Our New House

We are moving on Monday into a more permanent place to live. We found a great house one day while in the ministry and it was an answer to our prayers.
We had almost decided on another place...a little big though and with only one bathroom, not ideal when company comes or for longterm visitors. But our area to look in was quite small as we hoped to be within a 10 minute walk from the Kingdom Hall. So we had almost exhausted the possibilities and decided on a Tuesday that we would call the owner of the big house on Wednesday.
Well Tuesday night we met a visiting sister from another part of Mexico who told us of her house with one bathroom and the dilemma it posed when visitors came, etc. Carla thought to herself, "I know, I know, but that is all we can find...one bathroom!" So that night she prayed about the house, that we not be too hasty, and if Jehovah wants us to stay in our apartment longer, to help us see that...or if he wants us to rent the big house with one bathroom, to help us feel better about that...but to make it clearer somehow. Then she prayed in the middle of the night when she got up, and in the morning again...



Our new home!

We went in the ministry with Coral and the group and of course all the while we look for signs that say "Se Renta" with a phone number. These can be handwritten and tied to the bars of a window, or even painted right on the wall...Carla and Coral were at a door, and no one answered and she turned around to see what the next block looked like...and right across the street was a carboard sign handwritten "Se Renta, $2500, no ninos". Very interesting! Why? Because no one ever puts the price on the sign, never...and "no ninos" what was that supposed to mean? Oh well, we don't have ninos, so it sounded good! But it looked so small. and $2500 ($180 usd) was less than anything we had seen that was the right size and definitely would not have 2 bathrooms...

So Carla said to Coral, "look! $2500, but it looks so small." Coral said, "well there's a man working on it, lets go ask him how many bathrooms it has!"



Bathroom #1

So we met Jose, he was busy and couldn't understand us and just kept telling us to call the number on the sign and speak to to owner....BUT HOW MANY BATHROOMS??? Then Mike and Rob come around the block to meet us and we call them over to see the house and Jose seems to feel better talking to them.. he invites us in to look at the house. It was perfectly cute and just right for us...but had only one bedroom and bathroom... so we thought...then I hear Jose say (in spanish of course) "there is another room and bathroom back here". Could i have actually understood his spanish or did I just really, really want to hear him say those words? Then Rob (who is Canadian but speaks a little spanish) says, "oh guys, he says there is another room and bathroom back here!!" Yes, through the back kitchen door is a covered outdoor courtyard area and beyond that is a separate room with it's own bathroom, and beyond that up an outdoor stair case is the roof top which is completely usable space and another separate room and half bath.... WOW, 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, all for $2500! All this time Jose is giving us the "tour" and explaining the work he is doing and all that will be made new, and it is just unbelievable. I mean, we have seen some real fixer uppers for more money and with only one bathroom!

Through this door is the extra rooms!

So now Carla is trying not to get her hopes up, because Jose says many have inquired and it could be rented for all he knows, we must call the owner and see.

So we break for coffee and call a spanish friend from the congregation who can call the owner for us to see if we have a chance at securing this place...and withing 20 minutes, it's ours! We made plans to meet the owner and give a deposit...it was amazing.

Our pretty tiles!

As we write this, it sounds a little corny, but for us, it feels like loving reassurance that we are being directed by Jehovah to do his will here in Merida. We prayed for clarity in our househunt and we were answered!

Field Service in Merida

Inside the wall of the Kingdom Hall property.

First of all, to all you brothers...NO TIES! That's right, ties are only for meetings...in service you don't use them and if you wear the right kind of shirt you don't have to tuck it in!!! I know!!!
So maybe we will get more visitors now! Anyway, field service is really nice. We haven't experienced everything yet, but this is what we have done: canvassing, door to door introducing ourselves and saying that "we are sharing information in English with foreignors and Mexicans, does anyone here speak English?...or in the vicinity?..." We say all of this in spanish of course!

Keith at a "door" in Progresso, the fishing village to our north.

We get a mixed reponse, usually "no" or "un poquito". or Si, mi hijo...my son who is at work...So we note any English speakers and make plans to follow up. If the individual we find first speaks English, we of course proceed with our presentation. It has been nice because, most English speakers we find are Mexicans who spent time in the US or learned English in school or were deported...all of which are beautifully humble people who respect the Bible and it's message. (60,000 Mexicans return to Mexico every month, many of whom speak perfect English and whose children may prefer English) And everyone we meet, anywhere...even in passing on the street, greets you with "buenas dias" or "tardes" or "noches", depending on the hour...we are still adjusting to that, we often say the wrong one. But it is refreshing to be in a culture that has natural affection...something lacking in the states, but foretold in the Bible.

