Less then one week to go....

It's Friday today which means that by next week I will be back home in Portland! Its hard to believe that time has past by so quickly and that a trip that took almost 9 months to plan and save up for is almost over. wow!
The past two weeks have gone by especially quick. A new couple from Montreal had arrived in Pedernales while I was away to help  out in the Spanish. (They quickly got talked into helping out the creole too:) It has been really nice to get to know them, plus now I have a good contact for visiting Montreal! I was able to turn over some of my studies here in Pedernales to the the sister, Marisa. I also plan on drawing a map of all my good studies that I had in Anse-a-Pitre; hopefully soon we will be allowed to pass the border freely again as before and some of my studies over there will be taken care of.
I has a really nice experience last Saturday. Since we have been here I have always much preferred to work over in Anse-a-Pitre rather then here in Pedernales. We only worked here in Pedernales two mornings a week, all the rest of the time we were in Haiti. So after learning that we could not got cross over there for now, it was hard to have a positive attitude about having to stay in Pedernales. But of course, the need here is great too as my experience showed. We had all gone together, spanish and creole, to work in an area that is close to the border. There are a lot of Haitians and Domincans that live there. We all had a really great morning,  getting many new calls in spanish and creole. Towards the end of the morning we were all gathered around under a tree and were starting to beak away to do studies. A bunch a little kids gathered around us, all asking for something to read. I noticed a young girl, though, standing a little ways off, who was just watching us. Something about her seemed different and I decided that I wanted to talk to her. So I approached her and asked her name. I then asked her, since she seemed different then all the other kids, more withdrawn, if she had lived here long. She told me just 3 months. I asked her where she lived before and she told me she was a refugee from Port-a-Prince, a cause de the earthquake. Then it made sense why she was so much more timid and quite then the other children. I talked to her for a bit and ended asking her in the end if she wanted to study the bible with me. She said yes right away, she wanted too. So I arranged to come back on the following Monday. Well since then we have studied 3 times. I turned her over today to another sister here, Maria Ange. She is very quite and timid on her studies too, but she really seems to be understanding what we go over. Every time I have gone she is always ready to sit down and study. I hope she continues to learn after I leave!
Also too, this afternoon we had a nice experience. I was at another study which I had started with just one woman, Jocelyn. After the 2nd study, her neighbor, Roselyn, wanted to join in. Then a couple weeks ago, while having our study, an older lady nearby came up and was listening in. At the end she said that it wasn't fair that I was studying with just those two women and not her. So she then joined the study. Today I took Marisa on the study in order to turn it over to her. In the middle of it a young man came up and stood behind Jocelyn, listening in the entire time. Another young girl sat down nearby as well,  listening in. Well after we had finished, I asked the young man what his name was and where he lived. He pointed off behind us. I asked him if he too wanted to study the bible. He said yes. So I explained that Marisa's husband would be able to come back if he could show us where he lived. We followed him through the neighborhood to his own house. It turned out that his father was already a study of Jonas' but the young man had never met him. So now he would start studying too. And of course, the young girl who has sat down, she said that she also wanted her own study. It was a great ending to our day!
Tomorrow will be my last day in predication ici.  I think I will go to the beach as much as I can before I leave too. Soak up all the sun as I hear there is snow back home....Yikes!
Much looking forward to seeing all of my family and friends soon!
bisous



This is me with the 3 woman I studied with today.
The young man in the back is the one who we followed to his house!



This was me saying goodbye to some studies in Anse-a-Pitre

I know we are not supposed to have favorites, but the two girls on either side of me
were mine, Annanie and Annanemme. Sisters who live in Anse-a-Pitre

Snuck this photo while they were busy reading the paragraph!

Bittersweet day

It was a difficult afternoon today in Anse-a-Pitre. Last night at the meeting I found out that the border has become increasingly difficult to pass so the brothers were going to write a letter to the Dominican side requesting permission for us to continue to pass back and forth for preaching They has been allowing us to cross, but because of the difficulties for others the brothers wanted to make sure we had legit permission to cross in case anything more happened. This morning we normally would have gone over the border but the brothers wanted to wait for the letter to be processed and to receive an official response. Not going over this morning already bummed me out as I have not been there for almost 3 weeks and I had so many people I wanted to visit!
In any case, Jonas said we should be able to cross this afternoon so Verity, Valerie, and I met him at the border at 3pm. The guard at the gate saw us coming and automatically opened up the fence to allow us through. But before we went Jonas had to go and check in the status of our letter. He came back with bad news. They had not authorized the letter and were not going to allow us to continue to to cross freely as before. Thankfully, they did say they would allow us to cross this afternoon so we could let all of our visits (or as many as we could get to) know about us not being able to cross in the future and, too, about them not being able to come to the meetings in Pedernales. The brothers had seen this coming though, and had already arranged for a small meeting to take place in Anse-a-Pitre this sunday. I don't know if it will be a continuous thing or not, but at least we had some bit of good news to tell our visits.
Jonas stayed positive and remarked, as we all were crossing the bridge, "this is today. we don't know what will happen tomorrow!"
It was very hard afternoon. Not only because, combined, we had so many visits we could not possibly get to all of them, (plus we were also trying to visit other peoples visits if we knew them), but also it was just so hard to have to tell so many wonderful people that this might be the last time we would see them for awhile. All of us had sad faces and we had some really strong hugs of goodbyes. A lot of my visits, when they saw me, ran up to me with huge smiles on their faces, glad to have me back. Which just made it harder to have to tell them that I didn't know if or when I would be able to come again. I mean, I knew I would eventually have to say goodbye to all of them when I leave, but this was all just unexpected and too soon. 
I really hope that before I leave they will allow us to cross again!

