More Nice Experiences

While in the "Predi" (Ministry) about 3 weeks ago. The brother in the last blog photo "Isreal" and I are working a very fruitful block of the territory. We knock on a window and 2 little girls come to answer and finally a third joins us. We are making small talk with them while their mom comes to talk to us. I am using the "Who really rules the World" tract and having a wonderful discussion with all the girls (mom included). Mom dosn't get the sence of the scripture in 1 John 5:19 when I ask them "So who does the bible say really rules the world" but the girls all cry out in unison, "the Devil"? Big smile on my face (very cute) when they all answered like that. Then I shared with them 2 Cor. 4:4 and after identifying who the God of this system is, asked them what is the "Glorious Good News" that Paul wrote about. Setting up the question for our next discussion. The following week I return and no one is home, (of course ... Yes we have the same problem here) But there is a group of kids, small ones that come running from across the street when they see us ... in this group are the 3 little girls explaining that "Mom is at school enrolling them" The littlest one grabs my arm as if to say you can't leave so I decide to share something about the kingdom with all the little ones. (New World Tract) and we have a very nice discussion, scriptures and questions, answers ... etc. using the tract. I ask the girls we had spoken to to let there mom know she missed "her appointment" (just kidding) and that we would return. Carol and I did the next day ... offered the bible study and "Veronica" accepted. But asked if we could make a fixed time so she could be ready with her girls, I affectionately named "Las Gringitas" because the all have english names. (They always laugh when I call them that) So when we come back for the study they are all ready and invite us in. During the conversation Veronica tells us, that she had studied a little while with the Witnesses, but had not been to meetings due to family pressure, and when the sister died that she studied with, she lost contact with the Witnesses. Veronica also mentioned that she had studied from a "Brown Book" (Knowledge) and enjoyed what she was learning ... when she lost contact with the truth. So we are happy to be able to start studying with her again, as she had not studied for very long in the past with the sister that passed away. 


Also you remember "Angel",  The guy who showed up at the meeting who I thought was a street person? We studied yesterday ... well we tried to study yesterday, actually he had some questions about "Mary the mother of God" and why we don't give her the adoration she deserves ... these as it turns out, were the words of his neighbor, who was trying to discourage him from studying with the Witnesses. After using 4 scriptures and reasoning on them, he said "This is why I like studying with the Witnesses, you guys show everything from the bible". He said was going to share the scriptures with the neighbor. We will pick up where we left off in the "Bible teach book" next study.


Carol has a Return Visit, now study, with a woman named "Anna" we went yesterday and she told us that she found work, and that she told the woman she was working for, that she could not work on Tuesday between 3-4 in the afternoon, because she is taking bible study classes with JW's ... (the last time we spoke, last week, she was very depressed, and had no work, we read a few scriptures and reasoned with her on Matt 6 to put the Kingdom first and all other things would be added to her, including some sort of work) The woman she works for, told Anna that "she is Catholic and should not be talking to those people" ... never the less she was ready for the study, well dressed and had her books ready. (she had studied in the recent past in anther part of the city, but had moved into our territory, some brothers made the original call and then turned it over to Carol that same morning) Well, I am conducting the study, and Anna is on another planet, and about the time I am going to ask her if there is something else on her mind, she says she doesn't understand, what we are doing using the book ... we assumed she did, as she had studied in the recent past, but had only studied the 1st chapter. So we showed her how the study is conducted using the Bible Teach Book and how she should prepare for the study. She then with a big smile on her face, said she looked forward to our next study, and would be prepared! Lesson learned? Don't assume anything ... (But I though I learned that lesson with Angel ... I guess I am a slow learner!)

!!!!! Health Scare !!!!!

