The Life of Justin And Stephanie

What An Adventure It Has Been

2012-01-14T11:49:00.000-05:00

We always knew this day would come, we just didn't know when. Our time here in Bolivia has been amazing, new friends, new experiences, new food, new culture, new language and lasting memories. Now after much prayer and discussions we have decided that based on our circumstances, that this is the right time for us to move back to the U.S. We have very mixed emotions, it's such a weighty decision but regardless of whatever pride we have or any other feeling, you must always do what's best for your family which is how we've come to this decision. The past 15 months have been amazing and it has made Stephanie and I better people. We really hope that after what we've learned and experienced here will help us when we return to the U.S. (I know our Spanish will be a lot better! :) There is so much that we could say right now but we've got quite a bit of packing and cleaning to do. We will always cherish the blessings that Jehovah has provided us with here in Bolivia and would recommend serving in another area to ALL. We love you and hope to keep in touch. Thanks to everyone who has been so encouraging to us over the years during the ups and downs, you have no idea how much it's meant to us.

Christian Love
Justin & Stephanie

Some Days...

2012-01-09T15:01:00.002-05:00

Some days you just do not feel like going out in service. Especially on your Monday rest day. But I had promised Enriqueta that I would come and study with her. I am so glad I went. When I walked up to the house this afternoon I looked through the fence. I saw Enriqueta studying with her older sister. She had her read two paragraphs from the Great Teacher book, like we do, and would ask questions. I can not believe that she has started a study with someone. I do not know if they knew I saw them. I am always trying to encourage her to talk to others about Jehovah and his qualities. When I got to the table I saw that they are 4 chapters ahead of us. I guess they have been studying a lot together. After she told me her sister likes to read the books and magazines too. I told her to let her know she is welcome to study with us. Then she asked for the newest magazines and a Bible Teach book. She was happy to know we would study the Bible Teach book next together.

Preaching in Territorio Aislado

2012-01-08T11:36:00.001-05:00

So today we walked to a far out area to preach. It was really, really far. We walked for 3 hours in the scorching sun. Then Justin and I went and did Bible Studies out in the same area for another 2 hours. I do not believe I have ever been more tired then after that. But you do have a certain amount of satisfaction from doing something like that. Thankfully we have a wonderful visitor Sabina and her daughters with us and they are cooking saice for us. It is one of my favorite dishes and I really appreciate it so much. So now to rest and recuperate, so that we can go out this afternoon.

Our small group preaching today.

I really don't know what kind of faces we were making for this pic. :/

We walked all that curvy, high, rocky road after 4 hours in service. Where is a Dunkin Donuts when you need one.

Making Saltenas with Sabina

2012-01-08T11:09:00.001-05:00

So a few days ago, Sabina and her two girls came for a visit. They are staying with us for the weekend and yesterday Sabina showed me how to make Saltenas. They were soooo yummy. Now I know the secret, but I still need another 30 years to catch up to her skills. Her daugthers are already learning and can make them like pros.

Sabina showing me how to wrap a saltena.

Learning to wrap the saltenas, not as easy as you would think.

Teaching Justin how to wrap the saltenas.

Milena and Sabina cooking the saltenas.

Time to Meet Enriqueta

2012-01-07T09:08:00.001-05:00

So for the past month or so I have been studying the "Learn from the Great Teacher" book with a 10 year old girl named Enriqueta. She is really progressing and really understands what we are talking about. She actually was the one who found us in the ministry. One day while Justin was walking in service she came running up from behind him asking if she could have a Bible. So for a week we tried to get her home to give her a Bible. Well at the end of that week as we were walking away from her house she came running with a huge bag begging us for the Bible. We told her we would come back later that day with the Bible and a book. When we did she was so excited. I showed her how to look up scriptures and asked if she wanted to study together. Now we study everyday. Her mom wants her to learn English, so I teach her about 15 minutes worth and then we study for 45 minutes. It is really great. She remembers every picture why it is there and even the scriptures associated with it. I have not met her family yet but I know they are listening inside when we study outside. She is so sweet she always gives me a little spinach from her garden or a piece of candy. I really hope this study continues and she progresses.

Enriqueta underlining points she likes in the book.

Enriqueta and I after our study.

New Yeartext For 2012

2012-01-05T17:36:00.002-05:00

The new yeartext for 2012 is based on John 17:17 "Your Word Is Truth" How appropriate for the times we are living it. Anywho yesterday we were able to get the yeartext up in time for the meeting. Our sign is simple yet works and we can easily move it if we need to find a new place to meet. I think it's a nice upgrade from our styrofoam sign during 2011 :)

Preaching in Salinas Round 2

2012-01-02T10:19:00.000-05:00

So on Saturday a group of 13 brothers and sisters from Tarija came and helped us preach some farther out areas. We packed into two cars on Sunday and headed out for the 2 hour drive. It was a lot better this time because there was more room in the cars. Justin and Louis decided to take the moped and preach in Naranjas, the pueblo closer to Tarija, since there was not any more space in the cars. So I went with the group to Salinas to try and find my Bible Study. She unfortunately was not at home. But we had a great time in service. Had a dog follow us around the territory and protect us. Found ones who were amazed by the scriptures we showed them about the future hope of paradise. Had a great lunch at a studies house and went for a swim with all our service cloths on. :) Then we came back the brothers and sisters from Tarija went back and I came hope to video games and food. A great day.

Justin went out with his moto.

The sisters preaching.

My car group

Just playing some video games

Preaching On Horseback

2011-12-31T13:14:00.002-05:00

Today was a first for me. I had the privilege of preaching on horseback. My partner was named "Bayo" and he did a great job. I've got a new study that is really isolated and he's the perfect mode of transportation. You just never know what you'll experience here!

After Humintas..It's Fishing Time

2011-12-28T09:52:00.001-05:00

So later after making Humintas we went fishing...for the smallest fish ever. It is amazing how hard they work to get one small tiny fish. Here are a few of the photos.

Walking to the "special" fishing spot.

Crossing a very rickety bridge thing.

The river

Crossing the river again.

The smallest fishing hooks ever.

Justin chilling in the water.

Getting ready to fish.

It's fishing time.

Just relaxing.

Another way to catch fish is with a wine bottle.

Justin caught the only 2 fish. About an inch long.

Albert is excited to fish.

Try my hand at fishing.

Huminta Time!

2011-12-25T12:23:00.002-05:00

Today since it was so cold we decided to delay our picnic at the river and instead made Humintas and are going to play basketball. Here are some pics from our making Humitas together as a congregation.

Grinding the Choclo (corn)

Justin acting silly

Before the Choclo is ground

Helping with the grinding of the choclo

Albert working hard

Bella drinking the milk from the choclo

After it is ground you mix in the spices

Cutting up cheese to put in the Humintas

Preparing the Humintas

Justin wrapping a Huminta

His finished product

Preaching To The Inmates

2011-12-16T09:02:00.001-05:00

This morning was really rainy and after preaching at the market, a sister in our group suggested that as a brother, I try preaching to the inmates at the local jail. I had never done anything like this before but it seemed like a great option, especially after walking in mud all morning. After entering the front, a new Bible student (who happens to be studying everyday and attending the meetings) was chit chatting with the police at their desk. After explaining why we were there and asking for permission to leave Bible information with the inmates, he quickly offered his support telling the police who we are and how wonderful Jehovah's Witnesses are. Even though visiting hours happen to be later on in the day, they gave us permission and I quickly tried to think of an approach. The section where inmates are housed is really cramped, dirty and generally cold feeling. I told them the purpose of the visit was to provide them with Bible information and no matter what we've done in our past, it's possible to change. We also talked about Jehovah's wonderful qualities such as love and patience and how thanks to these qualities, we are afforded time to learn his principles and make needed changes. During these discussions more and more inmates came up to the bars and by the end, all in the jail were listening. I ended up placing all of my Bible Teach books with them and they also would like to have Bibles. Before leaving they were all asking when we would be back to start studying with them. It was a new experience but it turned out good. Based on their current circumstances I'm hopeful that most of them will have had a chance to read a good portion of the book by the time I go back next week. We never know who will listen and be our future brother.

Found Newborn Puppy

2011-12-12T11:34:00.000-05:00

So on Sunday after we came back the two young brothers here found a newborn puppy on the side of the road. It still had it's umbilical cord attached completely. We took it to the vet and had them tie it off and cut it. It is a girl puppy. They said sometimes people here throw the girls away because they do not want more puppies later on. It is not like you can spay them. Grrr! Sometimes people make me really mad. So one of the brothers said he would take it. I have been helping at night to take care of it because it is a lot of work. So far so good. She is doing well and eating a lot. We have not given her a name yet, because we want to see how it goes.

Our Whirlwind Immigration Vacation

2011-12-08T18:54:00.001-05:00

So as you may know we have been on a very crazy tour of Bolivia trying to get some things figured out with my visas. Well as of yesterday I am good. We got the tourist visa canceled and now I can go ahead with my 2 year visa paperwork. We tried flying out yesterday to Tarija, but there were no flights so the earliest flight is tomorrow at 3:15pm. So we decided to have a nice time here in La Paz. We didn't have time to book a tour of the world heritage spot here, nor go biking on the world's deadliest road, nor see Lake Titicaca. Hopefully next time. But we did find a restaurant that had food very similar to the States, watched a movie in a real movie theater, got to watch our first Futbol game in person and got a massage. A nice finish to a crazy week. Here are some pics and video of our past week.

Dinner at Jardin de Asia in Santa Cruz.

Waiting in line at the first office in Santa Cruz.

Relaxing with some ice cream.

Overlooking La Paz.

Eating at Factory. The only of its kind in Bolivia.

The Stadium at night.

The Strongest side. They won 4-0

Leaving after the Futbol game.

Sushi night.

First taste of sake. Not my favorite.

View from our room. The mountains are full of houses.


Enjoying a warm cup of coffee.

