Service Time!

Service here in Ecuador is quite the experience! The group meets at 8:30am most days, unless we are going to go to one of our farther out territories which may require we leave by 7:30-8:00ish. We have been out almost everyday since we arrived, so we are getting very familiar with the schedule and how things work. One thing that we're not used to is how territories are worked. Instead of one person 'owning' their own territory like most of us are used to in the states, the congregation all goes to the same territory together and we have a territory assigned per day. For example, on Tuesday the whole congregation will meet in Ingapirca and work the same area.. On Wednesday in Tambo and so on. This is very convenient because if someone couldn't make the group for some reason, they join us in the territory when they can and they know right where to go to from which day it is.

Most people in the territory are very friendly and it is very easy to place literature and even read a scripture in most cases. It's nice too because most recognize Jehovah as God's name, so it is not something that has to be proved to the HH. Example: In service yesterday, there were a group of about 6 or 7 kids- little kids- playing outside together. We asked if their mother was home, but she wasn't (not uncommon here for little children to be outside, playing/walking the streets by themselves). So the sister I was with asked (who looked like) the oldest boy if he knew God's name and he said "Jehova'!"  It may not seem like much to the locals, but it was nice hearing such a young one at least knowing Jehovah's name:)

Our territory expands for quite a while and getting there is not always easy. We drive on dirt roads, with many HUGE holes and rocks sticking straight up out of the ground. Tom (our coordinator) has the only vehicle (I believe) in the congregation, so he is very generous in driving as many as he can to the far out territories (45 mins -1 hr+).This is usually 4 people besides himself because that's all there is room for. The sister's get priority, so the brother's usually end up taking the bus, or sometimes some of the sister's do as well depending on how many are out. This may sound pretty good, but when we are driven to a territory, we mean literally JUST driven to the start of the territory. There is no driving up roads or driveways to get to homes-NO-just purely dropped off at the start of the territory if we're fortunate enough, (sometimes, we have to walk, possibly miles to get there, depending how close the bus would bring us) and then walking/climbing these HUGE mountains to reach, what a lot of times is just one home! We know this may seem hard to believe, or even exaggerated, but WE ARE NOT EXAGGERATING- this is how it is! To put it into perspective a bit more, Tom said on average the 1st month, expect to lose 15-25 lbs, that's how much walking we do! It was a little challenging the first few days, especially with difference in altitude, it at times seems like we literally can not catch our breath, but we are pretty used o it now and are starting to keep up with the locals:)

Here are a few pictures we've taken out in service:

 This was taken this past weekend when we walked 3+ miles for a Bible Study

These are some of the local sister's in our congregation. They are all regular pioneer's along with their husbands. Beatriz is in the middle, she is the sister we are living with.

You know what this is! And there are plenty loose around town...

See the one paved road? Well this was taken on our journey down to it...

Some more sister's in our congregation

This is Damien and our favorite little member of the congregation, Mila!

This is from service today in Ingapirca. You can see part of the ruins on the left.

This was taken today in service as well. Here we are towards the top of the mountain and we had to walk through the tall grass and muddy slopes to get back to town.

Lot's more photos to see, we will post more again soon!