Always have an emergency swimsuit

Hi everyone! I thought since it was so long between my last posts, that I should do another one to catch up, since I had some time. Our meeting on Sunday was good. We had 30 there. There was a brother that came from the mainland as a visiting speaker for us. He had 5 others with him too, so that was nice for the Watchtower study. I think in all there were 14 publishers there and 16 from the territory. So it was a nice group. Erica came even though it looked very cloudy and could rain at any time. You see she doesn't take her kids out in the rain, because they get sick easy. That is common here... people get sick when it is rainy and 70 degrees like at home in the winter. And in the past when I would invite her, and it looked like it would rain, she wouldn't go. But now, I think she is getting really into coming to the meetings that she wanted to go no matter what. She has been studying her Watchtower good, and picking out comments. This week, before the meeting I spent more time with her helping her to get her comments into english. She commented twice. I really need to help her learn to read english though, that would help her progress even quicker. They are all out of the Learn to Read & Write bro. in our hall, but fortunately Lynn got one to bring to me, and she didn't even know I needed it!

We are making plans for the memorial already. I can't believe it's getting to be that time of year! Since the Oak Ridge Kingdom Hall has to have 3 memorials (Spanish, English & Miskito) and last year English got the last time slot... 9pm, David had told Justin & I to keep our eyes open for somewhere we could rent to have the memorial. Because having it so late effects how many would come, and we want as many to come as possible. So we were looking into some options, and discovered a place next door to Erica's house. It is a big empty store on the bottom with an apartment up top. She said that she would ask the owner about it for us. The next day when we were up there, she had already made plans with the brother of the owner to show it to us. And he said that they would rent to us, and for a pretty reasonable price. So now we are just waiting to see if that is what the brothers want us to do.

Yesterday when were in service, we were having a very off day. It seemed that all of our calls and studies weren't around, or it didn't suit them to study, so we were starting to get discouraged. By 1:30, I became weak, and had the idea to give up on service for the day and drive on up the island to a deserted beach to just hang out for a little bit and enjoy the afternoon. Unfortunately, we did not have swim suits with us though! We won't make that mistake again, because it was a very hot, sunny day, and the water was beautiful! Now, the plan is to keep swim clothes in the car all the time in case opportunity presents itself again. You see, before yesterday, that had never happened before... not having things to do, or people to see. We are normally busy from morning till late afternoon or evening. So we didn't keep our car stocked with emergency swim clothes. But now we have learned our lesson! Living on an island, this is a must. But anyhow, we still had fun. And being in a skirt, didn't completely stop me from playing in the water a little:)

So, as I mentioned, dad & mom Arnold are coming to see us! We are excited to have more company. They are coming in on Saturday and staying for a week. So my next post will probably have the tales of their adventures. Stay posted...

Allen's son Ash, entertaining me while the guys are studying

Looking down our road- I have never seen the mountains of the mainland look so clear before

 

Practice giving and people will give to you... lobster dinner!

We have been getting well treated by our bible studies lately. Denia Martinez has been feeding us off and on for awhile now. And she makes good food! 2 weeks ago before the Sunday meeting she made rice with chicken and vegetables in it, potato salad, and mac & cheese. They have been telling us that next they are going to feed us burgers. And then another study fed us lunch last week. And these people really do not have any extra money, they barely have enough to feed their own families and yet they want to be hospitable and share with us. It really touches our hearts. So moms, don't worry about us, we are getting well taken care of by some moms here. Also, last week when Justin went to study with Allen, he was busy cleaning lobster that he had just bought from a fisherman when he got there. So he told Justin to come back later, and they would feed us lobster.... so we did! And boy they did. His wife brought out plates with an entire lobster on each one (minus the head) and rice, beans, and coleslaw. It was awesome. I wish I had carried the camera in with us, cause it looked so cool. Then Allen got a call while we were there, from the fisherman, that he had more lobster and fish to sell. So we bought some lobster of our own then and brought it home and cooked it up the next night. We got 9 small tails for about $6. It was delicious.

