I HEART ENGLISH

Granada folks on our bus ride to the assembly!

My new single buds Shelina (left) and Nazareth (middle). At age 6, Nazareth moved to the US with her parents from Nica during the Civil War in the 1980s but now as an adult has decided to move back and help out

From left: Rachel (missionary sister), Stacey (serves in Managua Chinese but originally from CA), me, and Krystina (Stacey's niece who just moved here from HI to serve in San Marcos). Also alllllll single!

This past weekend was the English District Convention which I attended. You'll see pix here of the Assembly Hall at the former branch site in Ticuantepe as well as some new friends I made. The English congregation here in Granada rented a school bus for the approx 45 min commute each day. We had a peak attendance of 603 on Sunday and 3 were baptized.

Although there are few actual English congregations, the assembly was full because everyone who speaks English but may serve in Miskito, Spanish, or Sign Language attended. I met friends from ALL over the world...British Isles, Trinidad, El Salvador, Romania. There were multiple missionary couples and special pioneers. I've actually never been in a place where all at the same time there was that much maturity gathered. It was really special.

You'll see the Assembly Hall was much more comfortable than the stadium we used for the Spanish assembly. It's all open but Ticuantepe is cooler than Granada so there was a nice breeze most of the time. The grounds themselves are beautiful....mountains in the back, beautiful landscaping, comfortable lunch spot under a tree...I could get used to this :)

And...this is a master of the obvious statement but...I love English. It was so nice to spend 3 entire days not having to think about what I'm saying. I think just living in a place where I'm speaking Spanish all...the...time instead of just in service/meetings....you know, it was nice to get a break.