A few photos

So here are a few photos that I've been meaning to send.

When we go out in service, we do English on Tuesdays. Well one of my "part time" students is John, who is a rasta. A rasta is basically someone with dreds who doesn't eat meat; the more modern rastas do eat meat, but the old school ones don't.

Anyway, John is a seemingly very progressive and fired-up student from Bermuda (again, think Australian accent) who studies with his wife, Tamara.

I went with David on his study yesterday evening (530pm) and I took a photo with him before the study.

Scroll down.

So this is John with his hair bundled up.

and this...

Is with it out...

(yes...it touches the ground)

You should see his hair all out on the floor when he's seated at the Kingdom Hall. If you're sitting behind him, and you have to get up, just make sure you step over his hair.

He's been growing it since 1970 something...

More photos...

Ever wondered what a group of donkeys smell like?

there ya go...just read the face

Jalyn embarrassing us during the circuit day assembly eating Jell-o.

Actin' like we ain't taught her NUTHIN!

I know ppl were thinkin, "that child ain't got no home trainin"...

I gave up a long time ago. She's in Jehovah's hands now.

Well...that went well.

So we're out in service today (it was very hot today, no joke), and Candace and I are working with the brother that has the apt I was telling you all about (Troy).

We come to a door, and it's now my turn. The man, who looks about 60 years old or so, comes to the door already looking indifferent. The brothers tell us afterwards that he always loudly tells ppl, "don't study or talk to those Witnesses!!!!"

I tell him who we are, and I show him pg 16 in the Oct Watchtower on Corruption, "Can you live forever".

He very arrogantly says, "I'm an Evangelical pastor, and I've been doing this for 20+ years, and I already know this information...I'm sure I know it better than you (he's talking to me)".

So immediately, we all know how this day's gonna go.

Me: "Well that's great. You know, we actually look for ppl in the ministry like yourself that have an interest in spiritual things. It would be great if more ppl were interested in the Bible like you. However, you mentioned how much experience you have and how you know a lot already. That's good, but notice what Prov 1:5 says here."

For a sec, he was quiet, and he listened!

I ask, "regardless of our religion, do you think we'd all like to see the end to suffering and death?"

So he says something arrogant, I pull something outta my head from the Reasoning book, another scripture here, but he's still going back and forth between yelling and flapping his hands, and just having that "look" on his face.

I took from the Reasoning book something that's under "I'm not interested in Jehovah's Witnesses"(pg 18, last point)...

I said, "sir, may I ask what is it about JWs that you don't like?"

He says, 1) One of the ppl from your organization said that you all don't believe that Jesus is our Savior.

I say, "Sir, IF someone who claimed to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses told you that, they're NOT one of Jehovah's Witnesses." I then directed him to jw.org if he wanted to know more, because he said he's read "a lot of pamphlets about Jehovah's Witnesses".




2) You all only allow certain ones to eat during the Lord's Evening Meal (Memorial). We're all God's children, and if they're saved, they have the right to eat!

I say, "anything else"?

3) You allow your ppl to sell and drink beer and wine

4) You won't come to our church but always ask us to come to yours



So we would begin to answer one (we weren't going to address all of those), but he'd cut us off and just  really get loud, talking about how we're misleading ppl.

So I look and Candace and mouth "let's go". It didn't matter how good the illustration was, how direct the scripture was, he continued to yell.

He now thinks he's going to teach us something and yells, "you ppl can talk all day, but what does John 6:44 say?? Unless God draws you, you can't come to him!!"

I'm looking like, "huh"?

Do you know you're unknowingly agreeing with me?

So I say clearly, "Sir, you yourself said it."

Later, Candace said, "If my dad had heard that, awwww, he would've been no more good..."

