April: A wedding

Well in April, we had a wonderful surprise...the opportunity provided for us to return to the US for a short visit with our family in Massachusetts for the wedding of Raymond's brother Cody.

On April 19, they got hitched in a Kingdom Hall in Connecticut then we traveled to Rhode Island to a private mansion they rented for a beautiful reception.  Here are some shots of our adventures!

It was a lot of fun.  We were also able to catch up with Pop pop and Darcy!

It was time to head back to Bocas!!

March/April: The BIG surprise's Maiden Voyage and other trips

So the big surprise Raymond was supposed to reveal months ago!!  A BOAT for service.  All three congregations here in Bocas has many island territories, it is expensive and sometimes counter productive for the brothers to rent a boat from the locals.  At times the captains will argue about going to a house and trying for people.  They will say no one is home or that person doesn't speak English or some other excuse and not pull up to a dock.  To rent a boat for the day is very expensive and since many locals don't make much money, it becomes rather a burden for the Spanish and Ngobe to go to the outer islands.  We hoped that this little donation could help the congregations reach all the people in the area!

It is a 23 foot "Panga".  It is made of fiberglass and wood.  It can comfortably seat up to 14 people, although we are most comfortable with and have life vests for 12. It is exactly like the tourist boats that traverse the seas around Bocas.

  We have been so happy to take people out in service to the outer islands and Bastimentos.  But it all started with some fun!  We took another couple from Blaine, WA and went on our first longest journey to Starfish Beach.  As this is written much after that we have boated much further, even taking a boatload to a Kingdom Hall build.  When I say we,  I actually mean Raymond...he is the captain as he got the license:)  My personal Captain Ahab... and his first mate!  LOL

 The Journey to StarFish Beach and all the fun there!  We actually did make it and didn't even have to row!!  It was a good day:)

 

Out in service right before we left:

Going to Bastimentos one day:

March: Playa Bluff

Now all that wonderful service and school deserves some good fun too!  Our family decided that finally we should head to Bluff Beach.  This was no small choice as the waves and undercurrent here can be pretty rough.  We wanted to make sure the kids were safe but we also wanted to experience this local beach.  The rule:  Kids have to go into the water only with daddy!!!!  Some friends had given them a body board so one at a time they got to learn how it is done.  Ended up the kids mostly liked body surfing not boarding.  The waves though towards the end of the day got sort of rough.  Madi lost her goggles in one tumble and Ray got all scratched up!  Here's our day in photos!

A fun day, but finally it was time to go!

March: Campaign and Memorial

Well, it has been a very long time since we updated.  Not that we didn't think about it often, but we got busy with finishing school and service and travel.  Here in July, I finally have a little extra time and now I will update you on things past.

For the time before Memorial, as most know, we do a campaign.  Now in Bocas that looks like what most of you do except for 2 things:

1.  We were also in the middle of a English Census (that's where we knock on every door in the territory to determine if anyone in the family speaks English)

 2.  Some of our campaigned happened on a boat!  On two separate days there was an opportunity for those in the congregation to go preaching on boats to the outlying islands.  I was only able to go on one excursion, so here's my story:)

We left the morning in super rainy weather.  Now, it rains in Bocas often--it is a rainforest/tropical jungle--but rain is not like rain I have ever seen, felt, endured before.  I have often attempted to take pictures and videos for you, but they just don't do it justice.  Most of you shower...imagine that constant and unrelenting while fully dressed...that is Bocas rain!

So you can imagine what it was like as we boated across the ocean through the rain in good spirits to be in service but quite wet.

As we entered a small river-like tributary flowing through the mangroves and as we finally reached our first door, we were graced with a bit of sun!  Ray and two other brothers jumped out to speak with these people:

Unfortunately, just after I snapped this photo, the brother you see in pink got stung by a huge hornet.  He had to come back to the boat for some first aid.  Raymond and the other brother went to three houses.  Although they found no one who spoke English, we had begun!

This was an amazing trip for me.  Not like anything I had ever done before.  Biggest car group ever!  We had twelve per boat and there were three boats.  We all went separate ways and converged back toward the end of the day.  The other two boats had stories of many little villages and schools they were able to stop at and show videos to as well as preach a bit.  Our boat was mostly dock to dock:

We had some cool wildlife we got to see!  A green frog and a SLOTH!!! We also saw pigs, brand new baby goats, and plenty of fish:)

 We did come across one small village and school so only a few got out of the boat to preach, Madi and Ty included:

We also had some fun.  While others were up at the house fishing for men, some of us were just fishing:

All communication with brothers at the door or up a hill, was through a walkie talkie phone.  Also as we were working on a census too, we were using a GPS program and marking English homes on a satellite image on an ipad. 

It was lots of fun to listen to our boat captain.  He was a local that we had to rent the boat from.  Probably the best witness of the day as we explained what we were doing, why, and what the importance was to him through out the day.  It was hilarious because as we came up to a dock and hailed the home owner.  We were endeavoring to determine if they spoke English to place an English invitation with them.  If they spoke Spanish though, he would jump right in and in Spanish tell them why we were there and about the Memorial that they could attend.  He also impressed upon them how important it was and that they should come!  We spent a nice day in the ministry although we were quite wet most of the day

As I said, the three boats converged at the end of the day to sort of caravan back to Bocas.

FRUITS OF OUR LABOR:

As most reading this know Memorial was April 14th this year.  In Bocas we were privileged to have two Memorials.  The first at 6:30 was on Bastimentos Island. It took place in one room of the local school.  Another Sister and I got the first time privilege for creating flower arrangements for this event. What this entailed was hiking all over the island about 3 hours before the Memorial and cutting/picking wild flowers.  There are no flower shops on Bocas.  We then sat down at the school and created arrangements.  As sisters arrived and finished helping set up, they came out to lend us a last minute hand.  Here are what we created:

Then after we hustled with those, we changed clothes and prepared to meet and greet those who would be attending!

It's a long walk up a hill to get to Memorial, but we had 60 attend 35 were studies including one of Madi's!  The person from furthest away was a family from Isla Caya Agua.  During our boating excursion as part of the Campaign the dad had received an invitation.  He recognized how important this was and bundled his whole family into a boat in the dark mind you to come to Memorial!

After, closing shop in Bastimentos and returning the school room back to its normal appearance, we rushed over to the Memorial on the Main Island of Bocas. I have no pictures of the Memorial in Bocas, but it took place at 8:00 at night. We had 58 attend with 20 being studies.  Pretty good for a congregation of 21 publishers!!

The Spanish and Ngobe had theirs combined and rented out the local gym.  But there was also a residency thing happening at the time, the gym was supposed to be ours, but the government extended their residency program and on Monday morning the brothers found out that they couldn't use the gym.  So with all English, Spanish, and Ngobe spreading the word to anyone and everyone about the switch to the school, they had an amazing attendance of 311 with only 66 publishers in those two congregations!!!  Holy Spirit obviously in play for this to happen.