Summertime in South America!

Hello all..... 

Hope you are all well .... sad to hear of our dear brothers and friends in Haiti we know Jehovah will keep them in his loving care.

Well just got back from service this morning and thought I would share a few things from the other "land down under" We are down under the equator! As you know it's Wintertime where most of you are reading this... and is it ever! Temperatures in the teens ... YUCK! As has been mentioned on this blog,  this writer HATES and I mean HATES the cold! In South America of course it's Summertime and that means we get all the Summer fruit and more because of the fine climate here. This afternoon on our way back from our morning of walking about 4 miles in the ministry up and down the hills of our territory in Tortoracocha (Cuenca) …. Carol And Carol decided to stop at the open market that is open each Friday, about a mile from where we live, to get some flowers ... so I decided to meet them there ... I was early and decided to mosey around and see what's for sale at the market  .... Well I can tell you, just about everything! But what really caught my eye were the fruits, that are in season here in South America, the majority of which come from our dear fiends in the California of South America ...... Chile,  if you look at map, you can compare the latitude of Chile with different areas of the Western Coast of the US and see that Santiago is at about the same latitude as Los Angeles not exactly but very close. That being said all those fruits that you have available in the US, that come from Chile and you pay a boatload for, are here for, you can imagine .... very cheap! .... Quality? Think Whole Foods ..... What's available you ask? Well Cherries that are even better then those ones that we all wait for at Costco in the Summertime 1.50 a pound (gringo price) Avocados 4 for 1.00 .... apricots 8 for a dollar .40 a pound and large ripe and ready to eat mangos 5 for a buck .....(salivating Karla Linares?)  Raspberries 1.00 a pound ... and Carol Souza bought a half dozen roses with greenery and babies breath for 1.00 ... yes it Summertime in S.A. and we are enjoying the fruits for those Chileans labor also, but at a fraction of the price of what is paid in the U.S. Going back to those cherries they are larger and are sweeter then anything we have ever experienced in the U.S. .... Now if we could only get the wines here from Chile for the prices that they are sold for in Chile .... We saw bottles of wine in Chile that are the same brand and harvest for 1/5 the price of what we pay here .... It's the import taxes here that kill the prices on the fine wines in Ecuador... 

                       Well we can't have everything!

                   Can you taste these fruits? We can!

Miami Airport

Hello all .... well after working for the last couple of weeks (for the man) we are on our way back to Ecuador and looking forward to getting into a good routine of ministry and conducting bibles studies..... just before we left Carol had started 6 BS's although not able to count them all as of yet .... (3 strikes and you count them .... you know how it works) After going to Las Vegas last night and getting about 4 hours sleep, we were up at waaaaay before the crack of dawn, 3:30 to make the flight to Miami at 6:00 yes, of course AM! :-(

Anyway we took the American Airlines "No Frills" flight, (they all appear to be no frills unless your on 1st class... but who wants to spend that kind of money for a meal .... the 1st class, $1000.00 breakfast) where even though you are flying during the hours that most people would be eating breakfast you get NO Breakfast, not even peanuts ..... what in the world? Finally after getting to Miami airport we had the opportunity to purchase lunch if you are on the East coast and breakfast on the West or perhaps better said, "brunch". After ordering up our salad and pizza and finding a spot in the "dining" area (that would be a loose use of the word dining) then getting near finished with our "food",  the cleaning lady who was mopping the floor, started mopping the floor in our area to the point, that I'm sure that there was not a Germ, within the upper 1/4 inch of the surface, as she was scrubbing away and away and away..... finally after mopping Carols feet (shoes) for the 4th time, she asks (tells us) if we can leave so others can use our table,  and she said it, with a bit of irritation in her voice, we kind of laughed as evidently she thought that by mopping Carols shoes she was giving us a subtle hint that we should be leaving and making room for someone else, .... truth was we hadn't finished our meal... turns out she was the hostess and not the cleaning lady, or perhaps she was auditioning for the job as hostess .... anyway with all the fun stuff that happens in Latin America it appears that the fun is now starting at the Gateway to Latin American as Miami at times, at least in the airport, seems like you are in a Latin American county.....

Have fun everyone ..... it was great to see some of you while in Reno and Las Vegas .... even if we didn't get to spend a lot of time together and if we didn't get to see you please don't hold it against us.

Nice experiences

Ok, so you remember Segundo the Taxista .... we have had studies but not consistantly.... HOLIDAYS and our travel have made it difficult to have the study consistantly ..... mainly the HOLIDAYS .... "Hermano Bill I have to make hay while the sunshines" ..... that would be the rough translation of what he has told me.... he promissed to get back to it after the holidays.....