Dealing with Immigration

2011-12-06T10:32:00.001-05:00

Well the past few days has been nothing more than frustrating. It started out with a phone call on Thursday from Tarija saying I (Steph) needed to sign a paper. Ok so I grab a taxi to Tarija and spend the night at the Marsden's. The next day I go to Immigration to find out that I am signing a paper to have temporary custody of my passport. They are saying that La Paz sent all my paperwork back for my 2 year visa because I did not cancel my tourist visa. First of all they tell me I have to go to the U.S Consulate to fix this. The U.S had nothing to do with issuing this visa. So then they say well you need to go to the an office in Santa Cruz to fix this. So Justin drives up to Tarija and flys out the next day with me to Santa Cruz. We spend the weekend here. Then on Monday we go to the "office". Well that place was a mad house. I was worried there was going to be fights. After 2 hours standing in line the boss tells us she can not do anything. And goes on to tell us we obviously do not understand Spanish that well. I was a little ticked at that one. Anyways we call Tarija they tell us to go to another building. After 8 trys we find the building, in a totally different area. This lady agrees with us in that we came in on an Objecto Determinado visa and that voided the tourist visa. So she calls La Paz. No one will call her back. So we go in this morning. La Paz finally answers. They say all we need to do is send a letter stating we want to cancel the tourist visa. The thing is we already sent a letter like that to them and they did not accept it. So we are flying there this afternoon. Let me tell you this is one of the most unorganized countries there are. No one knows what the other is doing. All we can do is continue praying and trying to do all we can.

Preaching in Salinas

2011-11-28T10:11:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we had the privilege of going to preach in an isolated territory. Salinas, Bolivia it is located in a National Preserve. It took us about 2 hours to get there by car. A brother from Tarija and 4 others came for the weekend to help us. We had a wonderful time. Cooking together, sharing experiences and cramming 14 people in one car. At one point I was in so much pain I started to cry. I felt bad, but the brother stopped the car and Justin massaged the blood back into my sore leg. Justin and 2 other brothers sat on top of car. A brother and sister that live out there made lunch for everyone. They do not get to come to the meetings often because they live so far and do not have a car. It cost them $40 or so to drive home from the meetings. Which is a lot anywhere, but especially here. We had great experiences. Justin and I both started a study. We are going to go back twice or more a month to study with them. We also found deaf ones and talked to them about God and shared the Simple version of the brochure Listen to God with them. They were so happy to talk to someone. They loved talking about Jehovah. All in all it was a great day. The sun baked down on us, but we knew Jehovah was keeping us going.

As you can see there is no really good road there. It is just a lot of rock and dirt.

Our new meeting sign. I bet we are the only ones with a picture on ours. :)

Taking a break under the rare tree. Looks like something in Africa!

Enjoying a rest moment.

My new study, Vilma and I. She was so happy to study. She had the book already and read half of it but did not understand it all.

Justin with Willy on top of the truck.

Most of our group. There were 14 in all.

Going home. 3 on top, 11 inside.

Justin Washing Dishes

2011-11-24T11:48:00.001-05:00

Here is how Justin washes dishes now. First in the States we had a dishwasher, then in Tarija we had an indoor sink and now we have an outdoor sink. We dry our dishes in the sun because it is so easy and quick.

Special Assembly Day

2011-11-23T16:41:00.001-05:00

So this past Sunday was our Special Assembly Day. We took a taxi trufi back to Tarija at 4am Friday morning. We stayed with the Marsdens, got some much needed supplies and dealt with some issues with immigration. Had a very nice weekend. Sunday was so encouraging. We had 4 from Entre Rios baptized. That is 1/3 of our group now. The entire family we are living with were baptized and a young brother in our hall. On Monday Justin played golf with the guys and I went to lunch and shopping with Reenie and Janice. (Thank you so much I had a great time!)

Half of our Group.

Baptism pool. There was so little water in it, I was surprised they could baptize someone.

Leah after her baptism. 12 years old.

Olefa about to be baptized.

Very happy afterwards.

Kevin. 9 years old. Comes to the meetings by himself.

Leonardo a brother we know from Tarija that got baptized.

Wilbur after his baptism.

After the assembly we went with Leo, his family, Juan and the Marsdens to Eli's for pizza.

Working Hard

2011-11-17T11:59:00.001-05:00

One of the things that has made the biggest impact on me since moving here is how hard people. We take some many things for granted in developed countries such as cars, dish washers, washing machines and a doodad or device for pretty much everything.

Living here, our kitchen consists of a room. When we wash dishes, it's all done outside. When we need to use the restroom in the middle of the night, we have to go outside in the elements. We're adjusting slowly but it's like going back in time. Tarija over the past year was a big change from the US but will still very modern in comparison to Entre Rios.

Just last week, Stephanie was doing a load of laundry in the washer we brought with us from Tarija. The sister who lives next to us (who along with her husband is getting baptized this weekend) was amazed that we had a machine to wash our clothes as opposed to doing it all by hand. When the carpenter came by to do our screens he was also amazed by this "contraption". We offered to let the sister use it whenever she would like and even though she was initially nervous, she has done a few loads with the help of Stephanie. It has also freed up time for her to be able to join us in the ministry one day extra each week.

Another example occurred yesterday. We went to a brother's house for lunch. Afterwards he was going to make a salsa that everyone here loves. You would think that he would dump the ingredients in a blender and be good to go..... well not here! He mixed the entire batch with a giant rock. What's interesting is this isn't an isolated case or way of doing things. Apparently there is a word for a stone like this; So when searching for your own rock to crush and mix ingredients, you'll be sure to get the right thing.

There are many more examples, these are just a few. It really helps put things in perspective doesn't it?

Linaza a Summer Treat

2011-11-12T13:07:00.001-05:00

So I know most of my friends that read our blog live in the Northern Hemisphere and are currently dealing with the fun of winter. But for all my friends in the Southern Hemisphere I have a recipe here for a refreshing drink made of Flax Seed and Lemon. I think I drink this everyday here. It is so good. Like a watered down lemonade. Flax seed also has a lot of good benefits for your health. Here is part of an article I found on some benefits (Just if you wanted to know.):

"Flax seed benefits have been gaining popularity over recent years because over 50% of the fat in flax seed is omega 3 fatty acid, making it the richest plant source of omega 3, in addition to many other interesting “bonuses”.... Many nutritionists recommend the regular consumption because of all the flax seeds benefit which have been shown to prevent or reduce the symptoms of arthritis, colitis, cancer , heart disease and even acne. The oil contained in the seeds is also a known natural estrogen balancer that if used regularly can help prevent and reduce symptoms that arise during menopause. It’s also a great source of fiber which can help especially in relieving constipation."

Recipe for Linaza (Spanish for Flax Seed)
1/2 cup of ground flaxseed
1 lemon
1 cup of sugar or less if you want
a blender
a sieve
a pitcher
water

Flax seed in whole form.

Ground flax seed.. Put about 1/2 cup of ground flax seed and a pint of water in a blender.

Blend well. About 2 minutes.

While the flax seed is blending. Cut up a lemon in small pieces.

Put the lemon in the blender. Pulse for a few seconds.

Use a sieve to pour the linaza in a pitcher.

Add water.

Oh yeah, add a cup of sugar. Sugar makes everything better.

Add all that sugar to the mixture.

Add the rest of the water and stir well.

And that is it. You have a tasty, refreshing drink for summer.

A View of Around Town

2011-11-10T11:18:00.000-05:00

While in service this morning Justin took video of the surrounding area. It was raining out so it is a little blurry.

Meeting Time!

2011-11-09T20:16:00.001-05:00

So today we went to our first Book Study/Ministry School/Service Meeting meeting here in Entre Rios. We now meet in a small room upstairs from a store that sells bags of concrete. It is small for our growing group and I am sure we will find a bigger place soon. We had a couple that lives an hour and a half away come tonight. They made quite an effort to make the meeting. It was especially hot and humid today as well. We have a fan in the room, but that does barely anything. You just sweat the whole time while sitting on very upright wooden chairs. It is uncomfortable, but you are so happy to see all the effort our little group puts forth in order to have a full meeting. Justin had the Bible Highlights today and I was a householder for the second part. Many more talks to come in the future.

Our room where the meetings are held.

Justin giving the Bible Highlights.

Going to Edmundo's

2011-11-07T18:28:00.001-05:00

Today we went to go see a brother, Edmundo, that lives up in the mountains. He lives there with his wife. It is a 45 minute walk up the mountains. He has a wonderful view of the city and was nice enough to let us ride his horse. I really enjoyed that. He showed us around the mountain a little and showed us where the two rivers meet to actually make Entre Rios. At the end Edmundo told us that he was the only witness with his wife in Entre Rios for 3 years. He said they never got new literature and he felt very isolated from the organization. We told him he won't feel like that again.

Entre Rios. That is the whole pueblo.

Getting on the horse.

Riding around the yard.

Justin got on as well. He looked huge on the horse.

After we got off the horse. I think he was happy we were off. LOL

To the east of Entre Rios. The farmland.

Me, Justin and Edmundo. Brandon took the picture for us.

Our Entre Rios Move Nov. 1st - Nov. 4th

2011-11-07T10:14:00.002-05:00

So we are finally here in Entre Rios. It was a lot of work packing, moving, and fixing up the house. But we are finally done...somewhat. When we arrived the house was a disaster. The pictures do not even demonstrate how bad it really was. There was so many things on the walls and floors we could not identify. But after 4 days of cleaning, painting, cleaning and scrubbing it is now comfortable enough to live in. There are still a few fixes needed...like screens in the windows, doors need fixed, window put in the bathroom (only a sheet is there now) and a wall fixed for leaks. But at least it is clean and we feel comfortable. Bella is doing great. She loves all the space, but I think she misses running up the poles in our other place. We went in service yesterday and had a great day. I have a possibility for 3 studies. We had such a nice time. The group here is so nice and really helpful. I think we are going to love it here.