NO it's not the Spine uhhhhhh, ..... Swine Flu ....  "Enfluenza Porcino"!  .... But I understand why you might think that.... that's all you see on the news these days, at least down here..... well here's what happened. Saturday night about 8:00 we are sitting on the couch and watching the boob tube.... and I start to get pain in my chest and back, down the left arm and start feeling sick to my stomach. (But of course I don't tell Carol.... don't want to alarm her) So I take something for the pain, and it doesn’t help! After an hour, and looking on the internet, and checking the symptoms for a heart attack, and foolishly waiting for some more time to pass, to see if it is going to go away ..... I tell Carol it's time to go to the hospital because I am having chest pain .... poor girl hadn't been getting good rest and then when she is about into the start of a good night's sleep, I go in and wake her up to tell her I think I may be having heart problems..... not a good way to start your evening of rest! So she gets dressed and we get a cab (I hear you ..... What? .... Why not call an ambulence) I can assure you the cab is faster. So we are in the cab and I direct the cabbie to the closest hospital, when we roll up to the joint it has in big letters "Trauma Center" Whew..... We’re in the right place! We get inside and the place looks like a battle zone. Blood all over the floor and people’ being wheeled around the place like there is no tomorrow. Then, I get to what might be considered a desk with about 4-5 persons that are filling out paperwork and taking information from different people and paperwork is getting mixed up and falling on the floor ..... What a disaster! At this point Carol is very scared and tells me we need to call one of the brothers in the congregation, so I do. I tell him what hospital we are at, and he asks me, why we are there, and that we should be at the clinic. I'm thinking the clinic? I maybe having a heart attack and he tells me we should be at the clinic.... what in the world? Then, he tells me he is on the way down to help us..... Well he shows up in no time .... As I have mentioned in the past they have no rules on the road down here so I'm guessing he drove as if he was an ambulance driver. He gets there and I am reasonably sure 45 minutes has gone by since we arrived ... and as of yet I have still not seen anybody to check on what is the situation with my ticker. Finally the brother gets aggressive and asks if someone is going to tend to me. So they wheel up a gurney and I get on it and they put me in an area that is partitioned off by curtains..... (Out of sight out of mind) nothing happens, so he again stirs the pot, and they send some one in to get me hooked up to an EKG machine, to see what the heart is doing.... (All the while, the pain is increasing) next the problem is, that the electrodes they use are something out of the 60-70's, little suction cups that they put on your (my) chest ... problem is, that with all he hair on my chest they can't get the suckers to stick! So I suggest they shave the areas on my chest.... the doctor in training says "that's a good idea", but the fact that she's a DOCTOR and won't do it, that's for someone lesser, to do (I'm not kidding) and that she will find someone else to do it ... about 5 minutes later they send in, what I suspect was a nurse, and after surveying the situation tells me she needs to go find a razor (still not kidding) she comes, and goes, a few times, and each time assures me she is looking for the razor, then tells me that it maybe a item that needs a prescription, ("a razor"?) 10 minutes goes by (pain still there) finally she walks in with? You guessed it.... a razor! But then starts wiping different areas of my chest and the areas are not the same areas that the doctor wiped, when she was originally trying to put the suckers on my chest the first time ... so I suggest to her that she may want to consult with "the Doctor" (in Training) to make sure she is doing it right. Finally the Doc comes in and points out the locations she wants the forest removed.... I'm thinking that if she had only done it herself, in the first place, we could have avoided this craziness. Finally they get the hair cut down, and then, the doc still can't get the things to stick, so she calls someone else in, and of course this guy gets them to stick on the first try, and they run the 10-second test! 1:30 minutes after we left the house, we get some results. NEGITIVE! Heart rhythm looks normal.... ("That's a Good Thing")  !!!!!! But I still have the pain!!!!!! Next thing you know Carol comes in and grabs me and says, "We are going to the Clinic"! 


"The Clinic" I'm thinking to myself..... The brother goes and gets the EKG print out and, 3-4 minutes later we roll up to the "Clinic" get put in a room and the Doctor comes in about 20 seconds later looks at the results of the EKG and says he doesn’t think I am having a heart attack or heart problems but would like to do a Heart "enzima" test.... this word "enzima", sounds exactly like the "ensima" which means in Spanish "the top of something" The top of my heart test? Well he's the doctor!  ... Enzima = "Enzyme" test ..... Duh! But it sounds exactly the same... even when we explain it to the brother that is with, us he shakes his head and says he understands why we thought what we thought. I don't feel so bad! (In my head) but I'm still hurting! Two "enzima" (enzyme) tests later confirm that I didn't, and I am not having a heart problem.... GOOD NEWS! 