Another experience ..... after getting here and getting settled some months back, we leave the meeting for service and go out in the door to door work .... which just happens to be the the same block as the meeting for service.... first door, or better said, place to talk is a restaurant .... (here we work everything on the block, a business is just like a home, and the owners don't think a thing of it,  if you stop to talk to them at their business, at times they will even ignore the clients when they approach, if they are engrossed in the conversation,..... just like back in the States right? ......  Riiiiiiight!) So we have this really nice conversation about "Who really rules the world?" .... at the time we have no Bible Teach books as previously mentioned in another blog, some time ago, (we were out of them at the hall).... so I made arrangements to call back and discuss more about the solution to the problem ....ruler of the world that is... and deliver a book, once they are in our grubby mitts ..... Well I tried several times to go back but each time the restaurant was packed, so I would continue on my way ..... eventually I put it (the call) on the back burner, as this was the problem each time I went.... but while on the back burner it was burning a hole in my brain (well not literally.... but you get the idea, .... I needed to get back to him!!!) So two weeks ago on a Thursday, during the week of the CO visit, Carol wants to go out in the afternoon ... not a normal day for us to be in the ministry .... when she tells me this at lunch, I think to myself NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! But she continues to talk about some calls she going to do and how she wants to get back to them ... blah blah blah.... and I'm thinking, not saying mind you, just thinking ............Noooooooooooooo ..... I don't WANT to go out this afternoon, I'm tired..... Just being honest here! .......... But not wanting to curb her enthusiasm, ... I GO, .... but honestly my heart was just not there ..... anyway we go and do her calls, some home, others not and we are not far from "the restuarant" so I think to myself, what the heck, I might as well try to see if the guy is there (by this time I'm not thinking about being tired).... well he is, and the restaurant is not full, in fact it's almost empty .... so I ask for Miguel and of course he comes out, and I ask him if he remembers me,  and he says he does, and I mention that we had this really nice discussion about, who really rules the world and he says he remembers it, and that you (I) stopped by about 2 months ago, and I tell him more like 4 (with my head hung low) and that the bible teaches that it is "Satan" is the ruler of the World (my jaw drops because that seldom happens  ...  it normally takes about 3 visits and then review, and then rereading the scriptures to get them to remember that Satan is the ruler of this world  ..... and he remembers what the bible taught in one sitting .... got a live one here!) So we continue our discussion and he has a million questions (that might be an bit of an exaggeration ... but he has a lot!) So, I show him the book,  Bible Teach that is, and he can see that most of the questions are in the book ... so I ask him, Which one he would like answered first? and he says "lets start from the beginning" (that's always a good place) so we demonstrate how we study the bible with the help of the BT book, and make arrangements to come back next week, after the restuarant closes.... then after making the arrangements, we realize we have the Circuit Assembly that week, and the Pioneer Day meeting, on that day, so we have to go back and tell him that we maybe a bit later then mentioned, as we have the meeting .... "No problem" (after all he has been waiting 4 months for this moment) ..... The day arrives and it's Christmas day (how did we forget that when we made our plans? I think to myself  ..... MORON, I am) ...... So I give him a call after the meeting, and get his wife, and she puts me on hold, and then comes back to the phone and says "we will be here" (really? on Christmas day? Don't you want to spend time with your family? Nooooo of course I didn't say all that,  but I was thinking it!) So we go on down to their place, and they are cleaning after a "very busy day" his words,  and he asks if we can wait for about 10 minutes (that's Latin 10 minutes which is code for a minimum of 20 minutes on everybody elses time piece) so after they get all cleaned up, and yes, we did offer to help them clean up .... but they said Nooooooooooo, with a smile on there face.... They come out changed, all spiffed up, and we sit down for the study and have a wonderful study with them as a couple,  of the first 3 subheadings in the book,  Chapter 1 "What is the Truth about God".... after the study we are chatting and he mentions that they have not eaten dinner and would like us to stay for dinner with them .... at first I'm thinking we have safer food at home and there will be no chance of us eating PORK or CHANCHO at home (a Heilig no no here in EC, as it causes toooooooo many problems for us .... if you know I mean .... and I'm sure you do)   and tell him we have a few other things to do, which we do, but he won't take no for and answer, so we stay and it's CHICKEN with a plate full of rice ..... RELIEF no CHANCHO and NO next day, next week, next month problems after eating it.... Jehovah had mercy on us !!!! Thank you!!!!!! Then we told them that we could not get back for the study, due to travel for work plans, we need to care for ..... "no problem, we will be waiting for you until you get back" (that sounds good)..... moral of story .... get back to those RV's sooner and be more diligent (down here we have soooo many calls it's easy to put people on the "back burner") and when my wife says "let's go out" when I DON'T WANT TO, .... to go anyway ... because evidently the Spirit works more powerfully with her then me (Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch comes to mind ..... in this case Carol and the Resturantur)  And thank Jehovah when he makes it possible to have a study, that after, serves you dinner ...... and it's not Chancho!


