León, Nicaragua - June 21, 2012

Sitting down to write the blog has been a bit more challenging since we are down to one computer and Pat is using it so much for work on the territories. We've also been a little busier with service since we are Auxiliary Pioneering this month (and July and August).

Last Saturday our congregation conducted a census in La Paz Centro, a small community outside of León. Our day started very early by meeting at the Bus Terminal at 7 am. Once our group was all congregated we headed on the next bus to La Paz Centro which took about 50 minutes. Once there we took a tuktuk to the Kingdom Hall for the service arrangement.  Some of the local brothers and sisters joined us and we were quickly paired up and out we went. Each group had about 4-6 territories to census and our group was able to complete 4 of the territories we were assigned. We personally found quite a few English speakers and made arrangements to return this Friday to hopefully start some bible studies.  We will also take the opportunity to complete a little more of the census work. When 2 pm arrived we were all worn out from all the walking and the heat but the day was a real success. Rather than take the bus home we all piled into a brothers pickup truck. Those of us who were fortunate enough to sit in the cab anxiously watched the "storm clouds" that were on the horizon - but not as much as those who were in the back, after all - they would be the ones to get soaked.  I'm glad to report that the rains held off until we were all safely home.

Living room

Some people have been asking what our house looks like now that we've had some time to settle in. I'm happy to say that we finally have been able to put some pictures up on the wall and the place is looking pretty nice.  We still have some pictures that we need to get framed for the bedroom but since they are odd sizes it may take a while. All in all the place is shaping up!

Bedroom and study area

Kitchen

On the garden front we are still fighting with those pesky ants. The borax treatment didn't help as much as I would have liked, although there seems to be less of them. On a happy note, it seems that most of those little seedlings we were growing were papaya trees and after giving a couple of them away and weeding out the rest we are the proud growers of a papaya tree! We also have found out that we are growing a lime tree and have relocated it to an area where it will have more room to spread it's roots. Our tomato plant is quite large and has a number of blossoms on it already and it looks like we might have a couple of pepper plants. It's amazing how easy it is for seeds to root here.