But I am still in real pain.... so the doc talks to me and we figure out that I have some sort of back problem.... which I have had (but not like this) ever since I fell from the horse while in Nicaragua in March of 2008. (I'm not a bad rider, ... well I don't think I am... it's just that the stirrup broke, as I was trying to get the horse to stop running, and with all the force, when that stirrup broke, I went flying off the horse, head... over proverbial heel) I ended up with bruised ribs, toes, head, and other parts too. It took months to heal up, and once I did get healed up, I never got checked out by a chiropractor or anybody else for that matter. But I am sure I was still a bit tweaked.... and never had any follow up treatment for anything... Well with all the fun things thing we have had happen, and the stress of the entire move, I'm guessing the body finally said we are going to make you pay for not getting it fixed, after the tumble off the horse. Everything just locked up, and the area that the pain was centered and the different symptoms, I honestly thought "the big one" was hitting me. Lesson learned with this episode.... many, but the big one... call the brothers when you are in a pickle (Carol suggested that from the get go).... They know the ropes.... Turns out "Clinic" here means Hospital and Hospital means clinic or even something less! If I had been having a real Heart attack I probably would not be writing about this fun experience..... The brother told me that if you want to die? .... You go to the hospital.... the care is sooooooo poor that many do end up dying, due to the goofy lack of prompt help. 

Just another day in Ecuador! It's all good! 

The Aussies are here as Well

Ok, .... so you have heard about the "other couple" in the congregation that just moved in a bit before us. Let me introduce you to, Don and Abigail Harding. They are from the great Down Under! (can you hear the accent) Wonderful people! They have in the past, served in Fiji (Working on the Branch) and Malaysia doing something similar. Also they have a 30 something year old daughter serving here in Ecuador for several years, and wanted to serve where the need was greater. Ecuador is relatively cheap to live, and I'm sure the fact that there daughter was serving here, was a great bonus as well. We get to be in service most days of the week with them and enjoy that funny accent they have. (They say we have the funny accent....whatever! ..... just kidding) Also they have a TON of expressions that we don't have in the States. One they have learned from us is "Cute"..... Yeah I know, not much huh!

In addition to the Hardings are the Spauldings, (Rodney and Karen) they are serving in another congregation here in Cuenca. Sorry no photo.... they too are wonderful folks. Now get this ... both these couples moved here, without speaking a lick of Spanish and they are attending a Spanish congregation.... now that, takes guts! I am happy to report, they are all progressing very well (with there Spanish of course) and they are a huge encouragement to us, and the congregations.... one other nice thing is we are all on the same page when it comes to the "differences" (wink....wink) experienced here. I remember the first time we met the Spaldings. It was after the circuit assembly back in March. Us and the Webbs had dinner at a very nice restaurant near one of the rivers here in town. After dinner and a great evening together, I remember Karen saying how glad she was to have had an entire evening visiting, and speaking English .... Here even the little things like that, are a real blessing! We feel blessed to have come know an ever expanding brotherhood, and seeing others making such a great effort to serve where the need is greater! (Oh by the way Spaldings, that was us that hollered at you from the cab, when you were on the street corner the other day. Looked like you were out in your ministry ..... you GO guys!)

