Sharing the love

Ok so there’s been a lot that’s been going on and now that I’m home on this completely boring Thursday evening with nothing to do – I’m going to cram in writing about the last.. hhmm month?.. of activity, and boy has it been busy.

Friends coming and going

Brother & Sister Apt still faithfully serving and pushing on to area’s were the need is great.

We’ve had some friends from the congregation leave – some who needed to go home and others to move on to new opportunities as ‘need-greater’s’. John & Erica Abt are a younger longer couple that were in our congregation that moved to Panama to continue serving in English. We were able to hear a few of their stories at a gathering given to them. They have served in many different area’s and here they are a bit higher up in age than most of us and still serving strong. They are set such an amazing example for us all.

Visitors!

Madison & Taylor at San Luis – close by our home.

Madison came out; Tyler & Kristy Hull along with Logan and Ally; Ken and Elise also came out a few times now and we’ve enjoyed everyone’s visits.  Unfortunately our photo’s were limited so I’m waiting to get more from friends. But what I do have is a shot we took when we drove up to the San Luis ridge and I got a shot of Madison & Taylor. I’ll add more photo’s of friends when I get them!

While the Hulls were out we pretty much relaxed and visited at our house for about a day and half – they recovered from their flight and the Barbary’s enjoyed the cool air. We didn’t get to do many excited things with them since they had most of the fun at the beach while we stayed back at our home in the Central Valley.

Special Assembly Day!

Brother Klein our C.O.

We went to our first assembly in Belen near the capital – San Jose. The assembly hall is beautiful and they have what I considered some of the more comfortable chairs of an assembly hall. There was a max attendance of 573 and 3 were baptised. It was announced that there are now a total of 10 congregations and of English. There is also groups (one each) in German & Italian. We ran into ‘old’ friends we met from our first visit, I ran into a friend I hadn’t seen since Chicago, made new friends and exchanged numbers to go visit new territory. And of course, the material was very upbuilding and encouraging. I know the 3 of us were a little struck when we realized that when they referred to ‘need-greaters’.. that included us! I don’t think we’ve ever really thought of ourselves as truly need-greater’s till then and it’s such a privilege to be here

and doing what we’re doing for Jehovah.

So now we are all pumped for the District Assembly in September! Woo hoo!

In the picture is our C.O. Brother Klein giving a talk. There was a short interview of him and his wife and they sound like one of the sweetest couples. I wish I could have video taped the interview. Sister Klein has the funniest giggle and she kept giggling through the whole interview and of course it was contagious to the audience as well. What a cute interview!

Finally, a trip to the beach!

After the assembly we had all of Sunday free. So we slept in and after a great debate (not really) on where to go we decided to take a drive to the beach. So we went South to Jaco. On the way to Jaco there is a pretty infamous Crocodile Bridge. Well, it’s easy to see why it’s infamous. There were over 25 crocodiles that we could spot sunbathing underneath this bridge. You could only appreciate the size of a few of them at that moment but could really tell, these were monsters!! So the persons next to us decided to throw in some fish for them. Well things got heated up then. The big boys all croweded around and fought for a few pieces of fish. We guestimate they were about 20 ft long – totally massive!! The spikes on their tails and bodies made them look so prehistoric. The pictures really don’t do them justice.

On the way to Jaco you drive through some really pretty country. It was probably the perfect day to go to the beach it was overcast and relatively cool so we really enjoyed our drive. I got to touch the water – didn’t really get in much and the water was warm but nice. I imagine the deeper you get the cooler and more refreshing it becomes. It’s a beach that you drive right up to the shore and park – kinda like Old Man’s beach in San Onofre but less crowded.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Other goings-on

Lets see.. we are no longer driving the eye sore Isuzu Trooper, my parents purchased a nice Kia. I’ve been driving now. It’s not nearly as scary as you think it’s going to be driving but the number of close calls we’ve had is unnerving. There are so many near-misses that you have to drive defensively – never getting too comfortable with the road and the other cars. There’s often times that while on the main road you’ll round a corner and there will be a car parked fully in the lane while the driver has hopped out to chat with someone on the side of the road. That has literally happened.  The type of things that make an American go ‘ARE YOU CRAZY!!!???’ is acceptable and normal here. But for us it’s like love it or leave the country; we have to adapt.