I thought of Prov 26:7


This is what the Insight book says about that scripture:

The Proverbs continue with a like illustration: “Have the legs of the lame one drawn up water? Then there is a proverb in the mouth of stupid people.” (Pr 26:7) In ancient times, especially in cities built upon mounds, it was often necessary to climb down a ladder or a long stairway to bring water up from a well. A stupid person trying to speak or apply a proverb is as clumsy and ineffective as a lame man trying to carry water up a stairway.




There were points when, as we were talking, it would seem that he was being friendly because of him laughing, but hmmm...maybe he was laughing at us. Anyway...

So as we're leaving, the funniest part comes...

Troy, who's from Bermuda (think of an Australian accent), says to the pastor,

"You know, regardless of our religion and differences, at least we can all agree on one thing...God's name. Do you know God's name?"

Pastor (arrogantly): "Of course I know God's name!!"

Troy: "And what's that?"

Pastor: "God"

(gimmie a sec)







He was DEAD SERIOUS.


I thanked him for his time, and walked away.

Matthew 11:25 anyone???



If you are privileged to understand the truth...very privileged you are.

Very privileged you are.

It is NOT a right...it is a gift for the humble.


A gift for "babes".

Translating Public Talk--"Have Faith in the Good News"

One of the special pioneers here, Matt Shufflebotham, gave a public talk in the Spanish cong, and they asked me to translate the day before.

I don't think the brothers here believe in "advance notice".

Solution?

Suck it up...

Oh yeah, and pray.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03CXNTG4cDc



This is also on the Playlist "iphone 7".

Photos from the weekend

Dinner i made with the herbs & pasta the brothers gave us.

Apt that one brother wants me to see. We meet with him about it tomorrow

About to begin Bible studies w/ Bro. Meredith

This side of the house protected us from the sun. But man, those ants were crawling all over my shoes.

Newest videos

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnmRsfyID6IJJdd8L16C-b19b4Tjp8KCi&feature=view_all

Recent videos

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnmRsfyID6IKS0wyZU4ujBbmZEXAfoDFd&feature=edit_ok

Photos from the past few days

Hey, guys. 

Haven't been able to post anything in a few days; just been feeling hot...and lazy.

I took a few Iphone photos over the weekend of things that brothers and Bible students have given us for food, funny stuff that's happened, and just...stuff.

Can't wait to get on a sailboat.

So I go to buy a beer the other day, and I get to the counter with my id out (from TN). The cashier looks at me and says, "how old are you?" Im like, "26". He says..."ok", puts the beers in the bag, and out I walk without showing anything.

I'm like, "huh"?

Sunday when I went to get one, they didn't even ask that! This is crazy.

Some brothers brought us a hole bunch of bananas. This thing weighed at least 60+ lbs...No JOKE

Some brothers have a chicken. So they gave us freshly hatched eggs. 

See why I been chasin chickens???

Bible student (English) gave us everything you see starting from the coconuts down. She gave it to us today (Oct 23rd 1pm)

What's in the bag are grated coconut.

Lemongrass (smells SOOO good)

Soursop leaves (used to make tea to induce sleep + fights cancer)

Sleep-inducing, huh? 

"Oh, Jaaaalyyynnn!!!...taste this sweetie"...

Sister gave us some pasta and basil (from her tree)

Another sister gave me the wine today (NO i didn't drink that much in one day!)

It was a third left, but hey! 

It was free.

Green Pepper and some mint sprigs. 

David and Priscilla said they want the mint; we're gonna make mojitos tonight! 

:D

Thyme (I've never seen it that color!!)

So Jehovah's definitely taking good care of us. I guess he figured we've had enough of oatmeal.

Tired After Service

How many folks you know sleep like this??

Too funny...

So a funny thing happened the other day...

Well, it wasn't really funny when it happened.


OK

So this sister lets us use her car, right?

Well the other day was day 3 of the storm. It's still raining crazy hard, and we're running out of food, trapped in the apt because of the roads.

Well I say to Candace, "hey throw on some clothes, and let's go to the grocery store".

So we try to drive to the grocery store, and the road is flooded by the Kingdom Hall (like a mile away from the store).

