Games Kids Play

So it's summer. Your friends are all together. You don't have a ball. Some coconuts are lying around. Hurling coconuts is the sport of the day...first at each other, then on to the smashing event. 

Tether ball--island style

One Big Happy Family

Tetfi's prayers were answered last Sunday. Patrick came with his family to the meeting for the first time! He enjoyed it so much, he says he'll be back this Sunday and accepted a study of his own. George told us that when Patrick doesn't come to the meeting he is very sad, but this Sunday, he was very happy because Patrick was there. The kids have been encouraging him to come to every meeting they go to.

Every night, the whole family reads the Bible together and considers how they can apply what they've read personally. This has resulted in major changes in their family.

Using the June magazine article that mentioned budgeting, we prepared a budget together. After realizing how much money they were throwing away on cigarettes and betel nut, Tetfi and Patrick have almost completely stopped those habits. He went from a pack of cigarettes every day and a half to one or two cigarettes a day. Tetfi chews 1/2 of a betel nut a day now and will not be purchasing anymore.

Last week, Patrick told us that he wants a better life for himself and his family and later on, Tetfi said that she wants to change her life 100 percent.

Tetfi has been motivated to share what she's learned with many others, resulting in two Bible studies. One of them is Patrick's niece. Tetfi asked her to describe her (Tetfi's)life before she was studying the Bible and now after she's been studying. Then she asked her why Jehovah has allowed Satan to rule the world. When she gave an incorrect answer, Tetfi explained why, then said that for these reasons (life change and knowledge), she should have her own study!

We're inviting everyone...

Friday was the first day to use the invitations for the district convention. There were nine others not pictured that went out. What fun! We're all looking forward to our convention at the end of July.

Cella Bay

One Stop Shopping

Tanya was able to break out her Chuukese with this very nice lady who sells those lovely handmade skirts from Pohnpei and Chuuk beside her and in her store, she sells fish.

Family Worship

As you know, for the last 6 weeks or so, we've been helping some young ones prepare for the Watchtower study (and encouraging their parents to help them too). This Saturday, we couldn't. Later in the afternoon, we stopped by Tetfina's home. This is what we saw when they opened the door to us! Tetfi is helping her children study in Chuukese and English with a view to participating in the meeting.  

Tetfi is working hard to apply Bible principles in her life. She is reading the Bible daily and trying to use what she is reading to improve her life. Now, she is trying to reason with her children from the Bible instead of the way she used to discipline them. For example, she has read 1 John 4:21 to her kids when they are fighting to help them to see that how we treat our family matters to God and affects our relationship with him. (Thanks, Bekah! This helped on the other side of the world and in a different language!)  It is working. They are all much calmer and happier. In fact, the little one sleeping has almost quit cursing, only using those words when he is mad. Tetfi is beginning to say no to things that are displeasing to God and that would hurt her children.  Because of what she is learning, she has made a stand for Bible principles in spite of the culture of her community. She has come to appreciate 1 Peter 5:10, '...he will make you firm, he will make you strong.'

Summertime

Crab Wranglers

Ithan caught the hermit crab that was living in a borrowed shell, but Jeremiah seems to be the crab whisperer. 

A Long Overdue Post

Candy at her first meeting

This is what we see everytime wecome to study. Usually she is sitting by the books.

What's her story?? John has been studying with Joel, Candy's son, for about a two years. During this time, we've gotten to know Candy and she has seen how much John cares for her son. She volunteers as the caretaker of the local chapel that's across from their home. Her mother and grandmother were also caretakers. She spends much time in daily prayers. At certain times of the year, she leads the ladies at the chapel in prayers. In a word, she has been devout.

We've tried a couple of times during the last two years to begin a study with her, but it just didn't seem to work. The first week of this April, we began to study together. After the first study, she began to prepare ahead, including reading all of the scriptures in the material. She felt that it would be good for her to study twice a week. She studied the Divine Name brochure on her own and proved to herself that she should use Jehovah's name. When we showed her Jehovah's name in a Catholic Bible, she was very concerned that no one uses it. She got very quiet and said, "You know, I think someone in the Catholic church is working for the Devil." Each study she has learned something either exciting for her or completely new. By the time we finished the chapters about Jesus, she studied the entire Trinity brochure on her own and reached the Scriptural conclusion that there is no Trinity. She also studied a supplemental article about the use of the cross. She's really disturbed by Constantine!