The ministry has been really fantastic. It seems almost every day we go in service at least one of us gets a great call. I have 3 bible studies now and I’ve subbed for others. My confession is that I haven’t had a bible study in many many years. When the brothers and sisters travel their existing calls and bible students sort of get divided up between those who are left over in the congregation. The problem with that is we have a few families leaving in August. Our longer term (3 months or more) visitors are leaving us at the end of this month and some families are heading back to take care of things at their home countries. So I imagine August will be busy for me.

So most of the time our ministry goes like this – looking and looking for English and most of the time we get a ‘no’ answer. And then you’ll knock on a door and find a Costa Rican who speaks english and sometimes they really light up to talk about the bible (I met a man in service just this morning like this). Other times if they don’t quite light up, they are still listening and attentive to the message we have. We do occasionally get some grouchy persons but at least 90% are nice and helpful. The fear of knocking on a door and the rejection that you receive is slowly starting to fade. Here we can have actual conversations with people. It’s polite to first ask about the family, see how everyone is, make some chit chat and then take time to discuss the bible.

So most of the time we still like to go by and snag a bite around the 11:30 time in the morning. Since our service meeting starts at 9 we are usually in the ministry by 9:30 and when it’s a warm or humid day, you’re definitely ready for a break around 11:30 – after getting about 2 hours of service in. After that it’s home or back out in service for a few more calls or a study. One of my photo’s shows 2 car groups out getting a pastry and coffee at Cafe Delicias.

So that’s about all I have for now. I know there’s not much detail in there but that gives you the opportunity to email us or call us (PLEASE!) and we can fill you in on the rest!

Everyone knows Everyone

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

So here are some random photo’s that we’ve taken the past few days. And yes, I know we need to take even more still.

There are fruit stands everywhere – from the back of someone’s truck, to a tiny stand alongside the road. I think most fruit stands are generally a store front to someone’s home. They have a little bit of everything and it’s usually fresh, organic and cheap. There is the sweetest woman who owns our new favorite store in Los Angeles – next time we stop in I will try to take her photo. So today we stop in and as I’m perusing the selection from the back I hear my name called. It was Bernardo, our gardener and handyman from our last trip. We all bonded with this older man and he’s so very sweet. So I saw him and we embraced and I waved at my parents to come see that he was there. It was so nice to see him again and he seemed happy to see us again too.

That is one really nice and strange thing about this area, or rather, this country. We live in a large town/city. But you run into EVERYONE!! Today as we’re walking in town and doing a bit of shopping we ran into 3 witnesses from our hall out in service. Then a few minutes later we spotted a different car group of witnesses. Then we ran into Bernardo at this random, one-in-a-million fruit stands. It’s like that almost every time we leave the house! When we are with other witnesses who have been here for a longer period of time they are constantly waving and stopping to say hello to people. Everyone knows everyone.

I have to take more pictures

Hello everyone, this is Meg.

So as promised – here are more photo’s of the house during the daytime. It’s totally an American home so it’s got hot water (YAY!) throughout, comfortable couches and chairs (SUPER YAY!) and a few other nice amenities that Americans are so spoiled with.

Yesterday we had the privilege of having the public talk by Bro James Wilson who is a Gilead grad and missionary here in the Spanish. He gave the talk in English as he is an American and it was the quality of a talk you expect to hear at the assembly. He’s an excellent speaker and very motivating. Afterwards we were able to visit a bit more with him and his wife and they are a really cool couple. I hope we get the chance to spend more time talking with them next time we see them. It’s so cool to be around so many missionaries! Last time we were here we heard another talk from a missionary brother and him and his wife have been here for around 17 years I think. I think they were truly some of the first who did groundbreaking work here in Costa Rica (in Spanish).

The English is growing and growing. I can’t remember if we mentioned it yet or not but there was recently announced a new group in the neighboring town of San Ramon! Soon there may be some other new groups formed. It’s exciting to see Jehovah blessing the work of his servants here in Costa Rica.

So I’m going to end this post with a trivia question: Why do only persons of the United States identify with being called an ‘American’ when technically they are only one of the American countries? Aren’t Canadian’s technically Americans? They are part of North America yet they do not get called an American – just US residents.