Candace says, "don't..."

"don't try it..."

So I back up, but we're in the middle of the road, so I go into the water a bit with the plan of "turning around".

The water is deep

Ok, now it's REALLY DEEP.

The car shuts...off.

Candace and I are panicking, hyper-ventilating...

Jalyn says, "are we sinking????"

I'm like "BE QUIET JALYN! HOLD ON BABY!! LET DADDY THINK..."

"Jehovah please get us outta this...I just wanted a beer".

Ok I didn't say the beer part.


Then the water begins to get into the car...this is where Candace REALLLLLLY starts to freak.

Me too...I can't lie.

So we have to get out... I'm honking the horn like crazy...the horn dies.

One guy drives by...

Me: "Ok great, we're saved..."

He takes out his camera phone, takes a photo of the car sinking, and drives off...

For real dude????????????

We have to get out, because now the water is getting high. I open the door and the water RUSHES IN.

I lift Jalyn and take her to a random person's carport (the water is up my thigh, and it's raining H.A.R.D.) ; I then go back to get Candace, lift her, and take her to Jalyn.

Jalyn is losing it, so I'm screaming for help for someone to help me push the car out of water.

All we're thinking is, "this sister's gonna kill us".

So a guy comes, helps me push it. We get buckets, get all the water out, and a mechanic brother comes and helps us (miraculously) get the car started again.

The inside of the car was SOAKED. So it's been 2 days now that I've been drying it out, pulling the carpet up, and getting all the water out with a WetVac.

When we told the sister, she wasn't mad actually. She was glad that we were ok, and that the car was again running.

So now that everything is back to normal (other than our nerves), we can laugh about it.

Oh, btw, there was a grocery store like a mile away from our apt...that we didn't know about.

So we could have completely avoided the water by about 2 miles...

(imagine my Fred Sanford "you big dummy" face)

Wanna see what the car looked like??  Scroll down

Oh, and here's a video of more cars trying to go through (same video as the one that I added to the prior post "New Videos!!"). 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Dt2xRROOcM&list=PLnmRsfyID6IKLAHgkDM-8C7DNaj3IAFBs&index=4&feature=plpp_video

Another truck got stuck right after me (a man and what appeared to be his wife). 

He was in a suit. I asked him if he'd like me to help him push; he looks at me like, "PUSH???"

They just sat there like, "we ain't getting out this truck"...

So that was that on that.

Lesson: If you can't tell how deep the water is...don't drive through. 

If you do, as I did, your wife will make you feel like this (scroll down) ...

Fortunately, Candace was nice.

New Videos!!

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnmRsfyID6IKLAHgkDM-8C7DNaj3IAFBs&feature=view_all

Few new videos

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnmRsfyID6IJGeoOEBwWaAeGhR9srzzzU&feature=edit_ok

New photos

Last night's "dinner"

So here's the "shake in a bowl" that Jalyn and I made.

It's made of Soursop, banana, dates, mango, and ice...mmmmmmmmmmmmm

Oh, and that's a pan toasted pb&j sandwich on the side. :) :)

Golden Apples

These are sweet apples. You have to first peel the skin, then carefully eat it, because the seed is sharp, as you'll see next.

These were growing on a student's tree, and she gave them to Candace.

Golden Apple seed 

Yeah, these are sharp...

No explanation...

Lunch today after service

The big rice portion is what they call "Cookup" (rice and chicken...oh yeah, they eat the bones too. Reminds me of Claudette Anderson in Nashville), the white cakes at the top left-hand corner of the plate are coconut dumplings, few pieces of fish below the dumplings; there are also 2 boiled green bananas right below the yellow part of the fork. 

The yellow bread-looking thing below the bananas is a corn meal cake (good), and then there are just mixed veggies below the corn meal cake (they pronounce them "vege-tables". Like the way we pronounce "table"...

vege    tables

Sounds so funny

Then there was Mauby. 

