Preaching in Tomatitas

As part of the congregation’s territory we have two small towns that are located just outside of the city, San Mateo and Tomatitas. I really enjoy preaching in both of these towns because of the beautiful scenery and they truly are a treasure chest of interest. Every Thursday afternoon Jenny (one of the regular pioneers in the congregation) and I go to Tomatitas to do return visits and studies. We always have a great time together and the studies are all such a joy, we look forward to our Thursday afternoons! Well this Thursday it was raining really hard but after walking to Jenny’s house we set out in her van to Tomatitas. After the first study we returned to the van and realized that after leaving the lights on the vans battery was dead....but after I pushed it for a while Jenny turned the key and it started! :) The next study was Maria Elena, a new study I just met a few weeks ago and such a joy to study with, watching her eyes light up as she learned of Jehovah's promises for the future made the climb up to her house all the more worthwhile! As you can see from the pictures she lives up a very steep hill, especially slippery in the rain. All her little nieces love laughing at us as they watch us trying to climb up and down. After leaving that study we found the van battery dead again but this time we were on a hill so after asking a senor that was passing by to help us, him and I pushed.....pushed....and pushed some more and it finally started. Jenny and I couldn’t stop laughing; only Jehovah's people would put forth such effort. It is truly a privilege to serve such a loving God that is patient with us as his servants and with those in the territory as he "does not desire any to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9) Another great Thursday afternoon in Tomatitas. You are all welcome to join us anytime! :)

A few memories

A day in the life of a Bolivian....

You have probably never thought of what it would imply to be a Bolivian and neither had I till about a year ago but now that I’m here I am enjoying the exciting and the mundane daily activities and treasure every experience. Life here in Bolivia is very different from the United States and in the different parts of Bolivia life varies. Have you ever hugged your washing machine? Well I will definitely be hugging mine if I ever have one again! Most of the residents here in Bolivia don't have washing machines, we wash all our cloths by hand and line dry them on cloths lines we have on our roof. While it takes a long time and gives you a good upper-body work out I am learning to enjoy it. We walk to the numerous service group, the meetings, the market...everywhere. I must admit I really love the freedom and simplicity of stepping out of my door at any time and walking to where I need to go, no waiting in traffic, red lights or stop signs. But you do have to watch out not to get hit by a bus, horse and carriage or passing taxi though because they don’t stop for red lights or stop signs either. Here in Bolivia they are not very big on recycling because there aren’t many things that come in a bottle. Have you ever drunk milk, yogurt, juice or water out of a bag? It’s kind of a weird concept but here it is the norm and really convenient, just bite or rip off the corner of the square plastic bag and you have a portable drink. Everything is cheaper! For example an ice cream bar at any corner store is about 15 cents (US equivalent), a ride on the bus 25 cents. They only go to school for half a day. They have two different groups; they either go in the morning (7-noon) or in the afternoon (1-6pm). That works out really good for the brothers or sisters who want to regular or auxiliary pioneer while they are still in school. The only bad thing is that sometimes they get called into school on Saturdays. The native dress is not a thing of the past here in Bolivia. While the percentage is decreasing as time goes on it is still very likely for you to see women dressed in the traditional blouse, hat, sandals, and “Pollera” (skirt) everywhere you go. Each “Departmento” (State) has their own variation of the traditional dress while sticking to the same general outfit. While life may at first seem to be more hectic without the commodities that we always rely on back home, it is actually a lot more relaxed and not plagued with so much daily stress. Service is amazing no matter where you go in Bolivia; even the so called “hardest” territories are a breeze compared to many of our territories in the states. Being here really trains you to use your Bible because it’s very easy to share 4, 5 or more scriptures at almost every door. I would recommend visiting, serving or living in Bolivia to anyone who wants to see Jehovah’s hand in the lives of many as you enjoy amazing Bible studies and work alongside loving, zealous brothers and sisters who reflect the loving kindness of our loving heavenly father as they help you adjust and learn….how to be a Bolivian. :)

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 :)