What a week!

Last week was full of activity. The foreign language circuit overseer, Brother Rumpf, visited the English congregation here in Cuenca. He and his wife were so encouraging. They have been serving here in Ecuador for 12 years. They served in Spanish then in Chinese. You know you have been serving in a foreign field for a long time when you forget words in English. He would be up on the stage giving a talk and stop, ask someone in Spanish what the English word was. It didn't happen very often, but it was funny when it did. I thought, if you are trying to learn a new language that must be an awesome thing. You finally learn the new language  so well, you forget your first. This next week he and his wife are off to serve the Shuar Indians in the Jungle.
It is really a revolving door here, as it is in any need greater area. Families are constantly coming and going. We are meeting new friends from all over the world every week. The Australians seem to have the market on the place though. A sister told me last year there were mostly North Americans in the English congregation so the Ecuadorian brothers were learning English with an American accent. Now, with 4 Australian families here, the Ecuadorian friends are starting to speak English with a slight Australian accent! All we need is to get a few families from Eastern Kentucky to move here. LOL!
Saturday night turned out to be eventful. Many of you know that Bill and Sherry are here with us. Bill had to go to the hospital with a kidney stone attack. He stayed until Monday morning. He was treated and is doing fine. He said he was very impressed with the medical care he received. He said the doctors here were very patient and explained more to him than his American doctor ever did. The one perk he got was being able to watch the Super Bowl on TV in English! The rest of us went to a brother's house and watched through an internet feed, projected on the wall. That wasn't so bad, until it started buffering every 5 seconds. So we didn't see the final outcome until 11 pm! And....they only streamed a few of the commercials! We had to watch the rest on youtube after the game. Oh the sacrifices of serving where the need is greater. But we are glad Bill got to watch the game uninterrupted.
Many of you knew our dear sister Betty Jane. We were saddened to hear of her death Saturday night. She was one of the most zealous, tenacious, spiritual sisters I have ever known. She loved Jehovah with all her heart and lived a long life proving that. We will miss her, but look forward to the time when we can see her again. I think you will find her house right next to Bill's.

 The Presidential election is in a few weeks. They drive these trucks all over the city, with giant paper mache heads of the candidates.

 Bill and Dick preaching the word in Cuenca (backpacks required).

 The pioneer meeting with the Circuit Overseer. I think we had 32 with the Auxiliary Pioneers.

 For once an empty bus ride to the meeting.

A rainy day in the ministry. Umbrellas definitely required!

Settling In

 We made it! The trip here was for once uneventful. No lost passports, no delayed flights, no lost luggage. We didn't even have to have our luggage searched when we went through customs. We stayed in a bed and breakfast owned by a brother Thursday night and made it to Cuenca on Friday afternoon. By Saturday morning we were out in service with the group. Gretchen and I were talking to a young man when Austin came around the corner and recognized him as a call he got last year right before we left. Austin talked to him and set up a time to return to demonstrate the study. So, Austin got an RV on his first day out! LOL.  Saturday evening the Perrys and Schweitzers showed up. We got them settled into their apartment, which is in the same building as us. Sunday we went to meeting via the bus. It was so great to see everyone again. There were new faces, many were visitors from Ohio who were in for a wedding. The Watchtower Conductor asked everyone who commented to say their name and where they were from. After the 5th person said "Ohio"the brother (who is from Michigan) asked if the Ohio river was flooding again?! Everyone had a good laugh. One comment we heard more than once from the friends we made here was, "It is so great to see someone actually come back. Many friends say they are, but things happen in the meantime and they don't get to return."
  Sunday afternoon we took the  Perrys and Schweitzers for their inaugural grocery shopping experience. Sorry everybody, I didn't get any pictures of that. Today we went to the Mercado and rested up a bit. We have the Circuit Overseers visit this week so we will have a busy week ahead of us. Our neighbors in the apartment next door are missionaries, Jennifer and Eric. They went to  Gilead in 1995 and have been serving in Ecuador in the Spanish field. They were just moved to Cuenca one month ago. We look forward to getting to know them. I'll be sure and post pictures later.

 This is my first morning out in service in Cuenca. The sister with me is Gretchen. She and her family are from Michigan. They have been here for about 2 years. We partnered up for the morning and realized we not only perfectly matched each other but the flowers as well.

 This some of the mosaic work they do in the city of Guayaquil on the underpass supports.

 We were waiting to be taken to the bus station and Cleo decided to entertain us with her smokin Ukulele skills.

 This is taken at the Miami Airport, waiting for our connecting flight. Doesn't Cleo look like an angel with the sun shining on her sleeping face?

 Sunday morning on our way to the Kingdom Hall. A first Ecuadorian Bus ride for some!

My typical breakfast here, fresh fruit and yogurt with my green tea of course!

Ecuador take 2

Here we are again, sitting at the airport. We couldn't have picked a better morning to head south. It was around 20 degrees when we stepped out our door! I am looking forward to another 3 months with all of our Ecuadorian friends. Of course we have our first few days of eating planned out, revisiting our favorites. Tune in for the upcoming culinary attractions, like Maria's bakery, where a German sister makes the most delicious bread and pastries! We are also excited about the spiritual itinerary in store for us. Next week we have the circuit overseer's visit, followed by the Memorial, Special talk, and the circuit assembly in the months to follow. I am glad to be able to share this with all of you. I appreciated our friends that said they look forward to reading the blog and sharing our experiences. It helps me as well, to reflect on each day and appreciate this special opportunity. We have been blessed with such a huge spiritual family that continues to provide us with love and encouragement, no matter which country they happen to be "alien residents" in.