… Oh and and by the way – I don’t have the answer.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

My first morning in service

Hi Friends and Family, this is Sandy.
Just wanted to share with you all my first morning out in service. Terry and I went with another couple, the Apts. as we were figuring out the territory we noticed a young man walking towards us with his young daughter. Brother Apt rolled down the window and asked him if he spoke English. He said he did . So brother Apt stepped out of the car and began telling him our reason for wanting to talk with him. He was so very nice and accepted the magazines. We asked if there was anyone else on the street that spoke English and he said no, only his wife. He pointed out his house and we left. We rode down the street and Erica and I got out to see if we had the right house. Yes it was ! After introducing ourselves and explaining that Erica’s husband had just spoke to her husband about the bible, she invited us in and prepared a seat for us. Erica gave her her presentation and then showed her the Bible Teach book. She said yes she would like one and she would be willing to study once a week. Because Erica and her husband John are moving to Panama at the end of June then I will have my own first study! Yay! The young woman is trying to find a job to help the family so she is presently taking English classes five days a week from two in the afternoon until eight at night. She was so kind and very thankful that we stopped by to talk with her. I’ll keep you posted on the progress.
Meg has mention about us moving to another house. Well it is wonderful. This morning we got our coffee and sat out in the rockers on the back porch overlooking the canyon. This is where we spotted so many beautiful parrots. I can hardly wait until our binoculars get here! This is truly a calm and peaceful place to be. We will be in service tomorrow ( first Saturday of the month) so I am hoping to meet many more of the friendly people of Costa Rica.
Terry is at a elders meeting tonight and they are recruiting brothers to go into the town of Grecia during the week for service. We would meet at the Spanish hall there and canvas the territory for English. There are many more English people in Grecia then where the Hall is,Sarchi. So we will see where Jehovah will direct us. More later. We miss you all and hope this little bit of chatter helps you see our adventure. We have so many pictures we are going to send so,stay tuned.

Movin’ on UP! (literally)

Moving up in elevation that is! We are moving into a new house over this week. The house we’re staying at now just isn’t going well. Mostly the neighborhood. I’ll tell ya what, living in Chicago city was way less noisier than here!

We knew within a few days of our arrival that it just wasn’t going to work out living next door to a gym. So I found an ad on Craigslist that I wanted to check out and we did. It’s such a nice house with a nice view. It’s about 1,000 ft higher elevation than where we are currently at so it’s noticeably cooler – which isn’t a bad thing – and there aren’t really any neighbors around. So for a few days we were waiting for my super crazy high speed internet (….4 mbps… lots of sarcasm here) to be installed. So we moved in late in the day Thursday and spent our first night. Today (Friday) we finished up with packing and moving and cleaned the old house up.

I didn’t get a chance to take many pictures of the inside of the house during the day — perhaps I can add more tomorrow — so in the meantime enjoy this shots of my Dad relaxing on our porch. The view is pretty spectacular.

– Meg

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Weee’rrreee Baaaacccckkkk!

Hi Friends!

We have been back in Costa Rica for a full week now! We are all so happy to be back.

The arrival: Last Saturday my parents flew in early and I came in later in the day. My parents took their dogs in the airplane cabin with them and they said the dogs did really well the whole time. They too seem to be adjusting nicely. There was a nice taxi driver who came and gave us a hand with everything and took us back to the house, although he spoke no English. The next day we unpacked and cleaned the house a bit and by Monday we found a washing machine and dryer. The rest of this week has been busy with getting settled in, lots of grocery shopping and such. We went into Alajuela and went to a store called PriceMart. It’s pretty much the Costa Rican Costco, they even have Kirkland brand. We were able to find a lot of brands that we recognize and they were still very affordable so we stocked up on a lot of things. We have also found a car to purchase. One of the brothers is moving to Panama and has a good car for sale at a very affordable price. We are so thankful!

The house: Later this week we came to the decision that we won’t be staying in the house we are currently in. We live next door to a gym that bumps work out music from 5 am – 9 pm Mon-Friday. Just one week here and it’s taking a tole. Then we have a bit of mold, termites and critter issues in this house. We’ve all been losing sleep from the many noises in the night. All in all it’s enough that we feel we should leave. We just happened to find another house in an area of Grecia that we were looking at before. It’s a gorgeous American home with hot water throughout! Right now the house we are in only has hot water in the showers. So I will be posting pictures of the new home when we get in and settled.