Photos....

Made it back to Pedernales in one piece! My friend Verity flew into Santo Domingo yesterday and I am so glad she did as Ashley had to unexpetedly fly home last Wednesday. I was really sad to see my travelling partner go....sniff..sniff.... we had some great times!!
Verity will be here one week then after that I will be on my own till I leave Pedernales at the end of November. Time has passed so quickly!!
In any case, here are some photos from the past two weeks. Enjoy!


Ash & I in La Colonial, Santo Domingo




Robin & Terrie West with Janet Haisely in the middle




This was the line to get literature for the serivce day in Mirebalais




Brothers & Sisters on a "tap-tap" headed to the territory.
We had rented 2 of these for the day, plus we had 2 other cars!




View when we were working just south of Mirebalais.




Eating our coconuts while out in serivice!




Walking in the territory



After a long day, take a rest while waiting for the tap-tap to come!



Brother Marsailles teaching a young boy. It wasn't as serious as their expressions look!





Young children we met while working outside of San Cristobal, DR




Our service group from the creole congregation in San Cristobal, DR



Haiti Trip Summary

We made it back to Dominican Republic after an uneventful bus ride from Port-a-Prince. As promised, here is a brief overview of our past week. I will try to be a detailed as possible.
We arrived last Monday afternoon by bus into Port-a-Prince around 2pm. Robin and Terrie West and two special pioneer sisters, Luna & Nadine, picked is up at the bus station. As I mentioned in the previous post, the West's are a missionary couple living in Mirabalais. Ashley had met Robin about a year ago and I was able to meet both of them the weekend before we left, down in LA. What a difference meeting them made to our trip here! They really encouraged us towards considering Haiti as an option to visit. They also prepared us a lot for what to expect as far as the culture and the people of Haiti. By the end of our weekend in LA, we both were wondering why on earth we had chosen the DR and not Haiti to travel too! (of course, once getting to Pedernales and having such great experiences there it was hard for us to think to much about travelling to inner Haiti.)
In any case, we still wanted to visit and the West's welcomed us with wide open arms. After picking us up we drove to the Bethel Branch, which is about 20 minutes away. Once there we realized right away that we were with some of the best people you could be with when visiting Haiti. They had been at the bethel branch for over twenty years and had only just been sent to Mirabalais last spring. Walking around bethel as guests of the West's was like having celebrity status! Further proof of a really great couple:). We all had lunch in the room of another unique couple, Hugh & Janet Haisely. They have been here in Haiti for close to 30 years (I think) but have just recently been reassigned to Patterson, NY. It was a real privalege to meet and get to know them. After lunch we did a tour of the branch. It's very pretty!
We set off for Mirabalais just after 6 pm. By then it was dark outside. Haiti has a hour difference to the DR. I guess they used to be the same when Haiti recognized daylight savings. But then someone decided that for man to just change time like that twice a year is going against what God intended for timekeeping so they stopped........hmmmmmm.....;)
Anyways since it was dark we only got to see and experience crazy traffic as we left port-a-prince before heading north into the mountains towards Mirabalais.
On a side note, in case some of you have been reading the news and have put two and two together, Mirabalais is in fact the town that the cholera outbreak was traced too. The government thinks that it was caused by the dumping of human waste directly into the river by a UN Peace camp that is located just before the city. We took extra precautions while in the town itself, of course and everything went very well.
Tuesday was a holiday so the whole congregation had planned to work the day in a smaller area about 20 minutes away. Around 60 people showed up at the hall 7:30 am to get started! It was great to see so many. Plus, about 10-15 of them are just brand new publishers! I guess this is really normal. The congregation has regularly over 300 at each meeting. Anyways the service day was great. We walked really far. At one point three groups of two us treked up the side if this hill to visit some homes. Well in one of the homes there was a man who loved to talk about the bible. He gathered all 6 of us and sat us down, sending his young son to get all of us fresh coconuts to drink! We had a nice discussion with the man and he said that he looked forward to when we would visit again.
The rest of the week passed by way to quickly. We did the same schedule as Robin & Terrie normally do, which was being out all day wed, thur, sat. Friday they take off. We were going to go up to a nearby waterfall, but, as I am sure you all heard, there was a hurricane headed right towards port-a-prince. It ended up not hitting nearly as bad as everyone thought, just brought in a ton of rain. It was kind of funny though cause we didn't have any Internet and no other way really to read the news so I don't think the Wests would have even realized there was a bad storm coming if it had not been for several different people at bethel who called Terrie every few hours to update and check in!
The territory itself was very much the same as Anse-A-Pitre. Everyone is willing to listen! We had some really great experiences. One of the funnier ones was that at one house I started in  on my presentation and I asked the lady if if she could read the verse in the bible I was showing her. She said she couldn't read. I said it was no problem, i would read it for her. But then her young son, maybe 4 or 5 years old, interjected telling us that his mom could read, that she was lying. We all just kind of laughed, the woman too, and I just went ahead a read the verse. Then, after I had given her some magazines and we were getting ready to leave, the sister I was with started to explain to her how our work is voluntary and if the woman would like to contribute towards the cost of the magazines, then we would be happy to accept. Well the woman shyly shook her head no, saying she didn't have anything but then she ducked her head back in her house and brought out 2 gourds, which is  about 1cent. We gladly accepted it. Except then, out of the house, her little boy comes charging at us with a 200 gourd note in his hand, gives it to the sister, saying his mom was lying again; she did have money. We all started laughing, the mom included, as the little boy went back in the house and brought out a handful of more money, repeating to us that his mom was lying. It was a little awkward, of course, but we all just laughed at the little boy, mom included, and we gave the woman back her money. Out of the mouth of babes!
A little more on the congregation... Like I mentioned it has regular meeting attendance over 300. Many of the ones you invite to come show up, all dressed up. Bible students themselves progress very quickly...I met many students who were brand new publishers because they were out in service with us everyday! Really young ones progress fast too. I met two newly babtized young girls who were age 9 & 10. the ten year old already had atleast 2 studies and the 9 year old had 6!! It was so impressive though cause these girls knew their bible SO well. Because it is so easy to talk to everyone you meet, a new publishers learns quickly how to find key scriptures to many different points. It was a very humbling experience for me; in my time here i have learned so much!
The Sunday before we left some of the brothers in the congregation through us a small party after the meeting. It was really nice of them! Plus, I have never seen so many guys who loved to dance in one room! It seemed like the brothers outnumbered the sisters and I was literally being passed from one guy to the next as each song ended and  another one began. It was hard to leave!
The next day we had to say goobye to the Wests and travel back down to bethel. It was really hard to say goodbye! Just in one week we had both fallen in love with the area and the brothers and sisters, especially the Wests. They were so encouraging to us!
Monday evening we stayed a night at the bethel in Port-a-Prince. We were able to have dinner with the bethel family and also attend family study. After the study some bothers had a smaller gathering for us another two sisters who were visiting from Canada. It was a nice ending to our week!

