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

its been awhile....

Sorry for the long delay in posting! This week has been very busy. The Creole CO and his wife are here visiting our group and have been staying at the same house as Ashley and I. Barnaby and his wife, Jermaine, are from Martinique. It's really neat that they here for a visit considering we are still just a small group at the end of the road:)
On Wednesday night, at the spanish meeting, the brother gave a special talk in creole. One of the local special pioneer brothers translated it into spanish for the rest of the congregation. It was the first time the brother had ever translated a talk before. He did a really good job! It was just a few times that he would get stuck on a word in creole, not knowing what it was, and he would look to the CO. Barnaby would repeat the word in creole again.... then Barnaby would just translate it into spanish for him. It was pretty funny :)
The week in service flew by! I got a few new studies and I know Ashley did as well. In fact, one of them came to the meeting today that we had in creole! We had around 40 people at the meeting today... that's around 20 more than usual!
We have found the response in the territory truly remarkable. It is easy to get a new call at every door. You actually have to be choosy about who you will continue to study with or not. Friday afternoon the CO gave a small talk at the service meeting about this. He covered information regarding how long a person should be studying for and the type of progress they should be making. If they are not showing genuine effort after a few months of study, then it is time move on to another person that will. I had to shake my head today during the watchtower study when it mentioned living in a territory that was apathetic or opposed, that we should not give up. Here, it is just our studies that we may have to give up!!
Will post some more pics soon!
Miss you all!

Story of the day....

As we were walking to another visit of Valeries today, we passed a group of women and one young boy. He called out to us in creole. At first we didn't stop, having already gotten used to constant whistles and calls for attention, my first imstict is to now always ignore. But this boy wanted our attention so he called out some more. We stopped and he ran up to us. I asked how he was doing and them told him my name, asking for his. "Anthony" i asked him if he could read creole. When he said yes, I gave him a small tract. Then Valerie asked him if he knew what Gods name is. He confidently replied "Jehovah". After that we walked over to meet his mom and other members of his family. After inviting them all to the meeting, Valerie told the mother that her son seemed to really want to learn about God. The mother replied "yes. He wants to learn with Jehovah witnesses" we told Anthony that we would return soon so he could!


The other highlight if my morning was that I got to hold a really cute, really chubby, Haitian baby through the duration of an entire study! I assured the mom that when she comes to the meeting on Sunday, I will gladly help with the baby:)

Yesterday evening we went out here in Pedernales. I was assigned to work with a ten year old boy named Isaak. We were working in an area that has both Dominicans and Haitians living in the different houses, so it would work out nicely, as Isaak does not speak creole and I do not speak Spanish. Or atleast, I believe, that was what the brother who put us together had thought. As we started to walk away from the group I, in broken Spanish, started telling Isaak that I didn't really speak Spanish but I could manage with creole so things should be great. Instead of smiling back at me, he just sort of gave this hesitant, sideways look that seemed to say " uh, umm, yeah.... Let's just see what happens". So we proceeded to the first door where, of course, the woman spoke spanish. As she quickly went into her home to gather some chairs for us to sit down on her little patio area, I glanced at Isaak and gestured to him that he should talk. His look back was not so confident. As we sat down the woman looked at me, expectantly. I smiled and told her in spanish that I didnt really speak spanish but that my friend with me did, gesturing over to Isaak. At this point I could tell that he was really not wanitng to talk at all but was being forced into it since he got stuck with the american who doesn't speak any spanish. or maybe i just intimidated him.... i have been told that i have a knack for that;) In any case, he managed to hand her a brochure but then didnt really say anything..... she kept looking from him to me, back and forth. i could tell she really wanted something good to be said and that she was all ready for it!! meanwhile, isaak was fumbling around in his bag, i assumed, looking for his bible. this went on a little to long..... then Isaak looked up at the woman and grabbed his throat, putting on a face that said "it really hurts". The woman looked at me and says in spanish "he is sick. his throat", gesturing to her throat too, at that point, like that was the answer to all this awkwardness.... are you guys picturing this scene??? cause if you're not, you should. it was pretty comical!!
anyways, I can manage to read a scripture in spanish, which is what I did after borrowing Isaaks bible, and the woman seemed to really appreciate it. I then opened the brochure and showed her the contents. She just kept nodding her head, with a big smile on her face....... so i somehow told her I would come back, atleast I hope that was the idea I conveyed....... and thats how i came to have my first spanish call here in Pedernales.

