January 26, 2008...La vida es una cancion

Hola Hermanos, Amigos, y Familia!

First of all..thanks for the emails! Its been great hearing from everyone and hearing about whats going on in your lives. Makes us feel not all that far away! :)
Lets see... we are still currently in Donihue. We are getting more comfortable getting around..knowing the streets...etc. Thankfully we get to use the bikes in service atleast half the time which helps a lot! The territory here is pretty big..and there is good support. It was mentioned that it gets worked every month. They don´t keep track of the not-at-homes...because it gets worked pretty frequently. Although..I have 2 Return Visits who have never talked to Witnesses before...so...I´m not sure how that happened! As mentioned..we work in service in the morning until lunch. We go home for lunch...and usually a siesta for me..and then we are back out by 4 or so. It varies how late we stay out. The group officially meets at 7...so 9 or 10 at the latest. Just when it starts to get dark! We have had a great time working with the different brothers and sisters. Its nice to be able to communicate a lot better than the last time! The comment has been made several times that I´m "Actually speaking this time!" Not a mute, shy girl anymore. I bet they are regretting me learning the language!...altho there is still WAY more to learn! Instead of "coffee breaks" we have been taking "popsicle breaks". So refreshing..
One of our favorite parts of the day is all eating together. Pretty much everymeal the family eats together..if they can. We have had some great conversations and get to hear the history of the family..and Chile. If you want to read more on Chile..the 1982 Yearbook highlites the country. The Ponce family is actually talked about in the yearbook. Juan, when he was a little boy..his family held the meetings in their garage. One of the first meeting places for worship in Chile! When Juan grew older...he started pioneering..and then special pioneering..and then moved to the south. Some years after..he married Patricia and they were in the Circuit work before they had their 3 children. Once in Donihue..they held meetings in their Family room for years..until 4 years ago when the Construction Group came and built them a Kingdom Hall. Its the same Construction group that Jenesia was working in...hence the connection now. Just a great family. Such a privilege staying with them. It will be sad to leave!
Last week we watched The Sound of Music together after dinner...and it was this big sing-a-long. Ever since then.. the songs have been stuck in all of our heads! When we went to the bus station to take Juanito...we were all singing in the station...carrying on...and...at the one point that I was singing solo....I turn around and all the offices started closing their windows and turning their lights off. I don´t think it was a coincedence! We all started laughing as others just looked at us like we were crazy. We even sang to Juanito the "So long, farewell" song...complete with our napkins waving in the air. So dramatic!
I have been reunited with Vincente!! Hes still adorable.. Hes 6 now and a publisher. His brother Rodrigo is 13 and has privleges in the congregation...youngest person I have seen doing the sound system! Vincente actually didn´t remember me intially..but..we picked up back right where we left off. I´m currently teaching him how to sing "twinkle twinkle, little star". They are on the summer vacation right now..so they have been fully supporting the service along with their parents.
Saturday it rained. We all accidently slept in...but Jenesia and I awoke first. We figured everyone needed their sleep. We rode the bikes to the store in the rain.. and we decided to make a big breakfast consisting of eggs and french toast. They had never had french toast before and loved it! Patti is such a great cook...everything she has made thus far is so delicious! So..we are intimidated to cook needlessto say. I told her I was only going to make American Dishes b/c they wouldnt know the difference of how its SUPPOSED to taste...and that hopefully they wont try it ever again by someone who makes is BETTER! Yesterday we made Fettucine Alfredo w- sauteed mushrooms..and a caprice salad...Also a hit! The only thing that didn´t turn out was the Oatmeal Raisen Cookies...(sorry dad)... Juan mentioned that he thought it was a pizza..and that he didnt think it would be sweet tasting. We fooled him! That night we still had some "cookie" leftovers and people came over. They had to eat the cookies with a spoon..but loved the taste. Kind of embarassing! I´ll blame it on our lack of ingredients.
Oh...and kind of exciting.. a brother in the congregation found out I like to play piano and he brought over his keyboard for us to have while we are staying here!! Very nice of him....but I think the family expected me to entertain and play WELL...haha. Before...They were listening to a certain CD and mentioned they liked the pianist because he plays so "clean...and with a happy feeling" I told them that they didn´t want to hear me play then because I play "dirty and with a sad feeling.." They started laughing...but i think they realize the truth behind the words.
Ok..so time to go for now. I uploaded new pictures! Oh...and it was brought to my attention that the clocks are wrong...Chile and California....5 HOUR difference...not 3. Oops. I´ll change those! Hope all is welll with everyone!

mucho saludos...abrazos!

Stephanie y Nessa