Field Experiences

Well, after having a good experience in service today while resting in the park, I realized it was time to share some of the latest experiences with you all, as we haven't got around to field service posts in some time. Here's a bit of the latest...

Today, for example, after a few hours of preaching on an unusually hot morning, we had to stop and rest on a park bench while having an ice cream to cool us down. While we were resting, we were approached by a man, who asked us if we were Witnesses. Upon hearing that we were, he asked to sit down for a bit and talk about the bible. He recounted to us the sad story of his life and how all he can figure to do at this point as see if God can help him. We whipped out the Teach book, and asked which chapter he'd like to talk about for a few minutes. He chose chapter 14 on Family Happiness. We read for a bit, then arranged for a brother to begin studying with him, starting tomorrow there in the park. He already has the Teach book, as many people do here. He seemed very appreciative to have found us in the park. We are well known here and so attract attention, which can be bad sometimes, but it is good for those who are looking for us.

I started a study yesterday with a girl about 20 I guess. She works in the Cabinas. Cabinas are a shop with a dozen little telephone booths. As most people never have money on their cell phones except to receive calls, cabinas are widely used. So I was talking with this girl and every 20 seconds or so, she would have to leave to collect money or see to customers. Out of the 20 minutes I was there, we probably actually only spoke about 5 of them. But that is how our territory is in the center of town. It's all busy shops and we have to be very patient and try to get in as much as possible when we can. It's amazing though, that so many people do stop tp listen to us, and sometimes even have their customers wait until we've finished a paragraph. Like this girl, for example, couldn't have cared less that all her customers were watching her study with us or that we were constantly interrupted. These studies are a challenge though, as it's hard to get through very much material at one setting and hard to get them to really think and meditate on what we're studying, due to the hectic surroundings. There are always customers sitting around listening to you, so it takes courage to carry on with so much attention on you.

Another return visit of mine is an older lady who sells newspapers on the corner of the park. She only sells int he mornings, so when ever we do early park witnessing, we stop by to talk with her. But as of late, we haven't been going out early, so I haven't called on her for a while. Well, she noticed that and I got in trouble today when I saw her on the street. After greeting me with a hug and a kiss, he wanted to know why I had neglected her so. We have plans to meet at 7:30 tomorrow in the park.

An older couple that Hannah originally called on but then had to pass over to another sister, came to the meeting last Saturday. Instead of a public talk though, they got a little treat. As the public speaker didn't show, the brothers decided to watch a video. They hung a white sheet on the stage and used a borrowed projector to show the film "Our whole association of brothers." followed by the Watchtower study. The video was fun, as it was pitch black, like a movie theater. All we lacked was popcorn. It was really fun and the bible study loved it! Speaking of unusual meeting experiences, we've been singing more and more of the songs a cappella, as our sound system is getting worse and worse. But I always like the sound of it, even if it's totally out of tune.

I wish I could keep track of the number of different types of seats I sit on in the course of a day while doing bible studies. It would be quite the collection I'm sure. For example, last Sunday, I sat in a salon hair cutting chair, while studying with Hannah's bible study who owns a hair salon, then, we went to another study, where we sit in the middle of their junk yard, on a bench made of a thin metal bar sitting on two barrels full of something I hope is not combustible. Over head for shade, there was a piece of tin hanging from two nearby trees. Shifting your seat every 30 seconds didn't make it any better. Next stop was a street curb, where we studied with 2 young siblings from the Great Teacher book. Then to end our day, we went to an old lady's home, where we sat on hanging hammocks, as her chairs were being washed outside. You never know where you'll be sitting, but it's best not to wear nice clothes in service, as I learned from the rust stains I got from sitting on the metal bar, while wearing my pretty red skirt. (Yes mother, THE red skirt. But don't worry, I think I can get it out.)

Well, service is always interesting. We always find interest of some kind, whether it progresses or not. But it's quite the challenge as well, as you know.

Hannah will add some of her own experiences to this same post very soon. Stay tuned...

