Judit and Modestia (who surprisingly liked her picture being taken) showing us the folleto they use. Modestia lives near the edge of town where there is no running water but each family has a garden or plot of corn or potatoes in their yard.

….and a good week, altho each day has progressively gotten worse with Carnival celebrations.  Thankfully, I have not been drenched yet while in my preaching or meeting clothes.  At this stage, colored spray foams and silly string have been added to the list of ammunition.  Oruro is the main city where the crazy devil costumes and parades and partying will culminate on Tuesday.

We continued with our preaching activities and there have been really big groups from the congre meeting everyday. Those that do not want to get caught in the “war-zone” of Carnival will be hiding in their houses from Sunday-Tuesday.  So, everyone has been as busy as possible with bible studies and RV’s until after the holiday.

Yesterday was a day that “filled me up” and made me feel so privileged to be a part of this Bible teaching work.  I worked with Judit, an 18-year-old sister in the sign language group.  We hiked down to some houses to meet a shy deaf girl, Modestia, who has been learning from Judit.  She was so shy, that initially she turned her back to me and could not look at me.  Judit uses the new brochure for those who can’t read, Listen to God. To include me, I was the brochure “stand” and would point at pictures. Modestia does not know sign-language or even the letters to spell or read.  Can you imagine what little she actually knows? Judit could show the sign-names of Adam and Eve, but not spell them out so she would know what their names are. Modestia kept pointing at hair to understand that Eve was a woman. And to point at pictures and show Jehovah versus Satan took about 15 attempts before she understood that one person was God and good and the other was bad. But she easily understood the creation page and that God made everything and his sign-name is Jehovah. In the meantime, to see her huge smile as she learned these simple truths and Judit’s beautiful efforts to teach her, nearly made me cry. How Jehovah wants even the uneducated and handicapped people to know him makes me love our God all the more so.  And he uses humble loving people like Judit to find these little people and TRY to teach them.

After we had a papa rellena break, the morning ended with us finding Nazarena, my little bible student who I had not seen for 3 months. I always leave Nazarena’s house very happy because she’s an apt student who asks lots of questions and believes what the Bible says.  She loves the WT and Awake magazines and makes sure to not miss one copy.  She likes cutting out and collecting the Bible characters on the last page. She told me she wants to be a Jehovah’s Witness, so I outlined the steps for her. After Carnival she says she wants to come to meetings. This is the big challenge with all students, so my hopes are not super high, but we will try.

Today Judd and I are doing a small trip to celebrate our anniversary early in a quiet little community where we hope to trek around and explore lots of ruins.  Next weekend we have guests coming to stay with us for the Pioneer Day and Circuit Assembly.  So the month should also end well.

A view of part of our preaching territory. The houses on this hill-side are pretty much mud-brick shacks with no running water. But rainy season allows their gardens to grow. You can see Sica-Sica and Churoquella in the background (looking south).

While we see drunks everyday, this ATM is usually kept fairly clean and only once in awhile houses a bum. But Judd thought the pillow was a great idea (egg crates) altho the "couch has proven to be too short".

I had warmed up and just finished stretching, had my tunes playing and started running down the plaza block.  As I came to the corner, I saw a man layed out flat on his back on the flagstone sidewalk. Another drunk. A daily sight. But as I scanned his body for signs of life (a habit of mine), my brain registered that the shadow under his head was actually a pool of blood. And it was growing.

His eyes were opened and slightly moving. Saliva tinted with blood was running out of his mouth. I ran up and told him in english, that I would call for help…and then repeated in spanish. I dashed to the nearest person & asked for a cel phone (I had NOTHING on me). The punk sitting in his car seat (obvious sign of cel ownership) nodded no and pointed to another guy.  I asked the other guy if he could call an ambulance.  This man was helpful, called the ambulance and ran back with me to the injured man. A small group of onlookers was forming and I assured the injured man that help was on the way and to stay exactly like he was.

I wanted to assess his mental state and asked him his name. He gargled it out and then the man with the cel phone asked if he had family we could call.  He had none here in Sucre. And was unable to recall any numbers of anyone to call. A police woman walked up and after making sure an ambulance was on the way, walked to the other side of  the plaza to direct the ambulance when it arrived. The injured man was trying to look at the people around him and I kept my face above his  trying to coax him to lie still and look straight at me.  Someone took his glasses off and handed them to me.  I tucked them in his jacket pocket. The dark red blood was now running down the grout lines, this was clearly not a scalp scrape.  Two other police officers came up and I asked if they had any bandages for his head.  One nodded yes and they both walked off  to their jeep and never came back- so Bolivian, rarely does anyone take responsibility for anything (and I’m not being prejudice).