Port A Prince, Haiti

Bonjou!!
Just a super quick update.... Ashley and I have spent the last week here in Haiti. It has been great! We stayed with a missionary couple in Mirebalais, about an hour north of the branch. We are now at the bethel and are staying the night before heading back to DR in the morning. I will post about are past week as soon as I have some more time (and am not using a Bethel computer!), this is just a post to let all know that we are safe, sound, and not sick with cholera. ;)
Bisous

Bus Ride

With the goal of getting out of the house no later then 4:30 am out the window, ashley and I hurried around flipping off lights, grabbed our bags and stepped out the front door at 4:40. I locked the front door, then locked the inner courtyard gate. We needed to leave our keys behind so the plan was for us to toss the keys back into the inner courtyard so that Jonsie, a brother who lives in an apartment in the back, would get them as he left. So I tossed the keys in, happy when they landed in a good spot. Ashleys starts to say "nice toss", or something like that, as we turn to face the gate. The outer gate. The gate that we also deadbolt each night with the keys that i just threw back into the other courtyard. Essentially we were now locked in Valeries yard....
Let me just say that it is a good thing we are both tall, algile, not afraid of heights, and, most importantly, Valeries fence was not armed with a bunch of jagged glass at the very top, which seems to be very common on other fences around here. :)
Needless to say we made it to the bus with about 5 min to spare. Now the whole reason we wanted to be there early was to make sure we got seats near the front; we'd been warned of the sardine like style they fill the buses. How it works is that once all the regular seats are filled (two seaters on both sides) they start pulling out these little benches that they lay on both edges of the seats creating another place to sit in the middle. They start this process from the back of the bus, moving forward. Imagine yourself sitting in the very rear of the bus slowly being boxed in as more passengers were loaded on. Now imagine in an emergency getting off the bus. Impossible! My feelings of claustrophobia having already been established in my first car ride here, I really did not want to get stuck in the back!
Unfortunately, due to my great key throwing abilities, the very back seat right in the middle, was where I ended up. Ashley had the privilege of getting the first bench seat, directly in front of me.  After her they added 3 more bench seats, plus had two militiary guys standing up by the door, with no seats at all. It was packed.  I waited for any panic to set in and when, after a few minutes, it didn't, I was much relieved. I had seen no way out of it short of climbing over the two people next to me and out the window!  Which, funny enough, is what one you girl had to do when her stop came early in the trip and no one had yet gotten off before her! The drivers helper just came up to the side of the bus and helped her down!
So are bus ride went well for the most part. Poor Ashley had to struggle with her "seat" for the first part of the trip; it kept slipping off one edge of the side seats and would collapse under her!
We just got back in from the creole meeting here in Santo Domingo. The singing there was amazing!! So loud.. We are going preaching here in the capital in the morning, then our awesome tour guides, Jessica & Andershis, are taking us aournd the city.
Will Update again when I can!

