1st day in Field Service in Chiapas (Happy Feet but......Sored, ouch!!) ("Terminamos como pollos espinados")

WEDNESDAY DEC. 30TH, 09

We decided to explore our surroundings and locate the KH with Art's aztec inteligence we got lost :) hahahaha but we ended up discovering many many beautiful spots, architecture and food, we are still in amazement of the beauty that surrounds us. San Cristobal has many visitors from Europe, especially french, germans, swedish and lots of Australians, we also came accross argentinians, and other nationalities in our short visit. We located the KH, only 2 blocks from our apartment (daaaa!). We got ready for our meeting at 6 pm (in Chiapas meetings are earlier, people live simpler lives), we were pleased to see the beautiful KH where the new english cong. meets and of course the JW that attend it add to the beauty.

The cong.started just last Dec. 1st. Formed by about 30 publishers, 18 reg.pioneers, lots of single brothers and sisters serving where the need is greater, we came accross people from Louisiana, others from Texas, New Mexico and of course our dear spanish brothers and sisters. It is a privilege to be on the ground work and helping support a new cong.before Jehovah our God. At the end of the meeting we considered it a privilege the announcement that the whole cong. were really happy to welcome us into their cong.

THURSDAY DEC. 31ST, 09

Started FS at 9 am. We had a small service group but with a large heart. We walked and walked and walked and WALKED!!! Cars are scanty here so all of the territory is by foot mostly, we did door to door all day from 9.30 am to 6 pm. Art found a guy from London who showed some interest and invited him back. Other 4 return visits were found within the group.

While we were on the territory, -around 11.55 am- someone in the group noticed there was gun powder (polvora in spanish) with M-8O's (explosive device) all through many blocks, and we realized it was a religious festivity for some saint starting at 12 pm!!!! so for our ears sake we had to leave the territory!!! The neighbors told us it could get pretty loud and smoky and it did!!! We watched from far and there was a music band, as they were playing all the firecrackers were going off behind them till they reached the church, it was quite a sight to see how christendom misleads their flock.

We went out for lunch with all our service group, it was really nice to be taken where the locals and not any local but where the Local Pioneers go (and so far our stomachs are OK, they haven't complained at all) the food was really tasty and for about 20 usd all 7 of us ate rrrrrrrrrrrrreally good.

In the afternoon we went out with the service group at 4 pm and worked more territory, we rode with 2 pioneer sisters from New Mexico and other 3 single sisters (Michelle, Virginia, Shelly) and poor Art he's cultivating more self-sacrifice, he had to be in the back of the car (he turned from driving everyone up in Oregon to be driven down in Chiapas, he looked soooooo cute!)

We went for dinner and had a very nice pizza where the pioneers recommended us, after that our day ended with really sore but happy feet (como pollos espinados jajajajaja :)) walking up hill like an 80 year old couple, hanging on from each other, and wanting to get a taxi sooooooooo bad being only 4 blocks away. We hope you all enjoy the nice fresh pics just taken. Give us a comment if you can. We love you!






Nice pioneers sisters from Texas and New Mexico.






Gorgeous handcrafts everywhere.







Burger King even changes a face in San Cristobal

Beautiful view of the city from our apartment.

Arriving to San Cristobal or "San Cris"

