First Experience

 

Service Bound

January 30th

How do you know when Jehovah is watching after you? When a fairly aggressive stranger insists that you follow him to find bananas and water.... And the group of three across the street (wearing jw.org badges) cut in and rescue you.

It was about four thirty in the afternoon when Makenzie and I decided to hunt for good and water, seeing as we were surviving off this morning's toast and had to wait for the tropical rainstorm to pass before leaving the room once more. Looking lost and defeated, a man native to the island approached us, insisting that he knew where to find the items in which we seeked if we would just follow him into the jungle. At seeing our hesitation, the man quickly grew agitated and aggressively insisted that we follow. "Excuse me", a woman from across the street interrupted, "are you girls alright?". It didn't take long for us to recognize who these people were. Long story short, we all went to a sister's house not too far from our scary little incident and talked amongst the friends over coffee and cake. It's little instances like these that make us even more positive that Jehovah is truly watching out for us.

January 31st

First Day if Service!!! Not only do we get to spend the day with the English group of pioneers out in service- but the first ever English circuit overseer is visiting and we get to enjoy the pioneer talk this afternoon! 

I had the privilege of joining Tabitha, a sister from Bend, Oregon (go figure) on her studies this morning. It was so wonderful to meet some of the locals- to see them stop what they were doing and eagerly await their study. The highlight of service this morning for me was seeing the look on Shantigua's (best shot I have at spelling the woman's name) face when the concept of the ransom of Jesus and the love that Jehovah has for us finally clicked for her. She had the biggest grin on her face, showing a beautiful white smile that spread from one sun-kissed cheek to the other. After studies and a tour and slight run down of the island, we all met for the pioneer meeting. Yet another example of how Jehovah provides exactly what we need... I prayed I would get to be a part of it somehow, though I missed it back home. Tomorrow we get to enjoy the Circuit Overseer again at meeting and then we have been invited to a picnic in the afternoon. We are all very excited!

Fish are friends... not food

Welcome to the Big Corn Island

 

Our Arrival:

              Traveling for 24 hours on four different planes to a tiny island is never easy, least to say comfortable. Lacking sleep, water, and food, none of us were feeling too 'with it' as we landed at our final destination. Located nearly fifty miles from the eastern coast of Nicaragua lies a small stretch of green land and white sand beaches. Big Corn Island. Our new temporary home.

            Despite the travel-caused delirium, the three  of us remain stunned by the beauty of the island and friendliness of its inhabitants. We have been here nearly 20 hours, and have already seen so much. From the locals working on their boats and walking their monkeys, to the tourists from Germany still trying to figure out life on this little nugget of paradise. Today we go in search of am apartment and some stability, though the local kitten has already adopted us and made a home in our hotel room, it's time for us to make things official. Welcome to our new home... for now!  

Here We Go

With officially less than forty-eight hours before we ascend on our second journey, I believe it is safe to say that I'm beginning to freak out just a little. Equipped with one duffle bag to live from for the duration of at least three months, panic is starting to set in. What do you get when you take three girls and put them on a 3.9 square mile piece of floating land for three months? I guess we'll find out Wednesday.