Uplifting Letters

This past week I (Stephanie) received 2 letters from Bolivia. The first was from a Sister and her 3 daughters. You may have remembered us talking about Yolanda, Jaclyn, Daria and Anna. She was the sister who lived very far out from town and walked 30 minutes to get to the nearest bus stop, then another 30 minute ride to the Kingdom Hall. It was such a nice letter about how they are doing well and how they wish we could visit them. It made me quite sad. But it is so good to hear they are doing well. Then the second letter (the first photo) was sent by a Bible Student I use to study with Maria Elena. I found her in the door to door ministry and would study outside in the sun under my umbrella. She lived even farther then Yolanda. She wrote to me that she recently got baptized on Sept. 7th. She now is an auxillary pioneer and has 8 Bible Studies of her own. Her daughter Isabella loves the meetings and wants to become a pioneer. Also her husband is now studying as well. It is so amazing to see what comes of your Bible studies when you leave. It was the most perfect letter. She also sent me two pairs of earrings she and her sister made. I was so happy to receive them. 

 

Earrings and letter from Maria Elena.

Maria Elena and Isabella

Cruise 2013

Well it has been a very long time since we have posted anything. Our life has been very busy between quick builds, Justin becoming an elder, getting invited to the International Convention in Zimbabwe, family visiting and visiting family. But last week we had a very relaxing vacation. We went to Florida and visited my family and then went on a 7 day cruise. We went with our friends Chris and Erin and had an awesome time with them. Here are a few pictures.

The Norwegian Pearl

The Cruise line's private island

Kingdom Hall in Ocho Rios Jamaica

Horseback Riding through Jamaica

In the ocean with our horses

This young man led our horses and is studying with the Witnesses. He is holding a Bread Fruit very yummy.

Cayman Islands Where we snorkeled on top of a shipwreck

I ate a whole Parrot Fish

A lobster our cabin steward made for us one night

Justin and I got a professional picture taken one night

Justin, Me, Erin and Chris in Jamaica

Winter Finally!

Finally got some snow after 4 days of rain. It's slushy, but hey it's snow.

 

Our Little Ones

Yesterday at the meeting, Stephanie and I were so happy when we saw a Bible Study of ours arrive with her 2 kids.  We've been trying to encourage her for a while and because of some family issues as well as other difficulties in life, she hasn't been at the meetings.  To see her and the kids at the meeting and doing it all on her own made us so happy and more importantly Jehovah.

The 2 kids sat with us so she could focus on the meeting.  They both were so well behaved and Austyn even mustered up the courage to raise his hand (we hope he'll get a chance to comment next time) toward the end of the meeting.  They both did so well, that we took them along with another study to McDonalds after the meeting.

Ever since moving back into our hall after the remodel, we've been having really strong support for service.  Yesterday for example we had around 25% of the congregation go in service before our 1:00 meeting.  We only have around 40 publishers, but our territory is full of Spanish speaking individuals.  If you're looking for a change and the opportunity to talk to expand your ministry right here in the U.S., we'd love to host you for a weekend to experience our lovely congregation - Cedar Bluff Spanish.

They both looked so pretty here

Can we just take him home? :)

Visit to Ohio

Last weekend Justin and I took Linda back home to Ohio. We only stayed one full day, but during that time we got a lot of snow. It was Zoey's first time in the snow and she dealt with it. I am not sure if she liked it but she loved chasing snowballs.

Zoey bulldozing thought the snow in the front yard.

She was trying to run away it did not work our to well. She got stuck.

She ran to the neighbors door and Linda went to go get her. 

The view up the road. Zanesville looks nice with snow.

New Flooring

So we decided to redo the flooring in our home. We are so glad that we did it is so beautiful. We went with a dark Tennessee Bourbon Hardwood for the living room and hallway and light beige silk carpet for all the bedrooms. It is so soft.

The carpet before in our living room

After our beautiful hardwood.

Zoey enjoying the soft carpet. She really loves it.

Crusing the Western Caribbean

So Justin and I just got back yesterday from our first cruise ever. We booked a 7 day Western Caribbean cruise that took us to Roatan, Honduras; Belize City, Belize; Costa Maya, Mexico; and Cozumel, Mexico. We had a great time at each port. At Roatan we went snorkeling on the second largest reef in the world. Even though it was overcast the whole day, under the water you would not have known the difference. There were so many different colors and shapes of fish. We had a great time. Then we laid on the beach for awhile. We asked our tour guide if we could eat somewhere local. We went to this restaurant (if you can call it that) and tried the local cuisine - Iguana. It was like chewy chicken with tons of bones. But I liked it, I could eat it again. In Belize City we found a tour guide that was a Jehovah's Witness and went with him on a tubing tour of the Crystal Caves. It was so nice to be able to go with other witnesses. He was telling us that in Belize the second biggest religion is the Jehovah's Witnesses. That made us really happy to hear. We also had other couples that were witnesses with the group, it was so nice they were on their honeymoon. In Costa Maya we got to hold a baby lion, Antonio. His mother tried to eat him because she thought he was weak and this group saved him. After that we went to a beach and relaxed the whole day. Then in Cozumel we went to the port and all there was was shopping. So we decided to go back to the boat and relax. It was a great cruise. We met some great JW's friends on the boat and had dinner with them the last night. It was a perfect finish to a great cruise. At the end of it though, I am glad to be home. Vacations are fun, but they tend to wear you out because you wanna try to get in as much fun as possible. Here are some pics.

Pool on top of the boat. We never actually got in.

1st night at sea.

Night before we land in Roatan. Going out to eat.

Iguana, fried plantains and rice and beans.

Roatan Honduras

Cave tubing in Belize. The witness couple is directly behind us in their tubs.

Entering the cave.

Crystal Eagle. The Mayans believed it would guide them out of the caves.

Brother Rick our tour guide for the day.

Yummy drink after tubing.

Justin had a local beer Belikin.

Baby lion Antonio. I was so excited my right eye went crazy. Lol

It was so cuddly.

Costa Maya, Mexico

Cozumel, Mexico. Our ship the Norwegian Dawn in the background.

Chocoholic Extravaganza Night! We shared just one piece of cake. Pathetic. LOL