León, Nicaragua - July 20, 2012

Entrance

We just had our first Special Assembly Day here in Nicaragua and it was a real treat. It was held in Ticuantepe on the former Bethel grounds. We had a special "sneak peek" at the property on the day before the SAD because we went with a group of brothers to clean the facility for the next day. Here are some pictures that we took of the property.

As you can see, the seating area is open on the sides. This allows for a nice breeze - but also the birds, animals and plant material have access to the area and so it needs to be cleaned very thoroughly before an assembly.

Seating Area

Former Residences

Baptism Pool

The Assembly Hall grounds

Washrooms

Relaxing Area under the Tree

Happily, there were many helpful hands and it didn't take too long before the facilities where cleaned and ready for the next day. 

Enjoying the Lunch Break

When Sunday came it was a very early start to the day. We had to be at the Kingdom Hall for 6:15 a.m. to catch the small buses that the congregation had secured to transport everyone to the Assembly. Thankfully, everyone was on time and by 6:40 a.m.we had started the 2 hour trip to the Assembly Hall.  We had 274 in attendance for the afternoon - a very international group too! Along with the many Nicaraguan brothers there were Canadians, Americans, British and Australians in attendance. We met some of the folks that had traveled all the way from Pearl Lagoon (doesn't that sound so romantic) on the Atlantic side of Nicaragua - a journey of over 9 hours on boats and buses. They were tired but happy to be in attendance.


We have decided to dedicated Fridays to cultivating the interest that we have found in La Paz Centro. Pat has a study that he has in the afternoon - Jose Luis and we are still working on completing the census. I don't know how it happens, but Pat keeps finding people who love to feed him. When the study with Jose Luis is finished for the afternoon, Jose Luis makes Pat something to eat. So far he has enjoyed some Arroz rellenos and tacos. He promises to make Vigaron the next time we come.  

Interview with Brother & Sister Turner (CO & wife)

Next week we have the visit of our Circuit Overseer and his wife - Brother and Sister Turner. This will be their last visit with the congregation so we are looking forward to meeting them before they move on to their new assignment. Since we are auxiliary pioneering we are excited that we will be included in the pioneer meeting.


We finally received the hotel assignments for our District Convention in San Salvador. We were able to book a room in a hotel right across the street from where the convention is being held - yeah we can sleep in! I looked on Google Maps and there looks to be a Wendy's within the same block as the hotel - we'll have to check it out and see if we can get a Frostie - yum! San Salvador seems to be very Americanized with prices to match - so we will have to keep close tabs on our budget! The congregation has organized a bus to transport everyone to the convention. It will be much easier for everyone to go together and we are looking forward to the company on the journey. It seems like we are becoming very international travelers - I believe we will be adding Honduras and El Salvador to our passport stamps. I just wish that this would satisfy our "visa renewal" requirements, but unfortunately El Salvador is part of the C-4 (Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua) and so it doesn't count.