The injured man started to get restless and even tho several of us asked him to lie still, he tried sitting up.  The back of his hair was all matted with blood.  My thought was that he must have gotten dizzy and pitched backwards, head coming in contact with the flagstone first. He didn’t smell of alcohol and just a green spiral notebook layed at his right side.  There was blood on his jacket sleeve- I wasn’t sure how that got there, unless he had reached his elbow up behind his head before I found him.

He was scared and nervous and trying to tell me what happened but his speech was too garbled and slurred.  Finally about 10 mins later the ambulance showed up (faster than I expected).  The EMT’s sloppily loaded him on a stretcher and altho they had it in hand, never secured his neck with a neck brace. It was actually bizarre to watch them work.

Several years back we took an 80 hour Wilderness First Responder (WFR) course and I am no expert on these things. But from that training I saw numerous things the “professionals” should have done different.  As all of us foreigners say, “Don’t get in any accidents.  If the accident doesn’t kill you the inept handling will.”

Anyways, I stuck around until the injured man was loaded into the ambulance and the crowd dispersed.  I ran a couple of laps around the plaza before heading off on my route.  Each time I came around to that corner my eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to the blood and I thought about the delicacy yet hardiness of the human body.  It was the most extreme injury I’ve come upon yet.  I hope the man survived.

We were mixed, the pros being: starting fresh in a new preaching territory and getting new enthusiastic studies, being closer to the territory for preaching (1 day their meeting is only 8 mins away; our closest is 20 min away by foot and bus combo), having the KH in the middle of the territory, meeting times I prefer (I love Sat pm meetings to Sunday), being in a smaller congre, we know several of the publishers (members), it’s a preaching territory in the middle of the biggest mercado (which I love to shop in but it’s out of my weekly routine), we aren’t learning a new culture or city along with a congre….and more.

The cons were: leaving behind our friends and a congre after knowing them 16 months, Judd leaving a body of elders who has taught him so much and who he admires & respects, leaving behind well-established bible studies, leaving behind an awesome territory with much interest (& on the outskirts of town), Judd having to learn names and people so he could be a true help on an individual level…. and so on.

But this week, we got a call from Trey (who I think was just as nervous as us about losing Judd) that it was confirmed we are staying in Mesa Verde. An elder from Spain just moved to Sucre last week and the CO has him attending Centro. Either way we would have pressed on- I’m a big believer that most times change is good. And I figured so far Jehovah had put us exactly where we need to be, so I wasn’t fearful of where he would put us (or leave us) next.

However, it’s really nice to know that there isn’t going to be a big change just yet.  I had been trying to figure out in my head who would be best teachers for my students. What times I could make for my Mesa Verde friends and so on. Now we can let that thought rest and continue steady onward

My garden is growing: The dill is nearly 3 feet tall and the tomatoes I have transplanted are beginning to perk up. I have nearly harvested one box of lettuce and will transfer some other herbs into it once they grow a few inches.  I planted basil, lemongrass and cumin. I finally found fertilizer and will see if it makes a difference in the next weeks.

Tomatoes that are happy with their new home and pot.

Isn't it beautiful? My first harvested salad!

There is no longer a need to search for where to set up the slack-line. Judd drilled holes and set bolts in our patio wall for some at-home entertainment.

Sitting in the shade of an umbrella, listening to music and drenching our thirst, we can slack-line in peace. The only drawback is the obstacle it is to reach my plants or hang laundry.

I am at a “cross-road” with several Bible students: While most of my students have been studying for a year or more now, few are showing progress. They like Judd and I as friends and will study most of the time when I show up….but that’s about it. I’m wondering if they think they are doing me a favor by studying because they don’t prepare the lesson ahead, call to schedule their study or come to any Bible meetings. Still, it’s much better results than in the US. I’m vacillating between continuing the studies and not expecting instant results or cancelling them out and finding new students that are truly appreciative of the information they are learning. Too bad we can’t read hearts!

