Segundo the Taxista

Hi everyone…. So as I threatened, or better said promised, the experience about the taxista …. no it doesn't have anything to do with TAXES, it has to do with a taxi driver!

Ok so here it is … a month ago we had to change our schedule, for the week we went back to the US for work … so we asked the lady at the furniture store (remember her?) if she could change her study day that week, so we wouldn't miss it … she was good with that … of course when we got there, she proceeded to tell us that she couldn't study that morning, why she didn't call and tell us that she couldn't, we don't know …. but it was a good thing she didn't! After being rejected, just kidding,…. the area of town we were in, has a number of eye care places and I was in need of some contacts..… so we wandered around looking, and finally found what we were looking for. After finding out that the price of contacts here is double of what it is there in the states…(one of the few things) we decided to look for a taxi…. well we kept passing by different taxis and finally settled on one in particular… we got into the car, and we were off….


A little down the road, I noticed that the taxi driver had some religious relics on his dashboard… so I mentioned that he appeared to be a person with interest in religion and the bible….. he muttered that he really wasn't that religious …. but none the less, I figured there was a door that was opened a crack, and decided that I would try to go through it..…. So I asked "what it is that the angels can do, you and I can do, but God cannot do"? Right off the bat, he said "God can do everything" …. "No the bible says God cannot do this one thing" ….So he says "tell me that again" … so I do..… then he says after thinking a while ….. "SHOW ME what it is" …. at that point we are at a stop light and I share Titus1:2, …. he says "God can't lie" ….. "that's right" …. as I amaze myself at my teaching prowess…. JUST KIDDING! …

We let him digest what he just came to realize, and a bit later Carol mentions that, that fact, is the assurance of all Gods promises…. And when Jesus taught us to pray for Gods will to be done on earth …. she reasoned that we have a guarantee that it will happen …. and that Gods Kingdom will bring that to a reality …. after thinking a bit he asked "how we know that the bible is from God"? He mentioned that the writers say they were inspired by God but is there anywhere that Gods says he is talking to us…. well we shared a few different scriptures and they had no affect … finally we shared Prv. 2:1 where the bible says "My Son" …. for some reason that verse clicked with him and he said "there it is" …. as time moves forward, he mentions that he didn't know what he did wrong to offend God… we asked what he meant… he then told us that his 24 year old son had died (lung infection) leaving behind 3 children, just 3 months ago…. We told him he did nothing wrong…. he assured us that he must have done something, to offend God, for Him to have taken his son…… We then shared James 1:13 and showed him that God, does not do things that way…. he said "if that's so why did his son have to die"? We shared Pauls comments in Romans 5 and 6 as to why we die, and explained that some unfortunately die early due to imperfection and the illnesses that results from it… that seemed to be a very satisfying answer to him… we went on to explain that Jehovah purposes to raise the dead, and restore them perfect life in the not too distant future….(yes of course we used the bible) NOW he was really interested … we got out our study copy of the Bible teach book and shared a few points about the resurrection with him, and offered to get him a copy…. (no we didn't have any on us at the time ….. WE WERE out of them at the Hall…. I know you were thinking … You were out of them?… Flakes, …..what's the matter with you guys you should always have one with you!) …… So we said we would like to get him the book, and we told him as soon as we could find one, we would get him a copy and and then call him, to make arrangements to share with him, how we use the book to share what the bible really teaches about where, his son is, and what hope there is, to see him again. He liked that idea…. well we got the book that same week, into the hall …. FINALLY (we had been waiting for them for some time) We called to make arrangements, to get him the book, before we left for the US …. but we couldn't make the schedules fit to make the delivery … so we promised to get in touch with him after we returned…. which we did… and of course we had problems getting together with him due to scheduling …. finally a few days before going to Santiago for the International Convention, we called him and he came to pick us up for a ride back to our part of town…. we made a bit of small talk and he asked about our trip to the States and how family was (all the usual latin stuff) finally he asked about his book …. we gave it to him and then Carol mentioned, that if he was interested in studying the bible, we could make arrangements to have someone study with him, in the town he lives in about 35 minutes from Cuenca …. he said he was interested in the study, but would prefer studying with us and that he would make time during the workday, to come to wherever we wanted him to come and have the study …. further he gave us a day and time, when he would like to do the study… of course we were on our way out of town that same week and could not study for a few weeks, and he seemed a bit sad … but he told us that when we got back from Chile, he would be ready to start his study… further he told us that he would like to have his wife study with us also, but she is very Catholic … and then mentioned that he would be sharing what he learns with her, and that in time, he hopes she will join in the study, but by then, hopefully, we could come to his house to do the study (yes I know it's not in our territory, but let's get to that point, then we will worry about that)

So of course we are now back and today we will be making contact with him to have the study this week ….. keep him in your prayers and we will do our best to help him ….. This is a classic Angelic direction story… there are many other details, that time does not allow me to include, but the Angels are definitely at work here… that is a great feeling to see how Jehovah directs us to what would appear to be sheep like ones.