This is made by boiling the bark of a tree, add spices, then dilute it. 

But careful!! Too strong, and it can get you drunk (according to the sister)!

So they did this one perfectly...you didn't taste any alcohol, actually. It just tasted like a really good ginger ale...with a little kick.

Russell

Jalyn with her new toy monkey that squeals "oohooh aaaaaahhh aahhhhhhh" when she presses it. I promise I'm gonna flush this thing down the toilet, or put it in the blender.

She's been pressing that thing a million times since we got home. 

We asked her what she wanted to name it...she said "Russell". 

We're like..."oook".

She said its last name is "Tire la pelota".

There's a Dora the Explorer song named "tire la pelota ("throw the ball" in Spanish)".

Move ova Boots!!

There's a monkey on St. Kitts named "Russell Tire la Pelota...Wright"

More Videos!!

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnmRsfyID6ILOMTc39wkItHdqzFryKgvZ&feature=view_all

A few photos

Breakfast (Slice of bread and hot chocolate)

The first day I handed Jalyn this she looked at me like, "seriously?? have you lost yo mind, man???" But she adjusted.

Brothers from Puerto Rico 

Every Friday a cruise ship comes in. Well I was walking through a populated area, and the brother in the yellow shirt saw my tracts in my shirt pocket and immediately stopped us. He realized we were brothers and we were all just hugging, taking photos, writing numbers down, etc.

People were looking at us like, "ok, this is strange...yall just met".

Where else but in Jehovah's organization family?

Please ignore Jalyn's "I'm tired of being in service" face...

Translating with Irving (coordinator)

Candace translating with Mylene (Irving's wife)

Oatmeal...Caribbean style

(oatmeal [duh], dates, honey, peanut butter, and milk)

Hey, you appreciate it when you're walking all day, and as the brothers say here, "you Americans can't stop for your McDonald's coffee break".

Dinner I made...

(Shell pasta, tomatoes, spinach, cheese, and eggs from a chicken that had just laid them)

Soursop

Look it up...that's all I'll say. If there's a fruit that can be crowned, "the best-tasting fruit on earth"...

Here it is. 

It also is claimed to have cancer-fighting properties; I looked it up. 

I can't tell you what shakes taste like when you make it with this. A sister gave us this tonight at the meeting (Oct 11).

It's heavy and bigger than Jalyn's head.

New Videos

This is the same link I added to the "Circuit Assembly Translation" post.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnmRsfyID6IKnpPcuYH3zFCwo1BgXVzo0&feature=edit_ok

Circuit Assembly Translation

So this was the hardest part of the whole assembly...the translation.

Candace and I translated about 8-10 parts each (I did Bible highlights, bible reading, baptism, needs of circuit, and some of the other big ones). Candace seems like she almost did more talks than me.

But I think it was the same amount, just different types of talks for the brothers.

As you'll see in the videos, we had to put on earphones, and translate for a speaker, who's English we didn't even fully understand!!!!!

There is no break, no pausing, no "hey, can you say that again?"

He begins to speak, you begin to speak.

It was TOUGH.

It was especially tough, but rewarding, translating the prayers of another person. That was cool.



In order to get the full effect, you couldn't just "translate"...that would make it SOOOO boring for the rest of the audience.

They needed to feel what the English audience felt...motivation, fire. So when you translate, you have to:

1) Understand the speaker
2) Translate it (obviously)
3) Do it in a way that evokes feeling (the same feeling that the speaker is conveying)


Now if you were the one reading the scriptures, you had to:

1) Listen HARD for scripture
2) Make sure that the brother/sister translating the talk isn't incorrectly saying anything (ex: wrong scripture, wrong thought, etc), if so, you had to correct them in your microphone right away for all the audience to hear.

So if the English brother's talk was so good and you're all into it, the other brother translating the talk could be talking about Sunday Night Football, and you'd have no clue to correct him.

So there was a point where you had to "zone out" and just do it.