This is a picture of the last authentic cheeseburger I will have in 3 months. The Miami airport has a restaurant called "The Counter" that has amazing burgers!

Wrapping up

Three weeks has come to a very quick end. I am writing this on my final leg of our flight home. We had a very good time in Oaxaca. We spent most of our time in the ministry, socializing with the friends or sampling all the local food. We spent a few days as tourists, but when you come to a place with helping out in the ministry as your main objective, priorities become evident. For instance, yesterday we had planned to spend the morning in service and then go see the famous Tule tree (a huge cypress tree that a little town built itself around). As it turned out, after lunch we decided staying out in the ministry and spending our last day with the friends was the better option. I mean who needs to go see some 2000 year old tree when you could start another bible study?! As it turns out, in the afternoon a man approached our group in the park. He recognized one of the brothers. He had studied before and after the brothers spoke with him and shared a few scriptures, he agreed to resume his study! Like I said, who needs to see some old tree! Also, both of the studies Cleo and I started were handed over to local sisters and Cleo intends to keep in touch with the young girl she met via email.
We ended our day enjoying an authentic Oaxacan meal with the Flanagan family from Ohio. Enchiladas with wonderful molé sauce. Yum!
I am always encouraged by all the young adults I meet on these trips. They are always persons of incredible abilities and character, yet they are all choosing to exert themselves serving Jehovah while living in the simplest of conditions. Even considering all that, most of them are very well traveled and have seen quite a bit of the world already. I think about all the young adults that pursue higher education and prominent careers. They work hard all their lives so they can finally retire and travel. They might get to half the places with half the energy that most of the pioneers I've met have been. What a rich and wonderful life Jehovah offers our young people if they just take advantage of it.
So, to wrap up......our trip was a success. We met new friends, had good experiences in the ministry, gathered more information on a country we might return to, widened our cultural outlook, tried new foods (ok, only Dave tried the grasshoppers), and increased our appreciation for being servants of the one true God. Doesn't get any better than that.
Don't forget to click on the pictures so you can see the whole enchilada!

    Erin and Cleo showcasing a pomegranate tree in service.

    Our last night in Oaxaca, dinner with the Flanagans.

    Isidro and Jorina, the brother and Sister we stayed with.

 

Food and VW's

There is plenty of food to choose from here, but the tortilla is king here in Oaxaca. It is served with every meal, in some form, most times taking center stage. Depending on how it is prepared and if it is corn or flour, makes for the name. There is the empanadas, tlayudas, enchiladas, chilaquiles, and of course tacos. We have found many juice bars, where they can mix up your choice of fresh squeezed fruits and veggies. Also crepes are popular here too, especially with a little Nutella. There is also a large kernel corn that is allowed to sit on the stalk after rain and develop fungus turning it black. Strawberries are in season here now and absolutely delicious! Of course they are known here for eating chapulines, or grasshoppers. They sauté them up with garlic, chili pepper and peanuts. Dave gave them a try, but not me.
VW bugs are everywhere! I am trying to get a picture of one in every color. They only stopped making them here a few years ago.
Oh, and turns out Oaxaca is where they filmed Nacho Libre. So the friends have been showing us different locations where scenes were filmed.
We are in our final week of the a very short three. I was working territory on Friday with a sister and a man approached us asking for the magazines in Spanish. We didn't have the current ones in Spanish, but found out he spoke English. Turns out he lived in California for a few years and had moved back to Oaxaca last year. We gave him the magazines in English along with an invitation to the meeting on Saturday. We walk into the hall on Saturday and there he was! He met several of the local brothers and sounds like he will return.
Our host family treated us to an authentic Oaxacan breakfast this morning. A lady came and fixed us empanadas on a terra cotta pan heated by coals. It was washed down with Mexican hot chocolate. The generosity of the friends always amazes me.

A "ruined" day

The last few days have been good. More fun service and great weather. Today we did the tourist thing. We went to Monte Albán, the largest ruins in the area. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to walk the whole area. It was nice that the information plaques were done in English as well as Spanish. Then we came back to downtown Oaxaca and ate lunch, followed by a thorough investigation of the souvenir shops and coffee shops.

Bible studies

Week one is already coming to an end. After spending 5 of the last 7 days in service, Cleo and I both have bible studies! The RV I mentioned earlier is one. She invited us in and we covered 4 paragraphs in the book. I am to return next Tuesday. Cleo met a young mom on Wednesday. She just moved back to Mexico after living in Memphis for several years. She spoke very good English and used the term, "y'all" with a Spanish accent. Memphis definitely rubbed off. We came back on Friday and had the first study. She said that she was trying to make her marriage better and knew that learning about God would help. She told her husband that when we came the first time it was more than a coincidence. So we are going to come back when her husband can sit in.
Other than service, we have been eating our way through the city. There is a lot of good, spicy food here. We hope to go see some of the ruins on Monday and act like tourists!