Day 108-Meeting and a fiesta

Ingles Norte (they share with 3 spanish congregations)

Cory and Emily with the family they are studying with

Meeting started at 10:00am and Cory swung by at 9:30 to pick us up. It was us, Lluvia, Alondra and Miguelito, Cory and, wait, where’s Emily? On the toilet? Oops, I guess it wasn’t my gall bladder after all. Cory didn’t think she would make it to the meeting but she called and said she would be there. Yikes. We think she toughed it out because she had studies coming to the meeting and didn’t want to miss. They study with a family of 4: dad, mom, son, and daughter. The kids have been studying English for 2 years and speak very well. Mom and Dad not so much.          But they are progressing well. They are in chapter 5 of the Bible Teach book.

There was 35 people at the meeting-a nice size group. I gave the talk on Mercy which I’ve never given in English so I was somewhat translating from my Spanish notes-Leah said I did good considering. She said it was way harder than she thought it would be to give a comment in English from her Spanish WT. 

"Our kids" that came with us to the meeting

Posole anyone? - I'm not sure if we'll have enough

Emily went home to rest because they were invited over at 5 for posole. On the way to bring us home we stopped to get to kilos of fresh tortillas and then at the market to buy some rotisserie chickens that come with salsa. Cory and Erik bought 4 for like $12. We ate our “snack” as we wanted to save room   for posole. Miguel and Dolores had invited over a bunch of friends from the hall. Sonia came over to help her make the posole-there’s different variations-green or red with pork or chicken. They made green posole with chicken. Posole is hominy in the states I think. You buy it dried and then cook it all day with seasonings and chicken. Then when you serve it you add in onions, lettuce, radish, green salsa and avocado. Needless to say, one bowl is very filling but scrumptious. It was about 90 degrees so you can imagine how much we sweated eating spicy hot soup, but it was worth it. They seem to have some really nice friends here in the congregation and we enjoyed spending time with them.

Playing Jenga

We said goodbye to Cory and Emily but we’ll see them soon-they’re coming home in June. And since they’re driving we took advantage and left them a bag to bring-we’re having a bit of a weight problem, with the bags that is. I, on the other hand, am at an all time low, thanks in part to my “intestinal” challenges. I know what you’re thinking, I have no idea how it’s possible either.

Miguel, Miguelito and I chatting

Making iced coffee

After everyone left, Alondra and I made fancy iced coffee drinks. She had bought all the ingredients a few days before and was really excited. The were quite rich-but tasty. With all that caffeine we were all wide awake and stayed up playing a game with the family (and their friend Nora) until 12:30-it's been a long time since we laughed that hard.

Day 107 - Sick day for Erik-could it have been the ice…

Lluvia and Miguel in the ministry

…or a gall bladder flare-up?  Anyways, he was up all night back and forth to the bathroom-which meant I didn’t sleep very well either. Miguel was a little worried Erik would try to go in service so he reminded him there are no bathrooms to stop at and the people won’t let you in to use theirs. I think Erik was going to take the morning off anyways, but that sealed the deal. Dolores made him a concoction of fresh mint tea with some powder and we left for service (Miguel, Dolores, Lluvia & I). We didn’t find many people home-Dolores told me it’s because the kids have vacation from school and many families have gone away for a long weekend. At 11, I did some RV’s with Lluvia and then her study with Vanessa.

Vanessa

Gamaliel with his chihuahua

We got home around 12:30, Erik was looking like he had gone to the bathroom 7 times, because he had. I’m not sure he’s all that upset about the diarrhea because he’s down to 195 lbs-lightest since our wedding day. He stayed in bed all afternoon; I took a 2 hour nap. Then, at about 3:00pm we left for a town called Quiroga, which has tons of stores that sell locally made, artisanal stuff:  Pottery, woodwork, sombreros, musical instruments etc, etc, etc. Erik felt terrible but he knew he may never get back, so we dragged him along.

At a pottery store in the first town-someone's not in the mood to shop

We were 11 people stuffed in Miguel’s minivan. We ate savory churros covered in hot sauce, chicken shaped suckers with chile (we bought a couple of bags to share with y’all), and mango candy rolled in chile. It was fun. There were tons of things that we would have loved to bring home but no room in the luggage. The pottery was so cheap! Oh well, if we ever move here we can go back.