The Starbucks on Paseo de Montejo, an avenue filled with mansions.

Left to Right: Carlos, Larry, Rob & Lisa, Mike & Carla
at Starbucks for a break, Coral was taking the picture.

We have several individuals we plan to return to... one at Starbucks, one at a Money Exchange, one at a DayCare, and many others...we seem to find more English speakers in the local businesses. With so many Mexicans returning to Mexico each month, some of which are our brothers and sisters...we can see the love and wisdom of our God Jehovah in expanding the work here in Mexico with English congregations. We definitely see the need here in Mexico for more workers and encourage any to visit who want to join us in our ministry and have an encouraging "need greater" experience!

Our Kingdom Hall, through the gate of course.

Our First Visitor!

Coral arrived! Yes our faithful sister from Florida, she was our first visitor! We had a wonderful 10 days with her that just flew by. We went on a Cenote tour with our new pals Gabby and Jean Eiff (spelled wrong, he is from France and said we could call him Jeep, which was great!) Gabby is from Merida, Jeep was visiting from France, they are engaged to be married.

Gabby & Jean Ive

The tour was hosted by a local brother Carlos who has also been a huge help to us...he is a tour guide for cruise excursion groups. We sort of tagged along. The tour included a 2 mile bike ride to the cenotes,(if you don't know what a cenote is, google it!) a demonstration by a Mayan Shamen regarding his plant based therapies for the local villagers when they are ill. Swimmining in the cenotes, and finally....Lunch! I must say it was the best part...maybe because we were starving and had rode bikes 4 miles at this point...but it was a beautiful platter of 4 traditional Yucatecan foods, accompanied by Jamaica, a red drink made from Hibiscus flowers (pronounced Ha-mi-a-ca). Full of antioxidants!

Yummy Yucatecan foods!

 
We had a full week of field service with Coral... next read "Field Service in Merida" for more details.

A Warm Welcome



Our apartment building, we are on top.

After our lasagna dinner, Jeff drove us to over to our apartment, 3rd floor, not too fun with 8 bags, but we managed. Our other friends, Keith, Renee, and Andreas and Franscisco had lovingly prepared our apartment for us by washing all the dishes, cleaning everything, and recovering what used to be nasty cushions on the furniture. We were so grateful for the warm welcome!
The next few days were spent recuperating from our journey...grocery shopping, unpacking, finding our way to the Kingdom Hall (12 minute walk), the Walmart and Chedrauri (15 minute walk).
As soon as we felt like we were getting the hang of it all, Carla got a sinus infection and fever. The Circuit Overseer visit was beginning and she missed service and one of the meetings, but recovered well and is doing great now.

A place to refill our 5gal water jugs.

As a side note, the friends here have been there for us every step of the way. Though they feel like they could have done more, we don't agree. We have been offered rides often, driven to pick up our water, laundry, groceries, anything really! Helped to get cell phone service, look at houses to rent, translating, translating and more translating, (thanks Carlos and Levi) We are trying to be independant and not burden them...but they want to help and we appreciate it so much!



Carla making "juice", must stay healthy!

We Made It!

After a wonderful visit to Virginia and Georgia with family and friends, we made our way down to Florida in our loaded down Trooper. We had a caravan with Jason and Kristina, River, and Diego. Our three vehicles and their two trailers were a site on the road! But we all arrived safely in Florida on schedule.

Our time in Florida was very mixed and went by too fast. We enjoyed visiting with family and friends! Planned and executed a baby shower! Packed our 8 bags to precise weight and size requirements! The days flew by and before we knew it we were saying goodbye again and boarding our plane...
Our airport and flight experience was uneventful. Some of you know of our concern for the "red light" at customs in Mexico. After security checks, you push a button and get a "green" or "red" light, red is bad of course. It means you must then open all of your bags and let customs agents rummage through them looking for goods you may not have declared. Our fear wasn't undeclared goods, but that we may not get our bags repacked! One in particular was our deliberately overweight bag, it was a mess, it had anything and everything in it and if you opened it, you may as well just live in the airport. But we got the "GREEN" light! Hey, it's the small things that make us happy!

Anyway...the Cancun airport is a dream...very clean and user friendly. Right outside the doors are the buses you take to anywhere! We took our 4 hr bus to Merida and arrived in the evening. Our friend Jeff picked us up and drove us to his house where his lovely wife Deb had prepared dinner...lasagna! Yes our first night in Mexico and we ate lasagna...it was perfect!

We hope we haven't already lost some of you...just hang in there and keep reading, it gets better.