Hoagie sad that we are moving

Gabriel helping us pack up the truck for the 1st load of furniture.

The 1st truck loaded and ready to go.

Driving through the mountains to our new home.

We had to back up so this truck could pass.


Bella was not happy, but was quiet and good the entire 3 hours.


When we first got in the house. Our soon to be kitchen.


Cleaning the tape off the walls and scrapping the old paint off.

Before: The living room.

Before: The guest room.

Before: One of the windows.

Before: Our Room.

Before: The Kitchen

Before: The guest room.

Slowly getting fixed.

Our makeshift kitchen for 3 days.

Workers painting the rooms.

We were told the electricity never goes out here. Guess it does.

Lite some candles for light.

Bella sleeping by candlelight.

Scrubbing the paint off the floors in our room.

Kitchen is almost done.


After: Our living room.

After: Our bedroom.

After: Our kitchen.

After many times scrubbing it. Our Bathroom.

Preaching after a few days of fixing up the house.

Tarija Going Away Party

2011-10-30T21:07:00.000-04:00

It seems like just yesterday that we arrived to Tarija Bolivia unsure and excited about what lay ahead and now one year later we find ourselves in the same situation. As was posted previously, we are moving to a remote area called Entre Rios, so our congregation here in Tarija who we've gotten really close to and created great memories with threw us a going away party last night. It was a really stormy evening and most of the brothers and sisters don't have a vehicle but they came anyway. It really warmed our hearts to see the love of the brothers and sisters here and it reminded us of how close we have become. This time around instead of doing traditional Tarija dances like they did for our welcome party, the kids did a traditional dance from the area that we're moving to. A lot of effort was put into last night from the dance to the food to the music and it showed. It's bittersweet for us to be leaving but we'll never forget our first year in Bolivia that we've shared with our family in the congregation Sur.

The Kids After Dancing

More Dancing!

Resting With Bob & Reenie

Steph With The Girls (They adore her)

Pioneer School

2011-10-16T10:38:00.002-04:00

These past two weeks have been incredible. Many of my friends and Stephanie have had the privilege of going to Pioneer Service School so I was very grateful to get my shot. At the end everyone was crying, the organization is truly wonderful offering us so much education. Now that the school is over I can help Steph as we prepare for our new assignment.

Pioneer School Picture

Stephanie and I the day our congregation had hospitality

WE HAVE NEWS!!

2011-10-09T12:26:00.001-04:00

So last week while Justin was in Pioneer School our Circuit Overseer pulled him aside and asked if we would like to serve were the need was really great. He said he had prayed about it and thought we would be the best choice. That made me feel awesome. So Justin called me and immediately I said sure. So we met with the C.O and talked about what would be needed there and how we can help. We decided to go and visit it this weekend. The city is Entre Rios, Bolivia. You get there by bus(4 hours) or taxi(3 hours). Even though it looks super close on the map the road is the bumpiest, curviest road ever. Think of the most curviest road in the world and this is definitely worse. But the closer you get to Entre Rios the more beautiful it is. It is surprisingly greener and super tiny. It is a bit of a culture shock how little it is. So yesterday we started looking for places to rent. We walked up and down the streets asking people about places to rent. We found one and called the number posted on the door. She said she would visit us at 2pm. Well that ended up being 3:15pm. When we went inside it was super dirty and nasty. They were asking a really high price for it as well. But since it was the only place there we said we would try to live there. But we were still a little uncomfortable with it. So after much prayer we went to the meeting. It was held in the back of some house under a tin roof. We had about 12 chairs and all were full. We sang songs with a boombox accompanying us. The meeting went really well. There was one elder and one ministerial servant. After the meeting we met the new ones and the ones studying. While talking to one family, they said they had a place to rent. We got really excited. They said we could come that night to see it. So we went with them. Turned out that it was the house behind the other house we were thinking of getting. It is really big, for what we are use too. It was not the cleanest and some one was living in it. But they said they are moving out in a week so we can have it. He is going to repaint everything and clean it really good. I know the pics look scary, but it is not that bad. We can even get internet in the house and the study knows someone who can help us move all of our furniture. It was an answer to our prayers. After that we returned to our "hotel", it was really a hostel. The whole night we were sweating and listening to everything going on outside. It was a real experience. But we survived our first night and are ready for many more.

Our living room

Our dining room, Bedroom has blue sheet on it.

Our Kitchen

Our Kitchen, no sink, it's outdoors

Only plaza in town

Our "Hotel"

Pam, Willey and Justin. They came this past May and he is the only elder here.

Our temporary Kingdom Hall. There is not enough publishers for Kingdom Hall.

Our Room in the "Hotel"

Great Day!

2011-09-25T19:13:00.002-04:00

This morning we went to the meeting as usual. Greeted a family of five at the hall. Later on Justin asked them if they were studying with someone and they said no. So he asked if they would like to, and they said yes. During the meeting I sat with them and helped them to find the scriptures and with their 3 young boys. They are the most sweetest family I think I have ever met. So later on today at 4pm we went to their house to study, because Sunday was the only day they are all at home. Had a great study. They had a really old Bible Teach book and we asked them where they got it from. They have had it for 5 years. They got it when they lived in Santa Cruz and no one has ever studied with them. They are so enthusiastic and ready to learn, even their little ones. At the end, I gave them the Bible Stories Book to read to their children before bed. The father said he had that when he was a kid, but it was the big yellow one. We asked if his family were witnesses and he said no, but his grandmother had it and use to read it to them. Jehovah always finds a way to find the ones who love him. Afterwards I had a study with a young girl about 9 years old, Alena. She is amazing. So eager to learn and really does listen to my questions and when she doesn't understand something she will make sure I explain it to her. So even though I can barely keep my eyes open right now, I am bursting with happiness. Jehovah is so kind to let us teach others about Him from the Bible.

Studying with Alena

Flowers Once Again

2011-09-24T12:36:00.000-04:00

So I planted some more flowers in our planters. Azaleas this time. Let me see if I can keep these alive. :)

Turkey Lunch

2011-09-22T19:15:00.001-04:00

So I went on Friday and picked up our turkey. Thank goodness the lady that sold it to me understood me perfectly. It was dead, plucked and no head or feet. I was so happy. It was a bit on the skinny side. But that is o.k, it fed everyone well. Here are some pictures from our Turkey Lunch. We had all the traditional food. Mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, steamed veggies, and of course stuffing. MMMMMmmm! We had a fun time playing Catch Phrase afterwards. We were laughing so hard. Had a great time with great friends.

Two of our great cooks.

Our skinny turkey. Made by yours truly. :)

Filling those plates full.

Russell chowing down on a turkey leg.

Our lunch group.

District Convention - Venga Tu Reino

2011-09-11T20:23:00.000-04:00

So this past weekend was our 2011 district convention. We really had a nice time. One of Justin's studies came Saturday morning and all-day Sunday. We were so happy. He said he really liked the food I made too...always a plus. On Saturday was the baptism. Jordi (from the 1st Bolivia movie) was baptized along with 42 others. Justin's study looked down at his clothes and said that he wish he could be baptized, but doesn't have the right clothing. We were so excited to hear him say that. He really enjoyed the meetings. On Sunday morning a gentleman came up to Justin and asked him what he needs to do to be part of God's Kingdom. Justin explained it to him that he needs to thoroughly study the Bible. We found someone that works that territory and he will study the Bible with him. We had a very sad thing also occur at the assembly. The brothers on the platform say do not buy things on the other side of the street because you could get hit by a speeding car. Well on Saturday a disfellowshiped man did just that and was killed by a car. This is the second time in 2 years. But back to happy things we got some pics from this weekend to share.

Daisy and her family. Sabina is her sister. Daisy's husband is studying. And her oldest son was in the 1st Bolivia video studying with Jordi.

Eustakio (Justin's Study) and Jesus (MariCarmen's dad)

Jordi getting baptized.

Mika with her new dress on that we bought her.

Bob Marsden as Jacob in Sunday's drama.

Mika and Justin

Mika and me. We just adore her.

Rosa and I. She goes to dialysis twice a week and is still happy. We have a schedule to help her after her treatment.

Me and some girls from our congregation. They wanted to take this picture so bad, but continually would not smile.

Justin and I.

New Insect Friend

2011-09-05T21:24:00.000-04:00

I only thought spiders could make me squirm, until our neighbors dog found this outside. I looked up what kind it was and it is a Scolopendra gigantea. As I was looking up info on it I found this out "It is also known to prey on tarantulas." Guess I know what happened to our tarantula friend. I seriously don't know if I can sleep tonight. Oh how I do love Bolivia's wildlife. (sarcasm at its best)

Fire Nearby

2011-09-04T18:34:00.001-04:00

Justin and I had a very interesting day. We got caught in a huge fire. So I grabbed my camera and Justin his flip flops and we ran out to see what was going on. As we got closer we saw the over 20 acres of brush had been burned down. As we talked to the people in the area they said they think that it was a spark because it is so dry that it just overtook everything. We were worried because there was a neighborhood only 3 yards away from the fire. Some neighborhoods did have small amounts of damage. Off I went into the flames to take some pictures. After awhile we went back to the very first place I took photos. There was only a few people there and some huge flames. So we waited and out of the smoke came a fire truck. Justin jumped into action and helped the fireman with the hose. I think he really enjoyed it. We spent almost 3 hours helping out and me taking pictures. It was so big. I got some amazing photos on top of the airport of the planes taking off before the flames jumped to the other side. 400+ photos.

Watering her side so the flames don't hit it.

The beginning.

Charred remains of a tree.

Aftermath.

The road for the firemen.

The beginning. How the streets looked.

Neighbors filling buckets to help the firemen.

The army running to fill buckets of water.

The airports firetruck.

Plane coming in.

Plane taking off.

Justin (6th person) helping the fireman.

Taking out the fire.

Aftermath.

