Adventures of the PacMen

Friday, November 30, 2012

When Satan throws you a lemon...

So we're driving the car on Sun (25th of Nov), and the car begins to run really hot.

Candace is like, "something smells burnt".

So we pull up at the hall, because now it's getting scary, as we're hearing this really fast KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK noise.

Almost as soon as we get the car in the lot, it shuts off, and won't crank back up.

So I'm like, "give me a stinkin break man!!!!! First the water, now this??? This sister's gonna kill us!!".

So while the meeting is going on, I get out to push it into the shade with no results from that. I just pretty much got overheated and slipped in the dirt a lot because the car wouldn't move (yes, it was in neutral...after Candace realized she needed to take her foot off the brake, lol).

So we had a study at 11, and this is a person that we recently located, and has much interest. So we're like, so how are we gonna get to her?

That's how...

Satan thought he was slick, trying to give us a reason to miss Lucrecia's study... Uh, no sir.

I even got a chance to take a photo of the hall sign on the way.

So we did the study, came back to the hall, and David Torres and I looked at it. We realized that the radiator was leaking water somewhere, so there was pretty much ZERO water in it.

So to drive, I'd have to fill it up, drive...repeat when I need to go somewhere else.

The next day, I take it to a mechanic, Hanley, who's studying. Turns out I need to fix the leak, replace the battery terminal, AND change the oil. Btw...there's less than 2 quarts of oil in the reservoir...

The car needed 5. There were TWO.

Hanley says, "how has it been going this long".

In my head: "Jehovah".

I think about Kevin & Lea Hay's white Toyota Camry that they drove back home. Man that thing ran on holy spirit...you ain't gonna tell me it didn't.

So with everything that we have to fix, I immediately pray to Jehovah (actually I did that before I took it to Hanley), "Jehovah, you know our situation, and that we have nothing, please let us get this fixed because we really need this car".

So I'm thinking the job will cost at least $70/80...guess how much Hanley charges?

$5.

FIVE DOLLARS!!!!!!

huh? wha? how?

"Thanks Jehovah, you did it again."

Cuz I didn't have enough money to even buy a pair of khakis...that's not a figure of speech btw...I really didn't.

So funny...I've been around the truth all my life, but it takes me coming to St. Kitts to really understand what Jesus meant when he said "STOP BEING ANXIOUS".

It is THE MOST LIBERATING FEELING I'VE EVER EXPERIENCED.

To know that Jehovah's got your back.

So when that loser Satan throws you a lemon...

Drink up!

Jehovah's Organization -- N.O. Comparison

You know, it's so funny when a person tries to make fun of you and it turns out they're really the idiot.

Have you ever had that happen?

Imagine being in middle school and someone laughing about your clothes and haircut, only to find out in front of everyone that you're really reeeaaally rich?

$$$$

How dumb would they feel?? :-o

I thought of this from what we experienced today. You know how ppl laugh at Jehovah's ppl for supposedly not being able to do this, this, and that? They say we're so "boring" and have no friends?

Little do they know that we have millions and millions of friends...literally.

We experienced that again today when we were out in service.

We first ran across William and Maria, with whom we were about to leave a tract. They had just come off the cruise ship (the ships come almost everyday). Well before we left it, they were giving us this weird "look", and it turned out that they were studying already in Miami.

They were one of those couples that you click with easily. He reminded me very much of T.L. Stewart, and she kinda reminded me of Patria Mercado, not physically, but personality-wise.

So we're talking about how wonderful Jehovah's organization is, and he's telling me about the things he's struggling with, but when we're done talking he's much more motivated to go back home and get on top of his study; he's a supervisor that's apparently had some success at his job.

We talk about how happy Jehovah's ppl are, although simple, and how we have brothers everywhere. He says, "I want a piece of that! Mari and I have to go back with a new focus."

Well, they're gonna be late for their scuba diving excursion, so we walk back with them to the ship, Mari carrying Jalyn behind us (yes, that's how cool they were for us to allow that); they have 3 little girls.

On the way to the ship, a mob of ppl stop us and shout, "HERMANOS! ("brothers" in Spanish)".

Some of the brothers were Italian but were serving where the need is great in Costa Rica, some were serving in Canada, and the other brothers were serving in Honduras.

The brothers from Honduras were asking me to come help them there...funny

There are about 8 or 9 brothers that surround us and are hugging us like crazy, and the corner where we are gets really L.O.U.D. with the laughs and talking.

Ppl are walking past us looking like, "what in the world??"

As all of the hugging and loving chaos is going on, I read William's face like a book... this is even more confirmation for him than he even needed. He left us motivated, and then he ran into this.

We'll see what happens.

One blessing of being close to a cruise ship is that we get to see brothers from so many parts of the world without spending a dime. Question is, will we understand them?

Doesn't matter, we all serve Jehovah...and that instant bond that Jehovah's ppl have is something that no one understands, unless you serve him.

With the cruise ship docked, having tracts in my shirt pocket are an instant magnet for brothers when walking around.

It's a beautiful thing...

William is the African-American guy and his wife, Mari, has the white sun visor on. Oh yeah, Mari speaks Spanish, she's from Miami, but with Peruvian decent.

Not all of the brothers are in the photo, many were taking photos with their own cameras. I wish we could have gotten everyone in the photo somehow.

Everyone else in the photo are Italian from what I understood. I'm only 80% sure that the sister above Candace and her husband (in blue shirt) are Italian. They are the ones serving in Canada.

And this is the photo that Jalyn took (kneeling like a pro)...

Here's a quick video taken shortly after running into them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX4y3Ojd47k&feature=youtu.be

Hello Everyone! This is Candace writing. I have been asked by a few of you guys for my opinion on our whole experience, so I decided to put in my "two cents" on the blog from now on. :)

I have to say that each time we meet the brothers I always enjoy it and I always feel so proud to be a part of Jehovah's organization. There is absolutely NO other religion on earth that is as united as we are. Actually a bible student was just telling us that when he was a part of another religion (won't say which one :), that he could always feel like there was a dividing line between people because of race or whatever. But he didn't feel that way in Jehovah's organization.

Another reason I really enjoyed this today was because lately I have been feeling a little homesick, but to experience this today gave me a little "booster shot" so to speak. Jehovah knows what we need, and exactly when we need it. I think one of the best pieces of advice that I was given before we came, was to "MAKE FRIENDS FAST". That advice was like a gem because when you are with your brothers and are actually putting forth the effort to get to know them, it REALLY eases the homesickness.