The New Craziness

So It Begins. Today is the last day of peace I will have before it starts getting really busy, right up to the move. Technically, I don't even have peace today because I have to clean the house in expectation of Zach's parents visiting this weekend. It's gonna be a lot of fun, girls night out on saturday and a party on sunday after meeting.
Hey- I didn't say busy meant boring.
We leave on Wednesday for California, and come back on the 9th. After that, it's doctor appt this, dentist appt that, then another party. The CO Visit is in early February. We really need to get cracking on our time so we aren't doing 150 hours in the middle of a hot muggy summer in La Ceiba. I WILL make my hours this year.

On the bright side, I slept last night, even if that means waking up early, I think its a sign that i'm not so stressed out anymore. Everything is starting to come together,


54 days!!!

Service Day

Today was an awesome day in service. We worked with a full car group of seven people doing calls. It was really nice to work with everyone, especially Dustin, since we have never worked with him before. Here's a picture of the boys.

On the right is Dustin Zink, then Zach and William Zink, all with their early morning beverage of choice. William is my sorta pioneer partner, when Zach isn't available. He's 17, and this is his first year pioneering too. The boys' mom Cindy is pioneering as well.

Their family hopes to go to Costa Rica next year for a couple months, which would be so amazing. I really want to go with them, but since we will have just gotten back from Honduras, there is no way it would work. So I'm hoping the boys can come visit us for a couple weeks, just to get a taste before they move.

Literally JUST got some exciting news! Brother Woodrow emailed us from Honduras- we have a place to live! There is a small apartment in a gated complex where a bunch of other Witnesses live. It's only $135/mo and it is completely furnished! That is just amazing, because when I was looking for furnished apartments they were quite a bit more. I was so worried about how we were going to have to buy a bed, and a fridge, and pots and pans and all those little things that make up a household. Now we don't have to do any of that. I can really see Jehovah's hand in this.

And, even more exciting- Bro Woodrow said he can get us on the next ministry school schedule! So we can start giving talks in the hall right away. I am just so excited about this!!!!!!

Til next time...

8.5 weeks

Seems like just yesterday there was 9.5 weeks left, now a whole week has gone by and we haven't gotten anything accomplished.
Well, that's not completely true. We bought a new suitcase, which is a big duffel bag on wheels. It's really nice because everything that we had in two suitcases now fits in the one, so we have two left to pack our clothes and things in. That weight limit is going to be REALLY close.

We've also being working on a little shindig before we leave, so we can hang out with the friends one last time. I get kinda sad when I think about it, but it's not like we will never come back so....

We also have been emailing the brother down in Honduras. Found out the hotel we are going to book is actually most likely no where near the Kindgom Hall, so you know, good job there Robynn. He is still looking for a place for us to stay, which is really nice of him, and we get to call him for help when we get down there.

So mildly productive, but because I can't cross anything off the To Do List, it feels like the week has been wasted.

I think it probably doesn't help that I've been sick so I haven't gotten out in service all week. Feeling guilty about that. The pioneer meeting is tomorrow though, and that should be encouraging. I've never been to one of those.

Zach's parents are coming to visit next week, then we go back to California with them for a week, so we are gonna be busy here soon. Time is just flying by and it's going to get even faster.

I'm starting to get a little scared about going, just because third world countires are dangerous places and you never know what might happen. I'm still really excited, but somewhat paranoid about it. I'm sure that'll pass once we get down there. Or it'll get worse. One of the two.

So we've had a lot of new readers judging by the stats. If y'all want to become followers or comment so we can see who you are, that'd be awesome.

Good Morning

We had a good morning out in service today. I did early morning service for only the second time ever. It's actually fun, once I wake up fully.

I think the best part must be the car group and the coffee, because we sure don't find a lot of people out in the am. We drive around apartment complexes and parking lots looking for people, but instead find a lot of cars ready to be stolen- they are on, warming up, and no one is around.

The few people we do find are really receptive though, and friendly, even if they aren't interested.

It's been encouraging working a different kind of service and getting a good response.

I've been thinking about how we will do service in Honduras, being the foreign language group and all. I can't imagine we will go door to door like we do here; I think we will probably do more like the language groups here do, walking around town speaking the language, asking around, and instead of driving from this one house here to this other house there, we will probably do a LOT of walking. It'll be like rural territory in the city!

Should be fun!!!