Children in the Ministry

2011-09-03T22:34:00.000-04:00

The great thing about Bolivia is that you can preach to anyone. Police officers, priests, older ones, and children. That is what Justin and I really enjoy. Children are so respectful and love to listen to you read from the Bible. Justin met these two boys in service. The smaller of the two was so ready to run to his house and bring us his Bible. It was so nice to see how excited he was about it. The two at the bottom were standing near by...so cute.

Reading a scripture.

Two boys listening intently.

Two little ones near by.

Beginning of the Service Year

2011-09-01T21:23:00.001-04:00

2nd Year of Full-Time Service Together!

So today marked the beginning of the service year. Justin and I went out in service and took our first of the year photo together. Now we have 2 years in a row. I hope this happens for many to come. :) We had good support today and many more joined us later on in service. We put in a good long day to start the year off good.

If you notice it is not a dog nearest the door it is a goat.

Our service group this morning. This was just the beginning many more joined later.

Folding Saltenas

2011-08-31T14:11:00.001-04:00

So today we went to Sabina's stand to pick up some saltenas. She was sold out quick today, by 11am. She tried to show me how to fold them correctly here is me failing. During my lesson a man comes up to us begging for food, since there was only scraps left Sabina gave him those. She is amazing. She is going into surgery today at 7pm for a problem with her feet. It is amazing that she was out there still working even though should would be going to surgery tonight. I am glad she sold out early so she can go home and rest a little. She gave me the rest of her tortillas to practice my saltena folding. I will let you know how that goes. :)

Newsletter Time

2011-08-30T16:52:00.001-04:00

So finally I got to send out my monthly newsletter. It was not the most exciting. Hopefully this next month is a lot more exciting. Tomorrow is the last day of the service year. Justin's 1 year of pioneering will be complete and it will be my 3rd. I can not believe how fast it all went. If anyone is interested in the newsletter email me your email. It has a little bit more info and kinda sums up our month.

On a side note:The other day I decided to change my hair color to blonde. It kinda came out blonde, but I think it is more gold-like. I really like it and it allows me to go blonde slowly. Next time maybe blonder. :)

Quick Shoe Shine

2011-08-22T19:02:00.000-04:00

After the meeting on Sunday I finally got my dirty ole boots cleaned. It cost me a dollar and they shine like new now.

Where Did the Cold Come From?!

2011-08-21T18:04:00.000-04:00

While Steph and I were in the U.S. the friends here said that the weather has been beautiful. We've been averaging upper 70's to 80 during the day (and this is our winter) After a day of being back in Bolivia, everyone told us the cold was coming, well they were right. The past few days, the temperature has been hitting freezing when just a few days earlier it was 80. It's supposed to only last one more day which is good since houses here don't have heat. Here's a photo that we took in service this afternoon from our neighborhood of the mountains with snow on them in the distance. The mountains look beautiful with the snow but everyone is definitely ready for the warmth again.

Finally Home!!

2011-08-20T18:57:00.000-04:00

Had a 5 week vacation in the U.S. It was so nice and we had the chance to see many of our friends. At the end we really started missing Bolivia. We are glad to be home with our little kitty. When we arrived in Tarija not all of our luggage arrived. The airline did not send all 3 bags just 2. So my bag with all my clothing is still sitting in Santa Cruz. 3 times they said it would be on another plane, but still has not come. We really hope it does soon or I have to go clothes shopping again. Wait should I be sad or glad. LOL I hope we get it because it has a lot of spices, games, and gifts for ones in it. Hopefully tomorrow.

Since I have been home I have been on a cooking frenzy. I made my red sauce, chicken broth, beef broth, tacos, orange bundt cake, orange frosting, and whatever else I can. I missed cooking a lot. I think Justin is enjoying it. Well that is all for now. Just to wait for my clothes.

Cedar Point

2011-08-01T13:25:00.000-04:00

Well I guess you can figure out where we went while here in Ohio. Cedar Point! It was a lot of fun and I did some roller coasters I thought I would not do. Had a blast. This past weekend we had the district convention in Cleveland Ohio. It was so amazing and encouraging. I took some photos but the ones of us came out bad. I have a very strange smile on my face.

The Raptor

The Mean Streak it rattles your brain.

The Top Thrill Dragster SOOOO HIGH!

The States - Week One

2011-07-19T23:09:00.000-04:00

So far this has been an awesome trip. I can not believe how much we have crammed in in one week. We are currently in Knoxville, TN. We are going to Ohio on Thursday morning. Justin gave a talk this past Sunday it was a new one he just wrote up. Afterwards the brothers and sisters had a small get together for us. It was really nice and the food was great. Then we went to Cades Cove and rented a Yellow Camaro 2011. It was awesome. So obviously after that we had to go watch Transformers. Made me want to drive some more. :D Had a great week, looking forward to Ohio. Here are some highlights of the week.

Downtown Knoxville hanging out with Nelly.

Margaritas with Kerry.

Jared making popcorn with his new popcorn maker.

Brody playing on the pool table.

Justin's first McGriddle. I think he is happy.

The Camaro we rented.

Nelly and I in the front. Loving Cades Cove and the car.

A Day in the Dust

2011-07-11T11:02:00.000-04:00

The other day we had a severe dust storm. Here are some photos in the summer and winter. It does not look that bad in reality it hurt to be outside.

Summer - No Dust Storms

Winter Sand Storm - Cold and Dusty

Feeding the Elders

2011-07-10T19:50:00.000-04:00

On Thursday our congregation had the privileged of feeding the elders in the elders school. I went to Reenie's house at 8am and we started cooking. We had a few sisters come join us and help. Had a great time. We made Shepard's pie, tomato salad and fruit salad. We also picked up some pineapple drink from a sister's house. This is how she made it:
The outside of the pineapple, with a little cinnamon, she boiled in water for 30 minutes with the lid on. Then she let it cool with the lid on for the flavor to stay inside. (Best to let it cool over night, it becomes really golden). Added a little sugar and you have a sweet drink that is supposedly very good for you.

Anyways then we went to another sister's house to pick up the bread. She makes bread every morning, starting at 4:30 am and bakes it so it is fresh to sell to the local stores here. Usually every piece goes for about 1 Boliviano (0.14 cents) and that is when it is sold from the store. She makes enough to fill the back of her car. Her husband goes out and sells it to the local stores. Well on Thursday she made extra for the elders. They enjoyed having warm bread with their meal very much. Many had seconds of everything. I really enjoyed it a lot. And the sisters were glad to have Justin there to pick everything up.

The bread oven and her bread she made to sell.

Daisy ready to put the bread for the elders in a basket for us.

Found an Old Man in a Tree

2011-06-30T12:41:00.001-04:00

So today in service we found this old man sitting in a tree chopping the limbs off with a machete. We asked to take his picture and he was very willing to have his picture taken. He had to be around 80 years old sitting in this high tree. It was quite amazing and comical at the same time.

Fair Time

2011-06-26T12:03:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I went with girls from our hall to the fair that is currently going on during winter here in Tarija. I was worried at first because the rides did not look too safe. But I figured if the girls do it so can I. I still was careful with a few rides :D. There were 8 rides, 3 games, and some fair food. Had a great time. It was super cold and I was not dressed warm enough. I did not expect to be playing outside. The girls did not tell me where we were going. Here are a few photos of our day.

On the bumper cars.

At the Viking ship.

Coming off the viking ship


On the viking ship.

Service with Our Chica

2011-06-24T22:33:00.000-04:00

So this afternoon no one showed up, except for this young sister about 9 years old in our hall. Yesterday and today she accompanied us in service. She is really been enjoying it and loves riding on the moped with us. We stick her between us. We must be a sight. A Bible Study's daughter asked me if she was my daughter. I laughed a little because Darian is so dark and I am so white. She is the sweetest little girl and she likes to hold our hands while preaching. We enjoy her company and believe she will turn out to be quite the little preacher.

This is where Darian lives. It is very hard to drive the moped to her house. But we did it. She walks with her 2 sisters and mother to all the meetings and service. And is always on time.

Justin, Darian and I

Justin's study's dog had 9 puppies 2 weeks ago. They were sooooo sweet.

Sometimes You Have to Look the Other Way...

2011-06-23T12:49:00.000-04:00

That is exactly what I had to do to enter my house about 2 months ago. I forgot I had these pictures of a giant spider that was sitting outside our door to the house a week before my trip. I had to look the other way and run inside. I was so scared it would come in. Come to find out it was a baby Tarantula. Just a baby... and it was the size of my hand. We have not seen it the past two months so far so good. I heard you spray them with hairspray and they freeze up then you can kill them or throw them somewhere. I think I would need a shotgun to shoot an adult one. I have never seen one in the wild before. All I could think was run and do not provoke it or it will chase me. LOL Well sometimes you have to deal with things like this, but they are so few and far between that they make great stories. :) Oh and Justin took the photos because I was inside trying to fill in the cracks so it could not enter. :D

One Seriously BIG Pizza

2011-06-20T19:23:00.000-04:00

So the other night we decided to buy the biggest pizza you could here. It is said to be able to feed 12-16 people. We had a total of 4. LOL Needless to say we had leftovers.

Micka modeling our Super Pizza for us.

Our Super Pizza was so big our island in the kitchen was almost too small.

Cherimoya Fruit

2011-06-18T14:25:00.000-04:00

So the other day a sister was telling me about a Cherimoya Fruit. She said it was a sweet fruit with white insides, lots of seed, and was green and bumby. So today I went to the market and picked up a few. I tried one for lunch. It was semi-sweet with lots of seeds. It did not have to much of a flavor though so I really do not know how to describe the taste. I guess you will have to come and try one for yourself. :)

Justin's First Public Talk in Bolivia

2011-06-12T20:30:00.004-04:00

Well the title says it all. Today was Justin's first public talk here in Bolivia. He did awesome. His Spanish has improved so much from when he first gave this talk. I was so proud. I also got to wear my Dirndl. It was a hit. After the meeting Justin had lots of brothers and sisters tell him how good of a job he did. One sister who has a 11 year old mentally challenged child came up and told him she was so encouraged with his talk. We talked with her for about 30 minutes. You never realize what people are dealing with in their personal lives. You realize how much you impact ones just by example. I am glad we talked to her, because now I know she does not mind having help with her child. So maybe I can help during the meetings, because he tends to yell out things when he gets a bored. Anyways....Justin did great. A Sr. Sabina came with her daughter to see Justin's talk also. She is the sister we go to every Thursday for empanadas. Her experience and what she has dealt with is in the 9/1/2009 Watchtower under "A Letter From Bolivia Happy and Hopeful Despite Poverty". I just finished reading it, very encouraging.

