MEXICO HERE I COME

Big news, you guys.....

I'VE BEEN INVITED TO MY FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION!!!!!!!!!

I applied with a couple I really like and we were accepted as delegates to Mexico City, Mexico.  Never been there before.  October 31-November 2.  We've already got our tickets and hotel booked and are waiting for the branch to tell us our options about activities before and after the convention.

I know a little about Mexico just from listening to all my Mexican friends from my old congregation in Memphis (shout out, Summer Spanish!) and there are certain things I really miss about my Little Mexico neighborhood I used to live in that I'm excited to repeat.  Let's be honest, mainly food items...you know me too well.

So I need help!  Gift ideas for a budget?  Packing tips?  Ahhhhhh!  My mind is literally racing thinking about it.

RAVE REVIEWS FOR RURAL

After our convention, we planned to take advantage of state vacation days here in Nicaragua.  Specifically January 1st.  Two congregations from Masaya (Coyotepe and Faria) came to assist us and we spent all day working our rural territories.

This is how they came and we piled about 10 more in the back to get to rural.  It's pretty common for large groups in Nicaragua to travel this way

Lunch break!  The sister in the black/white stripes, Marbel, was my partner for the day, and I made new friends with her family.  Her hubby's Puerto Rican and they were truly a joy to get to know better

These planters made makeshift seats for most of us at lunch.  I'm sure we were a spectacle for the territory!

All in total we were over 60 and really appreciated the help to really thoroughly work some of our rural.

CHEESY GOODNESS

Ok, let's have some fun.  Who can find the cheese burrito in this shot?

Hard isn't it?  Here it is!!!!!

Best belly award 2013/14

NO (WO)MAN IS AN ISLAND

This is a rant.  A pure, unadulterated rant.  If you're up to reading a rant, keep going, please.  If not, better you just leave now.

I'm lonely.  There, I said it.  

Almost 2 1/2 years into my assignment, there are just certain things that are not resolving themselves, and companionship is one of them.  I am not hearing anything. ever. from any of my friends back home. ever.  You want to know why I started this blog?  Supposedly so THEY could keep up with ME.  So it surprises me that none of them even follow me. Out of my own family I have ONE person who follows this blog.  I hear more from other need greaters I've met here and random people throughout the world who read this blog than I do from ANY of my friends from home.  Then when I go home, they're all like, let's keep in touch.  You want to know how many people I've given this blog address to who've never read it?  I've actually saved it in their iPhones and they still don't read it?  I've sent an invite to their email and they don't accept it?

My Mom says, "People are just busy."  You want to know what I say?  The same thing I say to my students...we make time for the things we WANT to make time for.  You are living in a country where you have:
1. a smartphone with constant 3G and WiFi connections
2. a laptop
3. a tablet
4. a home office
5. a work office
and yet you never talk to me.  Maybe you're not talking to anyone?  Yep, that's what I thought too until I continually embarrass myself saying that to people just for them to respond, "Weird, because she's on Facebook/Instagram/etc all the time."  Hmmm.  So apparently, you've just decided that because I don't work on the same platform YOU do i.e. Skype, email, Pinterest it's just IMPOSSIBLE for us to keep in touch.

You know what I think it is?  I think it's a subtle way of just saying "we're done."  And it hurts.  It hurts that people who I thought would be in my corner FOREVER have decided that because we no longer live close to each other, it's over.  And it especially hurts because it's not the easiest thing to make good friends.  Especially when you're a need greater/missionary.  Are we all family/brothers?  Yes.  Does that mean we're all intimate and you can emotionally rely on everyone?  No.  Especially when you're trying to make lasting friendships through a language barrier, a cultural barrier, and the fact that everyone knows you may not be here for long so why put the effort into drawing close to you.

So those of you who DO read my blog and always email about your dreams to be a need greater, keep this post in mind.  If you're thinking that you'll have the support of friends back home when you move, you may want to double think that.  Maybe you have better friends than I do.  Or maybe you also will find that it's just you and Jehovah.

Am I seriously the only one with this problem?

NINDIRI NEWS

We finally had our District Convention.  I think we're the last ones scheduled in the whole world.  We had a peak attendance of over 2,000 and about 50 baptized. I'll admit I was really nervous about the convention because it's a new district for me, and I wasn't sure what to expect since this district doesn't have as many foreigners as my last one.  It was interesting.  I felt a little bit like a museum piece....lots of looking but no touching or talking....and even ended up in some random pictures of sisters who wanted to pose with me...not sure their names, though, hmmmm.

Something kind of nice happened, though.  Do you guys remember Melvin who got baptized in July?  Well, he was on the congregation bus with his Bible student, Bruno, and they offered to help me with my bags.  So I go and find a seat front and center, and they plop down on either side of me.  I was truly grateful to have someone to sit with and told them so later.  They said it just made sense because they came alone too.  Then it hit me...they're the only ones in their families serving Jehovah and probably felt as awkward at the convention as me.  I think Jehovah was trying to show me I wasn't as alone in my feelings as I thought I was.

And good news!  We have 3 new members in the Nindirí congregation.  Here they are:

Public declaration of their dedication!  Mitchell (far left) and Kenia (middle) are both the same age--12--just obviously not maturing at the same rate :/

Mitchell with his proud Mommy

Jonathan with his proud Mommy.  Jonathan's dad has been disfellowshipped the past few years, and they've really had a hard time of it as a family.  So nice to see him overcome those obstacles to make such an important decision :)

Kenia with her teacher, Selene.  She has an aunt/uncle who are witnesses but no one else in her household. And yes, that dripping water had turned to tears by the time I took this shot, poor thing

Also, we got some exciting news.  We're going to start having meetings in San Francisco, part of our rural territory.  Apparently, we want to see level of interest in the community to see if a group is possible.  Next week, we'll all be together Thursday nights but separate (town vs rural) on the weekends.  We have a HUGE rural territory, so it would be great to see them support a congregation a little closer to them.