Working shoulder to shoulder

Well, we went from a quiet week to a busy week! Thursday was a fun day in service, we took 3 teenage boys with us (19, 15 & 13) They were entertaining. I had some studies to go on, and I took the 15 year old, Carlos, with me on the one, but the rest of the day, the 3 of them trailed around with Justin. He took them on some return visits, and said on the one, the lady invited them all in to sit down on her couches. That just sounds funny to me, 4 people showing up at your door to talk about the bible, that would be weird in the States, but not strange or uncomfortable to anyone down here. These boys kept us entertained all day with jokes, they were getting a little goofy by the end of the day though. But then all of the sudden they switched gears and started singing.... in spanish, I recognized the tune though and started singing along...... "Beloved son, and precious daughter, be wise and make my heart rejoice....." They were singing kingdom songs! It was so cute, and they sounded good! And what a nice song to hear these 3 young boys singing. When they saw I was singing along, they sang it again in english. They sang about 4 songs. We were just so impressed that 3 young guys would just be singing kingdom songs like that. Then we dropped the boys off with their ride back to the west end, and we kept working in Pandy Town a little longer. We went to a call that wanted to talk about hell, and ended up staying for an hour talking with her, her boyfriend and another friend that came to sit in. It was a nice conversation and they said, "are you coming again next week?" I think we are quickly going to get so many calls that we are going to have trouble getting back to all of them.

 The boys- Ernesto, Jordan & Carlos

 One of my bible studies

 My new love intrest- Dwight

I think Justin's keeping his eye on him though

 

Saturday we finally painted the Kingdom Hall in Oak Ridge! Yay! It is still a work in progress, but looks a great deal better just with a fresh coat of paint on it. I think there were some differing opinions as to when work was to begin, we were told 9 am, but we passed a carload of our spanish 'hermanos & hermanas' going the other way in service attire when we were pulling in. There was 1 brother at the Kingdom Hall though, getting ready to start working, so we joined him and got to work painting. Still kinda wondering if we were going to see any of our spanish friends, to help? A little while later Marco & Buffy showed up, and joined in. At one point, I was standing in the small space between the outhouse and K. H. painting, and realized my feet were hurting, so I looked down, and realized I was standing in a nest of fire ants! Yikes! I started running out of there ripping off my shoes yelling. I didn't even care that I was standing in a mixture of mud and garbage on the ground, I had to get the ants off my feet and dig them all out of my shoe. That was fun. So it was just the 5 of us all morning, and we had most of the building painted, then our brothers finally showed up after lunch. I don't think it was their fault though, like I said, I think there was a mix up with timing, they had planned 1pm apparently. But they all got busy then finishing the painting, putting up some trim, and soffit. The sisters worked inside scrubbing everything down, making it nice and clean. It was just so cool to be there in this environment, working shoulder to shoulder with our brothers & sisters, most of whom we didn't know before right then. And then there was the language barrier too, we don't speak spanish very well, and most of them, not english too well. But it didn't matter. We were all instantly friends & family because we have 1 very important thing in common: we worship and serve the one true God, Jehovah. We are truly a united brotherhood, and can go anywhere in the world and be among true friends, people we love and trust, that just never gets old to me. I think it is the biggest thing that convinces me Jehovah's spirit is upon this organization. And I thank Jehovah everyday that I am a part of it.

 A Before shot

 

 

 

 Where's the RBC safety crew when you need them??

 

 

Sunday, we went up to Oak Ridge early and visited our calls and studies, checking to see who wanted a ride to the meeting. Most didn't make it. We had an unusually small group this week. Only 10 total. But the study that did come made us very excited and happy. It is a family we have been calling on. It is a mom, and 3 girls, ages 15, 13 & 9. One of the first subjects we discussed with them was Christmas. You see the father (who is spanish) reads the bible faithfully everyday and has been telling them that Christmas is wrong. So they wanted us to come and explain what the bible says about it. So we did. We explained how the customs came from false religion and the date of Christmas wasn't when Jesus was born but rather for a pagan festival, and that the early christians didn't celebrate any birthdays, not even Jesus'. The 15 year old already knew all of this though, she explained to us that her father and her had read over the information in the teach book that we showed them to look at. So both of the 2 older girls said they agreed with the information and were ok with not celebrating Christmas. Wow. The mom was unsure though, she said that she just loved the lights and the family togetherness and so on. We explained that is ok to still have a special family day, and even give each other presents, but that you can do it anytime of the year. So anyhow we have been inviting them to the meetings, and this week they finally came! They said that their dad is going to come along next week. We are working on getting him a study with a spanish brother. The mom read a few scriptures for the Watchtower study and even asked a question to our conductor on paragraph 1. It was a very relaxed meeting to say the least. On the way home, the mom told us that they talked about it, and they were not going to celebrate Christmas. They were going to have a special meal that night instead. She decided that if it was not from the bible, and came from something false that it was wrong and they shouldn't celebrate it. Wow wow! It is so amazing to find such sincere people that actually are looking for the truth of what the bible says. And when they see it, they accept it and make changes. We have high hopes for this family.

 

Justin is working on the sign for the Kingdom Hall today. We need to get that done now that it is looking all spiffy there. Hope all is well back home. We miss everyone. 

 The inside of the Coxen Hole Kingdom Hall

The Isaksen's that left last week