Justin, Me, Sabina and her daughter Milena (click on photo to enlarge)

Then after we were invited to go eat at a small restaurant/ house for lunch. It was really good we had Sopa de Mani (Peanut Soup eaten every Sunday) and Saice. {The links are recipes to these dishes if you want to try them}

Sopa de Mani

Saice

Then I took a nap and we went in service. Had a great time in service. A young publisher asked me to go on a call with him and we started a study with her. It is so great to see the progress the young ones make. He is such a great teacher and is only 15 yrs. old. I was very surprised and impressed with his love and emotion with which he taught.

That's Leonardo and I in the distance. (click on photo to enlarge)

Then Justin and I went to a brother's house to help him with his heater. He is in his 80's and live in a room the size of our bathroom. And you all know how small that is. It did not work so we brought him a spare we had. We still had to MacGyver it a bit, because it would not worked right in the outlet. Oh and there is one outlet with one place to put a plug in in the whole place. But hey we live in Bolivia everything is MacGyvered. He was so happy, because he has not had heat this whole time.

MacGyvering an outlet. Justin is almost standing on his bed in this picture.

That is about all for today. Tomorrow is very busy because it is our only free day this week because we have the overseers visit.

Trip to Germany

2011-06-07T16:43:00.002-04:00

So as many of you know, I was in Germany and the States this past month. I was able to visit my family, buy what I needed for Bolivia and have a great time with my mom in Germany. Here are a few of the 1000 plus pictures I have.

Where we stayed in Amberg, Germany. The pink house the bottom floor.

City Hall in Amberg, Germany.

Market Plaza in Amberg, Germany.

The Church in the middle of Amberg, Germany.

We stayed on the left side for 3 days at the beginning of our trip.

On a hike I found this snail.

Waiting for the train.

Some flowers in Regensburg, Germany.

Ancient Roman Ruins in Regensburg, Germany.

David and Goliath painted on a building.

Where we ate lunch at in Regensburg, Germany.

Drinking a beer in Regensburg, Germany.

Waiting for a train with my grandfather.

A 17 mile round-trip hike we went on. This was the easy part.

The beer garden we hiked to.

My grandfather loving his lunch.

A palace in Wurzburg, Germany.

Passau, Germany where my mother was born.

Mom and her brother, Gunther.

Eating out on the top of the hill in Amberg, Germany.

Gunther, my grandmother and mom.

My Dad playing with the dogs.

My nephews Matthew and Jacob being silly during lunch at the convention.

Crystal and I.

Had a wonderful trip. But I am glad to be home. Missed Bolivia and Justin so much.

Cooking in the Dark

2011-04-28T20:08:00.000-04:00

Well as usual the electricty went out. It happens about once a week, not too bad. But it happened at sunset as I was cooking. At least I have a gas stove so I did not have to worry. :)

Humitas for Dinner

2011-04-26T18:38:00.000-04:00

So as we were filling up our gas tank this evening, we noticed a woman by sitting by herself with a huge pot in front of her. So we figured we would see what she was selling. We found a delicious treat inside that huge pot. Humitas! Also known as tamales, but here in Bolivia they are called humitas. We bought 4 for $1.07 and brought them home. We bought two that were steamed and the other two were made in a pachamanca oven. They are filled with corn and cheese. Very good and sweet. Filling and cheap. I never get sick of the traditional food here. They can make some of the tastiest food with just a few things and spices. We are starting to notice a lot more women selling humitas in the street. Life is good here. :)

Bella's Surgery

2011-04-25T15:50:00.000-04:00

So Justin and I took Bella (our cat) to the vet this morning at 8am. We decided to have her spayed since there are way to many cats here and I do not want to have a litter of kittens on my hands. So we took her in. The vet came in after we were there. She said "I knew you would be on time." LOL So many are not here. Anyways she gave Bella a shot and in less than 30 seconds she was out. Told us to return in 2 hours to get her. We did she was still waking up and as drunk as a sailor from the meds. Paid a total of $50 for everything. Which I would pay again if it meant no kittens. The vet did an amazing job, sutures look great, gave her an I.V of fluids, x-rays, the works. Now we are taking care of her, she is super drunk from the meds still, but doing fine. I have to take her in tomorrow and Wednesday for some antibiotics they put on the wound. All for that one price. I love the prices here in Bolivia.

Bella in the sun after her surgery. No she is not dead. Though it does look that way.

Bella waking up from her surgery.

Just Wanted to Post

2011-04-22T20:54:00.000-04:00

Justin took this today of me. Had to post it. I think it is one of my better shots. :D

Another Day in the Campo

2011-04-22T18:02:00.001-04:00

Another long day is service today. We worked some country territory again this week. Had an amazing time. I worked with two young sisters. So sweet. They held my hand and the younger kept burying her head into my stomach and I would brush her hair. It was so sweet. I thank Jehovah so much for letting the ones here treat us like their family. It makes it easier. She would even hold Justin's hand. For a moment we felt what it was like to have a child. Anyways...had a great day. The girls loved taking photos with my camera, it amazes them. Here are some photos I caught today in service.

A Mantis we found in service. Br. Roca so kindly modeled for me.

A house made out of plastic bottles filled with sand. Needless to say it was not complete.

Grape leaves dying. Grape season is over here.

Daria with a horse we found walking in the vineyard.

Vineyards in the Fall.

Jaclyn was my service partner with her little sister, Daria, below today also.

Daria in the back of the truck as we were driving to the new territory.

Our group driving to a remote area of territory. I (Steph) found a great call. Wish we did this territory more she was so nice. (Side Note: When you pay a toll to come out here they ask you to put your seat belts on, but don't care if you have 10 people in the back of your truck. LOL

Justin playing with Daria. All day long they were hitting each other with this sticker plant.

Yolanda and her girls (Jaclyn and Daria)walking home. We drove them as far as possible, but the truck would not go further. They walk sooooo far every meeting and service. A sister with her 3 girls. They are usually the earliest at each meeting and service. What a great example for us.

Robbed at the Market....Almost

2011-04-20T16:56:00.000-04:00

Today I had a great day at the American Clothing Market. It happens ever Wednesday during the whole day. They sell all the unsellable stuff from Goodwill, Kohl's and other department stores. I went with Janice and we shopped 'till we dropped. We both brought a backpack and filled it up completely. And yes I found a Genuine Burberrry Cosmetic bag. The cost....$1.25. Seriously awesome. They don't know what that is here so they sold it super cheap because of the size. :D Anyways when we were shopping I had put my phone in my pocket because I had been texting some friends and a guy tried to steal it from me. I felt his hand go into my pocket and everything. I turned around he didn't even have time to put it away. I grabbed his hand and struggled with him for a moment. Then I got it out of his hand. He walked away nonchalantly, like nothing happened. I was more surprised by his lack of fear then his brazen try at stealing something. He was the worst pick pocket ever. I scratched his hands so bad I bent my nails back, now they hurt. What is worse the ladies selling around us saw him watching us and trying to find something to steal and said nothing until after. Some help they were. Well that was my thrilling event for the day. I am happy with my deals I got and the beautiful clothing. :)

Monday at the Market

2011-04-18T18:58:00.002-04:00

Today I took a lot of video at our HUGE farmer's market. I took a lot of video, but was not able to post it all due to the huge size. So here is a clip of one of the videos. Sorry it is not clear or stable, the ground is not the flattest. :) This is just a very small part of the market. You can buy absolutely anything here.

Preaching in Calamuchita

2011-04-15T17:59:00.014-04:00

So about 30 -45 minutes from Tarija we have a small town called Calamuchita. It is a part of our territory that we rarely get to go to, since no one really has a car to go to it. Today we made a special day of service here and had a great time. We brought our lunch and ate all together ad Br. and Sr. Michel's house. Here are some photos from today.

Yes this kid does have a machete.

Bones from two unfortunate pigs.

Two young sisters in our hall preaching. They are amazing. They were writing down their spiritual goals in service and showing them to us. What initiative.

The before shots are funny. He did not was to smile until I told him he was a good model. LOL Then I could not get him to stop smiling.

Sister Michel's Pig. He was eating and so happy.

Sr. Michel's Goat. Very regal.

A flower at Sr. Michel's house, she did not know the name. But how beautiful.

Two sisters from our congregation. The one on the right "Dominga" is in her late 80's.

This was only part of our group. We had over 50 in service.

Women here carry their kids on their backs until they are 4 or so.

Me, Gabby, Giovanna in service.

Anna and her sister Daria. They preached the whole day and never complained once.

Some views of the area.

Invitation Work

2011-04-13T11:36:00.005-04:00

Finally after a week of having a cold, I (Stephanie) was able to go in service today. I was feeling so down not being able to go. Had a good day today. Lots of people said they would come, some even shook our hands and thanked us. What a far cry from what I am use too. We did have a few turn us down, but the others made us feel so good.

Found a lady who sold turkeys. She wanted us to buy one. At least we know where to go get one if we want one. The only problem is that they were still alive. I might have to get some help with that if I get one. :(

So I bought a Jasmine the other day. Well about 2 weeks ago now. And it is actually surviving. I have not killed it yet. Anyone who know me, knows I kill every plant I come in contact with. I can kill Bamboo. So I am so excited that this is a new bloom on my Jasmine. I just hope it can survive Justin taking care of it while I am in Germany. :)

Marathon on the Streets of Tarija

2011-04-10T15:21:00.000-04:00

Steph was sick this morning so I was running a little later than usual going to the meeting. I still had plenty of time to spare until I ran into a traffic jam caused by a marathon. Instead of redirecting traffic around it, we had to wait for 3,000 people to run across the main road. Needless to say our meeting started late and our visiting speaker gave his talk after the consideration of the Watchtower Study. You never know what you're going to see here.

