Home..

We are home now. We had a relatively uneventful day traveling. The only semi-exciting thing was Jessica getting called to the front of the plane line, as the police had confiscated her bag because it was heavy. We had all our books in there (Bibles, Bible Teach books, books for the meeting, Jessica's textbooks for her online classes). Apparently the bag got flagged because it was so heavy. The police officer looked through literally every single book to make sure there wasn't anything illegal hidden in them.
Everything feels the same as when we left, except for the weather, which is uncomfortably humid. Once we start hearing all the things we've missed and starting missing all our new friends in Colombia, it will probably feel more like we were gone for five months.

Bittersweet Moments..

So today is our last day. We have to wake up bright and early at 5 am tomorrow to get to the airport by 7. These last fews days have gone by very quickly. We are happy to be coming home, but also sad to leave this experience and all the friends we've made.

The Ortegas threw us a surprise going away party yesterday. We had absolutely no idea they were planning it. Felipe and Gladys even came for a little while.

As you can see from this picture, we were attacked with confetti.


Saturday was our last meeting. This is part of the congregation:

Almost our last day in service:

This is Angela, who I was studying with for the months of May and June. I passed her over to Kelly last Thursday. She's a good student-likes to learn and best of all, was super patient when I didnt know how to say something in Spanish.

Sorry we didn't write more for this last post, but we have to finish packing and just got home from our paseo to the river.

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Emily and Gabriela. Gabriela studies with Laura, the mom, Sulema, studies with Kelly, and the dad, Oscar, studies with Jesus.

Steph and Kelly No. 2 talk last week..

Kelly and Jessica, No. 2 talk this past Tuesday...

Tomorrow Emily leaves, and then only 2 weeks more for us. Time has flown by!

Good times...

Right after Emily took this picture, the burro kicked her. It was the subject of many jokes for the rest of the week.A balanced breakfast: cornflakes and a twin banana.
We had the Circuit Overseer visit this week: Gustavo and Carmen Elena Rodriguez. They have been in the traveling work since '99 and were special pioneers before that. As you can imagine, they have some awesome stories.

This is Esteven, the 5 yr old I have fallen in love with.
Irnory, Kelly, and Stephany striking a pose in the mountain territory. (Yes, that is the view we get to see when we go out in service).

Party at the house yesterday! Yesterday, we had a small gathering, of only about 40 or so. First about 20ish for San Cocho (delicious soup) for lunch. They had to make it in a giant pot over a fire. Then more people came later, including some musicians (all brothers) and there was a little concert of singers and guitar players. Then some dancing and later some soccer in the dark. Overall, awesome party.

Saturday was Emily's first offical day in door-to-door service. We took a picture with these kids after they surrounded me when they found out I was American. From far away, it looked like the picture of Jesus surrounded by children in the Learn From the Great Teacher book with the scripture "Let the little children come to me." But in this case, they were surrounding me so I could teach them English.

This little girl was the cutest. When we played soccer, she told Alejandro (the guy in the video), "Think of me so that you will win." She can also sing "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes...." in English, complete with the dance.

This is Diani. She is 18 years old and a regular pioneer. Her knowledge of the Bible and ability to reason from the scriptures really shows how much effort she puts into personaly study. In addition to being an active commenter in our meetings, she is learning Sign Language and attends their Sunday meetings. She recently spent two months serving in isolated territory with another young sister. They lived in a small town in the mountains with a two hour walk to and from the Kingdom Hall. (!) She says her goal is to move "anywhere!" there is need and be in the full time service. She is a great example of whole-souled service!

Wednesday we went to a part of the territory that involves a lot of walking (on a mountain). We only work it about once a month. Here are some of the sights typical to this area.