Super Fast Update...It's 4:30am here!

Just wanted to update you all quickly. I have had a few friends email with concern about the cholera outbreak in Haiti. The outbreak is no where near Anse-a-Pitre; there have been no reported cases here so far. The government on both sides has been doing lots of education campaigns around both towns; for example trucks with loud speakers broadcasting information about cholera are being parked in public places and posters are being put everywhere. The border has been shut off and on, but, like before, it is not affecting our work at all.
Having said that, the reason I am up so early is that Ashley and I are travelling to Santo Domingo via bus this morning. We are going to be staying there for a few days then on Monday will be travelling on to Port A Prince to stay with some friends just outside the city (not near the cholera area) for a bit. We have been planning this for some time and are really looking forward to it. We plan on using all precaution in our travels! We have been in contact with both bethels and have not received any warnings to not travel. I will try to post something if I get a chance when we are there.
Also, some have been wondering when we will be getting back... well that date is fast approaching!! We will be stateside as of December 1st:)
With Love To All!

Photo Update!

I have tried to have my camera with me everytime I leave the house... Here are a few funny and strange images I have come across!

A gust of wind threatens Martin's umbrella!



Check out what is holding the seat up in this bike....




We saw this guy feeding the birds while in Santo Domingo. Mary Poppins anyone??




I know, this is pretty gross looking... just a scene from our local market.



Prize rooster.



Spider Man.....



Spider Man...





Hoping for a scrap.



Why am I baking in this heat??

Word has gotten out and I have been baking all week...... My dad would be proud:)  I can't remember if I wrote about one of our calls, Andreman, that Ashley and I visit in the early morning. One morning her and her sister were spreading otu a huge tarp on the road and they were spreading raw coffee beans right there on the tarp to dry out. Ashley and I were really intersted in the work and our interest got us invited back to test out the homemade coffee. They also gave us a big canister of fresh coffee for our home. And a few gigantic avocados and some oranges. When we went back the next visit, again we were served coffee and given fresh fruit and avocados. So I decided to make her family a cake to thank them for all the things they were giving us. Plus, I had just made that other cake and was now in a baking kind of mood. It turned out well. And now we have an invitation to go up to the mountains with the family to visit there "jardin" where they grow there own fruits and vegi's. Yay!!
So then at meeting on Wednesday night, Mateo approached me and asked me to make a cake for a surprise for his wife. It was there 17 wedding anniversary! I was really happy to accept. Especially since I had just that day saw knock-off nutella in one of the stores and was already imagining nutella based frosting. (it is really hard to get any kind of chocolate here, so anything close to that is pulled of the shelves by all of us foreigners as soon as we see it!)  I also had been thinking about making some sort of coconut cream/pudding for the middle of the cake too.....with toasted coconut shavings on top.....

Et, Voila! A cake was born!
Here's the recipe for the Nutella frosting in case anyone wants:
3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup nutella
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbs milk (i used coconut)
2 cups Powdered sugar (did anyone else not know out there that you can actually make your own powdered sugar simply by grinding regular sugar till it turns into a fine powder??? amazing!)
Whip up butter, then add all other ingredients, mix till smooth!


This morning I finished off my baking week with another really easy recipe. Oatmeal Lemon Bars. Cans of evaporated milk are never in short supply here and thankfully I learned of a super easy recipe for a lemon cream using just the milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Again, really yummy.

Sorry for all of you out there reading this who are not really into food blogs.... This is not what this blog is supposed to be about! I think I have just been reading way to many food blogs myself this week and they are all floating around in my head!

A quick update on the border crossing: Friday is one of the two days of the week they have the international market. This past Friday some of the Haitians decided to protest the new rules with crossing. So they made a fire on both sides of the bridge and would not allow any other Haitians to pass over to the DR. They did not want anyone who would usually be selling goods on the DR side to cross. Without the Haitains, there was no market! Without the market, there was a lot of dominicans with no weekly produce in their kitchens. Unfortunately, a brother in our group tried to come over for service in the morning and the Haitians would not let him pass. Even after some of the Domican Guards yelled over to them to allow him through, saying he was a witness and was not taking part in any of the protests or selling, they still would not allow him to pass. The next day, he didn't even try to pass the border there. Instead, he walked through the river further up where it is shallow enough to cross. Although we found out later that he did not need to do that. By the afternoon the fires were gone and we were allowed to pass the border to preach with no issues in Haiti. It will be really interesting to see how things develop in the the near future!


Bonjour Tout Moun!
*That guy riding by is what we use as taxi's to and from the border
*We were in Pedernale's this day and I really liked the small house that is behind us.



best comment ever...