You'll see the videos on Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnmRsfyID6IKnpPcuYH3zFCwo1BgXVzo0&feature=edit_ok

Jonah Jr.

So the assembly was great, although a little hot. It's so cool to meet brothers from different islands.

So I had an interview on the assembly! Yeah, the district overseer asks me if I've auxiliary pioneered recently. So I'm like, "well, I'm doing it now."

He says, "well, did you do it in March"?

Me: "yeah".

Him: "Have any experiences?"

So at this point, I'm getting nervous, because I'm like, ok, "I have the feeling you're about to ask me to go onstage at the last minute...no thanks". So I kinda change the subject real quick and sneak out the chairman's office where he had me.

Jehovah's like, "uh...no".

So the brother who was to actually give the part (I just thought he was some random brother who was in the back), who reports to the D.O., is walking past me during the intermission. I say to him (maybe out of guilt), "hey, the D.O. asked me if I had pioneered in March, and if I have any ex..."

I didn't even get to finish the sentence.

The brother's eyes get big, and he quickly says, "YOU PIONEERED IN MARCH??"

Me: "Yeah, but..."

He then TIGHTLY grabs my arm, and pulls me to the back, BACK to the chairman's office.

As he's pulling me by force, I'm saying (loud enough for him to CLEARLY hear me), "no no no, brother, brother, no no, I don't have any experiences!! Brother!!"

He didn't respond.

We're now in front of the D.O. again. The brother looks at the D.O. and points to me..."He's pioneered".

The D.O: "ok, use him".

So the brother says, "I'm gonna ask you one of these 6 questions...pick 3."

So I pick 3.

Did we rehearse?    Negative

Did he ask me what I was going to say?  Negative

How much time did I have to prepare this?  Hmmm, let's see. He was to go up at 1:35pm. 

He literally asked made me pick these questions at 1:32.

3 minutes before I am to go onstage, I'm in the chairman's office sweating, desperately trying to think of something, praying.

I ask the D.O. for his pen, he throws it to me from across the table, and I write like bloody murder.

I'm writing out the 2nd answer (everyone's singing), I'm not done...we have to go onstage.

I pray again, I'm trembling, he calls me last...I give it, and that was it...

I'm offstage thinkin...WHERE AM I????????


After the assembly, a sister comes up to me and grabs my hand, and in her accent says "bruddah, dat was soooo touching, you can feel dat deh truth is deeply rooted in you. I've been in deh truth for 25 years, and you just know".

I'm thinkin, "are you serious?"

She has no idea that that was soooo on the fly.

But it was touching!!!

Crazy week.

Guess we all have a little Jonah in us.

Here's the interview:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_95uu-nn2-g

It ain't all peaches n cream...

So a few ppl seem to have a misconception of what it's like serving on an island...

In particular St. Kitts.

Now, you've been seeing all the positive notes, and blessings that there are here, right? That's all I've sent you...the positive.

Well, after giving this a lot of consideration, I thought it would be beneficial for you to taste some of the "not so sweet" side.

The negative...  :(   :(   :(   :(   :(

You see, a lot of ppl might be thinking, "man, they're living on an island, enjoying the beach, rum, and all they have to do is preach."

Just in case there are some that think it's all peaches and cream, let's clear that up...

This will affect you in one of two ways, 1) you will say, "wow, Jehovah is helping them through all that?? I can do it too."   or   2) you will never want to do what we did

So for those that are easily discouraged, this post isn't for you. 

Btw, don't think I'm "venting". Let's call it "being informative".

Where do I start?

1) For one I don't even want to BEGIN to describe the difficulty of leaving a well paying job, very comfortable home, my friends, and family (oh, and my basketball goal). The difficulty of leaving Summer Spanish congregation...my last meeting there was TERRIBLE! I thought I was going to die that night because of my grief. I walked into the hall that following Sat to drop off my key, and with all the lights off, only the outside light partially illuminating the hallway, I just stood there...

and stared around...and remembered...

reminisced.