Great experience

Quick story here ... We have found the best way not only to get to know our brothers but also remember their name is to work in the ministry with them .... that said we are trying to work with different ones each day, when we are in our ministry. The sister in the photo, Maggi .... Carol worked with in the ministry this morning. Her twins are both named Anna. (Cristina and Patricia) I told the sister that wasn't very nice to name them with the first same name, as it only adds to the confusion we already have. Maggi started learning the truth 17 years ago. She said for the first 9 years she was like a crab .... move forward, then sideways, then backwards, then forward some more, spiritually speaking. Finally she decided to dedicate her life to Jehovah. Of course her husband had other plans for her, and told her if she was to become a Witness, he was going to divorce her... she reasoned with him that she was not passing time with another man, but spending more of her time drawing close to her creator, so she would be a better wife. He told her to plan on being a single mom, non the less. Finally the day arrived when she was to be baptised at the assembly. The morning she went to leave for the assembly, her husband followed her to the assembly, when she was there for the baptism talk he was there with their daughters, in the audience. After she was baptised that day, he gave her a big hug and told her how proud he was that she didn't give into his wishes and decided to become one of Jehovah's Witnesses, that was 7 years ago..... Great story huh!

Then she told us that she too just moved into the congregation we are in and didn't know any brothers .... Carol asked why she moved to this congregation and she said because "I matured" (she lived in the territory already but attended a different congregation) when she first arrived she said she didn't really like the congregation, and felt it was a bit cold. Of course she then admitted, that the congregation she had been attending was much smaller and easier to get around to see friends. Well after missing several meetings, she said that one night she couldn't sleep, (conscience) and all she did was pray to Jehovah for help to get to the meetings, and make new friends....... Well she hasn't missed a meeting since, and of course, we are very happy that she hasn't, and that are having the opportunity to get to know her and her daughters. Now .... we work on her husband, to help him become a brother!

Customs and our "Junk"

Well you will be happy to know (I hope) that we finally got our "Stuff" ..... hard to believe? Yeah for us too.... after finally waiting and giving them all the paperwork, sometimes twice..... oh and did I mention paying double what I was told would be needed to get the junk .... (I'm reasonably sure the other half was for a payment under the table) not that I offered, but I have a feeling that is what happened ..... WE GOT IT! ..... Yup ..... all 9 boxes of household items ....AND .... believe it or not it was all there! ..... (Sorry for all those unkind words I said about them, going through everything and taking home for there personal use, some items..... NOT!) What a joke, to go through all those hoops and finally to get it. Of which, of course we are thankful for.

So we get it last Saturday, a brother in the congregation rounded up a truck so we can pack it here from the airport. Carol told him it was Christmas in the Heilig house and he just kind of looked at us with a strange sort of smile .... then he figured it out .... oooooh with a big smile! We unpacked a few of the things, that we wanted the most and then then of course asked ourselves, why we brought some of the other stuff ..... what were we thinking? ..... But that only lasted for a few days ... once all was unpacked we started to feel like it was home .... unwrapped all that bubble wrap, and tossed the boxes (good riddens) and we were ready to go to get some things to put up our pictures, photos, and artwork .... I decided to take the dog, Gracie, for a walk and when I returned ..... in the garage area was a lynch mob..... the leader, the manager of the building asked if he could talk to me ..... I asked if it was OK to take the pup back to the apartment? ..... What's he going to say? NO? So I take her back and wash her feet (new custom here for us, as the sidewalks are soooooo dirty with everything you can imagine) and when I return to talk to him and the lynch mob, he starts to explain that pets (mascotas) are not allowed in the building .... So I cut to the chase and ask "if we are not going to get rid of a member of the family, .... we have to move"? "Well" He says "you are putting my back to the wall" Really? I thought it was the other way around. Then confirmed that, yes, you do! Of course, when I mention this to my dear wife, she was about in tears ... after all the moving and waiting, and not feeling good for the last few weeks due to a respiratory problem, that seemed to be the last straw. So we got a night of rest, and a really good day in the ministry the next day .... (that can be a simple cure for a lot of problems) ..... and we decided to let the landlady care for the issue .... when I spoke to her she said "I need to talk to him and get this straightened out, get me his phone number" .... so I go to get it and he is in the Garage/Parking area working on his vehicle ... battery, to be specific and cleaning the crud/ acid that collects on them .... So I make some small chat with him trying to soften him up a bit, and ask him what he uses and he tells me water and lemon juice. "lemon juice" I ask, and it works? "like a charm" he says with a smile on his face.... (learn something new, each and every day here) then I ask the big question for the number..... and then explain how disappointed we are to have to move, ... after getting all arranged and the last of the furniture finally arriving, and all our stuff from Customs and being ready to hang the family photos. Then he tells me how sorry he is, that I happened to walk up, at the worst time the other day. He explains that some of the "meddling homeowners" (his words not mine) were complaining that people were not following the rules in the building and of course I walked up with the dog (not allowed) at that moment, even though there are others that have them in the building. So he says "I had to act like I was doing my job".... that's what he tells me! .... Then he tells me that things will die down in the next few weeks, and that all will be OK, he can see that the dog is not a problem and that he is sorry for the concern he caused us. Then he asked why we moved to Ecuador? (They can't understand why .... as most here, want to move to the States) So I explain our purpose for coming here .... then he feels even worse, that he has caused us "pain" and that he understands that we are here to serve God and he is sure all will be fine.... but if we could, please don't let the dog run around through the building ..... like we have been doing that. Anyway for now, it seems all is back to normal..... whatever normal is down here!

