León, Nicaragua - December 1, 2012

Debbie and Lydia at the information table

During the visit of our Circuit Overseer it was suggested that we should try and put out an information table at La Union Supermarket because so many foreigners (and people and general) shop there. This week the brothers started a week long trial run. We personally found that it was quite successful and hope that it is continued. The trick will be to find the best times to have the table set up for optimal results. Both Pat and I took two shifts at the table and were able to speak to a number of people as well as place some literature.  Others have had similar results and there was at least 1 request for a bible study and a number of people interested in having someone stop by their home.

We are now 3 months along in our pioneering and are well adjusted in our schedule. The mornings are noticeably cooler and it is much easier to stay out in the ministry for longer. To our delight we are still having great success in La Paz Centro. This past Friday we had a couple of really good calls - ok, one really great call where we started  a bible study and the other one where the fellow was a little inebriated.  In regard to the first call:  we have finally started calling back on all of the interest that we found in the initial search. On Friday we called back at a Funeraria - where you buy caskets. After asking us how we got his name he remembered that we had called a few months back looking for English speakers - the next thing he asked was -  "what took you so long to get back to me?"  He had some contact with Jehovah's Witnesses in the US. We started right away in the "Bible Teach" book and were able to cover the first section in chapter one. We have added him to our regular Friday routine. The second call was a bit of a fluke. Last week we called on a fellow named Eric who is the brother of one of our regular calls. He was a little skeptical but accepted the "Bible Teach" book and said that he would look into it. Next he said - "I don't have to get baptized, do I?" - we assured him that it was a personal decision for sometime in the future. We told him that we would come back in a couple of weeks to see what he thought of the book. So.... flash forward to this past Friday... We stopped at our usual lunch spot where we have a return visit - Pablo. When we entered the restaurant who should be find but Eric, Pablo's brother...... he couldn't believe that we had come to" visit him" and found him there at the restaurant.... it was obvious that he had already had a few drinks and he continued drinking all through our lunch. However, he kept asking questions and saying how much he appreciated our giving him "that book" and that he had already read a couple chapters in it. We told him that we will visit him next Friday. Hopefully, he will remember that he has asked us to come and see him next week and that he promised he would be sober!

Pat's Fish Dinner

We had another lovely evening in Poneloya at the restaurant that one of our Spanish sister owns. The reason for the get-together was Miguel and Michele Martinez's 3rd wedding anniversary (not that we need a reason to do so). On this evening we were all given a menu and asked to pick what we wanted to eat. To my great delight she had Lobster! I have wanted to try lobster down here for a long time but I was never willing to pay the price. However, on this night it was only $180 cordobas. It was sooooo delicious.

yummm Lobster!

squishing in the truck to the beach (there are 5 of us in the back seat)

and even more riding in the back

and even more in the second truck

Lily seemed worried about the whole "safety" aspect

Sunset at Poneloya

Debbie at on the beach at Poneloya

Football on the beach

Alex and Rob

The happy couple - Michele and Miguel

Corina and Anna

The sad thing about visitors is that eventually they have to go home. Last night we had a fun party - even if it was a goodbye party - for Corina and Anna who have been visiting for the past few weeks.  We'll miss you.

Mariela, Chelsea, Callie, Sky and Corina

Gina, Elga, Thalia, Fanny and Mariela

Caleb (visiting from Missouri) and Sergio

Renee - trying to cool down from all that dancing!

Monday was really hot so we sent out a call to everyone to see who could join us at the pool. The Perez family were the only ones available - but we sure did have fun!

Natalie isn't too sure about the whole idea

she still isn't too sure......

but, in the end she had a great time - and so did the rest of us!

Bird Talk:  We are still getting used to having a bird in the house. It's a good thing we are early risers because this little guy is chirping by 6 am. I hate to think what time he will start chirping when the days get longer.... 5 am????

Pancho likes to follow us around the house - especially when we have been out and he has been left alone for a while. One time he followed Pat into the bedroom and then disappeared. A game of Marco Pancho ensued with Pat calling out Pancho and the bird replying with a chirp. We eventually found him stuck behind our dresser - we still aren't quite sure how he got there since he really can't fly very well. When we finally got him out from behind the dresser (where we never clean because it is too big and bulky to move) Pancho started complaining because he had dust bunnies on his feet and he couldn't shake them off.

We have been trying to encourage Pancho to take a bath and have provided him with a nice dish to do it in. However, below in the video you will see that he had other ideas and decided that his water bottle was the better place to get clean.