On a different note for all the problems we had going to Santiago it was just the opposite coming back ….. not a hitch! And they put us in first class ….. not a whole lot of difference just more room….. Oh one other thing, ….. not that any of you guys would be interested …… but there was a wine they served on the flight, in first class, that was excellent! I have no idea if it's available or reasonably priced in the US but I attached the photo of the bottle (Can you taste it?…. Yummmmmmm ….No of course you can't, unless you decide to buy it) I hope you can find it, it's really good..… Which reminds me the wine in Chile is some of the best in the world …… and it's CHEEEEEEEEP, …….. in Chile of course….. there what we pay 18.00 for here in Ecuador, is 3 dollars …. Ecuador has really high import taxes, on that kind of stuff…… it's amazing how you can accustom yourself to cheep but good …. well, …. reasonably good, box wine! ….. I know I can't believe I said that!

On another note, we had a wonderful time at the International Convention and then we went onto Buenos Aires ….. it, BA, has plenty of wonderful parts of the city we visited and we saw a Tango Show one night with the Brix-Hansens from Reno…. we had a very nice evening.

Santiago is a beautiful city, and the brothers from Chile were soooo warm and inviting…… As one brother on our bus said, price for the tour arranged by the society $…., meals out after the program each night $…… taxi rides $ …… , …….Memories ….. PRICELESS.

In addition to all the friends from Chile, there were brothers form 18 countries.... we met a couple from the Turk Islands very nice couple... we walked into a restaurant, saw the lapel badges and started to talk, they came and joined us and we had a very nice evening, exchanging stories about where we live. They decided to move there, where the need is greater, in Spanish, after as I remember several trips to the islands. While at first, it might seem that the life there, living on the islands, would be like being on perpetual vacation, they indicated that even though they live 150 feet from the beach, they seldom have time to enjoy the waters as they are soooo busy in the work there. Nice example!

Our love to you all!

Where have we been? Just about everywhere!!!! or so it seems......

Hello friends and family.... we hope this finds you all doing very well. If you are wondering why you haven't heard from us ... well lets just say we have been ON THE GO! Last month on the 21st we left for the States and we were there for 10 days, mainly for work ..... but of course we had time with friends and family during the evenings..... we had a wonderful time seeing those that we saw ... and if we didn't get to see you (Lasa and James) ..... hopefully we will see you next time.

We are in Buenos Aires, arrived this morning from Santiago after attending the International Convention .... in a word ..... The International Convention was AWESOME! Getting there was another story..... it went like this....  As it turned out our trip to Santiago was a pesadilla (nightmare!) as we took off from Guayaquil and had to return twice, because of a door, that would not close and stay closed on the plane. After the first time, the pilot said all was well, and had been repaired .... "a sensor" I think is what I remember him saying ..... maybe they changed out the wrong one,  because after we took off we had the same terrible noise and shaking,  (I'm not talking about the passengers who were visibly shaken) before long, the captain said we were returning to the airport for the evening. That of course after we spent all day at the airport, waiting for the plane to fly out to Lima. Well they did put us up in the Marriott and told us that we could eat and drink as much as we wanted to... Frankly after waiting all day for the flight, and then going up and down in the plane twice the only thing we were interested in was sleep, as by the time we got into the hotel with our bags and all our junk it was about 1AM ..... (Yes in the morning, and yes, the following day!) Where we were at the airport (before we were sent to the hotel) they told us, that they would have information the following day at 8 AM,  as to what the plan would be for getting us to Lima .... when I arrived at 8 AM, bright eyed and bushy tailed ready for the instructions ... NOT! We were told that we would be leaving for the airport in 30 minutes ....ALL ABOARD! So we showered and shined and miracle of miracles we were on the bus at 8:30 ....  and then we WAITED on the bus until 9:30 to leave for the airport as some persons didn't move with the same enthusiasm as we did when we received our marching orders.  When we arrived at the airport we went to the counter and had to recheck in. There they told us that we had the same seat... exit row (extra leg room) and we were off like a herd of turtles.... when we got onto the plane there were to guys sitting in the seats we were in the night before. (The nerve of those guys) Then when we looked at the tickets, we realized that the lady at the check in counter, who had then told us that we were in the same seats, ..... scratched out the numbers for the seats we were in, and gave us different seats on the plane and ........ we were not even sitting together! ..... WHAT IN THE WORLD !!! Sooooooooo! I went to the attendant and mentioned that we had exit row tickets and there were two persons sitting in the seats that we had originally been assigned ..."Oh we will take care of that" she says with a determined look on her face. So I go and sit down in 1st class and wait with Carol.... hoping they would get the hint (they didn't) and when the attendant comes back, she proceeds to announce to me that she now has 2 seats together .... but there "not in the exit row" I tell her. So this time she sallies off with a less then happy look on her face (sorry lady) and 15 minutes later says "we have your original seats for you" and marches off!   When we arrived at Lima we had the long layover, all afternoon and then some of the evening..... the only up side to that was, we had the opportunity to meet brothers that were going home from the International in Lima, as they were arriving for there flights home.