TUESDAY DEC. 29TH,09

We took a flight from Mzt to Mexico city and Mx city to Tuxtla Gutierrez (the capitol and over 1 hour away from San Cristobal). Arrived to Tuxtla at 8:30 pm, we had arranged that we would be picked up by a brother who offers taxi services. He receives us with the Bible Teach book on his hand since we had no idea how he looked. As we are leaving the airport, we were stopped by the Highway Patrol or Policia Federal, turns out the taxis in Tuxtla don't want taxis from San Cristobal picking up people (same situation as in Mazatlan with the taxis). As the problem was corrected we left to San Cristobal, on the way there we asked the brother how he got the truth, to our surprise he told us he's been in the truth for a short period of time, only 4 years, turns out he was a soldier for the army in Mexico for almost 10 years, his wife started to study and when he realized it was the truth he resigned the Army, he actually told us they didn't want to accept his resignation, his wife and mother told him if he was sure of this decision, he was a personal chofer of a chief Commander in the Mexican Army, this meant a huge economical sacrifice since his money was always there (he mentioned always had in his pocket from 500 to 1000 usd a month, for this area it's a lot), now he works as a taxi driver from 3 pm to 3 am, he says he loves this job because it gives him time for Field Service in the mornings and when he has a meeting he stops working for few hours, he told us he values so much Jh's Organization and what we have, compared to his former life. Very nice brother, very encouraging to us, with spiritual focus 1st. (attached a picture, his name is Benignio or "Beny"). Today we toured San Cristobal, we will publish tomorrow some pictures of this awesome town. Saludos y abrazos a todos!!!

Leaving Mazatlan :-(

Well, our trip to Mazatlan was very rewarding, seeing our dear family and spending time with them was so emotionally refreshing for Sofia, the cong. was absolutely marvelous and for Sofia it was really nice to be back and seeing so many dear friends. Eating the food was of course a highlight (we are missing the ceviche and our favorite stand "El Colachito"). In summary, Art started 2 Bible Studies and placed several books, improved his spanish skills, learned many new "fun words" and sofia started a Bible Study too (Art says he beated her, Sofia says she let him win hahaha!). At my amazement, when I was on my Bible Study (as a sidepoint: this poor lady, has her dad dying of cancer and lives in another state, her husband gives her money only for food and doesn't want to give her any more for making this trip, it just stresses the importance of Jh's Kingdom, we left her in good hands with a pioneer in the spanish field and tried helping her in what we could)...back to Art's story, as people were waiting in the car, a man came by and said "Hi amigos!" so Art decided to make good use of his time and leave the car, went up to his house and talked to him regarding the BT book, had him read the 1st paragraph, they were communicating in spanglish and started a B. Study. We were sad to leave Mazatlan but excited to start our next adventure, WE LOVE EVERYONE IN MAZATLAN!!! SALUDOS Y BESOS A MI QUERIDA FAMILIA Y AMIGOS and see you soon!!!! And this is where the Chiapas' adventure begins...........

Our interesting weekend (Dec. 18-20)

We had a very nice weekend full of adventures.

FRIDAY:
We had a good long day in Field Service with the Thody's. And guess what? Who said Art wasn't going to make it in spanish? Well, I can happily let you know friends and family that the teaching cards, and all our studying together is giving us some results because Art is now at the stage that although he doesn't live here, he now tells the brothers who live here what the householder is telling them before coming to the door, how's that? Isn't that something? Of course, he has Sofia hehe. After service we went to the airport to pick up Conrad (Art's brother). In the afternoon Sofia went to the hospital because the grandma of her very good friend was hospitalized.

SATURDAY:
We went out in FS with Georgia and John Freese, went out in couple of studies together, this weekend most of the cong. was away attending the District Convention in english at Queretaro (which is a very nice city about 14 hrs away). After service we went for lunch of course at our favorite Sea Food Stand, attached some pics of Art's favorite dish (Shrimp with Octopus in lime and salt) and what I usually ask is "Campechana" (which is a mixture of shrimp, octopus, scallops, vegetables and a delicious soup from the same sea food when it's boiled, it sooooooooooooo good). At 6 pm we attended my brothers' cong. and here comes the fun part: Art commented in spanish!!!!!!!!!!!! yes he did! and the watchtower conductor commended him for having the courage to do it, he said it was nice to hear other accents. After that we took advantage (again) of the delicious food here, but we are exercising too trying to burn all those delicious calories we are eating....we went to another devilicious place, it's called LAS BROCHETAS and they sell "Molcajete" (which is a stew of chicken or beef with tortillas, served in a volcanic rock bowl and boiling when it's served -attached a picture-). After that we did what we are supposed to do here in Mexico when a loved one of your friends dies, which is to attend a wake, we were there till 12 am and all of the friends from the Hall attended too. WE LOVE YOU LIDIA!.