Salt Rock from Yacuiba Bolivia

2011-04-06T19:00:00.002-04:00

So while we were in service this morning doing the invitation work, we left an invitation with a gentleman who sells Salt Rock Lamps. So we decided to buy one from him. It is from the city of Yacuiba in Bolivia. I like it because it is natural and is suppose to help you feel relaxed. We will see. :)

Our Little Slice of Bolivian Heaven

2011-04-06T15:31:00.000-04:00

This month marks our 6 month anniversary of moving here to Bolivia. We finally decided that we'd take a quick video of our humble abode to share with our friends and family. Enjoy!

Bible Studies

2011-03-25T23:03:00.008-04:00

Today I took my new camera with me on one of Justin's Bible Studies. It is always important to ask here if you can take a picture of someone because the older generation can sometimes be supersticious, thinking a camera can steal there souls. So I asked Justin's study, Eustackio, if I could take a picture of him and his granddaughter. He said that was fine and asked to have a copy of the pictures. I thought the pictures came out very nice.
After that study we walked out to my two studies in the country. It was a long walk about 30 minutes in the hottest weather we have had all year. We had to stop half way a pick up a refreshing Coca-Cola. MMmmmm!This was our entertainment while we rested. He was entralled by us and stood at the tienda's gate watching us. He thought it was funny me taking all these pictures.
Here is a picture I took of "Martin" today after I had my study with Amparo. He was very interested in my camera and at one point grabbed it to lick it. LOL
The view from my study Glady's house. Amazing huh. Looks like snow on the mountains, but really it is the clouds. Looks like that everyday.

What a Month...

2011-03-24T17:43:00.002-04:00

Well this month has been going very well service wise. I have now a total of 6 regular studies; 1 coming to the meeting on Sunday, another right next door and says she wants to study more then once a week, one with a young girl in our congregation, one with a lady out in the far country with a monkey, one near her that is super sweet and shy, and my last with a young boy reading the Bible Story book together. Justin has also been doing great this month. He has 5 regular studies. He is now also in charge of taking the service groups out on Thursday morning and Friday night. The moto has really been a great help with us getting to and from studies this month. It is funny because on the dirt roads we go slow enough that I can put my umbrella up to protect us from the sun. Service has been super enjoyable this month. The weather is perfect with few rainy days.

At the beginning of this month I got super sick for a week from eating some cheese from the Market. I forgot to Bleach it and thus got something. Justin took great care of me (it was a good thing I couldn't eat, because he can't cook :)). He bought me meds from the pharmacy for $2.oo for 5 days of pills. It really helped a lot. That week I could not go in service at all so I had to do some letter writing. Since there are no mail boxes here I changed the letter up a little from the Benefit book so that it would be able to be used when I put it in a door. I was able to keep my time going with this.

Well that is really all for now. Oh and I got my new Nikon D3000 this month. Still figuring it out. Good pictures to come. :)

More Pig Fun!

2011-03-08T08:52:00.000-05:00

Recently we posted about a part of our territory that is just full of pigs. We were working close to that area again this past weekend as we heard pigs squealing at the top of their lungs. Here that could mean anything, the first thought that popped into Steph's mind was "oh my their cutting off their heads" and I concurred. After we realized what they were doing however, I decided it was safe to turn on the video. This was after the pigs calmed down a bit but you can see the wife and son helping the father collect the pigs in order to vaccinate them. These are the things that happen everywhere, just in Bolivia you get to see them first hand :) Enjoy!

P.S. My Spanish sounds super gringo and I'm sure I made some errors. I did get to leave him the latest magazines after he injects one of the pigs though. hehe

Vaccinating Pigs / La vacunación de los cerdos from Justin on Vimeo.

Preachin' In The Rain

2011-03-04T11:41:00.000-05:00

Since nobody has cars here, when it rains we have to suck it up and keep it moving. What's truly incredible is the support for ministry even in in-climate weather and the positive attitude of the younger ones in the congregation. Here's Steph with her service partner and my service partner (brother and sister) this morning.

Preaching in a seldom worked Pueblo

2011-03-02T15:45:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we had our first experience preaching in a seldom visited little pueblo called "La Angostura" The people who lived there were so welcoming and friendly. They pulled out chairs for us or invited us in. We went with some Missionary friends here and a need greater sister from Canada. After preaching all day we went to a local brother's vineyard here and picked our own grapes. Here's a few of the pictures from yesterdays excursion.

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Circuit Assembly

2011-02-28T11:29:00.001-05:00

This past weekend we had our Circuit Assembly and an outstanding Pioneer Meeting on Friday. The theme of the Assembly was "No Part Of The World" and it was packed full of great information and reminders, it also reminded us how important endurance is in this world as well.

We had 6 baptized, all sisters. Our District Overseer and his wife were also here, and Hermano Jahn gave such wonderful talks. We knew them previously from when we first came to visit Bolivia in May of 2010 and had the privilege of traveling back from the U.S. together. Here's a few pictures from over the weekend.

This is during cleaning on Friday night before the Assembly. The sisters here are cleaning and taping down the mats where the chairs will be set.

Steph and Bruce taking a break after lifting close to 1000 chairs.

Have you ever seen seat saving done like this? A trash bag tied between 2 chairs :)

Our District Overseer

The kids playing outside during lunch.

Our Circuit Overseer

After the Assembly we had to take down the sign, this is just a little more dangerous than what you normally see, especially when one of the brothers on the ledge is a Missionary :)

After the Assembly he had dinner with friends and went back to their place for Cappuccino Yum!

Preaching Amongst The Pigs

2011-02-20T19:35:00.000-05:00

This evening we worked a territory pretty close to our house. One of the things about Tarija is that you'll find categories of businesses all grouped together such us your meat markets on the same street or your barbers in the same area, even your funeral businesses all grouped together. I guess it's no different when it comes to the pigs. Tonight our territory was littered with pigs of all sizes and colors. We posted some of the photos below.

On a side note, a few weeks back Stephanie and I were witnessing to a little boy of about 7 years old. We find young kids home alone all the time and this was no different, so typically we like to show them God's name from the Bible. We did so and he was very appreciative. After we said our goodbyes to him and were walking to the next house we see this little boy running up the hill. He had gone back to his house and picked up 2 little candies (which are like gold here) and was running to give us each a little candy. What an appreciation! We told him we would bring him something in return, the Bible Stories Book. Well tonight we went back to visit him and his cousin was there probably in his early 20's. After explaining to him why we were there, he went and got the little boy, the little boy was so excited to get his book, that after I read the introduction to him, he immediately started reading it and asked his cousin if he could go inside to continue reading. We then started talking in more detail to the cousin after the little boy went back inside and offered him the Bible Teach Book. After a nice discussion, we are going back next week to study with the little boy in the Bible Story Book and the older cousin in the Bible Teach Book. It really warms your heart when you see young ones in the ministry with such an appreciation.

These pigs live next to a trash dump, can you guess where a lot of the trash is going?

I've never seen bigger pigs than these two.

The ground cracks a lot here, this is Steph walking over a crack in the middle of our way.

We had some strong rains yesterday, so these pigs are enjoying the cool mud.

Turkeys!

More pigs!

Piglets with their mama.

Another set of piglets with their mom.

Unique Paintjob

2011-02-17T19:52:00.000-05:00

Today as we were wrapping up morning service, a car stops and honks. As Steph and I are admiring the paint job we realize that the driver is one of my Bible Studies. If you've ever seen the movie Lilo and Stitch then you'll recognize the paint job on the car immediately. This is just another example of the new things you see everyday here in Bolivia :)

Week with the Moyas

2011-02-14T19:18:00.010-05:00

We had a great few days with our friends serving in Potosi, the Moyas. They arrived on Tuesday afternoon. We greeted them with a homemade sign to welcome them to Tarija.Poor Ginette got sick the next day. We think she got some kind of food poisoning from Santa Cruz. So we all rested that day. Then on Thursday the girls and I went to get some spa time.

The guys tried to go hit some golf balls and couldn't because of a blockade.
After we all met together for lunch and spent some time in the park.

The next day their flight was overbooked so they were able to stay another day. So we went to the La Casa Vieja Vineyard.

Later that night we stopped at the dentist for appointments and to get some work done. Ginette started feeling bad again. I think it was all the running around. So she took a cat nap.
Also during this time we got a chance to meet little Josue Raul Santos for the first time. He is so cute. Only 10 days old here.

On Saturday they finally were able to get a flight out. We were very sad to see them go. We hope they had a great time and can not wait to go visit them in Potosi.

Children in our Ministry

2011-02-08T10:15:00.004-05:00

The other day while we were in service we caught a photo of something that we often see here in Bolivia. A very young child all by himself.

Many parents do not have anyone who can watch the children while they go and work. Sometimes you will find a child as young as 4 or 5 taking care of a baby. Children here are not able to stay children for long. Taking care of the house and younger siblings is life for many young ones in Bolivia. It is very sad and sometimes I get very angry when I see this, but what can I do...nothing. So when we do find ones at home that are old enough to understand why we are there, we ask them about God and see if they know he has a name. Then we show them Psalms 83:18. They really do like knowing that God's name is Jehovah. We had a young boy about 8 at the door the other day and showed him this scripture. When we left the door he came running after us to bring us both a piece of candy to show how grateful he was. (He was very poor and this was a huge thing to give us his candy.) We told him we would bring the Bible Stories Book back for him and read him a story each week out of it. He was very happy. So in our ministry we meet a lot of children. I always think about how much Jehovah loves them and try to treat them with respect and teach them something about Jehovah.