Our brothers and sisters: We went to our first meeting back on Tuesday night and it was so wonderful to see our new friends and meet new ones who have moved into the hall and some who are visiting the area. We received a really warm “Welcome home” from everyone and they even announced our arrival. Today we were out in service and I (Meg) got my first call. I was out in service with a few other sisters. Sharon and I went to a door and spoke to a nice man who had spent 13 years in New Jersey and new English very well – although he only claimed to know a little – and he took the magazines. As we were walking down the hill Darleen & Sue had just called on  house and the mother said they don’t speak English. A few minutes later a young girl comes out of the house and chases down the sisters to tell them she speaks English. Darleen went over the first paragraph in the Truth tract with her and then asked me if I would like to follow up with the young girl next week. So we made an appointment next Saturday to come back and study another paragraph with her. So in just one short street we got 2 very great calls. My parents went with another brother and sister in their car – I’ll have to let my mom tell you about their first day back in service here.

The weather: Well it’s definitely the rainy season and for the most part, what we were told about it before is coming true. Its been generally clear and gorgeous in the mornings and then it rains in the afternoon or evening. We’ve had some pretty good rain along with thunder and lightening. It is a bit humid when the clouds roll in but it’s like being at the beach really, it’s not miserable at all. The temperature has been really moderate and pleasant, probably a high of low 80’s but probably not much more than 82.

Tomorrow we will be going to the meeting and then afterward there is a gathering for a family that is leaving. We are so sad to see them go since we had met them last time we were here and we have been so anxious to spend more time with them. This wonderful young family moved over from Hawaii and have spent as much time as they could here working where the need is great and now they need to return home. They will be definitely be missed.

So that’s all from me for now. I’ll keep checking in and sharing experiences with everyone. Give all the friends our love and please pass around the blog site to anyone who is curious about hearing of our time here in Costa Rica.

– Meg

More pictures

Here are more of the pictures from our trip!

Our drive to the Kingdom Hall

Well friends, sorry we’ve been slacking but it’s been busy around here. I just wanted to write a few things briefly before I get up and get ready for service.

I made a video of part of our drive to the Kingdom Hall. I’m not sure how great it’s going to come out but I thought it might give you an idea of how the roads are. So, enjoy the video and we’ll post more updates and more pictures later today. Click on the link below to be taken to YouTube.

http://youtu.be/CmiyPOY8EAk

 

Our trip to the coast

Sandy writes:

We woke up early Wednesday morning to get started on our trip to the coast. The Barbary’s live in Playa Hermosa and it is a four hour drive depending on the traffic. With our stop for lunch and our little putter of a car it took a little longer. We stopped along the way at a restaurant that a couple of sisters highly recommended for there milkshakes. It’s called the Monteverde restaurant, in the town of Monteverde. It is known for the dairy products that the Quaker population started in the early 1900’s when they landed there to settle and started there dairies. The milkshakes hit the spot and where very delicious. So after our break we continued on to the coast. The terrain along the way was very different then where we are in the central valley. Much flatter and many open fields for cattle and horses. It’s also our dry season here and it wasn’t as lush as it would be in a few months when the rainy season starts, but it’s still very beautiful. The roads where much straighter and in better condition also, so that made it nice.
We got to the Barbary’s about 1:00 and had a nice visit catching up and Elise and Ken made a fantastic spaghetti dinner before we headed out for there School and Service meeting. It starts at 7:00 and they have a hour drive to the meeting. Taylor rode with us in our car to show us the way and Elise and Ken drove ahead to try and secure us some seats. They have a nice hall with about 29 in the congregation and the group that Ken and Elise are in has about 15. They join together on Tuesdays for the School and meet separately on Sunday. There were about 96 in attendance that night, the largest so far. So as you can gather, it is mostly visitors. Dad loved not having to wear a suit coat and the brothers wear no ties in service. It’s way to hot and humid for it.
Thursday after a wonderful breakfast by Ken, we went sight seeing. We took a few pictures ot one of the marinas down there so Ken and Terry could look at the boats and dream for a bit. Hahaha.
That evening they took us to one of there favorite spots for drinks at half price and to watch the beautiful sunset. Wow did we feel special! Dinner was next with friends and then home to bed.
Friday was adventure day for Meg and Taylor and some of her friends from the congregation. Terry and Ken wanted to kayak and Elise and I chose to just kick back in lounge chairs at this beautiful beach and watch the local people. It was wonderful. After some dinner and the ride home we changed again into our swim suits and jumped into the pool to cool off. What a great way to end a great day.
Saturday was our day to leave, so after coffee and fruit and our good byes we headed out for our trip home. It was a experience all it’s own. But I’ll let Meg tell you about that. We did get some great pictures of the area and the Barbary’s home. One shot is standing just out there front door. Another is standing in the doorway looking into the house. Hope you enjoyed the pictures and our trip to the coast.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Playa Hermosa and the Barbary’s

Meg Writes:

We have been busy busy busy over the past few days! I’ll give you a brief breakdown. I have some pictures and my mom will have to post the rest.