Check out those cheeks!

Week 2

Hi everybody!  Week 2 has been great.  Jenni and I have been starting lots of studies, and we have been getting much encouragement from the local brothers and sisters.  The people here are still receptive to the truth- just like they were last wk! Jehovah has been helping us along the way tremendously.  For example,  another sister, Arley, and I did some of my visits on a Saturday. Just FYI if you don't have a photographic memory finding your returns might be hard. That being said I hadn't a total clue how to find mine, yet Arley and I managed to find them all.  In fact, a very nice man in the village helped us find my last call of the day. As we were walking along, I saw a woman bringing out some chairs from her home and she called us over. "Hey," she said. "I was waiting for you."  It was my study, Sherly, who we were looking for.  We sat and talked for over an hour during the study.  At the beginning we had prayed that Sherly would feel comfortable to ask us questions.  Before we left, she asked us why god permits suffering.  In fact, we seen that she had already been reading the book before we came and had her book marked for questions she was particularly interested in.  Arley invited her to the meeting. Although she attends another church where she lives, she said that in time she would make the effort to attend a meeting at the kingdom hall.  This is very impressive since she lives across the Haiti border, and the kingdom hall is here in Pedernales, DR. Meanwhile, Jenni was preaching with Nicolas.  He has become a good friend of ours who is zealous for the ministry. But he likes to take all the doors=) After a few times, she asked him in Creole if she could speak at the door when there was a woman. He didn't believe her when she said she had a field service presentation in Creole, but after giving a demonstration he gave in.  They continued and did a couple more studies.  One of which was Jenni's: a young girl who had to hold her crying baby brother the whole way throughout the study, yet still payed attention to what she was being taught.  I sometimes can't believe the appreciation I see here for the good news.  Its so different from what we're used to.  Oh yeah, side note.  During a study with another sister during the week, a young girl had a cat.  I asked her if she had given the cat a name and what her family called it. She said, "We call it the cat."  That was funny. 
Many more great things happened.  A whole congregation from Santo Domingo took a road trip here to Pedernales.  The hall was filled to the max for the mtg sat night.  Everyone was bustling with excitement just to be there together.  The sisters invited Jenni and I to the cafeteria for food and drinks, so we tagged along. Can you imagine a whole congregation of ppl walking down the street at 10 o'clock at night. Fun stuff!  Along the way, Jenni remembered that there was another need greater, Martine, who'd arrived earlier that day. We passed by her apt and seen her looking out over the town from her window. She told us she hadn't eaten the whole day on the bus ride from Santo Domingo.  She had been wondering what in the world she was gonna do for food when Jenni called up at her to come with us.  She threw on some clothes and off we went.  Only with Jehovah's ppl can everyone be so free and open to go along with perfect strangers right?! We had a great night.  And guess what. One of the brothers had made all the food arrangements so it was free! Aaahh. Nothin like free food and good company. Well that was that. We exchanged info to keep in contact and now we heave new friends here. 
Today is Sunday.  Martine spent the afternoon with a few of us sisters. We showed her all the good stores to go to and now she is happy.  We came back home to meet up with 3 girls who study with Valerie(the sis we live with).  Martine started zealously talking to them about Jehovah. This was very encouraging because she had a very long hard day the day before.  You'd know what I'm talking about if you ever had to ride five hours on a guagua(bus, not to be confused with the ones in the states). In the meantime,  Jenni and I made Dominican spaghetti. MMmmmmm delicious! We ate and were satisfied.
But wait, don't go.  If there's talk about food, you always have to follow it up with a good bug story. One night, after a long and tired day, Jenni walks into the bathroom to get her face wash.  What do I hear next?..."Oh my gosh. Ashley." Well that's right. You know what it is. The biggest, nastiest flying cockroach you ever seen in your entire life.  Somehow I got stuck with the job of doing away with the roaches. Don't ask me how that happened because I am deathly afraid of those things.  Everyone in the house here decided that there is no way that God made those things. They definitely came from Satan! Anyway, the thing tried to go back down the drain,  but I killed it with some spray and it died next to a glob of hair.
The End.