American Airlines is the Devil

I called American Airlines this morning, just to verify how much baggage we can bring, and sure enough the weight limit is 50 lbs. I remember the good old days when it was 70 lbs...O how nice that would be. I was already pretty sure it was only 50 lbs, but I had hope, which was very quickly dashed to pieces.

This is a really good chance for us to simplify, so I was thinking the 50 lbs per bag wouldn't be a problem. However, we keep having to add items to the list, so the weight keeps going up and up and up.... Guess we aren't taking the PS3.

Shopping Trip

Today I went to Ikea to pick up things I think we'll need on our trip. I got some cool stuff, mostly for clothing storage, since I doubt we will have a dresser.

It's so hard not to start packing everything right now. I'm going through it all, trying to figure out what I won't need for two months. We can only take four suitcases at 50lbs each, so this could be difficult. I didn't think we'd be taking that much, but since I just used up one suitcase on household items, I'm a little worried.

I found the cutest suitcase online last night. It makes me want to be a kid again.
.

Good News

We talked to the brother in Honduras tonight. He said February was a good time to come, so I'm trying to book the flight right now but the British Airways website isn't cooperating. We leave February 22. 75 days feels like forever.

He gave us some information about the city, mainly that it is safe to ride bikes around, and some of the brothers actually do that. The congregation is small- 28 publishers- and they are assigned the entire city. There are parts they have yet to work. There is a family from Canada down there right now, and another is coming in on Monday. Plus two other families will be down there for 2 weeks here soon. It will be fun to meet other people doing need great work. I love Canadians, eh? :)

Their circuit is 3 countries- little surprise when there are only four English congregations in Honduras. The English started up about 2 years ago.

Side Note- there is a fly dying somewhere in my bedroom right now. At 3 am, it's really LOUD!

Apparently, there is a brother down there who manages (owns?) an apartment building. It might be full up but Bro Woodrow said he would check around for us, and that with our budget we will have no trouble getting something. I wasn't worried exactly, but it was nice to hear that we'll be good in that aspect.

We will still be arranging our own ride from the airport (which is actually more like 2.5 hours), and will still stay at a hotel initially, just while we get acclimated. I've already got a tentative reservation with the hotel. Once I book the flight, I will confirm it with them.

Got the pioneer school issue figured out. They probably won't be having one in Honduras, since there's not really any new English pioneers. So I'll have to go here. Just need to talk to the CO to confirm that he won't take me off the list.

Arg, the British Airways website STILL isn't working. Guess I'll have to call in the morning.


****Update**** It's 6:15am and I finally got the flight booked. It's official, no turning back now!!!

Research

So now that we have a plan sorta in place, I feel like lots of things are coming together for us.
I found a bunch of apartments we can afford, emailed an agent to work with on finding a place, and discovered that Honduras does, in fact, have a form of Walmart.

I also found a hotel we can stay at while looking for our home. They will pick us up at the airport, even though it's over an hour away. And the best part, it's located less than a mile from the Kingdom Hall. Hope we find an apartment that close.

The bank is being a little difficult, but it's just paperwork.

We're getting in to the doctor to work on the immunizations we need, not looking forward to that so much. Most everything we need is a series of shots.

I'd had a doctor appointment on Feb 29, which only caused a slight problem with the idea of leaving mid-February. Thankfully, I was able to move it up to the week of the CO visit, so now we are free to leave when we want. We were planning on waiting until after the CO visit to go anyway.

The one thing we don't know about is pioneer school. We plan to be back here in time for me to go, but if we are gone long enough, they might forget to put me on the list. So I have to make sure I won't get forgotten, or I'll have to try to go in Honduras. That would require a visa extension, which we might not get. So it's a slightly precarious position to be in, because I really don't want to miss out on that privledge, and who knows where we will be the next year.

I'm sure it'll all work out. Everything else has.

Patience is not our Virtue

So in the letter we received from the Mexico branch, there was information for the COBE of the congregation we were assigned to. The letter reccomended that we contact him with intentions and questions and so forth.
Funny story- we don't know how to dial out of country. The brother has a number with a New York area code (apparently they use magicjack to keep in touch with the branch) and he has a number that appears to be local to La Ceiba. However, the Honduran country code is the same as the New York area code, so it's kinda confusing. I think we finally figured it out, but the New York number won't go through and the Honduras number goes to a generic voicemail- and we haven't gotten a call back. So, not really sure we did that right.
So yesterday afternoon we sent him an email, to a really weird email address- it was all numbers. So not really sure we got that right either. I know the branch wouldn't give us wrong info; I just don't think Zach and I know what we are doing. At any rate, now we are waiting for a call or an email. I mean, I've given the brother almost 24 hours, why hasn't he responded? (whine whine whine)
The waiting is the hardest part. First we waited until Honduras called us, and we got excited, then we waited til we got the approval letter, and we got more excited, now we have to wait for the brother- and yes, I know it'll take a couple days, I wasn't really expecting a response so soon- but it's so HARD!!! We want to plan and buy tickets and pack our stuff and go!

