We've had quite an exciting six months... and at the same time, it's been a bit of nothing too.
Let's start with the beginning of the year: *Enjoy the slideshow below, which has these pictures, and more!*
January, 2020
It was time for our congregation Pioneer Meeting. But to make it even more special... we were able to spend that time with the regular pioneers of 7 other congregations from our circuit.
Love is in the air! Congrats to Tianna & Garrett Long. May Jehovah bless your marriage always.
We went to the English Circuit assembly. It's always great to spend time with our friends.
February, 2020
Even more LOVE in the air! Congrats Heather & Gideon Lumb. Everything was simply beautiful!
Now it was time for our Circuit Assembly. Thank you Jehovah for the spiritual food at the appropriate time.
Then, my sister, Wanda, came visit me!! (I mean 'us') It was a sweet treat and I simply loved having them all here!!! I wish it was for longer... but it was great having them here.
AND... my Mom & Dad visited us too!!! I'm so happy they came. It was so needed (for me, anyway). I loved having them here, seeing all the crazy things that go on in our life... and also seeing the beautiful parts as well
But, alas, that time had to end. Just as COVID-19 was gaining more and more strength around the globe... they headed home, just in time.
March, 2020
After some deliberation... my other sister, Jasmine, (Jon's sister; my sister-in-law) came to visit as well. This was a much needed time all together.
LOVE LOVE LOVE all my family!!
Then came Tuesday, March 17, 2020.
The message we were kinda' dreading... but also expecting, at the same time:
'Hermanos, la reunion esta noche ha sido cancelada. Esperamos mas información del sucursal en los próximos días. Gracias.'
"Brothers, the meeting for tonight has been canceled. We will wait for more information from the branch in the following days. Thank you."
That was our first, and only canceled meeting so far. Our congregation, Javillar, had decided to split up into our service groups, and conduct meetings that way. Starting that Saturday, we had our meetings via Skype, then Zoom. We haven't missed any spiritual food and we know Jehovah will always provide.
The Dominican government issued a State of Emergency, if I'm not mistaken, on Thursday, March 19. After a couple of weeks, they also issued a curfew; first it was 8:00pm to 5:00am... Then it was changed to 5:00pm to 5:00am, seven days a week. Masks are required in all public places.
Our family decided to stay home as much as we could. We would only go out when it was time for food shopping. We did not want to put ourselves at any extra risk during this time. And we continue to keep this routine.
After a couple of weeks, we started asking ourselves... How will we have the Memorial? How will we continue to preach? Jehovah has all that covered!
April & May, 2020
As we have all seen on JW.org, even more people than we probably could have ever imagined joined us for the Memorial of Christs' death. Just our group had 78 in attendance.
How about the congregation as a whole? With 98 publishers, we had a total of 255 people!
The country is still under a state of emergency and has a curfew - but it has been changed to 7:00pm to 5:00am Monday to Saturday and still 5:00pm to 5:00am on Sunday (the usual party night in DR).
So, we are still home... working, preaching, playing games and being a little bored every now and then. But we have tried some new recipes, had date nights, movie nights, talent shows and several family worships with other friends. It certainly is new... but still great and exactly what we need right now.
Coming up...
In June, we have Keilani's graduation, our Circuit Overseer visit; our 20th (yes, twentieth) anniversary!!; a package coming in the mail!!! (yes, we get 'three exclamation points' happy for that) and, I'm sure many, many more fun zoom things.
Let's see what the rest of the year has in store... When and how will we have our convention and other assemblies? What will the new service year look like? When will we go back to having meetings at the Kingdom Hall? What other recipes will we try next?!? Stay tuned!!!