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!!!
Friday, December 16, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
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.
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.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
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.
.
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!!!
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!!!
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
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.
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.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
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.
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.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
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???
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???
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