Home from Belize --

We are home for awhile now!! Yay!
Interesting moving in again tho...  its home sweet home again.

Lexi is keeping me on tract...no bad goodies.

Here are a few pictures from Caye Caulker with our good friends Nancy and Richard from Oregon.
We sure will miss them when they go home...








Here is breakfast on our first morning...this is Ali on Larrys Left...he is a bible study in Tulum, he will be riding with us to the circuit assembly in Merida in March.









Here we are waiting for the water taxi to take us from Chetumal to Caye Caulker, Nancy brought some snacks,  yummy guacamole and cream cheese with habinaro salsa,  yum...never thought the combo would taste soooo good.








Here is the Kingdom Hall in Caye Caulker, currently there is a spanish congregation, some english meet there but no english congregation, there is hopes that soon there will be an english group...there are 2 elders living next door...




Today  (Wednesday Feb 29) was our first day in formal service... and guess what??  Larry started an AWESOME study today... just in the door to door ministry... had our first study this morning...yay...set up for next wednesday...
She is in a wheel chair from a motorcycle accident and he is a doting husband, it is so sweet how he takes care of her so completely... they are from Guadalajara.

They are planning on going to the meeting on Sunday with us and then their second study on Wed., she was almost in tears when Larry showed her the scripture that says the lame one will jump up like a stag... what a JOY it is to be in Jehovah's service...

 Here is the first English meeting to meet in the front of the hall in Puerto Morelos,  it was only the english Watchtower study but our first!!!

Here is the core Puerto Morelos Cong.
there are 5 visitors for the week on the right side, and one elder, Ben is taking the picture.

Here Ben is in the picture.

Today at the ocean in Puerto Morelos we found the cold water spring... it is a spring in the ocean...looked for it last year and couldn't find it...
Some one showed it to us today!!!

Beautiful, came accross a school of Baracuda...
kinda freaky... we just let them do their thing, we went the other way...have you ever seen their teeth?  YIKES...

Attendance at C.O. Visit - Playa Del Carmen Norte

The C.O. talked about goals, and in his talk he said set big goals with the idea of shooting for the moon and hitting an eagle, not shooting for the eagle and hitting the ground....
So the goal was for 135 in attendance at the public talk... we shot for the moon (135) and hit an eagle (119) wow... and that is for a congregation that has 59 publishers...

On our way to the meeting we picked up some friends from Canada,

 We briefly met them at the square last year during meeting for service... we are just so easy to spot!




They came back this year and to the meeting for C.O. Visit,
 We were in contact with Suzanne and Max... their parents spoke only french... but there were some who spoke french at the meeting... Yay!  oh an



Taylor got in on one... lol

We found this on our walk back from the town square ... yikes,  he was big, right in front of our condo...
does that mean its gonna be a hot one?

Made home made ice cream tonight with Kahlua... yum!

Heading out to Belize on Monday... after the beach party in Playa Del Carmen and Meeting.

Looks like Richard and Nancy are going along with us for fun ... thats awesome.

45 in the square in Puerto Morelos to Praise Jehovah's Name and seek out Deserving ones!!

What a joy it is to see like minded ones share in one voice to the praise of our God, Jehovah!

 We had to take several pictures to get the full group
Wow!!

 This is Papa and Sasha in the front, regular pioneers and an elder (soon to be Puerto Morelos cong.) YaY!! Next is Richard with the hat and his wife, Nancy in red ... they are visiting from Oregon for a month or so. Then Larry, in the cowboy hat, Lynn & Lexi.

This is our morning walk on the beach ...
the sunrise is spectacular, Jehovah paints a beautiful one for our enjoyment every morning, no two alike.

The water is warm and calm this morning...

Mexidonia!!

Service today in Puerto Morelos Square ... Yesterday was a very long day, very prosperous.