And this is why I need to learn patience.

Weird fact of the day:
I've been looking at apartments down there, and although they look really nice, I don't think they include basics- like a refrigerator. All the apartments have pictures of the kitchen, and I don't see any fridges. So I'm really hoping they have rent-a-centers down there, cause I don't particularly want to live without a fridge. Also- if we don't get a furnished place, what are we going to do about pots and pans and dishes and, you know...a bed?
Hmm, maybe they have walmarts too.

Heard from the Branch

We heard from the Mexico branch today. Guess who is going to Honduras? Well, actually it's kinda obvious I suppose.

Super excited!!!! But a little nervous. We still have to visit and make sure we like the place and they like us and all that. I'm sure it will be fine though.

So, who's coming to visit???

Burnout

Feeling a bit of burnout lately. Some days it is so hard to get out of bed. I know the end result is worth it, but o how the flesh is weak on cold mornings.

Any suggestions for making it easier?

No new updates on Honduras or the Assembly Hall. It's been a really quiet month.

Nothing new under the sun

So we haven't had anything exciting happen lately. I was hunting so I didn't get out in service a lot, hence no new experiences. Zach did get a job for the next two months, which is really nice. It's a pretty easy job too.

We had the special assembly this last weekend, which was encouraging. We went to the meeting for those interested in the Bible School for Couples. Wow, do we have a lot to do before applying. It might be a while...

Right now we are just trying to focus on paying off our debt, so we are free to move on or move out or whatever have you. But that is a lot easier to do on paper than to put into practice. A few random things- like brakes for the car- come up, and next thing you know all your progress is gone. We want to move to Honduras completely debt free, which means selling Zach's car, but we don't know that we will get enough for it so we have to do something to make up the difference. I just don't know what.

We haven't heard from the branch yet, so this could all be pointless conjecture, if they decide we would do the most good where we are. But if we do get to go, there is so much to consider and do, sometimes the task seems insurmountable. 

Feeling the big words today.

I know with Jehovah's blessing it will all work out in the end, but those little details can get to a person sometimes.

Update on Honduras

After we posted the other night, we got a call from the brothers in Honduras. It turns out Honduras no longer has a branch, but instead has a translation center. So our information is being forwarded to the Mexico branch and we should hear back soon. Zach talked to the brother (Bill something) for a little bit about the area, and he told Zach that him and his wife served in the area we want to go to for over 15 years, and the English congregations need help still.

It's so exciting to know our information was received and they actually seem to want us. Especially considering the work they had to do to get ahold of us just to let us know what is going on. We thought they would respond by letter, so we didn't put down our phone number or email in the letter we sent. They would have had to call New York to get the info for our brothers, then call our brothers to get our info. I imagine international calls are expensive, although they do have a MagicJack with a New York area code, so I don't know. I just thought it was really loving of the brother to call us just to give us a heads up.

I know our plan is to spend some time in Honduras then come home and go to Nepal, but I get the feeling we will go to Honduras and end up loving it so much we decide to stay. The only thing I don't know about is the Visa requirements. It's been really hard to get info on how to stay for a year or longer. I figured out how to stay for 6 months, you just leave the country for 72 hours after 3 months, then come back in. That really sucks, cause then, you know, we might have to go to Nicaragua or Belize or something. O the horror....

Until next time....

Honduras here we come.......maybe. :)

So today when I got home from the RBC build in Black Forest, I checked the messages on our machine, and guess what! The brothers from the Honduras Branch called us to ask for our e-mail so they could send us further information. This is so awesome. We'll keep you all up to date on what happens next, till then........

Friday News

Today was exciting. Zach and I got to work on the hall build in town. Zach is doing drywall and I am in sound now.