Remember Isaak, the young boy who I was in service with in Spanish and suddenly was unable to speak at the door??? Well, he has totally redeemed himself.
After eating a wonderful, fabulous, delicious meal of lobster and pikliz, I pulled my cake out for dessert. It wasn't exactly what I had wanted, but I thought it would do. Anyways, Isaak digs in and right away tells his dad something in spanish. I asked them to translate. He told him that I should be the pastry chef if his dad opens a bakery. I thought that was pretty cute. But then, as he is finishing his last bite, he says something else and the whole table starts to laugh. Arlie then translates:  "I don't care what language we are talking in, this cake is delicious!"
It was very funny! Anyways, here's a picture of the cake..... it doesn't look as good as it tasted!



*See that shaved coconut on top?? You know I actually had a brother crack open
the coconut and I grated all that stuff myself!! There is about a cup of it in the cake too!



Border crossing!

Some of you may have been wondering where we have been..... Well, as predicted, I have sort of run out of steam to keep this post super up to date, but I am still trying my best! And it certainly does not mean that our service here has changed at all. In fact, it has only gotten busier.
The brothers are really wanting us to try and have a balanced ministry, ie: door to door ( "kay nan kay" in creole) the first part of the morning, then, around 10:30/11, taking off to do return visits. This worked really well for Ashley and I the first few weeks, as we quickly built up a nice log of visits to go back too. But now, especially this week it seems, I found myself almost holding back as my partner and I would approach a new house so that my partner would be the one to speak. Not because I didn't want to speak, but I seriously have had anxiety in the evenings when I am going through my list of studies and calls that I need to get back too! It seems impossible to get to all of them! Thankfully, all of the ones who we talk to, even if it is call that you had told you were going to come back the following Thursday but you don't actually make it back till Saturday, are grateful for whatever time we can spend to them, encouraging them.:)
One of the things that makes it difficult to return is that, obviously, we cannot work alone in the territory, so we are always paired up with someone else. Someone who also happens to have a load of studies and calls that they want to do that morning too. It turns into a juggle of trying to fit all of them in together, or at least get back to the ones that you have not seen for the longest time. And our group here is so small, maybe around 10 including Ashley and me, so when we leave we really don't have anyone to turn our studies over too! (ok, so I am being a little dramatic here. There happens to be a couple from Canada arriving mid November and Ashley and I are already compiling a list of our really good studies, the ones that are making it to the meetings,  that we want to turn over to the sister.)  They need help here!! Anyone wanting to come would be welcomes with open arms!

On another note. there have been some interesting new developments regarding the border crossing between Haiti and Dominican Republic. As I wrote about in the beginning, when we first arrived anyone could freely walk right through the border; the gates were never closed. As time passed, they started keeping the gates closed more, but would still open them for just about everybody. Then a few times they wouldn't let anyone pass through from the Haitian side unless they were Dominican workers. But each of those times there were specific things happening that day, like the President coming through or another time they had some sort of ceremony in town. Now, just this week, they have built a new little structure right next to the gate and have had more guards on duty. They will not let any Haitians through unless they have proper papers. It even has affected the international market. See, the market takes place literally right next to the border, but on the DR side. Anyone can sell things at the market, but the majority who do sell things are Haitians. We were all wondering what they were going to do about the new border crossing rules. A lot of Dominicans rely on that market for cheaper food then in the town. So on Friday, as I rode up on my moto/taxi, I could see how they had decided to handle it. They had let the market take place as usual but stationed guards on each of the entrances to the market, making sure any Haitians who left were going directly back across the border. Of course, beyond the market, it doesn't seem like they are letting any Haitians across to do work on the DR side. But Dominicans are having no issue traveling over to Haiti to do business. Interesting...........
You may be wondering how this has affected our work. Well, all last week it seemed like whenever we invited new ones to the meeting in Pedernales, they mentioned how that it is difficult to cross the border so they probably would not be able to come. I even had couple studies mention that they had tried to come but were not allowed to cross the border. (Incidental, I did have one study and two visits make it past last week. Forgot to ask them how they crossed.) So we started to tell them to be dressed up for the meeting and carry their bible in the hands as they cross. At the border, tell the guards that they were going to go to the kingdom hall. We all hoped that this would work.
Well it did! Today we had around 15 walk over the border for our meeting, all of them dressed up and holding a bible or whatever literature of ours that they happened to have. It was so great to see. Even a bible student of mine came, despite her parents not being super supportive. (I had talked to the mom and made sure it was okay I studied with her. She said yes. I guess in the past she had studied but was forced to stop. I am not sure what changed the parents minds now.) She had a huge smile on her face and told me she had walked through the border with a new publisher named Samuel and had had no trouble.
As far as us walking back and forth over the border, we really have had no issues.  There have been a couple of times where it seemed like we were not being allowed to enter DR at first, but then, once the head guards see us, we are waved through. I wish I could describe the feeling I had when we came across the last time. We were standing at the gate with a ton of Haitians around us, waiting to be let through to the DR. Many of the Haitians were trying to talk to the guard so he would let them pass. He was not listening. As he let a Dominican man by, our group started to follow him, but then we were stopped. The guard started to motion for us to go back when another guard behind him yelled "Testigos des Jehova". The young guard just smiled at us as he let us through. And in our service group there are two Haitians with no papers. But we are all let through with no issues as soon as they realize we are Jehovah's Witnesses. :)
The brothers don't know what is to come in the future regarding the border, but, as the CO encouraged and as we all know, we really just need to have a place to meet for meetings on the Haitian side. It's definitely a matter of prayer, as finding a place suitable and cheap enough is very difficult. It is also very much needed, so I won't be surprised if a solution presents itself soon!
Ok, well I better get going. Mateo is cooking us lobster again tonight and I am supposed to be making a fabulous coconut pineapple cake for dessert!! I did just happen to peep in the oven though, and it seems to not be rising so fabulously. hmm....... stupid humidity maybe.. or being so close to the equator. i am going to have to make up for it in the filling!
Love you all!