Too hard to describe.

So let's touch on the challenges of the island itself; what we are facing right now.

1) Culture shock is REAL!!! To arrive somewhere and not recognize anything, anyone, and have very very few ppl to relate to is tough. The first 3 days I was here, I wanted to come back home. I was sitting on the bed, staring at the floor in silence. Candace looks at me and says, "are you ok??".

**Silence**

You know, Candace and I had the option to use our money to either visit first, then scrape the money up again to come back, or just use that money to come.

Jehovah knew what he was doing...

He knows that if I had visited first, I probably wouldn't have come back. 

However, although St. Kitts is not at all what we expected (primarily in terms of high poverty and RIDICULOUS food prices, amongst other things), we're learning to overcome those things...Candace is learning that faster than me.

2) Although the heat is not as intense as Memphis heat, the humidity is insane. 

W.E.   A.R.E.  A.L.W.A.Y.S.   S.W.E.A.T.I.N.G. 

A.L.W.A.Y.S.

A.L.W.A.Y.S.

Example...right now, I'm laying on the bed typing...not moving. 

If I get up and walk to the fridge, drop something, bend down to pick it up, I'm sweating on my chest, back, and face. Like...dripping sweat.

It's so irritating. You can't really run the A/C either, b/c electricity is insane here too. 

So you have to learn to live with only a fan. And Candace has eczema, which is worsened by the heat.

3) Groceries...

Where do I begin?  What do you spend on groceries back home every 2 weeks? 

$200-$250?

$300-350?

$400+?

Well if you come here, DOUBLE THAT...IN US DOLLARS.

We are doing everything in our God-given power to live as simply as possible. We put like 12 things in our grocery basket the other day, and it was $138 US.

Those things won't get us near 2 weeks. As a head, what do you do? I just prayed to Jehovah like 15 minutes ago...I told him everything, how I feel, how I don't want to be forced to return too fast, how I'm determined to fulfill my vow to him to pioneer (btw I'm regular auxiliary pioneering), and how I'm scared...

Yes, scared. For the first time in my working life, I don't have the "security" of knowing I've got a paycheck. That's very scary...

Matthew 6:33, 34 

Matthew 6:33, 34

Matthew 6:33, 34

The only time we get to treat ourselves is when someone brings us fish or a family invites us over to eat something special.

We've eaten oatmeal for breakfast for 2.5 weeks S.T.R.A.I.G.H.T.

4) Centipedes

Look them up. They're hideous, they're fast, and they sting, even when not provoked. They even get you in the bed. The medium sized ones are so gross...you DON'T want to see a big one...ughhhhhh

They make roaches (who just run away) seem like sweet little yorkies.

5) Being out in service in the heat with a 3 year old...nuff said.

6) Water

The water is not drinkable here...FORGET what the St. Kitts website says. It's cloudy, and tastes like sweat. You think I'm joking??

You have to boil the water (which makes the house hotter), refill the jugs, and put them back in the fridge to cool until next use.

You know how old that gets? You can NEVER get enough water here...ever. So we run out all the time. So please stop taking for granted your ability to just turn on the faucet and drink, not only safe water, but water that doesn't taste like monkey sweat.

7) Cold showers

Now, I'm actually starting to get used to this one, just because of the heat.

Our first few days, we'd all have to take cold showers, because the water wouldn't have heat.

So I'm in the shower, shivering out of my mind, praying, "Jeehho--vvvaahh, pplease help me get tttthru thissss"...because by this time, I'm kinda mad...

Now many times, our water would run out. I don't mean "hot water would run out", THE WATER would run out, mainly at the same time everyday.

Therefore, knowing what time it would happen, we'd have filled up bottles of water ahead of time. 

Once we get home from the meeting, sure enough, the water is out. We'd then take showers with the bottles of water. 

