05-08-13 & 05-09-13 - Jail Time

Wednesday:  Today I went to jail.  For a bible study of course!  What kind of trouble did you think I was getting into here?  Several of the friends conduct studies at the prison, but it was my first time there.  I'll admit, it was kinda scary.  My instructions for that morning were as follows:  Do not wear jewelry (no earrings, necklace, etc).  You cannot bring your sunglasses, keys or cell phone inside the prison.  In fact, just bring your books and your passport.  We left most of our articles with a Spanish sister who has a shop 2 blocks away.  Then, we went to stand in line outside the prison door.  They only let in a few people at a time.  So, after waiting about 20 minutes, it was our turn.  Once inside, we stood in line again to register.  You must tell them your name, hand over your identification, and state the name of the prisoner you are visiting and your relationship to them.  Then, they stamp the inside of your left arm at your wrist.  Next you walk over to another guard who inspects any items you are bringing in.  He too, stamps the inside of your left arm.  Then another guard pats you down to be sure you are not concealing any items on your person.  She also, stamped the inside of my left arm.  Finally, we made our way over to the entrance.  The guard posted at the entryway inspected our stamps and permitted us through.  At this point, I was starting to feel like a criminal myself!

I'm hoping these wash off easily!

The woman we were there to see was waiting for us, books in hand.  She was grateful for the apples and bread my friend had brought her.  It was quite noisy inside, however, I was informed that this was the "quiet" hour of visiting day.  It was also noticeably colder.  We sat on a stone curb in a hallway and began to study.  She was very enthusiastic and sincere.  I felt for her, being in that place.  Soon though, we had to leave, but promised to return next week.  She thanked us for coming to visit and as we walked out, the sister I was with explained that she has no family or friends here to visit her.  How sad indeed!

We picked up our identification and were released.  I was glad to be wearing long sleeves to cover up my bright indigo tattoo-like stamps.  We met up with another sister a few blocks away to do some more census work.  It was a beautiful, warm afternoon!  Around 1:30, we hopped in a taxi and went off to another study. The woman was a new mom - her baby was only one month old.  He was adorable!  I confess, I was slightly distracted during the study, as the baby was slightly fussy (very tired) and I rocked him to sleep.  Afterwards, we rode the bus towards home.  This required changing buses at one of the main terminals.  As we exited the bus and headed over to the other station, we noticed a young woman who looked like she could perhaps be American.  I approached her and asked if she spoke English.  We chatted for a few minutes and exchanged contact information and I gave her a set of magazines and the meeting times and location.  I told her I would be contacting her in a few days.  What a nice way to end the service day though!

Once home, I had just enough time to review my talk again, scarf down some dinner and get ready for the meeting.  I had to leave my house at ten to 6:00 so that I had enough time to walk to the internet cafe, print out my talk and then get a taxi.  I barely made it to the meeting before it started at 7:00.

So tonight was the big night - my first assignment in this congregation.  I felt nervous for some reason.  Maybe because its been about two months since I had an assignment in the school.  When I was nearing the conclusion, I suddenly felt like I couldn't breathe.  My householder picked up on the softening of my voice and made steady eye-contact with me.  What a life-saver!  I don't know what was wrong with me.  You would have thought it was my first talk ever.  I felt so silly afterwards.  On a side note:  When the sisters give a talk, one or both of them has to hold the microphone.  This makes it awkward when you are looking up scriptures; holding the microphone in one hand, and flipping pages with the other.

It was announced that our congregation has now been divided into three service groups so that we can more efficiently cover our territory and new lists were passed out that evening.  There are 15 people in the "North" group, including myself, 22 people in the "Valleys" group and 28 in the "South" group.

After the meeting concluded, one sister handed me an envelope with my name on it and another sister handed me a gift bag.  Wow - I really felt touched by their kind gestures.  The first was a hand-written note welcoming me to the congregation along with an encouraging article from a past issue of the Watchtower.  The other was a thoughtful housewarming gift and a card also welcoming me to the congregation.  I wanted to cry - this time in a good way.

Thursday:  This morning I got up and did a little work on the computer, then listened to the audio recordings of the magazines while I unpacked the remainder of my clothes and hung them in the closet (now that I had more hangers with which to do so).  Then I ate some lunch and called a sister to do some preaching in the afternoon.  We met some very nice people and went on two studies.  In between, we walked through the market where there are always English speakers and I picked up a couple of Alpaca blankets. Unfortunately, my study cancelled due to not feeling well, but we ended the day with some informal witnessing at the mall.  I was able to place a book with the manager of a clothing store who spoke English well and we arranged to bring a brother back with us on Saturday to study with him on his lunch break.  We asked if there was a particular topic he wanted to begin with and immediately he selected Chapter 6 - "Where Are The Dead?".

I arrived home around 6:30, did a little computer work, listened to the Watchtower lesson for Sunday, and labeled various items around the house with their Spanish names.  It might seem silly, but I'm hopeful that the post-its will help me to build my vocabulary.  I also took out the trash (the trash pick up is at night on Tues, Thurs and Saturdays, which is nice so that you don't have to worry about it stinking) and did some laundry - first time using the machines at my place - and I was hoping they worked properly.  I also used my stove for the first time - hooray!  I was so excited!