You know what this means...NEW TOOLS!!!!! Super excited by all the new things we got. Nothing special really, just tape and exacto knives and wire strippers, things of that sort. But since it's all stuff I need for my new assignment, it makes me feel really special, like I belong. My team is really nice too, I already knew two people from different congregations we've been to, but everyone else was really welcoming as well. Of course, as Jehovah's people, they would be, but it's still nice to experience.

Zach finished his assignment today, but mine is just beginning. I am supposed to be there tomorrow until about 11pm working, and I'll be there again on Sunday.

Here are some pictures I took today.

RBC

I got my RBC assignment. I'm the newest member of the Sound Department.
I'm excited because this means I still get to crawl into small spaces and put things together. At least that's what I've been told. The brother also told me that Sound is really good to learn for international building, where HVAC isn't because not all countries have a/c or heaters in their halls. I hadn't thought of that before.
I think this will be a really good assignment for me. I can't wait until my first job!

RBC News

I'm so excited. This am I got an email from our RBC saying they had received my application. I was worried about it because it's gotten lost a few times, and I really want to be able to work on the local assembly hall. Looks good now.

In the email, they said that I would hear from them for my interview within the next few months. Well, I was out in service this morning and got a call- my interview is on Friday. That was fast!

I'm really hoping I get assigned to HVAC since I have experience in that from New Orleans. But of course, any assignment will be awesome.

SO Happy!!!!

Catching Up

We had a really nice trip to California. It was great to get to see the family, especially the little kids. Playing Auntie and Uncle is always fun.

We did get out in service a couple times, but we still need to get a lot of hours. The next 3 weeks ought to be fun, probably we will go out every day. My grandma is coming in Wednesday to pioneer with us for a couple weeks, which will be a lot of fun.

Zach has a job interview tomorrow. Hopefully, he will get the position. It's part time and temporary, which could get us right up to March when we plan to move.

We'll let y'all know what happens!

Hindi Service

Still in California. We went out in Hindi service with Jessica Haston, who is in the local Hindi group. Zach and I wore our Nepali outfits, which led to a funny experience.

We went into a mail stop to visit with the owners. Jessica was hoping that one of the employees would be there because he speaks Nepali. Well, he wasn't there, but it turns out that employee is related to the person there, so he called his cousin and Zach spoke to him in Nepali over the phone!

The employee (owner?) was so excited about our outfits. He kept telling us how great they look and asking questions about it. He actually wanted to get pictures of us. He didn't have a camera though, so he told his wife to bring one when she came in to work, and told us to come back.

So we came back an hour later, and sure enough, his wife brought in the camera. We got a few photos and then got to talk to them and their customers for a while.

We picked up a couple Hindi movies as well. Yay, someting to watch on the plane home! 

This has been a great trip so far, I'll be sad to come home.



Side Note- please comment occasionally folks. We'd like to know who is reading this. Thanks

Yay Photos

Coming to you Live...

From the CAR!!!!
Currently posting using internet from Zach's phone on the computer. This is the coolest thing ever.

Just finished with the first Nepali Meeting and heading out to Cali.
The meeting was incredible. There were soooo many people there. We were expecting like 60 or so, there were 119! That's a congregation. We realized we seriously need to brush up on our Nepali, everyone spoke so fast we could hardly understand....

There was great participation from all the Nepali people as well. The brothers are talking about trying to make this a regular thing, hopefully with yahovako pavitra shakti it will turn out well.

I would post pictures but the SD card is acting up right now, so we will have to figure that out later.

ZachnRobynn to the Rescue!!!

We went out in service this am, being as it's the first and all. We had done one call when I noticed a dog walking down the street with a rope trailing behind it, looking like he had escaped his yard. We were somewhat debating what to do about the dog and did another call on the same street. As soon as we got back in the car, we saw the dog dart out into the busy road right in front of us and get hit. It sounded horrible, we thought for sure he was dead.

Until we saw him start running away. Now there was NO way the dog wasn't hurt. We decided to try to catch him and take him to the vet, or at least call the owners. So there we were, running down the street, into backyards, behind the Safeway....finally caught up to him before he ran into another street. SO we got him calmed down, had him drink some water and waited for the Humane Society to come pick him up and take him to be looked at.

His injuries didn't look all that bad, cut his tongue and mark by his eye, but his breathing was terrible and hissing, like a punctured lung or something. Hopefully he'll be ok.

Zach thinks he was being raised to be a fighter, he was pretty defensive and angry and malnourished. So really, the Humane Society is a good thing, getting him away from that environment.

Quite the adventure, and yes, we did actually manage to do some service after that.