Lluvia actually looks good in the big hat

A sister we met, she was selling pottery in Quiroga

We got back to the house around 8:30 and Erik went straight to bed. He has the talk in Cory and Emily’s congregation tomorrow (Norte ingles). I stayed up with the family and ate. It was a great day! See ya’ tomorrow.

Day 106 – Preaching in English-yeah you heard us right

The 2 towers in the background is the city center

Cory and Emily picked us up for service at about 9:20. There was a lot of congestion because there was a protest in the city center. When we got to the hall, there were 2 sisters waiting. We all went to the same territory to do census (something we are very used to-but this time we were looking for English speaking people-in Mexico-wierd). We stopped for a bite to eat-tacos ahogados (drowned tacos). They are crispy tacos with potato inside, then shredded pork and cabage on top, sitting in a spicy chili broth. U squeeze lime juice on top. They were delicious. We continued in the ministry doing their calls and studies until about 4:00 or so and got gazpacho (finely chopped mango, pineapple, and jicama layered with chili powder, cheese, hot sauce and salt, then fresh squeezed orange and lime juice on top) and went back to their house. It is very nice and has an incredible view of the city.

Harry-he's 7 months old

There was about 10 of these guys and after a song they wanted
100 pesos ($8)-we gave them 20

At about 7:45 we headed for the center to meet up with Dolores, Lluvia and Alondra for dinner-a restaurant called Lu. It is authentic Michoacan food but with a higher end twist (in Rick Bayless style). It’s right in the main square and you sit outside. It’s a very European feel. People come by playing music (and selling things).

These guys were just as good and were happy with 10 pesos
(about 80 cents)

This salad had carmelized jamaica flowers and aged cotija cheese

We tried lots of things, everything was delicious. We had this appetizer of thinly sliced jicama rolled around Jamaica flowers, covered in a brown (some chipotle?) sauce with another delicious green sauce on the plate. I had a really good soup and salad. Erik had some sopes and fish he said was cooked to perfection.

Those are the towers you can see from their house

After dinner, we said our goodbye’s and took a cab home. (Erik has the talk in their hall on Sunday)

Day 105-Ministry and meeting

We took a combi to the meeting for field service. Upon arrival we were informed that the meeting wasn’t there but somewhere else. So, we took a taxi to the other place and I worked with Leah and Alondra and Lluvia with…oops, I can’t remember. We had some decent calls and left some literature. We walked with Alondra to the bakery a few blocks away and got tons of deliciousness for about $4.

Pedregal Congregation

We mostly sat around the kitchen all afternoon, preparing for the meeting; Dolores also worked on her talk for this evening. The congregation is quite large and we stayed around talking for quite a while. We had the privilege to see Evelia Villa and spoke with her for a really long time. She lives with her son Erik (sp?) about ½ hour away from the kh. We met the sisters who originally studied with Dolores and Lluvia when she was really little.

This is The Villa's dog, Lila-she's pretty funny. She keeps
taking leah's shoes and hiding them

Afterwards, we walked back home (5 minutes) and snacked a little and hit the sack.

Day 104-Ministry in Morelia

We met for service and Leah worked with Lluvia and I worked with Eliseo. He is a young brother, 25, who recently moved to this congregation. He serves as an elder and pioneer. It was a very nice morning-it hasn’t rained here; very sunny and very dry. Maybe the rain isn’t following us, as some of you think. We went to meet a sister who has a small store, and she shared her experience of how she came to know Jehovah. It was really encouraging how she progressed despite major obstacles, violence and abuse.

Afterward, we went home and chit-chatted. A sister from their congregation, Sonia, came down and showed us how to make sopes by hand-not easy. Dolores made beans, nopales, salsa verde, queso and limón to go on top; more authentic deliciousness.

Cory and Emily Wallace popped in for a few minutes to say hi, along with two sisters from their congregation. For those who may not know them, they are from Rochester and moved to Morelia about 6 months ago to assist in an English-speaking congregation. There is a great need here for English-speaking friends to help out. Surprisingly, the majority who speak English here are not ex-patriots, but rather, Mexican people who either grew up in the U.S. and  returned to Mexico, or students. We made plans with them to get together later in the week. The world is really getting smaller and smaller every day, huh?