So let me backtrack to last Sunday, January 22nd. We left early to Sunday meeting so Dad and I could catch his return visit at work on the way to meeting. He called on a man named Miguel who’s an owner of a gym. We walked up and had a brief but great conversation with him and my dad left the latest copies of the magazines. After that we headed straight to the Kingdom Hall. There was a visiting brother and sister along with 2 friends that joined them from the newly formed English group in La Fortuna. The brother gave a fabulous talk on how the natural disasters we see today are not ‘acts of God’.

Service in Sarchi

Monday I worked online all day and we just laid low pretty much.

Tuesday Dad and I went out in service with Marci and Linda D. and had a great morning. My dad got 2 more great calls, one even saying that he wanted to come to the Kingdom Hall — he invited himself! So Dad is really getting some awesome calls – 3 in total. I have yet to develop a good call but there is so much good response that I am sure I will shortly. Tuesday afternoon was packing for our trip to see the Barbary’s in Playa Hermosa.

Wednesday morning we drove for about 5 hours and had a stop at Monteverde Restaurant. They have fantastic milkshakes of just about any kind. We arrived at the Barbary’s home around 1 pm. We visited, took a short stroll the beach – they are like 2 blocks away! – and then it was time to get ready for the meeting. For Wednesday night meeting they meet with an English congregation in Huacas. The meeting in Huacas is pretty warm. It’s an open air Kingdom Hall like the one in Sarchi but because it’s much warmer there there are oscillating fans hanging from the ceiling. The brothers don’t wear coats at the meeting and in service they apparently don’t even wear a tie! But once you’ve experienced the heat there, you know why. The night we went to meeting there was 96 in attendance! Half that amount was JUST visitors. People had to stand outside the hall and listen in because it was completely packed out.

So I know the Barbary’s keep up with the friends but I wanted to relate from our standpoint they are doing well and were such an encouragement! They have a beautiful home in Playa Hermosa and we were able to stay at their home. Mom will be posting pictures of their home very soon.

Thursday we hung out with the Barbary’s, took a drive and saw a few views of the bay. It is gorgeous where they are and the water is fantastic. There are so many different beaches – dark sand, light sand, sand with shells and the list goes on and on. Thursday evening they took us to a great spot called Pacifico’s. We enjoyed comfy seats and a beachfront view of the sunset and best of all – half price drinks for happy hour. I’ve posted pictures of our evening there below. We ate at a steakhouse in Coco later that night with some of their friends and had a good meal and a great time.

Friday was adventure day for me, Taylor, Jaime, Michelle, Kaitlin and Christopher. Here’s what it involved – a drive into Rincon and then we ziplined, rock climbed road horseback to a waterfall, then kept riding on to a river rafting (inner tube) deal, then back for lunch, then off to mud bath and hot springs. Needless to say I was wooped by the end of the day. I had a hard time keeping up with those fit 19 year olds but had a great time trying! I would have to say my favorite part was tubing although ziplining is a close second. The really really nice thing is, we spent a considerable amount of time with each activity. It wasn’t just a tiny bit of each, it was enough to be satisfied and then move on to the next. On our way home we stopped in Liberia for… Papa Johns pizza. And it tasted just like it does in the states!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Saturday morning (today) is when we left. We woke up early and visited before taking off at 9:30 in the morning. We took a different route home so we enjoyed some new scenery of Bramas (?) cows and bulls, horses and cowboys. Later we decided to get home through driving through Atenas. It is GORGEOUS up in the mountains around there.. But it’s also hard on  your car. In short the car began to stutter and stall and bucked like it was running out of gas. We paused a few times and would try to keep moving but the same thing happened over and over again. Finally Dad pulled over on the side of the road and looked under the hood. I was so thankful that we had broke down somewhere that was cool since it was such a HOT day just about everywhere else. Just about 60 seconds into popping the hood a car pulls over and it happens to be a Costa Rican man that spoke perfect english. He stopped the car, hopped out to give Dad a hand and within 5 minutes we were up and running again and tackling the large mountain terrain. Before the man left, mom was able to give him 2 tracts. We felt that it was a blessing from Jehovah to have someone stop, especially someone with such great english. All in all we had a great trip and got home safe and sound.