Today we went out til noon so we could regroup personally and be ready for the meeting for the C.O. Visit.
Today's experience in Puerto Morelos:  Larry and I tried several return visits to no avail, no one was around, so walking back to the square to regroup we were stopped by a man at a booth trying to sell us a tour, they are on every block, so this is not unusual,  Larry always uses this as a chance to do "public witnessing".   Larry pulled out the truth tract and read all 6 of the questions, but the man didn't seem interested in any one of them, but he took the tract and started folding it up, like disinterest, so Larry told him we are always at the square on Thursdays and if he had questions he would see us there or around,  we then turned to leave,  but the man standing behind him in the booth, which we didn't even notice was there, came running around the booth, and asked if we had another truth tract for him?  We did, and then showed him the front and the 6 questions, Larry asked him which one he was interested in and he said he wanted to know the answer to them all,  and he would be waiting to go over them with us next Thursday... he asked Larry for a study!!! Larry said "Why next Thursday"?  he said he overheard that we are always there on Thursdays and this would give him time to read all the questions and answers so we could discuss it then.  WOW!!

Anyone want to step over into MEXIDONIA? Here is where the action is!!

At the meeting tonight we discussed goals ... and our goal last Tuesday was 20 potential bible studies by Thursday...  we met the goal... total of 21!!

Our new goal by Saturday is to add to the 21 for a total of 60!  We have 59 official publishers in the congregation in Playa Del Carmen Norte and an average of 21 hours per publisher!! Wow, how exciting!!
The goal is still to have a congregation in Puerto Morelos,  I'm sure that will happen soon,  Jehovah willing!

Good night all!

Playa Del Carmen Ministry

 This is the start of our day in Playa Del Carmen ministry.  We are so close to the beach here.  

We had 9 in the Suburban this morning ... its a perfect service rig!   

Here we are awaiting direction and deciding how many blocks we have been assigned to work this morning.  

We are at a place called "Oasis" in Playa Del Carmen eating lunch before we head back to the kingdom hall to regroup for an afternoon in the ministry.  

 Some of these are visiting and spending their time in the ministry ... Some are permanent ...



 Larry got his lunch first  ...  what a presentation!!

Our goal this C.O visit is to start at least 20  bible studies and have an attendance of 100 for Saturday service ... this first morning in the ministry our count is -- 11 possible bible studies!! Thats just the morning!!  
I will let you know later our final numbers. 

This was an awesome finale to the day ...

The Pioneer meeting ...
in our "need greater congregation"  we had a total of 33 present and 27 regular pioneers!!!


Can you feel the buzzzz ... what a joy it is to be with Jehovah's people!
The activity here is like a bee hive ... workers everywhere,  It is so exciting to be here.

Another goal our congregation has is to make Puerto Morelos group an official congregation!! The arrangements are that the C.O. will meet for the ministry in Puerto Morelos on Friday for the ministry ...
How exciting!!

Puerto Morelos Ministry

Larry in the Kitchen just before service

Today was awesome!!  (Sunday the 5th) We had some issues with someone trying to get into the kingdom hall so Larry, Lex and I along with Louis and Jenny from Puerto Morelos Spanish congregation went to Cancun to get locks for the gate.... We went to none other than HOME DEPOT ... interesting to say the least ... here lately due to the stiff breeze at night we are having issues with our vertical blinds, they make alot of noise, so we went to a fabric store and ordered material for curtains, its amazing how inexpensive it is to have them made right there!!
Its amazing how long it took to get the order in... didnt take long to decide the fabric or style ... just the details.
I will post a picture when they are finished ... hopefully next wednesday...

Next week is our Circuit Overseer visit in Puerto Morelos / Playa Del Carmen Norte ... we are really looking forward to the activity for the week.   It has been raining slightly, but that does not affect our ministry!!

Here are a few pictures of the ministry and the friends...


Larry Just before service...at our front door...we are on the second level...there are three levels.












Lynn... Just before service at front door...

Lynn and Jenny out in Service

 The brothers in Service... the brother in blue is blind, he walks to the meeting for service, he must leave his place at least 1 hour early ...I have seen him at the meeting for field ministry EVERY time I have gone out in service here...  they are amazing here!! What love for Jehovah!





Here is my pumpkin getting ready for service and our front door, her bedroom and balcony is just behind her along with her bathroom that she must share with company...

