it. Everyone after said that her Spanish was good and couldn't believe she had been holding out on them for so long. I was very proud of her and even shed one single tear of joy as I watched her on stage.

So most of the week we worked Spanish territory, which involved me walking about four miles a day, needless to say my clothes where a little wet by the end of the morning. Good thing everyone else's  were also or I would have been embarrassed. Candace also has a really good bible study, that she will be sad to leave behind. She is turning it over to a new sister from the states, so at least it will continue when we leave. Saturday night the hall had a dance party for the C.O. and his wife at David and Amber's home, everyone here loves to dance, so it was nice to get together. Well we are only a week and a half away from returning and are very sad to leave. We have come to love it here as our home away from home. There is still so much work to be done, that it is hard to leave. So we will use this as motivation to return next year, knowing we have new friends, and family to come back to as well as a hardly worked territory that holds so much promise. With that said we can't wait to see everyone, and be back in Portland for awhile.

                                 Finn tired after dancing!

Zone Visit

So a zone visit is something i have never experienced before. Certain countries get them and basically it is when members of the Governing Body visit other Bethel branches and schedule a special meeting while they're here. Ours was Sunday the 11th in San Jose. It's held in a outdoor stadium and your congregation is bussed to the location. There are two sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon and it is for the whole country!

Our congregation was assigned to the morning session and there was 14,000 in attendance. There were 3 talks and the session started at 9 am and was over at 11:30 am. It was all in Spanish but super exciting none the less! After it was over we had to rush through the crowd to get on our assigned bus. It was crazy! 14,000 people and hundreds of busses creating the biggest traffic jam you have ever seen. Once we got on our bus it took 1 1/2 hours to get less then 5 miles. By the time we were getting out of the traffic jam, the other session attendees were arriving in their busses and everyone was waving at each other and yelling"hola"!  It was quite the experience and we were very privileged to be a part of it. We come home in exactly one month and it's going so fast! Tomorrow we pick up Jeanie and Kris and head to the Caribbean, i hope everyone has a great time!

Congregation Get Together and Mapping Trip

So I've mentioned the Oldham's in the past, they have really done a lot to get the English group up and running these past few years. Well they have to move back to California and might not have the opportunity to come back for quite awhile. So of course the congregation threw them a going away party! It was a surprise party at Eric and Anita's house and Eric has a great swing attached to a very high branch on the ancient tree on his property. The kids and adults played on that swing for hours. Of course some of the guys tried to see how close to death they could come, fortunately no one was seriously injured! We all ate a huge spaghetti dinner and Amber made awesome cheesecake for dessert.

Yesterday we also finally took a trip to check out the bottom of the peninsula and see how much English territory would be there. It was about a 3 1/2 hour drive all on dirt roads, with a couple of river crossings. We would only be able to reach this area during the dry season because the rain would make the rivers impassable and roads too muddy. We have already mapped half way down, with pockets of English areas but nothing like we encountered in Manzanillo, Santa Teresa and Mal Pais.  These towns are all English! They will take at least 2 to 3 days to work with one or two car groups. We weren't expecting this at all. I guess this area isn't a "secret" surf spot for Americans any longer!

So now we have to see if we have time within the next month to plan a preaching getaway! If not, we'll probably have to wait until the dry season starts again in December. So realistically this area will be worked at the most once a year for a few days. So if anyone wants to come visit next year we can plan a service excursion! The beaches were more aquamarine then the beaches here and a little more lush and green, they must get more rain during the dry season. We don't get rain in Samara for about 5 months during this season creating a lot of dust, but it's always sunny without a lot of humidity.

Next week Jeannie and Kris are coming to visit and we're going to explore the Caribbean side of Costa Rica for a few days. I hope it's a lot of fun, I'll be sure to write all about it.