Hey, by the way... I was asked by an English School here in Tumbaco to go work for The Cambridge Institute in Quito. Just for the day. They need "pleasant" female voices with a "natural English accent" to do the sound recordings for their English courses. You know when you buy those Spanish tapes, and listen to Jose saying things like, "Me llamo Jose. Como te llamas tu? Now repeat...." Well, that will be me the people hear when they take the English courses. I'll be famous. Anyway, it pays $50 for the day and sounds pretty fun. I'll let you know how it goes...

Hi everybody, it's Hannah. Ok, so service experiences... One thing that is constantly suprising me is that, despite the fact that we cover our territory so often (some territories every two weeks) we still find so much interest. For example, a couple weeks ago we were assigned to a territory here in town, that i have probably worked six times in the past eight months. Sometimes it can be a bit challenging going back to the same person who, just two weeks ago, told me he really wasnt interested. But then there are always the good suprises too. I had been several times to this one hair salon, but I think it had always been my partners turn to talk. The young girl had always been pleasant and listened. But this last time I found a different woman there, the owner. As soon as she found out we were talking about the bible, she invited us in, and we started a study then and there, and made arrangements for the following week.

The next Tuesday I went back for the study, but she wasnt there, she had had to go to Quito for matters of business. But I told the other girl working there, "well, I came here today to study the bible with someone, so, do you want to study?" And she said "OK, come on in." It was that simple to start another bible study. Last week I wasnt able to go for the study, so I sent Elsie, and she studied with both of them together, I think for like an hour and a half. That is a long time, as the average study in town only lasts from 10-20 minutes, due to their busy businesses. So that taught me a good lesson about how we never now when we are going to find a listening ear.

So I have decided that I am going to start learning Quichua, little by little. Not really with the idea of switching over to the congregation, but more to support the group. They just recently formed this group, and they have only ten publishers. So for now I will support the meeting the have on Sundays, and try and support some service arrangements. They still have a lot of census work to do, and that mostly requires Spanish, so thats good. In fact the territory for this tiny group of ten publishers covers our whole valley!

Last Sunday I gave my first comment in Quichua, with the help of Diana Vargas who was sitting next to me. I said, "Eden sisa pambapi kawsachun, cuidachun, unay unaykama." That means, They were to live in the garden of Eden and take care of it forever. Anyways, I have no idea how it sounded, but everyone there is so encouraging and just glad you are trying, it wasn't too terribly embarrassing. Then on Monday I accompanied Diana on some of her RVs, which required a bus ride, and a lot of walking. Only one of them was there, but it was an interesting experience. Although they use the BT book in Quichua, while talking they go back and forth between Quichua and Spanish. In fact, some words don't even exist in Quichua, so they just use Spanish. Enough to where, I could kind of follow along. The group has organized some classes to help those just learning. Around March they will have one of the language classes sponsored by the society, but this class is just to get everyone started, and able to start helping in the group now. So now every Tuesday evening I will have class. Elsie planned on doing the same, but now she has taken on a new and time consuming endeavor, that unfortunately will be taking every free moment she has: Applying for a work visa! Dun-dun!!!! (It's quit the process)

I also wanted to add something to our list of chairs. A popular option is sharing the one chair available. Thats always interesting, especially since the chairs here are like mini-chairs. You know, Ecuadorians..... I'm sure you can imagine that it is a struggle to stay on. But if you try to object saying oh no I'm fine, I prefer standing, they just won't let you. No, no sit, sit. And if you insist, then you just offend them, so it's really best just to smile and say thank you. Stairs are often good seating options, just try to avoid where the dogs have been... And many people live in a house with one, maybe two rooms total. Which means that you are studying in their bedroom/living room/kitchen. In that case there might not be room for chairs, so they offer their bed to sit on. Overturned buckets, fruit crates, grass. The options are endless. I wish sometimes that we could get some better pictures of service, and while we are studying. Maybe we'll work on that next.

So, overall service is really good. It's nice to finally feel useful, and more comfortable conducting studies in Spanish. I think I would even feel more comfortable conducting studies in English now, after 8+ months of practice. Feel free to write to us about any calls or studies you have back home. I often wonder how some of your calls are doing back home. Take care.