 Here is the beach just in front of our place... it takes about 2 minutes from our front door to this spot.










 This is the morning view of our place toward the ocean... no this is not our condo...it is in front of ours...the only one separating us from the beach...

Today is a BEAUTIFUL day!!

We met with the "spanish" congregation and "english" group, after we met at the kingdom hall on accident, it is the mayan congregation that meets in the kingdom hall on Saturday...oops!

I wish I had gotten a picture for you but we had 4 in the front of the suburban, 4 in the middle and 2 in the back...wow...they call it a perfect service rig!!  We worked in the jungle, I worked with a spanish sister from Mexico city... she had several nice calls, but no one in english to talk to.

For lunch we ran across a man Larry had started a study with two days before we left last year, so we ate lunch there and asked him to go with us to meeting tonight...he said he would definitely be there...we will see him at 6:45pm...yay!! His name is Polo.  Will let you know progress later!

We're in Puerto Morelos...Home!

It took alot longer than we anticipated....
as you can see the roads were not the best, it must be the season for road construction because we went through alot of it.  :) it was all good tho.

Breakfast on our first morning into Mexico

Our trip started out with alittle hitch at the border, we were only delayed a few days tho, due to the weekend and holiday on Monday, but we had a title problem, our title had a B instead of an 8, Monday 8am Iris at the courthouse faxed us our corrected registration,  we then went to the border and got our sticker, but "el Capitain" thought we needed again to pay duty on everything we had, even tho it was "personal belongings"  and that meant everything had to be opened and a amount of value placed on it.  So we decided to stay one more night and cross when he was asleep...4 am it is...perfect time to cross!!

At 4 am this morn the officer there to give us the red or green light must have been sleeping and was very cold , and since we couldn't answer any of her questions in Spanish she gave us the green light so she could get back inside! Yay!

We have hit many check points and been pulled over many times today, but not knowing the language and putting a set of mags in their hands has sent us on our way....again yay!   One officer wanted to start going thru our stuff so we rolled down the back window for him and we had a sack of wet swimsuits and underwear,  he asked what it was as he is picking it up and examining it, Larry simply said "dirty underwear " he dropped it and sent us on our way immediately ...after he got his set of mags,  of course :-)  This is one of the Mexican towns we passed through, beautiful! 

We were stopped many, many times but all have been good, one officer seemed to be an inactive brother, so Larry encouraged him to return, he seemed (language barrier) to agree and that he would.  

The directions were interesting!

Lots of road construction, this one is one of the better roads.

One morning we stopped for fuel and as usual tried to place the mags with a couple we were getting breakfast from, she was dressed very modestly (most are not) and in a dress, a huge smile lit up their faces as she reached behind her and got her bookbag out and showed us the February mags,  we had found our friends...it seems the food stand is their start in the morning and then later they meet for service...what a Joy!

This was a beautiful bridge

We arrived late on Saturday...our condo is in the middle and beautiful...everyone we talk to cannot believe the deal we got, we are paying for the month less than what they are paying for the week or about the same... Does not Jehovah provide...you can NEVER call the hand of Jehovah short!!

We dont know why they kept pointing up and saying whats in there?   The blue thing is the 3rd seat, we needed more room inside so we put it in later. We can haul 9 passengers, with seatbelts, a perfect service rig!

We are one condo away from the beach...less than a 2 minute walk...mostly out of our front door and around the corner...pictures to come later....until then Have a GREAT day! 

The first leg of our Journey-USA side

 We got an early start Monday Jan 9, but noticed our transmission was still leaking, so after a day and 1/2 of convincing it not to leak we headed out again with no leak on Tuesday Jan 10... 


driving was uneventful...we got anywhere from 19 to 21 miles per gallon...
and our suburban weighed 8,000 lbs, yes we just had to get it weighed... yes that is with us in it...lol

So once we got to the border we found out the DMV made a minor mistake on our title... they put a B instead of an 8....so our registration is invalid until it is corrected...

We are still in good spirits tho...kinda a mini vacation inside a vacation...

We are "roughing it" at the Marriott, 

Monday is a legal holiday so it will be Tuesday 9am before we can do anything about our title...hopefully it will only be a emailed or faxed fix...

