Mr and Mrs Rivera Arrive to DR

My parents are here! So my parents arrived Friday and have seen the DR! It's been different for them! Saturday and Sunday we went to service and they participated with the ASL and the Spanish. 

Monday I took them to Bethel and they loved it! They got a surprise because I had made arrangements to eat lunch at Bethel. And we had the privilege of eating at the main table. We got to meet the missioneries that started the preaching work here in the 1940's. It was definitely a lovely experience. 

Update on my side of the world

Hey guys! Sorry I've been in a transition of being in samana and then heading to the Capitol since my parents arrive today! They are going to be visiting for 10 Days! I told them "be ready y'all aren't coming as tourist, y'all are coming to live like the Dominicans!" Lol look forward to the visit. 

Recently in samana we had some friends visit. Therefore after enjoying service time we have been able to do horse back riding, get together and talk, and of course head to the beach. It's been real fun. We have had groups together and it's a melting pot! Some are from the states, canada, Denmark, Sweden, and other places. Beautiful to see how the organization can get together. 

  

We went to Las Terrenas beach!

In the Capitol:

I took a guagua (local DR taxi) to go to the grocery store, at a later stop this women got on the guagua. At first I thought she was holding her purse near her chest, but then once she sat down she revealed her precious little butterfly. Her little baby girl. Even the taxi driver and I were shocked to see the baby, it was simply unexpected. I told her "was she born prematurely?" The woman said "yes, she only weighed 2 pounds" I then said "but she is strong!" The woman smiled. It was such a sweet moment. My niece was born premature and it was difficult for the entire family, but this baby lives in a third world country...and she is keeping up. Lol. Just made me think how wonderful Jehovah created us, he gave us a body that can be strong and overcome the things that we must face today. My heart goes out to all those moms and the babies that struggle. 

Samana Memorial

Memorial was AWESOME! 

Samana is a group and before had the Memorial together with Spanish, but this is the first year that Samana had it on their own. There was a 67 attendance and 32 were deaf! I was told that's double the deaf count from last year! Also out of those 32...24 were invites that aren't established studies or go to meetings regularly. So wow! 

There is a deaf bible study and she takes care of her grandson who is only a couple months old. As soon as she arrived I took the baby and took care of him during the entire Memorial. Within 10 minutes he fell asleep and didn't wake up until after concluding prayer. She was so thankful that I helped her and I'm glad she was able to fully pay attention and enjoy. 

Service... Covering the territory

Well we need to cover the territory for the memorial! Samana has a large territory and it consists of other small surrounding towns. Samana is know for its hills! 

So last Friday we went to a small town in the outskirts of samana . It's called Las Cruces. Since ASL here is a group we work with the Spanish congregation. So today we handed out invitations for the memorial in ASL and Spanish. Well let me tell you that Samana and areas surrounding it are full of hills! Seriously the preaching work is like hiking!!! Well going up is fun but my biggest worry is coming down! So many rocks and dirt. Honestly I almost fell like 12 times! Anyways going down I kind of slid and landed on a rock lol. I landed as though I was sitting on the rock. Well at the same time a little girl was coming up and starting giggling. So I asked her "hey come sit with me". She did and I pulled out the invitation and started explaining to her that if she was going down the hill and almost fell but her friend helped her what would she say? She said "I'd say thank you" then I said "exactly! We appreciate what others do for us, the same can be said about Jesus and his sacrifice. It's important for us to thank him and God and show our appreciation." This little girl is so smart and the conversation carried on for a good while. Just like we learn in the kingdom ministries take advantage of every opportunity to share the good news! 

Below are more pictures the hills...pretty much they make you exercise but trust me once your at the top meeting people and looking down and seeing the beautiful water it's WORTH IT! 

The view is amazing and to think people actually live there and see it everyday! 

Also you'll see in the pictures that the terrain consist of dirt, rocks, mud, small rivers, I mean different things. But none of that stops us from reaching these people and talking to them about Jehovah!

And even today after a long service morning, the group got together and ate some empanadas and then us girls headed the beach! So refreshing! 

Just to provide an update about blog and post. I most likely will be posting twice a week. Haven't decided on which days but keep checking for more! Anyone wanting to visit doesn't matter for how long COME! Dominican Republic is waiting for you! ❤️Patty