Finally we board the plane, and fly to Santiago and arrive at   ......... ? (Any guesses?) 2:30 AM, when we get there, we go through all the Immigration stuff and pay the entrance fee, turns out the Chilean government returns the same favor to Americans, and a few other countries, that the US government and a few other countries, charge Chileans when they visit the US $131.50 per person. I kid you not! The only country that has to pay more, is Canada and they pay 1 buck more then US passport holders. Well, we get through all that, and then we get to go get our baggage..... NOT ON THE PLANE, right, it didn't arrive into Santiago with us….sooooo we turn in the paperwork to the airline, and they of course tell us that it should be there by 12 PM the following day (it's 3:15 AM by now) Brent is there to pick us up, and there are brothers from Santiago that are there to welcome the delegation from Ecuador, of which we were not part (but got the same warm welcome, wasn't that nice!)   Well 8:30 later that same night..... day, whatever it was,… the next night…. confused? So were we, we still don't have our bags, so I call and they assure us that they will be there no later then "9:30" yes an hour and half later..... 11:00 when we return from dinner, N O ... B A G S! I call,  but of course there is no one at the counter after 10PM (that's funny there was someone there the night before at 2:30 in the morning) So I tried and tried to call several different departments to somehow connect me to the "Lost Baggage" department but no one could help me except for one lady in reservations,  of all departments who was helpful, but then we got cut off.... so at that point I gave up until the following morning. At 8 AM I called and the lady told me that she needed to call the driver and find out what happened. (I told her what happened... "They didn't deliver our bags") but evidently she wanted to hear that, ….. from the horses ahhhhh, .... drivers mouth. When I call her back in 15 minutes she proceeds to tell me, that they didn't have the correct address and so it couldn't be delivered the night before. I then tried to remind her that she confirmed the correct address on the previous phone call and she gave me the address not the other way around (in other words they had the correct information) she was lying to me and when I called that to her attention (sorry I didn't have a bunch of patience at this point) the phone went deadly silent. Then she told me our bags where going to be there in the next 1 1/2 hours.... (yes of course I was holding my breath) and of course this time, after making 3 separate promises, to get us our bags they got them to us. (Third times a charm or so they say) Not so fast... when we get the bags to our room they have plastic wrap and a security band around them (I felt better just seeing that, knowing that all was safe) removed all that and started to unpack all our stuff and ............... 3 of my 4 ties for the convention ensemble are missing!!!!!   So now I get to call the same helpful liar ahhhh, lady and let her know that my ties have been stolen ..... "that's not our responsibility" she tells me ..... "well whose is it"?  "Customer service"  she then proceeds to give me the email address and I sent an email telling them what happened..... Haven't heard back from them yet.... 7 days and counting...... I'm sure when I get a hold of them they will tell me they never received my email.

But once all was settled we really enjoyed our week and the International Convention was the best ever .... the friends gave us such a warm welcome and thanked us for coming, ..... hundreds of times, lots of hugs and kisses, and photos, and more hugs and kisses, and photos..... some of the brothers from Uruguay took a trip on the bus that lasted 57 hours ....... no stopping except for fuel fill ups, can you imagine? When Saturday after the end of the program the foreign delegates started to in unison say "Les Queremos"(we love you) to the Chilean brothers in the stadium they in turn spun their umbrellas around and around... that was quite a sight and then after more les queremos'es they started to lift them up and down, .... quite another spectacle, then the wave started going around the stadium (we received counsel the following day not to do that anymore, the wave that is) then the singing of Kingdom songs started, needless to say,  I don't think there was a dry in the house... ahhh stadium! All that took place because it was our last day at that stadium, we were going to another the following day and we were going to repeat that all over again on Sunday after the program ended....... with the exception of doing the wave of course. Peak attendance on Sunday 100,604 at three different locations…. The "Big national stadium" is being remodeled so we couldn't all meet together in the same location.
One other thing I forgot to mention was that when I arrived at the information desk in the lobby on the first day of the convention, of the hotel we were assigned to, I was informed that the brothers had been looking for me, as I was one of the bus captains (Captain Bill they called me) I was in charge of entertainment .... right up my ally!

That was fun! …….We packed this morning and got up at 2:41 AM  Yup! so that we could get the plane to......

 Buenos Aires! We arrived without a hitch (got all those out of the way, up front, or so I hope) and got to our apartment that Brent found for us on the internet (yes using that nasty technology) First thing we do after getting settled in? Go to a Cemetery... hard to imagine, having a good time at one of those, no? But this is a very unusual cemetery, I will put a few photos on the blog site for all to see..... this is the place where Eva Perrone is interned with her husband.... wait till you see the photos it's amazing what this place is like. It's arranged like a town with memorial tombs but you really can't call these tombs in the traditional sense ...... you see what I mean? Each building is a memorial tomb and most times it for the family. In addition to the coffins that are in each ... yes .... you can see them .... (the coffins not the bones) there is a stairway that goes below where other coffins are stored of the other family members.

I have had other things I wanted to share with you like paying for a water at the airport in Miami a 2.85 for the same exact thing we pay .25-.30 in Cuenca .... when I saw that I started laughing ..... then crying when I paid for it.
I have a very good experience talking to a cabbie  (of course about the truth, not the soccer match) for you all, but it will have to wait ..... my fingers are tired.