After two studies, she agreed to attend one morning of a circuit assembly with her son. She stayed for the entire program. She also attended the Memorial. Before the Memorial, John gave her the Greatest Man book to read along with the selected Bible verses. She has now completed that book. She reads the daily text and writes out the secondary scriptures in a notebook along with her thoughts on the text and comment. She has begun to read the Draw Close to Jehovah book. Because of her reading, each time we go, she will say, "I need to talk to you about something." Once, it was about the star that lead the astrologers to Herod. She was deeply moved to know that the star was not from God.

Now, it's been two months of studying twice a week for a 2-4 hours at a time. We begin chapter 9 today. She attended her first meeting at the Kingdom Hall last Tuesday night. Since we gave her the Bearing Witness book and showed her what we were studying, she prepared for the meeting and commented twice! She prepared for and attended the meeting on Sunday, also participating. Her comment in the Watchtower study went something like this, "The best way that we can use our life is to serve Jehovah forever." The public talk was about serving Jehovah and not other gods or 'dungy' idols. She said that she really enjoyed the speaker and that she could see where he was coming from.

She loves flowers and plants, so she gardens quite a bit. She says that she reads, then works in the garden, thinking about what she read, then goes back to read, back and forth all day. She also has no power, so she uses a flashlight to read for much of the night.

Because of her studying, it has encouraged her son and daughter-in-law to study regularly. They have mentioned that the conversations at home have changed drastically. Many evenings are spent discussing what each have learned from the Bible. They are all excited that they are beginning to understand the Bible.

Hospitality

While Ertina's mom took a phone call, Ertina offered me some water. Her mom was mortified by the choice of cup, but this was one of the most precious displays of hospitality I've received....straight from the heart.

Super V and Me

Saturday was quite a day! At noon, Boyn walked into our apartment (surprise!!) and asked if we were having our study that afternoon. He wanted to make sure he didn't miss it.

Then there was a village-wide power outage for a couple of hours, so there was much discussion among the kids of where to have our study--the nearby beach was the number one choice. Our apartment felt like it would burst into flames at any moment, so no one really wanted to be in there! Then we had a giant rainstorm that cooled everything off, so we all went to our apartment. The power came on just as everyone settled down to study!

Super V? Oh, that's Veronica's nickname and she is really super! The kids love her (I do too) and she is a lot of fun!

Exciting Times!

Kayelani is part of the Theocratic Ministry School and had her first assignment on Tuesday! This is a clip of her explaining how humble Jesus is.

This was the most fun I've had in long time preparing a talk. When I sent it to Kaye, I told her she should put her parts in her own words. By the time the two of us were finished, the talk was very different--and much better. She has a real gift for making ideas live through words.

Weekend Fun!

Who went to the meeting Sunday morning with our congregation? Marjean, Ertina, and Marbelta (the three girls in the middle). They participated in the Watchtower study and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Who went to the meeting Sunday afternoon with the Chuukese group? Everyone in this photo. Yep! The girls went to two meetings in one day! Eren (on the left) is Ertina's mom and Tetfina (on the right) is Marbelta, Marjean, George and Ednes' mom)

The girls participated in the Watchtower study after their moms helped them translate their English comments into Chuukese.

Eren has studied on and off since 2006 with large gaps between on and off. Now, she is enjoying studying in the Bible Teach book in Chuukese. She studies every Monday and is in chapter two. While I was at her home to study with Ertina, Eren told Ertina that it is very important for her to study with me since they are going to be Jehovah's Witnesses!

Eren and Tetfina are promise sisters. Promise sisters are two girls or women who are close friends that promise to be each other's sister. They are encouraging one another spiritually.

This is a glimpse into this Saturday's Watchtower study with the girls. This Saturday, we had all kinds of help! To practice their comments, they love to have Veronica pretend like she is the Watchtower study conductor, ask the questions and then call on who has their hand up. It's great fun and it really helps them be more fluent on Sunday.



Tetfi's Kids

Lovely Ladies

Bernice(10), Jaylinda(12), Ertina(8), Analeen(11), Pesalyn(7)

This picture was taken after the meeting on Sunday. Only Analeen and Pesalyn are sisters. Ertina lives next door to them on the weekends. Jaylinda, Analeen and Bernice go to the same school. Bernice's grandmother was a Witness until her death. Now, she and her mother study with a sister in our congregation. This Sunday was Analeen and Pesalyn's first meeting. Analeen commented. At the end of the Watchtower study, Ertina and Jaylinda told me that it had been fun.