4 Year Anniversary

2011-02-05T12:34:00.000-05:00

This Thursday Stephanie and I celebrated our 4th anniversary. We went to a small town about 15 km from here called Coimata and stayed at a little hotel called La Pasarela. It's a very quint place with some of the best views and food you could imagine. We stayed 2 nights there. They have trails which you can hike and bicycles for exploring the area. They also have a swimming pool for relaxing. The best thing about La Pasarela is the food, the owner is from Belgium and is just an amazing cook, anyone that visits us is going to be taken there from now on. :)

Tomorrow Bethel has the zone visit here and they are broadcasting via Skype to the larger cities around Bolivia. Here in Tarija we will be having it at the Colosseum that we have our Assemblies. The only weird thing is that tonight there is going to be Russian Ice Skating and we have to come in after to do the cleaning, which is supposed to start around 10pm. I have a feeling we're going to be in for a treat with all that ice clean-up and a very loooong night especially since I've got the cleaning. :D

Steph excited about the Filet Mignon she's about to eat (Yeah we're really suffering here ;)

A view from where we hiked, just above our hotel

Enjoying the mountain views

Our little house (we stayed on the left - we were the only ones there the whole time)

The view from our room

Bicycling through the little town, the weather was great, the bicycles not so much :)

We bicycled to where you see a lot of people washing their clothes and food

Even though it's prohibited as this sign next to the river explains

Even though we're in the rainy season this river which Steph is sitting over is completely dry

After our bike ride we enjoyed a refreshing dessert

Monkey Time in Service

2011-02-02T10:37:00.002-05:00

Today in service we found a cute little monkey. It was a pet of someones and was super friendly. I have never touched a monkey before. Their hands are so human-like and the way it looked at me was like it understood what I was saying. It was so nice to meet the cute little thing.

Busy In The Ministry

2011-01-30T19:41:00.002-05:00

We've now been serving in Bolivia for 3 1/2 months and are loving every minute of it. On a daily basis we have wonderful experiences in field service and now that we have a moped we're able to follow up on interest better than before. We have anywhere from 20-30 people out each day for service during the week and even more on the weekends.

I also had the privilege of attending KM school this month and even had a little skit with another brother.

Because of the large amount of interest in our territory and the frequency in which we cover it, Stephanie and I are now moving toward a more direct approach in offering Bible Studies on the first visit, so far it's working great!

We have a lot coming up this next month with our 4 year anniversary being Feb 3rd as well as our friends who are serving as Missionaries in Potosi (Their photo is in the Feb WT) coming to visit us after the Branch Zone Visit. We also have our Circuit Assembly later in Feb.

We've been trying to take more photos lately of service so below we've posted a few with little descriptions.

That's all for now, drop us a note, we'd love to hear from you!

Steph snuck this picture of me preparing the group

We found a "hearing ear"

Preaching at a house in the country

Field and lone tree

Taking a break in the shade with everyone's favorite juice here "Karpil"

Friends and Fun

2011-01-21T20:26:00.003-05:00

This past Tuesday and Wednesday we enjoyed time with some friends of ours at a cabin near here. On Tuesday morning the guys, Justin, Bob, Bob Golden, and Russell went to the golf course. We, Me, Janice, Reenie, Kathy, Janice, Daniel, and Judith, got everything ready to go to the cabin. We had so much stuff we could not all go in one vehicle. So Daniel, Judith and I went on a bus up to Victoria, a town just outside of Tarija. We had to walk a little ways to get to our destination, but the rain started so we took cover under an abandoned house across from the highly decorated cemetery. After a little bit Reenie came to our rescue and picked us up. When we arrived at the cabin there was a lot of confusion as usual. No matter how sure you think your reservations are they are never what you think. We had reserved two cabins next to each other, but someone came in the night and needed one so they gave it to them. After some time they decided to give us the two together on the bottom area away from everyone. Which I liked much better the only thing was they lacked hammocks. We enjoyed our time there with our friends eating good food and having great company. Justin and I loved to hear the stories about Bethel, the circuit work and the ministry. We left on Wednesday afternoon so we could make our meeting. Well that is all for now. Just service as usual. But we did have some terrible thunderstorms on Thursday. I have never in my life heard such loud thunder. It actually made me jump. Our electricity went out 3 times for about a total of 2-3 hours. It was early in the morning so we slept through the power outage, which was nice. Hope everyone is well. Ciao for now.

We have pictures published on our photo site: thedavystravels.shutterfly.com

Service Day

2011-01-12T11:02:00.002-05:00

Today was service as regular. On a Bible Study I found a friend.

From a Donkey to French Cooking

2011-01-08T18:45:00.002-05:00

Yesterday when we were coming home from service we found a mama and baby donkey outside our house eating grass. Early we saw the baby donkey sleeping on its side and we thought it was dead the way it was sleeping, thank goodness it was not. Then today after service we went to a French-style restaurant for lunch with some friends from Cochabamba and the Marsdens. It was sooooo good. We are so suffering here. LOL Well here are some pics. Oh and I finally have a few pics of the market where I buy my food. Here is the link for all the pics, there are a lot so I couldn't add all the albums on here.
http://thedavystravels.shutterfly.com/

We've got wheels!

2010-12-30T20:30:00.000-05:00

This week the Bolivian Government decided to raise the price of gas after being the same for the past 6 years, the increase was pretty dramatic. The price went up 70% which in turn has raised the prices for taxis, buses, groceries, clothes, you name it. For the past few months we've been using public transportation but it's tough sometimes when you have a Bible Study or you need to go somewhere when it's dark, so we finally decided to get a little moped. Today was the first full day of being able to use it in service and to run errands and it worked out great. What it would be costing us to get a cab to downtown and back, we can now fill up our gas tank. Here's a picture below from service today.

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Rain Rain Rain

2010-12-26T20:39:00.002-05:00

Today we went in service. It was super hot. Then after service we went to the market to check out what they were selling. Then the rain came. It must have rained for about an hour. It was a torrential downpour. Our dry riverbeds actually became rivers again and the streets were flooded. We couldn't get home for awhile so we sat in the car with the taxi driver. When the rain slowed down we drove home. We could not get down our street so we had to walk home in the rain. Our street looked like a small river. The rain finally stopped.

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Pioneer Meeting

2010-12-20T13:21:00.000-05:00

We had our pioneer meeting yesterday which was great. We not only received wonderful spiritual food but also some tasty treats afterward. We took a group picture afterward which you can see below. We have a total of 15 pioneers in our hall.

Week 7

2010-12-14T10:05:00.002-05:00

A few things have happened this week. We decided to add a new family member (and no I am not pregnant). A friend of ours has a study that had some kittens, and after a long talk and writing down the pros and cons of getting a cat, we decided it best to get one. A sister in our hall was so kind to offer if we ever move to take the cat. That relieves a lot of worry for me. So we got a little girl cat and named her Bella. She has been a very calm cat. Sleeps a lot, probably because she is only 6 weeks old. So she was born a week after we came here. :) Then we had a couple over on Sunday night for dinner. I made a lasagna. Here is the recipe, it was really good: Open-Faced Lasagna. I would recommend trying it. I had to substitute a lot because we do not have canned anything really and bread crumbs you have to make yourself. Which I mean come on is not really that hard. :) Then we had some awesome ice-cream we bought here. There is a place that makes it fresh it was amazing, Mocha-coffee. MMMmmm! On Monday, Justin went to start golf at 6:30 am in the morning, before it got hot. But again like last time it was one of the coldest days. On Sunday it was 90 -100 degrees and then Monday was 50-65. Huge change for us. You can never put away winter clothing because you never know when it will get really cold again. I woke up at 8 and got everything ready to catch a bus to the vet with Bella. It was a surprisingly nice vet. I was quite impressed with the facilities and she was very kind. Then we took another bus to the Marsden's house for our Mexican Fiesta Day. LOL We come up with different meal plans on some Mondays, so we can all get together and enjoy lunch after the guys finish golf. So we made fajitas, nachos and salsa, burritos, corn, and margaritas. It was really good. I was surprised how good Bella was she slept the whole time on my lap. At first she was really bad running under the stove, almost burnt herself, and none stop crying. She just wanted to sit on someones lap and sleep. After that we went home and had Mario (the brother who builds our furniture) come over and go over the rest of the furniture we need. Only small things now like a pantry, nightstand, something to hide Bella's litter box and a decorative cat tree house. It is going to be really neat looking and blend in with the house. He brought his little girl and she loved playing on the iTouch I have. After they left we talked to friends back home and went to sleep. Today we were suppose to go in service, but did not because I could barely talk. Last night I twisted my neck weird and something pulled. Today it is hard to eat and talk a lot. I hope I am better for my talk tonight. I will let you know. Hope everyone is well.

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Flower of the Week

2010-12-09T12:46:00.004-05:00

I bought them at the Mercado Campesino. I need to take a picture of the Mercado, it looks like it is from a movie. Tons of people trying to sell everything and anything. :) They cost about $.75.

We have FURNITURE!!!

2010-12-08T21:10:00.002-05:00

Well that title about says it all. We finally have almost all of our furniture. Today came the last big piece. Our table, chairs and entertainment center. It turned out really nice and it is very functional.

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We are doing well so far. It has been really, really hot so our energy levels are at a low right now. But we are resting so that we can re-energize. It has rained a few times this past week and we are really appreciating it.