SUNDAY:
We took the day off. Art and Conrad enjoyed the beach. I visited my friend and did some wife duties also. At 2 pm us and all my family headed south to a town called EL WALAMO where there's a humble old style restaurant where they serve an awesome fresh fish cooked. Here's where the adventure comes: it took us 2 hours to get there, it's usually 30 min. away but out of the 52 weekends in the year, this particular weekend it's the busiest before the holiday season, many "californians" come by car and pretty much we were the only cars with mexico plates on the road, anyways, it was worth the hassle 'cause the service and food was great and most important spending time with my family, we laughed and laughed and we will remember this day for many many years. It was funny to see Art fighting for fish with Pepe -my brother- (his wife -me- became a 2nd priority when survival behavior came into place hahahahaha). Attached some pics.

Have a good night, we will keep you posted, if you are reading it, give us a comment if you have the time, would like to hear from our friends and family.

Back on our feet...... (Chocoadventures from the 14th-17th)

We apologize for not posting anything this week. Too much fun and we had the "welcome to Mexico" syndrome :-(. But tuesday we were back on our feet. If you may recall Sofia met a sweet lady that wanted a Bible......we had brought a Bible already and tuesday we came back and started a Bible Study in spanish -as usual-, the lady said: "If it was for me, I would study every day",-she lives in one of the most isolated places in Mazatlan- so she is being visited frequently. That same day, Art and Martin Thody were looking for an english speaking fellow named Juan, as they came back to the car a young man driving a fruit stand truck recognized us and asked desperately the car group if we had any magazines for him, as usual, Art pulls out a huge stack of magazines from his service bag, the gut says excitingly: "Oraleeeee!!!" (which in spanish means Wow!), Art gave him a choice of magazines and showed him the one in alcohol, he said he didn't drink but it would be good to read it, showed the one on the Divorce and said: "Wacala!!" (meaning yiak!) but he found very interesting the "W" on the Six myths, so we purchased some fruit from him, as he's driving away, he's attentively looking at the magazines eager to read them. It's very refreshing to find so many people that have respect and appreciation for the truth. You can see the pictures speak louder than us, in the background you see him in the truck with a "peace sign", soooo funny to watch.

That same day we were adviced that beginning February for the Special Talk there will be a special campaign in some spanish congregations to advertise the special talk in english in a particular Kingdom Hall where there are none english congregations, right now as of Jan. 1st there will be 4 in our dear Mzt. There's a lot of potential for more growth. The picture of KH shows where the talk will be given. This is something historical since the spanish congregations have never given this kind of support before.

At night time we met up with some sisters that serve in a Nahuatl cong.(indigenous language) and sign language cong. Sofia was very refreshed to hear that some people with whom she was studying Jh keeps making it watering and growing, one indigenous lady is already attending frequently to the meetings and her husband who previously was studying in spanish now is studying with the nahuatl cong and recently gave his 1st Bible Reading, what a loving provision from our God to have these congregations, they also went to the Convention last weekend.

WEDNESDAY:
We had a good long day. We went to try a former call that Sofia had, turns out, the lady moved, ouch! But to our surprise now lives a German fellow named Marcus from Munich (Eva Haynes and Rosy Beringer would be happy to talk to him), he's an english and spanish teacher in that house and has lived here for 3 years, the good part is that he asked us for a Bible and he mentioned that he likes JWs, he says that if you have a JW as a neighbor he said: "you won't have any problems", well, we said thank you and would love to bring him one, you have to keep reading.....

We went back to a remote area of the town to work territory and found 2 more that spoke english but not at home, you can see some pics of the area.....