Love to U all!!!!

Water … No Water…. Too Much Water ….. No Hot Water … What's up with the Water ???????

Ok, so it's been a while and this is the best I can come up with ….. As mentioned in the last blog we have had a shortage of water … which leads to a shortage of electricity …. (that's a bad thing, unless you are out in service, then it really doesn't affect you… because you don't need electricity to talk or walk) … but recently water seems to have a larger affect on our lives…. living in the States, how often do you think about your water…. oh maybe you think about it, if there is a flood or a really big snow storm …. but normally  when you turn on the tap it flows or flush the toilet it goes… (hope that last part didn't get to you, toilet that is)

Anyway for the last few weeks we had a water heater that decided to start leaking it's one of those on demand (no tank) water heaters…. so I get the landlady to come to verify that it's leaking … who then calls "her guy" the "Argentinian" to come and see it …… "yup it's leaking" who then calls his guy and then I  have to make arrangements to have him come to fix it…. well, you by now,  you should know how this goes in Latin America …. we start by exchanging phone calls, … several! … finally he comes an tells me has to take it with him …. well that's after he tells me he is coming to fix it…. (that left me with the idea that he was going to fix it on the spot ….. NOPE!) and he comes right during the time for family worship on Monday morning …. no shower for the day? I think not! …  Soooo he says he can come back after we finish our study to collect the heater ….. 2 hours later he comes again and get it …. Next question … when will it come back? … Well this week ok? How about today! …. "I can probably do that" …. it wasn't like he had a bunch to do , it's just that why do today what you can put off until…. whenever! But I asked him what we were going to do for hot water and showers if he brought it back later in the week? "Oh I didn't think of that" well I'm glad I did and decided to ask. So later in the day he comes back and of course then when it's all hooked up the gas doesn't work (another story) so the heater doesn't work, so we really don't know if it's really fixed or not ….. then we have to go through the paying the guy routine … when I ask how much, he gives me the Gringo price …. $80.00 …. "EIGHTY DOLLARS"? I think that the look on my face said it all because the look on his changed…. $80.00 for a few hours work is like getting 500.00 for a few hours work in the States. (Now you understand?) So I call the landlady and give him the phone …. the expression really changes on his face as he knows he gave me a price that was toooooo high and he has to deal with a fellow Ecuatoriano ….. Bummer! The reality was that she didn't know what the value of what he did was either, but $80.00 sounded high to her too….. so they go back and forth and he asks how much do you want to pay me? About 4-5 times but of course she won't answer because she doesn't want to pay too much…. so finally he just hands me the phone and throws his hands up in the air… I'm sure by this time he is wishing he had given a fair amount for the work …. I talk to the landlady and she tells me to handle it and be done with him….. So I offer him $50.00 for the job and he say "Sure",  by now all he wants is to get out of there with some money in his pocket ….. When I speak to a local, (the apartment maintenance and security guy)  he confirmed that $50.00 was a fair amount ….. So those of you that are coming down when you are quoted a price offer at least 50% less and then go from there….

More water….. or ….. too much water at once!

We are at the circuit assembly yesterday and it starts to rain like nothing I have ever seen ….. It was so loud that the CO had to stop his talk because we couldn't hear what he was saying ….(we had the same thing happen when we came down here in March, stop the talk that is ..... but the loudness was not to this degree) In fact it was soooooo loud that at times you had to cover your ears. (Metal roof and no insulation) For the full impact of our experience click on the attachment and turn up the volume …. but then be ready to cover your ears like we did ….. note in the short video that some in it are covering their ears….


Additionally, Carol who was working in the bathrooms (of course cleaning) "the easy shift" she is told, (turns out to be the nightmare shift)  the rain water is flowing from the down from the top and up from the bottom.... they have drop ceiling and it's pouring through the ceiling onto the floor in sheets.... Carol tells me later, all the sisters figure that the brother is not giving a talk during the rain, so it's a good time to go to the bathroom, when they get there and see the situation they still decided to dodge the water that is pouring through the roof to use the toilets (how crazy is that?) and then walk out semi wet, the CO's wife decided to use it too, during the pause in the action in the main auditorium, with her mouth hanging open .... Carol asks her if this is normal? "Don't think so" she says ..... well we don't know, we just got here. Carol tells her, that the great thing about living in EC, is that everyday you have a great story to tell, and that there is always something to write about, on the Blog (if you have that kind of time) She just starts to laugh! But here it is on the Blog.

We need water but things down here are not normal…. we told the friends that they can blame us for all the problems …. electricity ….. lack of water …… or whatever else has gone wrong since we have come down ….. they didn't have these problems before we came down….. they just laugh and say Noooooooooo!

Later Satan haters!