I am more and more impressed with the tiny and mighty quinoa seed: Not only is it one of the few grains that is a protein, but it is super-easy to sprout. I leave it on the counter overnight in water.  By the morning it has sprouted and each day the sprouts grow crazily.  I add them to water, dash of salt, dash of vanilla and blend and turn it into quinoa milk. The flavor is mild- I personally like quinoa and you can add sugar. It’s also a perfect rice substitute. Maybe I’ll plant some of them in my garden…

And we are in the midst of carnival: I have had numerous direct hits from water balloons and water guns. Most of the time it has been when I was out in street clothes on a sunny day (once while I was jogging- that felt wonderful), so I haven’t minded. But while riding my bike home from meeting last night I got a blast on my neck and chest. I was happy it wasn’t in my face- could have caused me to wreck!  If I see the mischievous groups of kids I wave and smile- they just don’t like a frontal attack. One neighbor boy practices english with me, so he prevents the other kids from attacking us. I have tried catching the water balloons, but they still burst in my hands. It’s still better than a wet whack on the back of the head. I’m amused that an entire country would have a month-long water-fight and everyone just accept it. I mean, there could be so much worse happening, right?

In the meantime, we haven’t had the intense rains like last year.  Everyone is saying its much too dry. The difference I have seen is that last year we had about 3 rains between Oct-Dec.  This year we have had regular rains all those months, but fewer this month. It could change in the next weeks, but I am happy to see sun nearly everyday!

The daily thunderheads and rain clouds that brew over the mountains (Obispo).

The canvas of the sky changes hourly. Who needs tv?

At first there is much excitement as you explore and learn about your new life.  But as adjustments are made, one can get pretty sad and start missing familiar things and people. With your head you know you should be happy.  You are also mindful that there is an adjustment period.  However, you find yourself being annoyed, turned off, frustrated or completely depressed some days without any apparent reason.  It usually culminates in a really bad “crash day” with crying or yelling and serious thoughts of returning home.

What’s interesting is that almost immediately after, you start to feel better and begin a positive climb upward with your feelings. You see the flower instead of the mud all around it.  You see the hilarious little grunting pig instead of the trash heap he is digging through.  You see the smiling baby wrapped in a colorful blanket instead of the grimace of the bum next to him. You hear the whimsical anduvian flutes on the radio instead of the annoying cholita “baby voice” singing… and so on.

However, the U-Curve hits several times and when it’s a year later, one can feel frustrated that the adjustments aren’t over yet.  To move to a new house is a big stress and puts much of life on pause.  To move to another city- even more-so.  To move to another state can even bring a form of culture shock and deep sadness as you miss your friends.  But to move to a third world country with a different language…..well, it’s going to take more out of you than you ever knew.

This is where you realize how big your commitment must be.  And it’s not for the faint of heart.  It will challenge your spirituality and your marriage and family life more than ever before. I used to hear stories of people who moved to serve where there was a greater need and end up leaving it all- their marriage, the truth….and would wonder how they arrived to that point.  Now I know. It’s all in the daily little things (as Hesper would say). Everyday you MUST do a form of Bible study, pray from the heart, confirm your loyalty and love to your immediate family and perform some “ritual” that keeps you sane (eat out or make ur favorite comfort food, watch a movie or read a book in ur language, write in a journal, make some “me-time”, paint, run, listen to music from home, read the world news on the internet, grow a plant, get some sun….u get the idea).

Thankfully I’m on the up-side of my U-curve and I think Judd is, too. But just to let you know, be sure of yourself before you leave everything you know.  It will be a big shake-up, but help you grow if you press through.  And the blessings, when your motive is to “serve”, will be unending.  It IS worth the roller-coaster ride!

Two weeks ago we got a call that there was a problem w/our information and to come to Immigration.  We go down and what La Paz wants is in fact in the carpeta (folder).  We HAD done that paperwork but they just failed to read it apparently.  But to humor them, the Sucre office asked us to go and have some paperwork re-done by changing the wording on one of our docs at the Notary office (costing us 35 B’s).

They would once again send our passports back to LP and we would wait. Yesterday we get call that there is ANOTHER problem. This time I’m determined I will not let it ruin my day. It is out of our hands and all we can do is obey their every command- they are in control. Again, they are asking for a document to be re-worded by a one word change! Yes, they can see we renounced our tourist visa in a legal document (a visa that was nullified when we got our 1 year visa).  But it didn’t say “consulate visa”. We return to the lawyer to have him add that one word and pay another 60 B’s.