I have to update you on 2 Sunday meetings now since it has been so long since I posted. 2 Sunday's ago we had 15. There were only 5 publishers there though. Some of the usuals that come out weren't there. I think a lot had plans and parties to go to because it was Superbowl Sunday. So the Thompsons came out and brought another sister. David conducted the Watchtower study and Justin gave the talk on the fly, David had just called him during the morning meeting and asked if he could fill in. He did a good job. So anyhow, that left 3 of us sisters in the audience to answer for the Watchtower study. So we had to have our bible studies help us! Danjah, the oldest Martinez girl had asked for a highlighter the week before so that she could study her Watchtower and other books. Well, boy were we surprised! She came to meeting with her Watchtower all studied, answers highlighted, and scriptures looked up and written in the margins! We hadn't ever even told her she had to study or showed her what to do. She is a smart girl though, and I think she just got the idea from sitting next to me and seeing mine. Boy, I better make sure I'm setting a good example, I'm being imitated. So when I saw how good she had studied, I told her "you have to help us today, there's only 3 of us", and she did. I think she answered about 6 or 7 times. She even answered one of the review questions! I also had another bible study come for the first time. Her name is Alana. She is actually the very first call I got here. She is kind of a crazy gal, all over the place, and hard for me to pin her down on a regular basis for a study. But she has been saying she was going to come to the meetings for awhile now, and she finally did that week. I had her sit with sister Morris since she has been with me on the bible study. And she had Alana commenting during the Watchtower too! Imagine, a bible study's first meeting, and I think she answered 4 times. Our meetings are never dull!

The whole Sunday group minus Jana who took the picture

With my studies Tashire & Torey (they're sisters)

Tashire & Dwight

Torey with baby Avery who is only 12 days old

Alana is on the left

Danjah and her Watchtower

Now, last Sunday, we had 17 there. Alana didn't make it back, but Erica came again. When I went to her house to check on her, she had a bunch of people in there with her, so I'm thinking, great she's not going to make it because she has company.... But no, she informs me that all these people want to go to the meeting too! It was her sister, and 2 young guys that were her cousins. I told them that we would be back in about an hour to pick them up, and was skeptical if they would all be there and ready or not. Well, they all were except one of the guys. So we took this group to the Kingdom Hall which is about 10 minutes from Erica's house, then Justin drove back up to Erica's neighbor's, the Martinez family, to get them. Then back to the Kingdom Hall, and then over to Punta Gorda, which is about 10 minutes away, to get another brother's study. We should of bought a bus! Poor Justin does a lot of driving to get everyone there for the meetings. But it is worth it to see so many showing an interest and wanting to come and worship Jehovah with us. I had given Erica a Watchtower earlier in the week and she had studied it and had a comment picked out. She only reads Spanish though, so she got nervous and could only give her comment in Spanish, so I interpreted it for her, because she had told me what she was going to say. It was cute. So this week, we went over some of the Watchtower together, and I helped her to practice saying the comments in English. So, we will see, hopefully she makes it again.

Today we are going to a service group get-together at the Welcome's house. They live 2 doors down from us. Jana (our landlady that lives above us) has some bible studies that come to the meetings regularly in Coxen Hole, and are progressing nicely. She wanted to have them get to spend some social time with some brothers and sisters too, because they are receiving some persecution from family and friends. So she wants them to become better friends with those in the congregation, so they won't feel alone. So we said, sounds good to us! We are always up for some good food and association. We like to hang out down at the Welcomes, they have 2 daughters at home that are 25 & 35, so we get along with them good. We go down and play video games, watch movies, and last time Justin beat us all at Monopoly. Imagine that! Well, I better go. I am making Mary Ann's specialty... pigs in a blanket! Yum!

Feeding the sheep by our house



Guatusa Rabbit.. We were told they are only found in Roatan

Also, I just wanted to say... we really appreciate all the comments to our blog and the emails we get. We watch our email every day and look forward to seeing who commented on the blog. So thanks, and keep them coming! We miss everyone. Love Ya.... Your friends Roastin in Roatan

Be courageous & strong.....