On this day, the girls wanted to discuss why Jehovah's name isn't in all Bibles and where it came from. After the meeting, we went to the library at the Kingdom Hall to check Psalm 83:18 in a variety of Bibles and then see if there would be an explanation in the Bibles that only use LORD. They were quite satisfied with the answer given.

Analeen and Pesalyn haven't had a personal study yet, but we've been impressed by the knowledge that Analeen has of the Bible. She told us that last year, she found a Bible Story book and read the whole thing. This summer, the girls are going to read the Greatest Man book. They were so excited to get their copy. Pesalyn is seven, so she's going to read the Bible Story book. When we went to eat, they all decided to bring their books in so that they could look at them together.

We are enjoying getting to know these wonderful girls who have a spiritual hunger and a silliness that  makes for a great time together.

Saturday's Watchtower Study Group

Three weeks ago, we started having a study of the Watchtower with a few girls that we study with so that they could understand, enjoy and participate in the Sunday meeting. It's been a different group each week. This Saturday, this is who showed up! Only four of the girls have had a personal study. One of them just started last week. Seven of the kids live in a apartment building directly behind our apartment, so the boys hopped the fence and came to study the Watchtower with us. Two of them, we'd never met before they knocked at the door. Their ages range from 7-14. We start off by practicing the first song, then say a much needed prayer, study the Watchtower trying to make sure they understand the meaning, choose paragraphs they may want to comment on and help them use their own words, practice the last song and say a prayer of thanks. This takes about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. It has made the meeting on Sunday a joy for those that attend and participate. For those that have come by to check out what we're doing, it has opened the door to the possibility of having their own study. We treasure this special time on Saturday afternoons.

Air-Con and Song

As most of you know, it's pretty warm here in Guam. When we go to Wilson's place, we are usually joined by Zak and Josh. They've made friends with Jeremiah and are always happy to see him.  If they can catch us before we get out of the car, they spend a little time in the air conditioning (aircon in Guamanian) listening to Kingdom songs, fooling around with the camera and getting hugs.

Kenny was hoping to get in on the fun too!

Our Little Girl

Ertina has recently become a happy addition to our lives. About a month ago, we received a call from a friend of ours that belongs to a foreign language group. She said she'd been talking to a very bright girl that doesn't speak the language of her family, but loves the Bible. She lives right behind our apartment, so we went right over to see her. She was thrilled that we came.

Ertina lives at two homes--one of her mother and the other of her adopted mother. This is not so uncommon. When we went to the home that she lives in during the week, we met her mother and found out that she studies with a sister in a foreign language group. She was so happy that we would study with her and her daughter together using the English Great Teacher book so that she would know what her daughter is learning.

Not only did Ertina and her mother study, but several others joined us as well. Ertina loves to memorize things, so Psalm 83:18 was her first assignment. Every week, she wants to memorize a new verse.

She has attended the Sundy meeting three times. The first time, she felt it was very long. So seeing how helpful it has been with some of John's students, we began to prepare the Watchtower together on Saturdays. Oh My! The first meeting after that, Jaylinda and Ertina participated a lot! Jaylinda commented first, then Ertina--then they high-fived each other!! We were cracking up!

This photo was taken yesterday after the meeting. See the blue bag she's carrying? When we first met, she was carrying it too. She had a Bible inside (only the New Testament). Now she has the complete Bible and some of her theocratic library inside.

Ertina is eight years old.

Flower Power

The happy designer and her demure model

Joselle, Karen, Jimmy

Coconut Crab

This little fellow was hanging out in the moonlight.  He's about the size of a dinner plate, but will get bigger. Coconut crabs are known for being very strong. They can tear open a coconut.

Brotherly Love

Jeremiah, Ithan, Jimmy

Echo, Echo.....

Sam is such a delight. When he has a day off from school, he makes arrangements with John to go in service together. He and his brothers will be with us three days a week this summer. We asked what he'd like to do for some fun. Sam says he just wants to go in service.  

Haute Couture

While we were visiting her mom, Jonette was zipping around the house in this top that she made all by herself. 

She happily modeled it for us--giggling the whole time. 

It is quite versatile. Here, it doubles as a turtle costume.

Sonny Boy

Birds are not plentiful on Guam. There are no wild parrots, so Sonny Boy is quite a celebrity. He is very friendly and enjoys all the love we can give him.

Wisdom and Strength...