It’s completely ridiculous yet there is nothing we can do. Today we will have them send it all back to LP for a third time. Maybe they will let us “criminal” type that spend money supporting their economy stay. But maybe they won’t.  Why they want to make life so difficult not only on us but themselves too, I will never know. Who knows you might see us sooner than later. We’re not officially IN yet.

Before the arrival of Jens and Dina, an elder was in charge of a list for hosting the CO for meals or taking them on Bible studies.  These lists fill up fast. I signed up to preach with Dina, the CO’s wife, on Thursday afternoon and Judd worked with Jens on Friday afternoon. I didn’t get to the list in time to host them for lunch, but we must share the love, eh?

So they arrived Tuesday and that evening we had a congre meeting and discourse from the C.O.

Wednesday we preached and that evening we had the meeting with all the pioneers. The information on zeal, boldness and endurance was exactly what I needed. And a couple of pios experiencing difficult times cried as the information touched their hearts.

Thursday I got to preach with Dina and pick her brain about their move from Germany to Bolivia nearly 11 years ago. It seems the last month I have been dropping into the U- Curve (depression foreigners get from time to time as they adjust to their new life).  Her insights and recommendations were just what I needed to hear.  That night the congre again had a Bible meeting and Jens gave another talk.

Friday we preached in the morning and Judd went out with Bro Thierfelder at 2:00 and then he had his elders meeting that night from 7-10 pm.

Saturday we preached in the morning, took a nap, did our WT study and Judd did congre paperwork.

Sunday we preached and had our final meeting at 4 pm with the C.O.  The final talk that broke down 2 Peter chapter 3 was my favorite of the week.  I am always amazed what things I can learn from a Bible verse I have read at least 1000 times. Verse 9 is not explaining that God’s patience is for the whole world (as if there will be a mass conversion before he brings Armageddon).  Instead he is patient with YOU, the anointed ones Peter was writing to. God is waiting for his chosen people to refine themselves and repent of not the huge serious sins of the world (like idolatry, murder or fornication-they have already quit those things), but rather personal flaws that could hinder them from having God’s approval and life. Many of you probably already knew that, but I didn’t (or had forgotten) and really appreciated that explanation. Hence, the reasons to continue bettering ourselves and examining the scriptures!

The last 2 CO visits had me exhausted by the end- I guess I’m getting old!  So this time I purposefully scheduled a morning off during the week and it seemed to do the trick.  I never felt tired on this visit.  I was still able to get some tomato plants transplanted, have some friends over for lunch one day, do a run, go apt hunting with a friend and all the usual household chores. So we didn’t get behind on anything either.

I’m telling you, the life of a need-greater can be quite good.  And BTW, Sucre is in desperate need of elders! Please consider it any of you guys that can. I think Judd said we have the avg of 2.8 elders in each congre….and each congre is growing fast (between 80-130 pubs).

Carnival is a month-long holiday that culminates in an extravagant wild party weekend sometime in February. This year it falls on Feb 18-21 (with Tuesday being the big party day. But one month before (and yes, they have already started) bands of kids can be found roaming the streets with water guns & bottles and water balloons. They love to hit you when you’re not looking. Often times they hide on a balcony and get you as you pass under.

And a foreigner dressed in nice clothes is a double-whammy target. So you can just imagine how preaching goes that month. I have already had numerous more “attacks” than the previous year and the season has just started. I haven’t had any bad hits yet, but I’m sure a story will be coming.  Judd actually is wanting to be hit since he is always dying of heat.  I find that carrying an umbrella (normally a triple-use for sun, rain & dogs) takes on a fourth use- protection from water bombs.

As the month continues, packs of people will be loaded in the back of a pick-up truck and drench pedestrians with high-powered water guns or even buckets of water. The main party weekend gets so wild that most people hide out in their house- not even going into work.  Last year meetings were even changed to not happen during the “heat” of the fighting. We happened to be on top of Huayna Potosi that weekend- were still deciding what to do this year.

Maybe there will be a crazy thunder-storm this year and “dampen” spirits of party-goers….

The plaza in front of the theatre where we had the "tied in" Zone Visit in Sucre.

Sunday we had a country Zone Visit with Guy Pierce as the “guest speaker” from New York. The visit was held in Santa Cruz and tied in via skype to 5 other cities: Sucre, Cochabamba, La Paz, Oruro and Tarija. All the missionaries in the country are invited for a special weekend at the Bolivian branch in Santa Cruz as part of the visit.  And what a treat they must have had!