What's in a Name?

Ok so we are in the "Predi" yesterday and we are walking to a Return Visit, Carol and I and we come across this priceless gem .... if you think there is nothing to naming a business correctly, check out the the photo. Would you want to eat here? It is amazing what a difference language can make. In English Dudu is not a good name for a restaurant .... but here, evidently it doesn't say anything of the restaurant .... Still ....I just can't bring myself to eat here..... Sorry!

Update of "What's Happenin" with the Heilig's

Hello to all.... I bet you have been wondering what happened .... he was doing his goofy blogs 2-3 times a week and then nothing! Well...... lets just say we have been busy. And things happen so slow down here as one sister put "you think you are going to get 10 things done in one day, but its more like you get 1 thing done in 10 days" I liked that quote, and told her it would be included in a blog sometime in the future..... so there it is!

We have been busy!..... Our stuff is still with customs (isn't that nice) they need it more then us! They say it's sitting in a storage area.... (Carol is wondering if the personnel are going through it and figuring out what they want from our boxes of junk) ...... well we will see. After getting all the papers that were needed, they wanted another ..."sworn statement" then they wanted our passports, didn't feel real comfortable about that one... then proof that we were sponsored by the branch as coming under the 12-VII visas for "missionary status" (that was all over the passports of which they not only had "notarized copies but then the passports themselves) .... so we send them a letter from the branch that we received when we were here during the first week..... then after two weeks they tell us that the "sworn statement" wasn't done right and they needed another one... the statement we had notarized by a sister that has been a notary for many years. She looked at the request and just shook her head saying that nothing was wrong with he first one..... when we get all that was needed to customs ...... finally...... Then they tell us that we had passed the amount of time allowable, and that they consider the stuff abandoned! (Abandoned?... we have been going back and forth with them and you would think that that would start a clock once you quit doing sometime to follow their goofy process) ... then they tell us that we have to pay a ticket for not getting things done within the allowed amount of time. (Well we would have, if they could make up there mind what it was they wanted up front) The Fine? .... $100 green backs! I have lost what little hair I had on the top of my head. When will we get it? We don't know, but we have done all that we can do.... we feel it's in Jehovah's hands now.

Enough of that! We have important work to do. We enjoyed a very productive week in the ministry, our first complete week without interuption .... lots of excellent calls, and we are sure that many will turn into bible studies. I was given a study with an older man of which we conducted yesterday..... His place backs up to the airport here in Cuenca, so we had long pauses during parts of the study (jet liners taking off)..... the other long pauses, came after I asked the questions on the paragraph, I was trying to figure out what is going on? Then after the study, the brother that turned it over to me, said the man Angel had, had a stroke some time back.... there was my answer. (that would have been nice to know before conducting the study) Anyway when we walked into the place he lived in, it looked like it was something that had been built when the Incas were ruling the land. What a mess! Then he leads us out back, and he has a million dollar view of some of the surrounding mountains from the back yard area of his ...... well I guess you could say "house". Looking at Angel you would have thought him to be a street person right down to the NFL Giants jacket he must have found in the 2nd hand clothing store. We invited him to the meeting today, and of course he was there! Shaved, shined, tie, jacket, slacks the whole nine yards! I had a little voice go off in my head "don't judge a book by its cover" We will see what happens to our dear new friend, Angel.