First Month of Pioneering

Well, my first month is over with in like 10 hours. I suppose it went pretty well. I'm going to be a little bit short, I didn't really understand how to schedule my time. But next month we are going to try to get more than 70 hours, so I'll get caught up. It'll really help that I have Zach kicking me out of bed every morning.

I only talked to four people all month, even though we did territory every day. I am absolutely amazed by that. Zach probably quadrupled the number of calls he has, I think he is going to do just fine.

Sooooo ready to be in California, although I'm not sure how that will affect service time. Should be interesting at least.

Going to California!

So we sold my car to Zach's sister Tiffiny. You know what that means...ROAD TRIP!!! I have been dying to go on a road trip for months now, so I can finally get it out of my system. Our good friend Sam is coming with us, and she has never been to California so this should be really fun. If nothing else, we will have someone else to drive while I sleep for 17 hours.

We leave Sunday or Monday and get back Saturday. Not sure when we should leave yet, because te first Nepali meeting in Denver is Sunday night and we can't miss that. I'll be sure to upload photos when we get back.

October is going to be really busy. First the trip out to Cali, then we get home Saturday and Grandma comes in on Wednesday for two weeks to pioneer with us.

I'm exhausted already.

Moving Ahead

Well, it's been exactly a week and no job offers yet. Not like we could really expect something that soon.
We did, however, sell my car, so that's progress. Zach's sister is buying it so we are driving out to California Monday to hand it over. We will get to spend about a week with the family which is really nice.

We have been working on a debt consolidation loan for a while now, it finally got closed on today which is a relief. This really helps our finances, we have an end goal in site for having our debt completely paid off, with less of a payment that we were making- which is a huge help to our current sad little budget.

I have to say, with all the ups and downs Zach and I have gone through financially since being married, I am getting quite good at this. Maybe I should try to become a CFA or CPA or whatever it's called. But first, does anyone want any advice? I'm sure I could be of some use to one or two of you...

Come on, you know you wanna try it..

Zach started a study!

So we went out in service today, like everyday now. Zach had a gentleman to call back on today that he met last Saturday. He was there for about half an hour, placed the Bible Teach book and went over the first three paragraphs for chapter 8. He is supposed to go back next week to consider more of the chapter.
Sounds like a doorstep study for now, but very exciting. Now it's my turn.

I'm debating on a very straight forward presentation, just asking if they would like a study. Has anyone had success with that?

Not Stressing At All

It has been so nice going out in service with Zach the past two days. We hardly ever get to go together. I've been studying his technique and basically it seems to be "don't take no for an answer" but of course he is polite about it.

Had an interesting experience yesterday. We went to speak with a gentleman outside his house and he spoke spanish. Well, right as he was telling us that, the other sisters in our group walked by and one said "Hey, do you need a spanish magazine?" Boy was that perfect timing. The man took it and we will be turning the call over to the spanish congregation. After that door, we stopped and talked to the other sisters. It turns out the one has never used the "Good News for all Nations" book. So Zach showed her how to use it and let her borrow it. She ended up using the book at the very next house!

Hoping to sell my car today. That should get us by until Zach gets a job. If he gets a job soon, we will have a nice savings for Honduras. I'm gonna miss my car, but really, if we are pioneering together, we don't need two cars. All about the simplifying...And we know Jehovah will take care of us.


Until Next Time....

Welcome to our webpage

Getting tired of all that Facebook drama, so now we have a dedicated page where people can see what's going on with us, and share what's going on with them.

To start off, We have recently been approved as regular pioneers. This will be my first time, and Zach's second. So I get to go to pioneer school next year!!! Very Exciting.

You know, we have always thought about pioneering together someday, but circumstances can change so quickly. Who knew SomeDay would be Today?

Even though Z doesn't have a job right now, we have faith that it will all work out. We're looking for something part time so we can still pay our bills but have plenty of time to pioneer together. This especially will train us for our larger goal of moving where the need is great. We're going to have to have a reduced budget and pio together whereever we go. So why not start practicing for it early?

I hear Jah blesses those who put him first and rely on him. We should all turn to him when we are in moments of seeming distress.He really will take the load of your shoulders and bring them onto his.
Right now, I could be totally freaking out about what's going to happen. But I ain't worried at all. As far as I'm concerned, Z and I are going out in service tomorrow and what ever happens after that- we will deal with it then.

Hoping to have some good experiences to share next time.

Adios