week 5

Hey Everybody,
Having bible studies is the purpose of this trip, so I'll just tell you about a couple lovely people I have been able to speak with lately.
Last thursday morning, Valerie, the sister we're living with, and I started off the day with some door to door and continued making return visits. We were in Mamat's area, so we stopped at her house. I called out, "Bonjour", and this girl literally screamed, "Ashley!", ran and jumped of her raised porch, and greeted us both with a kiss on the cheek. I was not expecting that reaction. She'd been waiting for us to come back and even had a small present waiting for me; nothing out of the ordinary, but the fact that she was thinking about our visit enough to save something till the next time really touched my heart. Not everybody does that. We continued our study that day, and we're gonna continue tomorrow. She had a crazy question though- where did Cain get his wife. Random right? I'll give y'all an update;-)
Valerie and I continued on to visit Anada. She is very quiet and doesn't say much; you can tell she has a lot of deep thoughts though. As we were going through the lesson Valerie asked her how she felt about the fact that Jehovah cares about her personally. She started trying to say something about her life but couldn't continue. She tried to finish, but she couldn't speak through her tears. We didn't push her talk anymore. We just continued with the lesson. Afterward, we assured her that we are always in Anse-Pitre and are always there if she needs someone to talk to. Unfortunately, she moved back to Porte-au-Prince the next day for school. We encouraged her to stay close to the Witnesses there because she wouldn't have just a church- she has a family there; she promised she would. After we left, I asked Valerie why she cried. Apparently, she came from Port-au-Prince to begin with and had seen many horrible things because the earthquake. Also, her grandmother recently died from aftermath complications. I realized later that she had much help from the Witnesses in that area, so she'd seen firsthand how much the brothers and sisters love each other and their neighbors and that we really are a family. I'm never gonna forget Anada and the impact the truth is having on her life. In fact, she has given me a renewed appreciation of what it really means to be a Jehovah's Witness and a renewed appreciation for the beauty of the truth. Jenni and I are hoping to see her again when we visit Port-au-Prince. We'll keep you updated on that too.
That's all folks;-)
Ashley
PS- We didn't have Internet access all day. I got home and decided to do the dishes but was so excited to find the internet was working that I forgot to turn the kitchen faucet off ( I had an e-mail from Bruce:-)) Don't laugh Rox- I hope Valerie doesn't read this.

Rain, rain go away...

Hey all! Sorry, its been a few days.....not a lot to report. We have been having some major rain storms down here though, which was really neat at first since the wind and rain were so incredible it seemed like a hurricane was coming through!! But now, after 5 days of a little sun in the morning then BAM, rain and wind all afternoon, Ashley and I are ready for the sun to come back! Even if it means crazy heat. We miss going to the beach in sunshine!! Actually, tonight after service we just said "forget it" and took off for the beach anyways. Had a really nice relaxing evening swim. With a young boy names Jeubo. (he was playing baseball in the street when we walked past him on our way to the beach. 10 minutes later he appeared  for a swim too. convenient...:) He taught us some new spanish words. Particularly one for a flying fish since that is what we are pretty sure flew out of the water and in front of faces, only to dive back in while we were standing the water. it was crazy! we didn't actually see what it was, but nevertheless, it flew through the air! (Ashley said that maybe it was an eel, since her mom told her to watch out for eels down here;)\
anyways, i thought i would post some pictures of the yummy food we have been eating down here!

Yum! Fried chicken, plantains, & salad!

This is food you can buy on alomost any street corner

One of my favorite lunches made by Sameera!

This was a dinner at on of the local cafes!

Ashley and I are addicted to these cheese stuffed yuca you can buy
on the street for 5 pesos. Reminds me of a great appitizer at Andina's in PDX!

Charlie and Isaak rushing to get out of the rain today in predi!

This was food we got a bethel!