After dinner, Gamaliel, Alejandra and Sergio came over and we all went down to the city center. It was really beautiful; it looks like an old European city with a central park, beautiful stone buildings and a very modern feel. First, we hit the Mercado de dulces (candy market). Then, we went to a museum and caught a free concert-3 gentlemen playing Mexican guitar music. We passed by a Woolworth's store (didn't even know they still existed). Then some fountains and parks-really beautiful. And in the background are old aquaducts that gradually go down in size as they run through the city.

Lluvia and Miguelito

Afterward, we went to walk the Calle de romance (street of Romance).

We took a lot of pics and then headed for some street food. For $2.40 Leah and I had sweet tamales, atole de canela (a sweet hot drink made from cinnamon, milk and some other stuff I can’t remember)r. Then, I got a cappuccino smoothy. We were stuffed and not broke.

We caught a taxi home and prepared for Thursday.

Oops-I forgot I had some churros with chocolate

Day 103 – An awesome bus trip and an even better reunion

Alondra trying on Erik's hat

We got to the station for our 9:30 departure. The bus was so comfortable. The seats recline into a bed and the have movies. It’s more comfortable than a first class flight; just nobody bringing you food and drink. They even had wireless, although we didn’t use it. It was an easy 4 hours and when we walked out Miguel, Dolores and Miguelito were waiting for us. They are about 10 minutes from the station. The girls were at the house and it was a great reunion; like they had never left-except Miguelito &Alondra have grown a lot.

We're here less than 24 hours and Erik already had Alondra
making his coffee

Miguel cleaning and cutting nopales

We sat around catching up on each other’s lives and had some roasted chicken with tortillas and salsas. We really never left the house. Of course, we were the dreaded house guests that had to start showing them some of the over 2,000 pics and videos from Ecuador.

Later that evening, Gamaliel (elder) and Alejandra (wife) came over, along with Sergio (m.s). They gave us a nice welcome and we, like the dreaded house guests we are, showed them some of the pics and videos, as well. Bread and coffee and off to bed.

Day 102 – There’s a “need greater” desk at Bethel?

We said our goodbyes to Kevin and Jhonny before they headed off to school. Berta woke up Paco (he doesn’t start school until 1:30) – he wasn’t so thrilled but gave us a hug. Goodbye to Berta and we were off.

So Harrison, the tall gringo we met from Bethel, was talking to us last night and asked if we had talked to the “need greater” desk at Bethel when we were there Friday. The answer was no. He said we were crazy. So, we made another trip to Bethel Monday morning to briefly speak with the brothers in that dept. It was good-and gave us more direction.

Then, we headed back to Elsa’s to pack up our stuff and prepare to head to the Villas tomorrow. Leo accompanied us which was probably a good idea bc we went back on the combi (a microbus-type taxi), the metro (subway) and then a taxi. He stayed for a while and we went to a nice café, had cappuccinos and brought some pastries home for the girls. We had lunch and then Leo headed home. It was really nice to get to spend time with him and his family.

Leonel visited to spend time with us before we left. We listened to music and packed up everything. Ryan skyped us and was encouraging to Leonel in regards to pursuing spiritual goals. If you’ll remember, the last 4 days in Ecuador we had no water. Well, the update is that they still didn’t have water until a couple of days ago. Yikes! As one of our readers said, “He must smell great by now”.  

Elsa had saved the last page of the “Keep Yourself in God’s Love” book for when Leah came. So, they finished the book-2 paragraphs, 2 hours. They must’ve been talking a lot. We had some pastry because it was there and went to bed. The journey continues tomorrow with a trip to Morelia to see the Villa’s and the Wallace’s. We’ll keep you posted.

Day 101 – Meeting…preaching…Party time!

Hortensia Reyes (we went to her house for dinner the night
before and then I went in the ministry with her on Sun

The meeting started at 9:00am, much better than 8:00am, huh? It was nice giving the talk on “Looking at Youths from Jehovah’s Standpoint” because there were tons there. After the meeting we went in the ministry. The territory wasn’t as receptive as the day before, but nice to work with new friends.

How cute are they? I think they had more sucess than us.
Who wouldn't listen to them?

The brother Jose Feliciano San Pedro Lopez with his wife
and Leo's son, Jhonny

I got to work with the brother who first started studying with Leobardo many years before. What a privilege to have teamed up on such an enjoyable and rewarding project. You know what they say: “Jose Feliciano San Pedro Lopez planted, I watered, but God kept making it grow”.