Last week we attended the convention here in Guayaquil, Ecuador, that the branch puts on in English. They put it together for the brothers that are here serving from foreign lands, the "extranjeros" or foreigners. (680 according to the comments made by one of the brothers giving a talk, that number doesn't include those that have decided to get resident visas that started under the branch assisted 12-VII visa) A real blessing, as you get to rub shoulders with some mighty fine self sacrificing friends. Peak attendance Sunday, 1200+. The majority live very simple lives, to be able to preach in this most fertile territory. The city of Cuenca and surrounding areas have experienced 18% growth in the last 12 months.... we have been told that some of the CO's here feel, that things are just starting to get going, and the real growth is yet ahead in this part of Ecuador..... Interesting.

One area of work really heating up, is in the territory of the Native Ecuadorians who speak Kitchua..... one small area (Canar) about 2 hours by bus, north of Cuenca has a special pioneer couple a few extranjeros serving. They have been at the work for about 10 months and already have 40 in attendance at the meetings they conduct..... also I beleive they mentioned that they had over 90 at the memorial this year. One experience we heard was that when a sister began preaching to woman in her native tongue the woman began to weep ..... no one in this country cares about the indigenous people, with the exception of Jehovah's people who are willing to learn the language to share the good news with them. Also (Aaron and Eunice) sign language here is growing greatly as it is in Nicaragua. We met a CO and his wife that sat in front of us on Sunday. They reminded us you guys, about the same age and the sister/wife and Eunice could have been fleshly sisters. Did they know sign when they entered the CO work? Nope... baptism by fire!

While at the convention we stayed at a hotel about 15-20 minutes from the branch... all was going well at this hotel, until we returned home from dinner on Saturday night. Next to the hotel was a paint factory .... from our balcony there were signs telling people not to throw there Cig. butts below, (see photo) for fear that a fire could be started..... you probably thinking that's what happened ... we were throwing our butts down there and we started a fire.... NOPE! ;-) They were having some kind of party.... they had disco lights and the whole 9 yards, and it was not inside a building, ( that would have been nice) it was held open air. But the real problem was the music, we went to sleep at 10 and woke up to the music, that was heard over the air conditioning, at 2:30 in the morning..... NICE!..... Not really!..... I go out to investigate and when they see me glaring at them they turn UP the music... good move Heilig. They finally concluded the party at 5:30 in the morning..... we though we would be wrecks that day, but we actually felt fine during he entire day at the convention. The following morning or I guess I should say later that same morning there was a lady out cleaning up the mess... I asked her if the party was a every weekend thing or.....? I'm thinking next year, and if we will be staying at this hotel. So she says no and I mention to her if the folks, including her, realized that no one got a good nights rest last night within an area of about a mile around the building .... she goes on to explain that it was a special occasion for the family and I emphasized the fact that no one slept well.... at that point she hung her head and asked for forgiveness ..... funny she acted almost like a little kid when she asked for forgiveness. The attached is a sample of the music and the light show just in case you think I am pulling your leg.

Tomorrow we (our congregation) have the privilege of feeding the pioneers at pioneer school. (Heiligs have salad for 40) You know what I'll be doing first thing in the morning. I wonder how it is, that they know we have food service experience? What, do we have a sign on our back that says something to that effect?

Well here in Ecuador tomorrow, August 10th is a national holiday ..... translated ... day off! I hear the craziness starting outside as I write..... Dogs barking, sirens, kids screaming, and motorcycles racing down the street...... I wonder how much sleep we will get tonight? ;-) it's, ...... 11:30PM and the fun is just beginning.

Good night to all of you and we hope you are all doing well!