I would say this year was 100% better than last year, here in Sucre. Instead of cement bleachers in a soccer coliseum, we were in a beautiful theatre downtown Sucre that was just renovated in 2009.  It is the most beautiful theatre I have been in and was fashioned after the Phantom of the Opera, so I was told.  Because there had been high hopes centuries ago that Sucre would be the “Paris” of SA some gorgeous buildings were built and fashioned after European architecture.  But the beautiful comfy location was only a part of the visit.

Saturday night a performance was happening in the theatre until 10 pm.  We finally got in at 10:30 for the cleaning and chair and screen set-ups (there were 2 screens).  Because of the late hour, only about 40 people showed up. Most were singles or couples w/o kids.  Families no doubt needed to get their kids to bed for the 9:20 am start. I left at midnight, but some stayed until 2 am (especially the tech guys setting up the skype system).

Judd had platform duty (easy job when there is only one chairman to announce the start and departure announcements), so he sat in the front row at the stage.  I sat the 2nd level up with some friends in the “private” 4 chair compartments.

There were 4 parts including the WT review (which was SO needed on reaching men with the Bible message). The last hour was Brother Pierce speaking in english and translated by Brother Little from the Bolivian Branch.  The information was superb! He spoke on what is faith, how to strengthen it and how to have faith in action. It was so good to see how the information applied to both foreign volunteers and the local Bolivian brothers. And the chemistry between speaker and translator was spot on which made it a joy to listen to. We english speakers chuckled quite often at Guy Pierce, but Bro Little was able to translate it exactly so that the Bolivians got a lot of the humour as well.  We all agreed it was like sitting in the living room having a chat with a happy uncle or grandpa- it was that personable.

The program ended at 12:15 and I must admit Guy Pierce’s prayer had me crying.  He is a dear brother who loves and honors his God very much.

The morning rains faded off and we had a BBQ at Richard and Katya’s with 9 others from a total of 4 congres. We laughed a lot, ate delicious food (2 week aged steak, soy cumin chicken, sausage, vegie k-bobs, bbq baked beans, rice and LIIT’s), looked at pictures, talked about the upcoming CO visits for each of us and because we were a mix of couples and singles we talked about relationships…it always makes for a lot of laughing.

So our 2nd ever Zone Visit went off much better than last year (when all we had was audio and such bad acoustics that not even the locals understood).  Sucre had 888 in attendance and the total for the country was 26,030. After the program ended, the bros on the Santa Cruz end of skype moved the camara around and we could see the stadium over there and waves and hugs from those brothers.  It felt like an international convention- except this was national! Can there be another organization on this planet with more genuine love??  I think not!

Teatro Gran Mariscal Sucre, the opulent old opera house where we got to have the visit via skype

Unfortunately I could not get the lighting right...but this can give you an idea of the main auditorium.

A captive audience during the most tragic scene of the opera....oh wait! This is just practice for the Zone Visit photo shoot.

The theatre is its own block in the city. You can also see a replica of one of Paris' arches in front of Parque Bolivar (that park also has an eiffel tower).

Steve and Guido working on the computer connections (and a couple other guys in charge).

If you squint, you can see the main auditorium (side-shot). There were 4 tiers around the main floor- all intricately decorated with lion heads and scrolly crown molding.

The overflow room and 2nd screen where the sign-language group also met. This is normally the main lobby, but seated close to 100 people for our event.

The famous piedra de arbol (tree rock).

No climbing is allowed on this tree, but it was ok cuz there were plenty of other fun boulders.

For instance, this cool outcropping called to us...was it possible to climb into that window?

Why yes that window was feasable! In fact, the "roof" was possible too!

Volcanos greeted us from all directions...I wish I had more ways to show size comparison...only being there tells the whole story.

One of the beauties of the Uyuni is the vast deserted places...miles of stretches of land with empty roads and only a few places where the humans group together.

We all agreed this was a great group foto to commemorate the Uyuni trip. Top to bottom: John, Keenan, Benjamin, Anna, Emily and Jonathon.

We saw a few hardcore people bicycling across the Uyuni- I was always impressed. It might be in the list of things to do before I leave Bolivia. This guy was trying to stay on the dry patches- I imagine the salt wasn't the best on bike components.

See what I mean? Partly I envied these tough people, partly I was grateful to be in a warm car while the elements wreaked havoc...

Night 1 of the tour was below these volcanos and an amazing sky!