Wednesday, September 12, 2012

District Convention

Our convention for the English circuit is in San Salvador, El Salvador. We left at around 5 a.m. Thursday (Sept 6th), we didn't arrive in San Salvador until midnight! It was quite an adventure!

Let's see what happened first! When we were getting ready to  leave the house to meet the rest of the friends at the hall....Shannon fell into some sort of drain, but we don't think anything's broken. We had some problems leaving Nicaragua, one of the brother's passport was missing a special stamp. We sat there for about 4 hours. Then we headed into Honduras, where we were stopped many times within the country.

Finally we arrived at the border of El Salvador! We had to wait here for about 2 hours with the same previous problem. 



We met some of the local San Salvador brothers at a museum near the convention site, they were expecting us at 4 p.m. but they waited for us to arrive at midnight! They were so welcoming and hospitable! They drove us to wherever we were staying.


San Salvador is really different than Leon it is pretty big and is more comparable to U.S. cities. Here are a few pics:



The first day of the convention was awesome! Some of the brothers in our hall had parts. Scarlett was afraid to informally witness to her neighbor (Hazel).

 Lydia helped Scarlett to see how to prepare for informally witnessing.

Theo handled the part in the afternoon symposium on informal witnessing. All three of our elders had parts this convention, and Theo had two.

We met some really nice friends at the convention. It included all the English congregations and groups in Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala. We met the Kings, Stephen and Lona who are from Ontario and have been serving on the Honduras island of Roaton for the past year. They decided to move there when they heard of a horrible plane accident which killed three of the elders in that congregation.

We also met some very hospital local friends, the Marins, who go to the local English congregation Antiguo Cochatlan. They saw us walking to catch a taxi back to the hotel and picked us up and took us for some authentic Salvadorian food. Also on Saturday they took us to the mall and to get Mexican, we definitely met some new family. Milton (14), Ornada, and Erick.

This is Desmond eating empenadas, made out of a plaintain dough and full of a cream cheese or beans!

This is me eating a papoosas, it's a flat tortilla filled with beans and pork. Yummy!

Here's the couple we are staying with for the full 6 months, Miguel and Michelle Martinez.
They may look familiar!!! Michelle is from Ruckersville congregation in VA.

So we had an eventful trip to the convention! It was so encouraging and very much like an international convention with locals from central america, as well as Americans, Brits, and Australians!
It took about 12 hours to get home on Monday. We were all very very happy to be home!!! We're excited to get back into the field!

13 comments:

  1. Love surely abounds in Jehovah's organization. The skyline of San Salvador is beautiful. I look forward to your next post. Be safe Shannon.
    Love L'Tanya

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  2. Thank you for including me on the Blog Shannon.. I am enjoying the trip to Nicaragua and beyond through you and Desmond's eyes!! May Jehovah continue to bless and uplift you both in this wonderful journey!

    And Yes! We know Michelle and Miguel!! They just visited us in Richmond when they came back to the US for a short time! That is awesome!

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  3. Sounds like you guys are getting a real central american experience!! I hope you're enjoying every minute (even the crazy ones) and every mouthful of those papoosas! It's great to hear about your adventures, keep the posts coming!

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  4. Wow, you fell into a drain? Glad you are alright! Loved to hear your convention experience, keep them coming.

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  5. Shan and Des!!! Miguel and Michelle came to River Road several times! I can't believe I didn't know that was them the whole time! They came about 4 times.

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  6. Dearest Shanon and Dez,
    It is a pleasure to vicariously experience your adventures. Shannon I laughed to hear about your mis-step. I sensed that you were not hurt from the way Dez told us. Please tell our Brothers that we appreciate the hospitality and love that they are showering upon you both.

    Selena,Sean & Asia

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  7. this is Dad. neat blog & pictures. how did you get elevated shots of san salvador?What an adventure you are having! thx for the blog, half the cong is reading it!proud of you'll.Dad

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  8. Hey guys, glad you're safe and having a good time. Your stories and the friends you meet really show the united brotherhood. No place in the world can you find such love upon initially meeting someone, except in Jehovah's org. Keep the stories coming! Be safe!

    Kissena

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  9. Hey, its great that you guys got there safe. It looks like you guys are having so much fun. I wish I could come visit you. - Best cuz in the world

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  10. O Shannon! Falling into a drain sounds like something i'd do.! LOL. Im so glad u guys are having a good time. I hope u have more fun experiences that we can laugh with u about.! We are all proud of u. Chelsea

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  11. Hey to you both. The pics are awesome and really bring your story to life. It sounds like you two are having a wonderful time. I look forward to future posts. May Jehovah continue to bless you both as you expand your ministry. Love to both of you.

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  12. Hello my dear brother and sister. Jenise and Myself are always excited to see each update on your assignment. May Jehovah continue to add to your lot. Please my brother and sister continue to trust fully in Jehovah. Your experience make the fulfillment of Psalms 34:8 very real. That verse continue "Happy is the able-bodied man that takes refuge in him". We look forward seeing you. Continue to slave for Jehovah. Tell all the friends including the young man Dez is studying with we extend our greetings. As fellow workers of Christ our prayers are always with you.

    Love,
    Jenise and Kommy Johnson

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