Playa Bahia de Las Aguilas

Yesterday we took the morning off of service and went to Playa Bahia de Las Aguilas, or bay of Eagles. Although, we did not see any eagles.......
The beach is located within Jaragua National Park, which is about 20 minutes from our town. You have to take a boat to get to the actual beach. A brother, who is a local fisherman, met us once we were inside the park, with his boat at a small dock. We took off from there. It was so pretty! Lots of really cool rock formations along the way. At one point he stopped and we all jumped overboard to snorkel a bit. Not a lot to see, but it was still fun. Then we got to the beach and we were the only ones there for most of the time. It was so relaxing!! We picked up a ton of shells and coral that had washed up onto the beach! Here's a few photos.

The dock where the brother picked us up.

Our captain!

Neat rocks

This was our boat!

Plaj la

Always follow the water.....

Since we are still so new here, it seems like everyday there is something exciting to write about! I hope that it continues like this, but I know that after a few weeks I will not be posting so much, everything will be more like a regular routine. But for now, you can enjoy my regular contact;)

This morning was of course fantastic! I visited one of my rv's from Tuesday. I didn't find her home, but her mom, Solette, was there. So I started a study with her and went through the first 3 points in the "live forever" brochure. ALL IN CREOLE!! Thank goodness for French and the fact that there are some really amazing friends here willing to help us, creole is coming much easier then I thought. For those if you who know me well, that's pretty incredible for me! Creole is simple enough for my memory. Plus the fact that we use it at every house!

Here's a few pictures from our morning:

Salle de Royaume, Pedernales

Me, Valerie, and another sister from Canada

Milen, Midafna, Deishica, Ismanu, Jimsle,
& Ishalin. Siblings of a study.

This is for my Papa. They are making bread.

Beach in Haiti. I was sitting at return visit when I took this!

Man pulling in his fishing boat.

So Valeria and I got a little sidetracked and started wandering
off the main road back to town. To get back, we had to ask
some people how to go. they said to follow the aquaduct back.
So we did, through the country, for about 10 minutes till we found the town!
Along the way we passed some farmers and some men bathing in the tiny canal.

yesterday in Predi

Ashley and i had a great day in service yesterday. We spent the day in Haiti with the group. The service meeting starts at 8:45am in Pedernales. Then we walk over the border to Anse-a-Pitre. Jonas Philistin, the brother in charge of the group, helped us with a small presentation in creole to start off with. Right away we started using it and by noon Ashley had two studies set up for Thursday and I had two studies and one RV for Thursday! It was fantastic.

a street we worked on

Haitian Countryside. The aquaduct
supplies water to the town

The Haitians are so kind. When you get to there house, they quickly invite you in and get up to find chairs for you to sit. And they all come around and listen to to speak.
At noon we start to head back to the border to go home for lunch. At the border there are motorcycle taxis that will bring you back into the town for about .75. We have already learned to take advantage of this, as by noon the heat is pretty intense. So a ride on the back of a moto is nice a refreshing!
I don't think I have mentioned this, but we actually have moved from out first apartment to house that a sister lives in. It works out much better in a lot of ways. One of those ways is that she has a Dominican sister who cooks for her, so when we get home around 12:30 there is a fantastic lunch set out for us. I was really looking forward to eating Haitian food here, but I am finding that Dominican food can be just as good!
So after lunch we have a short siesta and then we go back out around 3pm. We took a moto back to the border and met with a Haitian bother on the other side. I got to work with him in the afternoon for a few hours. He has a study with a young boy names Israel, who comes to all the meetings on his own. He is around 13 years old.

Nicola avec Israel

 After the study we walked into the country side for some visits. The surroundings were so beautiful! And everyone we met was smiling. Then, out of no where, the rain started. We had to run for cover in a house that was nearby; two other men passing by ran in behind us as well. The rain came down so hard, the porch on the house was not doing anything for us, so the family whose house it was, gestured us to come inside and sit down in there only two chairs they had. There we sat out the downpour for about 15 minutes. Afterwards, as we were walking back through the wet town, the brother I was with, Nicola, was all concerned that the rain might have made me not like the afternoon. I assured him, the Oregonian that I am, that I LOVED the rain. especially in a Caribbean country do I love the rain:)

ashley et Valerie

Girls playing in the aquaduct

After it rained, it was a bit tricky
traversing through the streets!