We also want to share our favorite place for lunch, it's called "La Cocina de Ana" and yesterday 5 of us ate lunch for 14 usd, it's soooooooooooooo good. Attached some pics.

THURSDAY:
Today we were able to get a brand new english Bible to Marcus (the german guy), he was very thankful and impressed at our speed, he said: "you guys have better service than UPS" hahaha! he said: "How much I owe you?", he gave us a good amount for the area as a expression of appreciation. So we were really pleased to be used by Jh to bring him His word, so we left the door opened for a future conversation.

Of course Jehovah wants us to enjoy His creation, we had a gorgeous sunrise view this morning from our bedroom ( Art wasn't conscious by the way hahahaha! I took it), after service we hiked up to the highest natural lighthouse in the world to see a breathtaking sunset, as we hold hands we remembered good old times a year ago when Art's heart opened (El amor le derritio el corazon)

Eat your hearts outs (Dec. 11th & 12th)

Friday we started service earlier on street work, we found people from out of town who took publications from us. We had a good long day in service till 4 pm. Art and Gary went to find the study that he started back in February, sweet man, they found out......the man had passed away last June (no wonder why Gary couldn't find him anymore), the attached picture shows where he lived. He's in Jh's memory. We also went with a lady that had asked Sofia for a Bible, craving for it, she was rrrrrrrreally really happy to have it, she was telling us she's been trying to get her brother's Bible when he came to visit her house but she never succeded and just wouldn't leave it so you can imagine her joy. We will start a Bible study with her again and find some sisters in the territory, we are still shooting for her husband who speaks english but we haven't found him yet.

At night time we were invited for dinner at Loma and Gary's place, it was delicious food and very interesting, we noticed the family has grown, we met their kids: surprisingly none of them have hair, we had a "rat" of a time, look at the picture and you will notice their beautiful daughters, they also have 2 snakes, one is a big 2 yr old Boa, we found Noah's ark or at least a section of it hahahaha! We love you Loma and Gary!.

Saturday, we were really really tired, weren't really thrilled about service since we had a looooooong week. We were assigned to work with Rosy and Ricardo (a family new in the truth) and Belen. Art had an opportunity to work with Ricardo -we were really pleased to find out he's now an unbaptized publisher- (he had been attending meetings in spanish with his wife for a loooong time but never really made progress but in english cong. he has). Belen, Rosy and Sofia had a door and turned out the man of the house spoke english, we turned him over to the guys, well, we are happy to let you know that Art started a Bible study with a man named Mike, a mazatleco and after that we had to resucitate Art again, he was really excited about it. One thing really interesting about our territory here is that every day you will find an interesting experience. 90 % of the people who speak english accept a Bible Study.

At night time, we were invited to another get together, and you know we are trying to cultivate a self sacrificing spirit so we had a great time with some old friends and new friends. We had a meeting on saturday and sunday is OFF for us.

Good experiences and Rock Adventures (Thurs.Dec.10th, 09)

We went to a remote part of town today. It was marvelous, we talked to many people today. As we are heading to the territory Sofia started our time calling a former Bible student, her name is Nancy, some years ago, Sofia and Nancy studied together at Nancy's school hiding from her mom ( who at that time was very opposer), as time went by, Nancy marries her longtime boyfriend (who was raised as a JW but was inactive) but never progressed. Today Nancy tells her that she and her husband are seriously studying together and are not missing their studies, they actually are having an informal Bible study with her mom (who is a high Executive in the most important bank in Mexico), to our surprise, this made my day :) (Sofia speaking...)

Then as we got into the territory, we had an opportunity to talk to a lady that told us her husband speaks english, since he works for a fishing fleet and deals with foreigners. Well, the neat thing about our conversation is that she desperately need a Bible in spanish(we had none, aren't we called Bible Students?), we told her we would bring her one tomorrow (so we'll keep you posted on how it goes).