Our Kingdom Hall Dedication Photos

2010-11-22T07:20:00.000-05:00

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Our Kingdom Hall Dedication & More

2010-11-21T21:09:00.002-05:00

So today we had the privilege of attending our Kingdom Hall dedication. Our hall had been remodeled due to the building being lop sided. They had to call it a remodel by the city standards, but in reality it is a completely new hall. We started the day out in service and Justin and I went on a Bible study of his. Then to lunch with a family here. They invited a lot of brothers and sisters who worked on the Kingdom Hall. Justin ate cow stomach and cow utter. I tried a smidge of the cow utter. Not my thing at all! Ew! Then we got ready for the dedication. Got dressed and went to the Kingdom Hall. They had food there, but I could not eat because I was so full. The meeting was very nice and since our hall is not that big the brothers rented the Colleseo for everyone who could not fit in the Kingdom Hall. They then broadcast the whole meeting on Skype. It was really neat. After we all went over there and they had skits, dramas, and singing from the 3 congregations in our Kingdom Hall. We have video but there is no way we can download it from here. :)
Other then that not much has been going on. We go in service everyday except Monday and Wednesday. Which is wearing me out a little bit, because service is physically very hard and hot here. But the rest days really help. We start everyday at 7:30 am because it is bright by 6 am and gets very hot quick. We stop around 10 am or so. Then we go on studies or return visits. How I wish to drive in a car for awhile. :) We are enjoying it here very much. We get from one place to another by taxi usually and get a chance to preach a lot. Which for us is unusual and we forget to bring our Bibles with us. But we are starting to learn slowly. :)
So far we have only a bed and a table ( that the Marsdens lent us). We are looking forward to furniture very much. I dislike having all of my clothing in suitcases still. But I am learning gran paciencia (great patience) here. Tomorrow we go to immigration to turn in our paperwork for our carnet (your identity card here). After we are going to the humungous market here for the first time and then later we will go to the Expo Sur which is like a county fair here. Tomorrow is very busy so I better go and get some sleep. Talk to you all soon! Miss you all and hope to hear from you!

1st Week In Tarija

2010-10-26T18:28:00.003-04:00

Well our first week has been eventful. We started out the first day going in service Justin and I both placed magazines and the householders were very nice. Then after we went to lunch to get some Hamacas (huge saltenas). Then we looked around town a bit. When we got back to the car we noticed all of our service bags had been stolen. Good thing I carried mine with me everywhere we went. Otherwise I could have lost my passport and all the money we brought with us. Justin lost his nice new service bag and dog zapper. Out of the 4 we brought 3 were stolen. So I am the only one who now has a dog zapper which is really needed in service. The Marsdens (the family we are with) lost their bags too. She lost her drivers license and carnet (which is your Bolivian id).Then on Friday we went to the sisters house were we are going to live. It is a nice guest house. The sister gave us a super cheap rent and has been doing so much for us. We are so grateful. We started our paperwork and had to wait until Monday to pick it up. Over the weekend we went to our meeting on Saturday night and service on Saturday and Sunday. We bought things we needed for the house on both days at different outdoor markets that are only on the weekends. They were a lot of fun. We spent around $150 on so much stuff that with 4 people all our hands were full. It is amazing the prices down here and the quality of things you can buy. The food is amazing everything is fresh and reasonably priced. So on Monday we went and finished our paperwork. Today we slept in and did some more shopping for the house. Bought a washer and dryer from the missionaries here in Tarija. Then we took it to our new home and met Jordi which is the sisters kid. He is really nice. They also have two dogs. One reminds me of Dulce and her big eyes and the other is a Boxer. So you know I am loving it. Well I got to go to our meeting. I will post pictures when I can. :)

1st -2nd Day in Bolivia

2010-10-21T13:57:00.001-04:00

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1st Day - It Can Not Get Crazier Then This

2010-10-19T12:56:00.005-04:00

It was one crazy day. We were flying through the night. We landed in El Alto (The High) to drop people off and get new passangers. We were all set to go and were on the tarmac when one of the planes engines decided to break down. It was a little scary because we were already getting ready to take flight. Glad it happened when it did. Over the planes intercom we were told that we would not be able to leave until then next day because a plane from Miami would have to come and bring a special camara to fix the planes engine. So we got off and started through customs. We saw a couple that was dressed nicely and they saw us and came up to us and asked if we were Jehovah's Witnesses. Well come to find out they are the newest missionaries (Roberto and Ginetta Moya) coming from the 129th class to Bolivia on assignment. So after that we stuck together and went through the rest of the day together. After getting our bags we went to the ticket counter. El Alto is around 15,000 feet high. It was difficult to breathe and carrying bags did not help the cause. Poor Ginette got really sick and had a seriously bad headache. I tried to help her everyway I could while the guys carried the bags and tried to talk to the ticket lady about flying out that same day. We got a plane flight for 7:25pm. So we grabbed our combined baggage of 10 big bags and 8 carryons and went to try to sleep in a corner. At this point we are all starting to get sick from the altitude. After about 3-4 hours sitting there a couple comes up to us and we find out they are the missionaries located in El Alto (the highest missionary home in the world). They take us back to there house and let us sleep a little. That is when I got sick. NO fun. It was the first time I vomited in my adult life. It was terrible. Then it started to get super cold. We were all sick at that time. We were so thankful for the kindness shown to us. The sisters made us the best ginger chicken soup. I wish I could have ate it, but everything made me sick even water. Then at 5pm we took a taxi back to the airport. Got our tickets and checked ALL of our baggage. Then we went through the security check and a woman asked me if I needed oxygen because I was not looking good. But I kindly declined. After we got on the plane and took off to Santa Cruz. Landed in Santa Cruz, went to Bethel and slept the night away. I was glad to have met the Moyas, I feel like we are closer to them now. LOL I guess going through that we are. Their assignment is in a place higher then El Alto and colder. I hope Jehovah blesses them everyday for their self-sacrifice I will miss their company. But we will always have a funny first start to our assignments. :)

Our Almost Empty Apartment

2010-10-04T14:07:00.001-04:00

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Washington DC

2010-09-26T18:36:00.002-04:00

So we received our letter from the Bolivian Branch on Thursday night. About 6 hours before we left to go to Washington DC. A brother in our congregation and his wife checked our mail everyday for us and it finally came. They sent us a scanned copy of it since mailing it to us would be useless. So the letter did finally come. We were so relived. Then we left at 1am on Friday. It took us 6 hours to get to Washington D.C. We drove to the US Authentications office and were in and out in about 15 minutes. Then we went to the Bolivian Consulate. It was so tiny. It was in this rinky dink little place next to a laundry mat. We brought them all our paperwork and they hand us 4 deposit slips. They tell us to go to the nearest Bank of America and deposit $43 4 different times into their account, so that they can have the receipts to tape to the back of the authenticated letters. So off we were walking around D.C looking for a Bank of America. There was one about 4 blocks away thank goodness. Then it was back to the Consulate. Then we give them all our paperwork and they tell us to sit down. So we wait a few minutes then the gentleman brings our paperwork back to us and says it's all done. We ask him "Where is our passports and other paperwork?" He walks back and comes back to ask us to follow him. Then we get to the back and have to explain to them what we are doing. Which we told them at the beginning. :) Oh I love dealing with the Bolivian Consulate. Finally they figured it out and told us they have to email some paperwork to the Bolivian Government and we should have our passports and all by Friday. Patience, patience, and more patience. Well after that we went to our hotel and changed and went back to D.C to look at some museums. We went to the National Air and Space Museum, the Capital, and other smaller museums. Then we found a restaurant to eat at and went back to our hotel. On Saturday we went to the Holocaust museum. It was really good to see what we did. It really made you realize how much power one person can have and that it could happen again. I am so proud of the good witness the Jehovah's Witnesses gave in the concentration camps. They had a Bible that one of the Witnesses had there. I was so proud that they were the only ones given the chance to sign a document saying they renounced their faith and they did not. I hope I have strong faith like that. It also impressed on me how much Jehovah must have helped them. Then we went to the National Museum of Natural History. After we saw the Washington Monument and the White House. Then we headed back to the hotel to change and find a restaurant. We found this really cool restaurant in D.C. It was called the Little Ethiopian Restaurant. The food was super good and you ate with your hands which I liked. We had a bottle of Ethiopian Honey Wine too which was super good. Then that was it off to bed. :) Today we woke up around 9 had breakfast and drove home. 8 hours not to bad. Now to unpack and start downsizing...again. Check out our picture link in the previous post for pics.

In Ohio

2010-09-22T20:40:00.002-04:00

So last Friday we drove up here to Ohio to visit our family and friends. While driving up we stopped at the Hofbrauhaus in Newport, Kentucky. It was so awesome and authentic German food. We had dinner that night with Chris, Erin, Tyler, Ethan Morrison and Linda. Then on Saturday we went in service and enjoyed a nice day out in the ministry. Later that night Justin and I were surprised with a going away party for us. We had a wonderful bonfire and great food. They had two cakes made for us with our pictures on it and a picture of where we will be living in Bolivia. It was so great to have everyone together. Thank you everyone for that we really enjoyed it. Then on Sunday we went to the meeting and had lunch with Matt and his kids. Then later that day we went to Danielle's house and helped with unloading some hay. Then we went four-wheeling. It was a lot of fun. I am glad that they opened their home to us so we could enjoy ourselves. Then on Monday we met Jonathan and Rebekah for early morning service and stayed out with them until 6pm. We were so tired after that. Tuesday, we slept in and Justin did some work online and we went to see Sr. Pat Myers. Then we went to JcPenny's because we heard that they had short sleeve dress shirts for men on sale. We picked up four for Justin. Then we went to dinner with Linda to Olive Garden. On Wednesday, we met with Jonathan and Rebekah again in early morning service. We went to their house and had pancakes and bacon and watched the Bolivia video with them. We enjoyed another long day with them and stayed out until 5pm. Then we went to Applebee's with Linda for dinner. Now it is Wednesday night and we are going to sleep in again tomorrow and Justin is going to finish up some work. Then on Thursday night - Friday morning we are heading over to Washington DC in order to get to the Secretary of State office at 7:30am. We are going to stay in Washington DC until Sunday. We still have not received our letter from the Bolivian Bethel. Mail is so uncertain from Bolivia to here. I hope we get it soon. :) Trust in Jehovah, right. :) Well I will let you know how it goes. Here are some pictures so far.

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