We went back to Hermano Jose’s house for refreshments and headed back to Leo’s.

On the left is Leo's mom, some sisters from English and Harrison

At 2:30 the friends started showing up for our party-the friends everywhere have been so hospitable. We had a big get together at Leo’s and ate a ton, played games and, of course, they made us sit in the middle and interrogated us (Spanish verb “interrogar” just means ask questions, not as strong as English word) for ½ hour. Then, we started playing games. We had to interrupt bible charades to eat our delicious cake. The first day there we went to the pastry shop and the owners are bible students. We bought lots of bread and pastries and cookies. They made the cake for our party-it was like a tres leches with café and ron pope…ridiculous! That was very kind. Afterwards, several more games and, you guessed it…fuimas para bailar. Isn’t there always dancing? Then a million pics with us-I don’t think we’ve posed so much for pics and been this tired since our wedding day. But it was really nice!

Day 100 – Preaching in Lomas de Cristo

Saturday morning preaching-we walked to the Maldonado’s for the meeting for service. There was a huge group but we only had 2 territories to work (very similar to Elsa’s congregation; they cover the territory every 2 weeks). We had a really good morning in the ministry-good conversations and placed 13 magazines. After door-to-door we accompanied a sister on 2 studies-Bible Stories book with Esmeralda and Appendix of Bible Teach with her sister. I placed mags with a gentleman that owned a butcher shop. I, of course, made a return visit 2 hours later to buy chicharon (fried pig skin-pork rinds). We got a small piece-like the size of a pillow-a crispy, greasy wonderful pillow

When we got home the chile rellenos with nopales y beans was waiting for us. It was delightful. Then, we went to the Reyes’ house for, well, more feeding. They made fesh tortillas with pico de gallo, salsa roja, carne asada, chorizo, avacados y limones. When the tortillas got cold they threw them on the grill and heated them in chorizo grease…need I say more? They were nice enough to bring us home and we had our evening snack of bread and coffee with Leo y familia and went to bed.

Day 99 – Mexico Bethel

We were up fairly early because the brother, Mauricio Maldonado and his wife Mary Lou (from Leo’s congregation) were coming to pick us up at 7:45 (they only live 10 minutes from Bethel). Everyone said it took 3-4 hours to do the tour so we figured it would be good to get there close to 8. Leo’s boys missed school to be able to go to Bethel with us. It is a pretty big property comprised of 2-Bethel 1 and Bethel 2, 1200 living there right now. But it’s not in the best neighborhood so it’s all gated in. The landscaping is beautiful w/tons of grass (turf) which you don’t really see anywhere around the Mexico City.

Mary Lou and Mauricio (brought us to Bethel) along with
Leo, Berta and the boys

Our tour guide was a young brother, Antonio, who’s been there 2 years. He reminded us of Rubiel.

They use these fancy internet computers for packing and shipping
 the orders to the cong.They are shipping 24 tons of literature a day now
as opposed to 8 tons. They tested these in Germany. Sorry not Walkill Kenny

B

erta brought sandwich’s with us because after the tour they have a cafeteria you can go eat in where they sell drinks and snacks in vending machines at cost. They also have a coffee machine that makes cappuccino and hot chocolate for 3 pesos (30 cents).

After lunch, we went over to Bethel #1 to see the museum. For those of you in Rochester that remember Brother Tracy (he was our C.O. 20 years ago?) his brother is on the Branch Committee in Mexico and they have his picture in the museum. They also had recordings of the different indigenous languages they translate into there, including Mixe (pronounced Meehay) which Leo’s wife Berta speaks.

Then we met Harrison Dohn, a very tall brother from the states who works upstairs in translation. He took us up to his office to watch a video on translation. After that, it was around 2:30 and we were tired and still had the meeting that night. Erik and I were thankful we had everything studied because we had gone with Elsa on Wednesday-so we took a nap.

Lomas de Cristo Congregation - Leo's

At 5:45, the Maldonado’s kindly picked us up for the meeting. It seems like a very nice congregation with about 100 publishers. They have a handful of Bethelites, mostly couples and TONS of young people and kids. We got home and everyone was hungry so Leo and Paco went out to buy chicken wings cooked on charcoal and French fries. We managed to stuff in some bread and coffee and tea before heading to bed.