Day 61 – The boys made dinner

Pretty Iris in Aura's front yard

 
We went in service this morning in the Quebrada. I worked with Rosa Benitez and we did her study Aura. It’s about a 15 minute walk each way, so thankfully she was home. We finished chapter 10 on spirit creatures. My two studies weren’t there but there’s always tomorrow. Erik went with Shawn and Ryan and did a study most of the morning. Veronica went with her sister, Zully. We all met up in the territory around 10:45 and Erik & I went to do a call and then stopped by Sabina (our neighbor that’s been gone to the finca for 4 weeks). She was in the middle of making almuerzo but said for us to come back at 2pm.

We got home around 12:45pm and mom had already called us because Leticia was with her in her hotel room in California.  We skyped back and finally got to meet her face to face and her daughter, Abigail. Mom and dad’s room was filled: Bill & Nancy Schmidt, Marge & Ernie Packard, Danielle & Eric Zielinski. Leticia was very touched by the love of the friends and it seem like it reinforced the beauty of being part of Jehovah’s organization. She’s only been in the truth since 2010, but she told us how much learning the truth had helped her husband and changed their family for the better.  Her husband had wanted to come too and bring the baby but, unfortunately, they were having unusually windy/rainy weather.  It really shows how awesome it is to be part of this worldwide brotherhood.

Zully and Veronica made lunch which was supposed to be a cheesy potato soup. Veronica may have put in a few too many noodles so it became cheesy pasta with chunks of potato and rice on the side. It was a true Ecuadorian carb fest but very tasty anyways.

Tuesday afternoon: Erik left to do shepherding with Ryan so Zully went with me on Sabina’s study. We did a brief review of the beginning of chapter 2 which she did remarkably well with and then I noticed she was totally prepared with everything underlined. Her little boy was not feeling well so it made it a bit challenging as he was crying but I was determined to finish the chapter because she hasn’t studied in a month. He finally fell asleep and we took advantage to start chapter 3.

By the way, everyone here has benches outside their homes where you can sit and chat with visitors, but they are all very low to the ground, definitely not made for tall people. Erik usually asks for a chair as he can’t get down very easily and up is even worse. But apparently, when he went with Ryan it wasn’t just a height problem but also a weight problem. As the two sat on their shepherding call, the leg of the bench busted through the floor board and dropped them 3 inches.

At 4, we walked down to do Nancy’s study. The family is always very welcoming and her dad, Hilario, invited us to sit down as we waited for her to come out. They also always have people coming and going and today, it was a young guy who, as he stood 2 inches from Erik’s face, Erik could feel his blood alcohol level rising. But he sat for a bit and listened so we’re gonna try to visit him this Saturday when we go to his town for the campaign. Nancy wasn’t feeling well so we rescheduled for Thursday before our meeting and invited her to come with us. She said yes so we’ll see. It would be the first time.

Shawn and Erik made dinner while I skyped Lynnie. If you have any idea how long Lynnie and I can talk, you have an idea how long it took them to make it. But I can’t complain. They made patty melts with red cabbage. It was quite scrumptious. They had music and then Robin on the computer in the kitchen while they cooked.

In the evening Erik called me into the living room to see what is the biggest spider we have seen as of yet. And man was it fast and it could jump. The boys trapped it and then took it outside, where of course, it got away while they were trying to snap pics.

Update from Day 53 regarding Lays potato chip flavors offered in China (direct from the desk of Wes Jones):

 - Cheese Lobster Flavor
- Italian Red Meat Flavor
- French Chicken Flavor
- Fried Prawn Flavor

There are others; these are just the ones he has tried.