Well our visit with the Fink's has come & gone, as most of you probably know, since they are back in Lewistown now. Telling tales of their journey with us, I'm sure. We had a good time and it was nice to see some familiar faces. Unfortunately, the day they left, wasn't a good one for me.... no, not because of grief that my friends were leaving, I think I had food poisoning. Or one sister said she thinks I had the flu bug that was going around. A lot were sick around that time. But either way, I had shrimp tacos the night before, and in my mind that is what made me sick. So I don't think I'll ever be eating them again! I don't even know how I made the 40 minute, bumpy, windy trip from our rental house to the airport without being sick. The rest of the day I was in bed. Then Sunday, I felt a good bit better so I went to meeting. Then Monday, I woke up very sick all over again. It was strange. But I am better now.

 

For our meeting on Sunday we had 24. The Martinez Family was there, and my study Erica came again with her two kids. She is the one that answered when she came the first time. Well, she didn't answer this time, but she said she really enjoyed the meeting. She is getting a lot of persecution from her neighbors, but isn't giving up. We have had a few talks about it, and she sees that it is strange that all of a sudden everyone is trying to get her to go to their churches and are telling her bad things about Jehovah's Witnesses. I told her that Jesus said that his true disciples would be persecuted and she said "yeah, I know". I think she is really thinking about it. Also, Justin is studying with a man named Allen that has been coming to the meetings with his wife & 3 kids. His wife studies with a spanish sister and he was starting to study with a spanish brother, but it wasn't going real well since his first language is English. So he called Justin the one evening we were out to eat with the Fink's and asked for "classes in English" as he called it. We told Fink's "look how much interest there is down here, people are calling us asking for bible studies". A lot of the men around here that want to have a good job and make decent money, go out on fishing boats to Africa. They are gone anywhere from 1-3 months or more. So unfortunately, that is what Allen does. He will be leaving soon, so Justin has been studying with him twice a week.

 

With Erica and her 2 kids Ashley & Ashton

 

Justin & Hose Martinez (he helped him put up the K. H. sign)

 

We had promised the Martinez girls that we would have them over before school started back up. Down here, their break is over the winter, not the summer. So, Danjah is starting school on Monday, so we had made plans with them to take them home with us after our day in service on Tuesday and keep them overnight. I wasn't real excited, seeing as I had just got over some sort of deadly sickness, but I didn't want to disappoint them because they were so excited. So we had a good time with them, and they really enjoyed getting out I think. Pandy Town is a small place and I don't think they get to leave very much. On Wednesday we went to an iguana park. It was pretty small though, not a lot to walk around and see, but I still liked it. The iguanas were pretty cool. They just let them walk around free inside the park and there are tons of them! A worker gave us leaves to feed them... that was crazy! They started swarming me and were all around me and under me... they even tried to eat my flip flops. They didn't bite me though. I think they are tame and used to humans enough or something. Then we took the girls to meeting with us in Coxen Hole that evening. They had never been to a midweek meeting or to the nicer bigger Kingdom Hall. It was good for them to get to see the whole congregation and the nicer building. There are some young girls just their age too. They loved it and would really like to come back. It is just kind of hard, because they live almost an hour from the hall, so it would be a long trip to get them and take them home each week. Hopefully someday soon we can have both meetings in Oak Ridge.

 

 

 

 

Dennice feeding her candy bar to the monkey (I wasn't watching, I hope the poor thing didn't die)

 
 

 

On Saturdays, we meet for service here in Los Fuertes, at the old Kingdom Hall right by our house. I'll have to get a picture of that one sometime. We usually work in territories right close by. So today we were working right in Los Fuertes. It is mostly all Spanish though, so we were doing search work for English speaking people. We found a few, but not many. It was fun though. Since we've been here, our Spanish vocabulary is slowly growing. So I finally learned a few weeks ago that 'fuerte' means 'strong'. So we live in the town of 'The Strong' or Los Fuertes. And there is a story I learned behind the name. You see, a man used to own this whole big hill. Then some Spanish folks moved in and settled on his land. He tried everything to get them to leave, even setting their houses on fire... but nothing worked. They were strong people, determined to stay. And slowly more and more came, until it is a whole town now. So it is rightly called the town of the strong.  So, that's were we live. Hopefully we can have some of that same endurance and strength, only ours will come from Jehovah!