 Good things come to us so we know this is for our best interest! 

There were a few rest areas on the way and

 here Larry and Lex are feeling their oats.  

I just had to get their pic.  

I will let everyone know how things went on Tuesday! 

Home Sweet Home!

Today we secured our home away from home:
   
One of the last condo's on Javier Rojo Gomez st.

Looking forward to being there!  We got news that the congregation has an English group now that has a watchtower study every week!! Yay!

Our Condo has 2 bedrooms and 2 baths.  1/2 block off of the beach,
just a short 2 min. walk...Yay!  We have a pool shared between 6 condos.
Fully furnished of course...I'm sure our suburban will be loaded on the way
down.

Things are coming together nicely...thanks to the wonderful blessings of Jehovah!!

Our target date is January 17, 2012- first night in our new home for the next 5 months.

Puerto Morelos 2012 YAY!!

The time has come for count down... We plan on heading back to Puerto Morelos for the winter sometime in January...

We have been scrambling to get everything ready on the Suburban and things around to be on our way...I will let all know as things progress!

We have a couple electrical projects still working on but almost finished...and still in the ministry...trying to get our studies securely handed over to others in the congregation before we go.

Preaching in Puerto Morelos

They still havent had the dedication for the new kingdom hall in Puerto Morelos, I'm sure it will be done before Memorial.  

Things have been busy here for the last month or so...We are still waiting on the call from the new Kingdom Hall in one of the Mayan villages about 40 or so miles away, we havent seen it yet, but are looking forward to it.

Yesterday was a good day in service, it is the regular day for service in Puerto Morelos...Larry started a study with a man that had been there in the shadows all along, listening when Larry would talk to the guys in the booth next to his,  finally he stepped out and said he would like to learn more,  so at two different times yesterday, Larry was able to go over a few paragraphs in the BT book.   We also started a study with a lady that had been around when Larry studied with Rudy, in the background,  but said she was too busy to study, but when asked if  she would like to live forever, if that would be enough time, it peaked her interest, so this morning we are heading out to study with her.  There are a few rv's we will hit when we are there and then off to the beach, we just wear our swimsuits under our dress cloths and we're set.

We have heard rummors of a fresh spring water just in front of a hotel we swim at alot, so we will go looking for it this afternoon!!

Bible Studies in Puerto Morelos

Here is one of the Kingdom Halls in Playa Del Carmen, it is currently only Spanish but 3 congregations meet here,  they had an issue with their electrical so Larry and I took an afternoon before the meeting to look at it and see what we could do.
They have 3 rows of fans and currently had only one row working, but it had a problem and had melted down the rheostat...thus not working anymore.

3 Spanish congregations meet here, in Playa Del Carmen. 

Here is the inside of the kingdom hall...very beautiful!!

We thought you would appreciate this Dad...
We did fix it up alittle bit and made things kinda proper but we could only do so much...it is safer now.  Here on the left you can see the melted down rheostat... when we left it had been replaced and the other two sets of fans were working.  We still have some issues with the set of fans that melted the rheostat...and didn't have time before the next meeting to trace out the problem.

 This is an afternoon in the ministry,  one of Larry's bible studies works the night shift for his family hotel security and doesn't get up til 1pm or so...so we stop and see him for his study just before hitting the beach.
 this is Miguel,  he reads his in Spanish and Larry in English, then they discuss it.

We already went swimming and are heading back when we take the opportunity to study with Rudy,  he usually is very busy at his restaurant and only has a few minutes to discuss a question in the truth tract,  but today he was a few doors down from his place and relaxing...perfect timing...Larry was able to discuss more in detail and to get a few paragraphs in the bible teach book!! 

We are really enjoying our time here in Puerto Morelos, the friends are wonderful and the territory is ripe for harvest...the people are humble and willing to learn, they love the bible and show much reverence for anything it says.  It is surprising how much are non-denominational, and dislike Catholicism.  I really thought Mexico was mainly Catholic and traditions would be an issue but it is not for the most part that we have seen, or at least in this area.