Lobster and Pikliz





Beginning of the Pikliz

Just had to post really quickly about the amazing dinner we had last night! (sorry, you know me, LOVE food;)
So there is an elder in our hall who everyone calls Mateo. I think that is just his last name, but that's what he goes by. Anyways, he is an amazing brother, willing to help anyone with anything!! (this is the brother who picked us up in Enriquilo, squeezing us into his tiny car, when we first arrived)  I had run into him about a week ago in one of the local markets where i saw him buying some cabbage, onions, cilantro, garlic.... i asked him what he was making. He told me it was going to be pikliz.
now, for those of you who don't know what that is,  basically it is a Haitian style salad/salsa/slaw, depending on each individuals personal recipe. and it is almost always spicy. i have had it a couple times, each time it was made slightly different, but each time i loved it! so, i was happy to find out Mateo knew how to make it. (he is Dominican, not Haitian).
I told him as much and he let me know that he would soon have ashley and i over for dinner to try out his version.
So last night at meeting he pulled me aside and said that he was going to make dinner that night, after the meeting, for Martine. (She left to go home to France this morning) He invited Ashley and I to come too.
When we got to the house we soon realized that Mateo had more skills then we even realized! He quickly set to work chopping and mixing. getting his two older boys (10 and 13yrs) to help out as well. Turns out that he loves to cook, in fact he wants to be a chef. He had had some training in another part of the DR and it must have been really good training. All of us sisters just stood around in awe as his wife sat on the couch sipping beer. It was pretty great.
anyways, here are some pictures of the dinner. He cooked lobster, made an amazing sauce with octopus in it, and, of course the pikliz!!
Enjoy...... I know we sure did:)


Mateo Getting his hands dirty!



Just cooked!

Cooking up the octopus sauce





Almost ready to feast....

TA-DA!

Is this all really happening?

Wow, the days have been flying by! I can't believe that I have been away for over a month already!! (counting the convention days:) Ashley and I both sometimes panic at how fast the time is passing.... well probably me more then Ashley. She's got Bruce back home to think about! (wink, wink;)
Anyways, we have been having a great time, comme toujours. Last Saturday Ashley had a great study with Tachilie and Marceline, the girls who came to the meeting. Actually, that whole morning was great. We had went door to door for just a little bit, then broke away to do some studies and visits. After having a good study with a young girl named Natalie, we went over to a new visit I had recently met. Earlier in the week, in door to door, I met a young girl named Annanemme and had started  a study with her in a brochure. Halfway through the study a young woman came up and sat down to listen. She would help the younger girl with some of the answers, so at the end of the study I asked her if she studied with anyone. She said yes. I asked her who and she told me Linda. Well Linda is a sister who was here for some time but recently had to go back to the US. The young woman, Annanie,  then told me that she knew Linda had left. So I, of course, asked if she her if she would like to study with me. She said yes. I set it up to return on Saturday.
Back to Saturday, we went next to Annanie's house and she was already to go, holding her bible and a bible teach book. We right away started reviewing chapter 3 together. It went really well! I can tell she is going to be a really enjoyable study.
After that study is when we went to Tachilie and Marceline's. We were covering the the information in the first chapter of the BV book about the difference between God permitting suffering and him causing suffering. Well Tachilie is the younger one, but, as we have found out, she loves to answer. She usually is the first find the answer in the book and read it out loud. The problem is that she is not really letting it sink in. So even after answering all the questions she stills demands "but why does God cause suffering???" so we patiently explain the paragraph again, and then even have her read James 1:13. After showing off her reading skills, again she demands " But why does God cause suffering??" Ashley dit, pointing to the verse we just read: "the bible says he does not cause suffering! We just read that here."  The whole time Marceline has been quiet and I was just wondering if she was even understanding anything when, all of a sudden, she starts to explain to Tachilie everything that we just covered, in her own words, but correctly. She even chastises Tachilie for not really paying attention to what she herself was reading in the bible. She was like "you are just reading it, but not understanding it. pay attention!"    Ashely and I were very impressed with Marceline's great reasoning!
After all that, Ashley and I were walking back across the border, thinking to ourselves when I suddenly had the thought "did that morning actually just happen???" I mean, we so quickly have just adjusted to this schedule and to the everyday assurance that if we are in service, we will get studies. And then having all these studies and calls, you barely get to work house to house anymore. And then a whole saturday morning passes without you registering what an amazing day in service you just got to experience because, well, it's just how it goes down here. amazing.
Yesterday evening I had another neat experience. I was with Martine and we were going to see a study of mine who lives here in Pedernales, but in an area that is mostly hatian. We got to her house but she wasn't there. Two little boys, maybe 4 and 5 years old, were walking by and they saw us at the house. The older boy then told us that my call was not home but that she was "over there", pointing to a group of about 6 adults sitting together further up the rue. We followed the boys over to them and said hello. All of them said hello back. One in particular seemed really happy to see us and asked us if we could give him something encouraging to read. Martine gave him a tract in creole. He thanked and then pointed to his friend and said he needed something as well, but in spanish. I had some mags with me so I gave him one. That man then pointed to a woman near by and asked if she could have one too, but in creole. I gave one to her too. Then another guy behind me asked for some good news, but in french. I happen to have french with me as well:)  In all, we placed 6 magazines and one tract! They were all reading there own copies as we left to visit with my study!


Some really cute kids in predi who were following us on the road.



                                                                         Okay so lately the bladders of Ashley et moi have not been cooperating with the "pee right before you leave in the morning and not again till you get home at lunch" rule that we figured out as soon as we got here. Today, not once, but twice, we had to utilise outhouses in Anse a Pietre. This one here is a beauty! The dog at your feet was just an added bonus as you try to figure out how on earth to squat on this cement square while not touching it all:) Good times here, good times.....

