Searching out "Honest Hearted Ones" in far off territories

There’s a couple in our hall that own a metal business (Jenny and Fidel, she is a pioneer and he is an elder and they have a little daughter named Jennifer). A few weeks ago a man came to their business to do some work for them and while he was there he saw the magazines they had on the desk in their office and asked if he could have some magazines to take with him. They of course said yes and after talking for a little while he left with numerous magazines. He lives three hours outside of the city so they never really thought they would see him again...but the next week he came back with the sole purpose of getting more literature! Jenny gave him the newest magazines along with a bible teach book and bible and was able to start the study with him. Jenny and Fidel both agreed that this man had serious interest in the Bible and told him that they were going to make an effort to visit him at his home. He drew them a map and explained the difficulty of getting there but that he would be waiting for their visit with eager anticipation!
Jenny told Paula (my roommate) and I about the experience and of course we were super excited and anxious to go! They made arrangements, invited two other brothers and we all set off to find the "Honest Hearted Ones" in this far off territory yesterday!
He had told Jenny that in order to get there we would have to cross numerous rivers and he was right... We weren’t sure if our low to the ground van could make it through but after praying a lot and scouting out the easiest route we made it across!


We preached to everyone we saw along the way because as far as we knew the people living in those towns had never heard the good news either.
Paula and i spoke with a Senora who takes care of her 5 children alone after her husband left. After talking with her for a little while she said "It’s sad living out in the country, no one cares to remember us, no one even remembers that we are here, please come back. We have a church but its far away and very hard to get to with my five children. When you come I will invite all my neighbors and you can teach us all about the Bible. I would really love that." We exchanged phone numbers with her and made plans to return. It is so beautiful being used by Jehovah as he shows people from all the nations that he has not forgotten them! :)
(Isaiah 49:15,16 Psalms 72:12,13)
When we knew we were getting close to where the man lived we started asking those along the way to help us find his house, their accent is really hard to understand but after crossing a river by foot and walking through the bush we found a house! Was it his?! As we walked up we saw a young girl and upon asking her we found that she was his daughter and he was on his way back from the school. Jehovah had helped us find him! As he drove up and saw all of us standing there he almost crashed right into his house he was in such shock. They invited us all to sit down and he began explaining that he had tried to call Fidel's phone (in order to get signal on his cell phone he had to climb up the mountain behind his house, an hour hike) to make arrangements for us to come the Sunday before but Fidel didn't answer his phone, it turns out he had been at the meeting giving a talk when it rang. It amazed us all so much the effort this man had put forth to receive the spiritual truth he realized Jehovah's Witnesses offer. Right as we were about to start the study with him and his family a truck drove up to his gate, it was his pastor. It turns out that the reason why he wanted our literature was because his pastor had asked him to teach the congregation every Tuesday and he had no idea what to teach. He had been using our literature to teach them. Well anyways upon seeing his pastor he ran to the gate and asked his pastor if he would wait because he had visitors at the moment. We were there for about an hour and a half and he really gave no attention to the pastor but rather he kept repeating that he wanted us to stay all day. Fidel and Jenny made arrangements to visit him again to continue the study and visit the other families that live in the area.
What an amazing experience this trip really proved to be! On the way home we couldn't stop talking about what a blessing it was as we look forward with anticipation to continuing our search for Jehovah's sheep in this far off territory. Thank you Jehovah!

Congregation Camping!

This weekend in Bolivia was "Carnival" (A festival that usually takes place for about a week before Ash Wednesday where they engage in lots of crazy customs including throwing buckets of water on your head and drinking ext.) So our congregation decided to escape the craziness by going on a congregation camping trip yesterday. We all had such an awesome time and it was really helpful for me in getting to know the brothers and sisters in the hall better. There is a brother in the hall that has a "micro" (a bus) that he always uses whenever the congregation is going anywhere all together. So about 50 of us squished into the micro and a few cars and headed to "el campo" (the country). The place they all decided to go to was so beautiful, alongside a river with the mountains in the background, a really nice get away from the city. We played cards, volleyball, cooked, swam, drank "mate" a special tea (delicious!) and best of all just sit around and talked about our experiences. Listening to how they came in the truth and the different struggles they have had young and old alike really made me feel closer to them as a group and on an individual basis. It’s encouraging seeing their zeal and love for Jehovah and how no matter where we may grow up in this world Jehovah is reaching out to us all in the same way....i feel so blessed and privileged to be a part of this amazing work of preaching the good news "to the ends of the earth" along with the brothers here as you all engage in this same work back home. You are all always in my thoughts and prayers as "Jehovah your God is with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9) Christian love, Sarah :)

Pictures from the Congregation Camping :)

Tarija....my new home

Tarija....is beautiful. The picture above is one i took from the roof of where we live and gives you a pretty good view of the main part of the city. The people here are very nice and take time to listen when you bring a message about the Bible. The pioneers tell me that you can have as many studies as you want and i have come to find that that is very true. The first day i went out in service, just from the time we went out in the morning, i met 5 people who want to study. The service groups are at 7:30am everyday. While that does require getting up really early especially if we have to walk to the service group, it's awesome because almost everyone in the territory gets up really early so its a good time to catch them home.

There are two 16-year old brothers that just started regular pioneering this year and a 10-year old little boy who was baptized this year (along with his mother and father) and is auxilary pioneering this month with hopes to start regular pioneering this year. Amazing!

I attatched a few pictures of some parts of our territory. The third picture is of a couple in the hall, he is blind and is so amazing at the door! They go out basically everyday and if his wife doesn't go out for some reason he makes sure he gets someone to take him to the group. He teaches the householder with the pictures on the front of the magazines, brochures or tracts pointing out and explaining bible truths based on the illustrations. So encouraging! The first picture is one of the streets in the market where we buy....well anything and everything we need. I am going to my first meeting tommorow and hopefully will be able to load a few more pics. I am hoping to post at least once a month with updates and experiences from my new home in Tarija.....Love you all

Muchas Gracias Jehová

Sometimes after a plane ride the conversation arises as to whether the take off or landing was smoother. I dont remember which was smoother on this trip all i know is that landing was definitly better than taking off....because the plane landed in Bolivia!!! :) Besides having to be given oxygen when our plane stopped in La Paz because i was going to faint and the airline loosing one of my suitcases it was a pretty unmomentous trip. jeje Im exhausted but couldnt be happier. If each blessing were a flower then Jehovah has already planted me a garden...Thank you Jehovah!