To my surprise, Art said "HOLA, COMO ESTAS SENOR?" to an older guy -curious about what we were doing-, after giving him our explanation -with Sofia's help of course- Art shared his "precious all purpose" rock that he got from Sofia -which she got from Lorna Renfrow-, the rock is called Thunder Egg (here in Mexico 50 % of the houses don't have a doorbell, so you have to have a rock to knock on doors, fences, gates, cars, poles or whatever happens to be your means to let people know you are at their door)....back to the story...... the senor was impressed by Art's rock so he wanted us to show us his rocks, we agreed, he gave us a seat, we discussed his rocks, ours and the Kingdom message, his daughter came out and join us, he encouraged us to study wit his daughter to teach her english and wanted her to attend meetings, he would accompany her, we shall see..... With our amazement, as we were walking back to meet our friends they thought we had been kidnapped and they had approached a door that had a lot of noise in the house, he thought he had heard my voice, of course, the people automatically turned to being quiet, he went and get his car, he was contemplating to use it as a battleing ram to rescue us from the supposedly "drug lords".....all this started over Lorna's rocks.(say hello to her please). Then they heard our adventure starting conversations with rocks and they wanted our rocks (we only share our rocks with special people).

Service in Mazatlan (Wed. Dec 9th,09)

Service is very good in Mazatlan many different ways to approach people from door to door or street work. Many people don't have anything but are very happy to listen to everything you have to say. Street work was very nice today, walking on the board walk enjoying the Bonita scenery we approached different walks of life we had a very nice canadian lady take magazines from us and a surfer from L.A. too etc. Afternoon service was very interesting we went to a rough part of town many people did not speak english but many were very pleasant to talk to in spanish yes!!! I'm learning to converse with people in spanish -with Sofia and Jehovah's help-. Surprisingly, Sofia and Loma and Carleen found 2 houses where 2 men had come back from living in the USA for many years, so this is where the english congregations are really helpful, the congregation that we are attending has 67 publishers, at the present time, they are conducting up to 125 Bible Studies. I was with a brother named Gary and talking to a family about the Bible, they spoke very little english but was very nice. We were walking back to our car then the mother ran to us asking about how her daughter could learn english. We showed her the Greatest Man Book I explain to her this would be a very helpful book for a young lady, Yes I placed it, Jehovah will bless her with insight when reading the Greatest Man Book you never Know what this young lady will do with this wonderful spiritual food.

Restroom experience at 33,000 ft elevation (Dec.4th,09)

Days prior to our departure, we started a fasting you can imagine that my body waited till I was in a place that did not make it convenient to use the restroom. Sofia was attempting to witness, my stomach started to give me much comfort as I headed to the restroom it was empty that was a relief on my part. Every thing went well and as I was waiting for the hall way to be clear I found myself in the restroom again. Then as I tempted to get back to my seat the door would not open :-S there was something in the way I waited and 5 minutes try again to no avail as my wife was witnessing to all the airplane I was in dispair in my dilema I try again with no avail. I pushed on the door It would not move and after using my viking strenght and my Aztec intelligence I was able to moved it a little then I was able to put my foot under the cart yes it was the cart. with my mighty foot I left it up to get my head out from among the door and push again and then noticed the buttom to push for help it was too late by then half of my body was out in the stewardess were laughing when they saw me by then. Passenger by sofia was almost baptized and then she remembered that she had a husband wondering were did he go??????????????????????? :-S

Getting Ready

Well Art and Sofia will be leaving for Mazatlan on Friday for about a month to visit with her dear family and friends. I am sure they are eargerly anticipating their trip. Then around the 29th they will head for Chiapas, San Cristoble (hope I am spelling this correctly) to help the newly founded English Congregation (officially today or tomorrow). We will follow two weeks later and also assist with the English Congregation. Looking forward for this experience as we had such a wonderful time when we worked out in service with the English Congregation with Sofia.
Jeannie

Hola Jeannie

This is just a test too, we should only make one. Less of a hassle!