Week 3

Hello Everybody!

     Today was another great day "nan predicasyon li." Jenni and I have been having a great time working together.  In fact, we decided to do this more often instead of working with the local brothers and sisters so we can get to our calls.  Jehovah has blessed our efforts for making this choice. Let me start you off with the past couple of days.



This is like our QT stop- aw brotherly love!

      One afternoon while en route to one of my studies, we heard a girl yelling, "Hey! Jehovah's Witnesses! Come here, can I have a brochure." (Yeah, we have quite the reputation now).  This type of response is so commonplace in Anse-Pitre though, that I wasn't particularly thrilled to talk to her. But, Jenni and I went over to see what she was all about. Her and another older friend of hers started talking boisterously and asking many questions.  We pulled out our bibles to reason with them, but this was very difficult since the location was a storefront.  Many people kept coming and going, so the girls invited us around to the back to sit and have a discussion.  We mostly talked about why Jehovah and Jesus aren't the same and of some of the reasons why Gods name has been taken out of many bible versions.  They were very intent on the discussion, so we invited them to the mtg.  We left their home to visit others then got back to the border just before the guards closed the gate.  We here some voices behind us, "Jennifer, Ashley!" Who in the world could that be? Of course its Marceline and Tashali from earlier.  They actually came running up before we crossed to the other side wanting to know what time the meeting was and where to find it.  We told them and hoped for the best.  I say this because everyone we invite to the kingdom hall sincerely plans on coming to the meetings, but its pretty rare they actually do.  So thats that.


UN soldier in our back yard

  Oh yeah, just a side point- we don't ever carry our passports around with us because people freely cross the border as they wish. However, earlier that day we were almost impeded by a UN guard from reentering Pedernales because the Dominican president was coming that day, but someone told the guards we were Jehovah's Witnesses and he let us through.  We were able to come and go for the rest of the day with no problems just because we're Jehovah's Witnesses. That was cool.


Our private beach

      So the next day we're totally exhausted and decide to take a beach day. We a found a spot where there was no young naked boys trying to follow us, and we settled in for the morning. Tanning and looking for seashells; I think thats a great way to start the day.  We headed back home for lunch and heard lot of commotion. Turns out the president was giving a seminar just across the street from our neighborhood.  That's why our street was blocked in by a big truck- makes sense now.  So I go outside to clean my sandals, but we have company.  Another UN soldier is in our backyard for security purposes.  Not problem though.  He was very friendly and let me take a photo.  Jenni was a little shocked when she seen him. I forgot to tell her he was there.  Oops.  They day goes on, the press leaves, we get ready for meeting, we rush out the door, and finally get to the hall. Guess who's there.  Marceline and Tashali were sitting right in the front row patiently waiting for the meeting to start. We were so thrilled they actually came. Tashali even gave a comment during the congregation bible study. They were warmly welcomed by everyone and both agreed to come back this Sunday.  We had a second bible study with them today and are also planning to go back for another on Saturday.  We have to work fast with these two because they're only here on vacation and leave in nine days.  They'll be returning to an area near Port-au-Prince. Since Jenni and I are also planning to take a trip there next month, we hope that we will be able to see them there, "God willing," as everyone says here:)


Tashali and Jenni at the Kingdom Hall



Marceline and Ashley at the Kingdom Hall



This pic is from a previous blog (dedicated to Maria)

Bonne Predi!

This morning was a great morning in predi! One of the brothers decided to count all the new visits we got for just the morning. There were about 11 of us working together in an area that Ashley and I have not been in yet. It's basically a road to the left of the border crossing that you can take all the way to the ocean. So we set off. And, I will add as a side point, it was especially hot today!!
We had some really nice experiences along the way. At one house we spoke to a man who wanted to know what Jehovah's names means and why we use it. Jonas was able to explain to him using the bible and also the bv book. The man readily agreed with all that Jonas said. He kept repeating how it made sense to him. So after the visit we walked a ways down the road and stopped to make some notes. Well, the man has walked over to another group of about 4 young men and started to talk to them. Soon he started calling us back over to the group. He asked Jonas to please explain to the 4 other guys what he had just explained to him. So, of course, Jonas did. And the whole time the original guy was nodding his head and smiling like " yeah, see? this is totally true!" It was pretty great. Then later, after we had finished for the morning, we walked back by the same house. The man was with another group of men, holding the book open, and talking to them about the book. (we assume:) Not something you see every morning in predi, right?  He was already teaching others!
So you want to know the total for new visits? Well by 11:30 we had around 22!!! I think there may have been a few more, but we all had sort of dispersed by then, off to do studies!

Moi, Valerie, Martine, et Welshine

Traffic Jam on the bridge! If you look closely you can see
that some brothers and sisters are stuck in the middle.
It was just after the market day and there was rush to get back over.

This was the end of the road that we worked at today. The little girl in the boat had followed me all the way to the end. Then she just jumped in for a swim!

Feeding the CO at Martine's house.

Noreuga, a sister in the spanish who hosts the service meeting group on Wed.

Nicola, Martine, et Jonas