1) Pour a LITTLE bit of water on the towel

2) Do your thing

3) Rinse off with the rest of the bottled water

4) Get dressed, sweat again. 

Voila

Jesus said, "never be anxious about the next day"...

That hits me way differently than it did back home. In a way, it may be beneficial where we look financially...if we were set, would I have to depend on Jehovah the way I am trying to now?

No

Last example...

Candace and I are at the dinner table one day talking about needing to get groceries: "we don't have anything in that fridge, we need to go to the store soon"...

So literally, as we're speaking, a brother shows up at the door and says, "hey, I brought you guys some fish"...

Did you watch the Youtube video, "Preach to the fish"? 

That was the fish the brother brought us. So for that day, Jehovah provided.

Jehovah knows what we need. I don't know how he's going to get us through this year, but it's only going to be him, and not money. 

I hope to come home and bring with me a newfound confidence in Jehovah's sustaining power...I'm seeing it everyday here. It's still very tough though. 

I'm learning that it's ok to be scared...

As one good friend put it, "Remember when Jesus said about someone, 'never in all Israel have I seen so much faith'? Well, Jehovah and Jesus know what they're capable of...

But they are so impressed when we see it too." 

Our goal is to make it a year with Jehovah's help, but as the C.O. here mentioned to me, if after reasonable time, it becomes evident that it's too hard, then your decision is before you.

We mentioned to another need-greater couple from the States, "what determines if we failed here? Like if don't make it here as long as we intended?" 

The wife says, "if you left tomorrow (don't), if wouldn't be a failure. I mean, how many ppl back home just "want" to do this? You guys just got up, left everything, and came here to help out of your love for Jehovah, and you did it with a kid...

So no, it wouldn't be a failure at all".

Those were some of the most upbuilding words that I'll always take with me. 

And it's things like that that bring back to my mind Joshua 1:9:

"Be courageous and strong. Do not suffer shock or be terrified, for Jehovah your God is with you wherever you go."

Few More Videos

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnmRsfyID6III72iN_LhqFCI-2Yd8o46J&feature=edit_ok

Enjoy!

Say what, brother?

Even after last week's craziness, we now have the circuit assembly this week, so last night we had the Congregation Bible Study which was attended by English and Spanish.

There was a Branch Committee member that came from Barbados and gave the special talk last night and the hall was packed; of course, we got to meet him afterwards. We'll be having dinner with him and his wife in a few days.

I don't think we've ever gotten to meet a Branch Committee member back home, let alone privately eat with them...funny.

So after the meeting, the coordinator comes up to Candace and me and says, "there'll be a meeting in 5 minutes regarding those that will be translating for the Circuit assembly this weekend"...

Me in my Whitehaven voice (in my head): "say what bruh?"

For one, we were told that that was already assigned, especially since we just got here. So, we're like, "ok, cool, we'll just chill out"..

un uh.

He reads from page 55 in the "be" book about not translating WORDS but thoughts.

Here's the problem though...how do you translate English to Spanish when you don't even understand the ppl's English???????????

Think of translating Lazaro Toledo's spanish (Cuban)...for those that know Lazaro.

He says, "you will be at the mercy of the speaker, since he will not pause for you, and there will be brothers from different countries whose English is different".

1) We do not get to rehearse with the brother beforehand.
2) The assembly is THIS SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
3) Candace has to translate 8 Circuit Assembly parts
4) I have to translate 8

EIGHT!!!!!!!!!

You should have seen Candace's face when the brother said this stuff. I thought she was gonna walk out the room.

English will be in main auditorium, we'll be in back school. The translators will be facing each other with headphones on and mikes in front of us.

One will translate the talk itself; the other will translate the scriptures.

When one translator gets stuck on a word, we look at each other, and the other translator can pick up.

Teamwork.

So LOTS of prayer, lots of listening hard, and maybe a little bit of throwing up.

Pray for us to do well!!!!

Or I could just make some stuff up...I might just give one of my talks...

jk  :)