I've reached my goal of 15,342 studies!

I may have mentioned this before... the first time that I came to Nicaragua, I was so excited about the prospect of having 15 bible studies that that became my main goal. Get as many studies as possible. It was fun, and I did have plenty of studies... but I also felt like I was so busy with these people but sometimes they didn't appreciate what I'd go through to have a study with them. First I'd have to study in English, then in Spanish, then I'd make notes on special points that I'd want to bring up and figure out how to say it in spanish, then I'd go to the study, often a lot of walking, or at least bus fare, just to find that they're not there... they had something to do, or whatever. So I'd reschedule the appointment, and to keep everything fresh in my head, I'd do it all over again the night before the next study. So much work!!

Well, this time I decided a different approach. When I went to visit Guatemala, I remember meeting a special pioneer sister. I asked her how many studies she had, and her answer was... "Well, I have stipulations for my students to meet before I'll study with them....they must study for their bible study, study for the meetings, and go to the meetings... and THEN I'll study with them." Then she added, "I have 5 studies." This is one of the best examples to follow while serving in a country like Nicaragua.. or Guatemala. You see, almost everyone would study with you if you asked.... but not everyone is going to be really interested. They may think "Sure, you'll come here and teach me the bible? *shrug* Why not?" or they may think "Boy, that gringa's accent sure is funny... I'd love to hear her talk some more!" or they may accept a study just because customarialy it's rude to say "No", and it would be far more acceptable to say "Yes" but then just not be there for when you come back.

So I've tried very hard to be very careful.... I do not offer studies to everyone who accepts the magazines. I have tried to feel it out more... seeing really how deep is their interest? How many questions are they asking, or am I doing all the talking? etc... So far it's worked EXCELLENTLY. I have 2 studies that are doing well... one which is progressing rapidly and who has started preaching to their family on the things they've been learning while I'm not around. Then I found Marlinda in the house to house work. She's young, in her 20s and had a million questions like "Why do all the good people seem to suffer while the bad people seem to prosper?" Then I met Santos who said "You Jehovah's Witnesses always come by here and leave us magazines but one second you say we're going to live on earth and the next second you say we're going to go to Heaven... so which is it??" haha So, I took the 2 new ones on... that's 4 studies.

Then yesterday we worked a long day in a territory called Chilamatillo. There we found a girl who was in Chapter 4 of the bible teach book, but who's teacher never came back. She didn't know who it was, but she wanted to keep studying.... ok, that's 5. Then, Alexandra comes over to me... "Michelle, you have studies in this area don't you?? I'm never able to come to this area and there are two girls who really want to study, can you visit them?" Just then one of the girls comes down the road, she reconizes Alexandra, smiles and walks over to us... "Are you ever going to come for my study?" So Ali explains that even though she can't come, *I* will be able to come, so I made an appointment to see her on Friday. Then we make our way up to the other girl's house... the girl wasn't there, but the mother was. We talked with the mother for a while and said that I'd be back on Friday to visit her daughter. 6....7..... then we visited a house right behind a return visit of mine. When we asked what their names were I reconized the last name from my RV the next house over. After talking a bit I found out that they were the grandparents. They were so grateful for the scriptures that we read to them, and the grandfather so eagerly took the "You Can Be God's Friend" brochure from us, that I couldn't help but ask them if I could come back. "YES!" they both said enthusiasticlly. 8.... ok... ok. That's ENOUGH. I could hardly handle the 5 I had the first time. And I was doing good with the 2 I originally had.... but now I've got 8??? That's it. I'm not accepting ANY more studies.

But, you see, that's the problem with going in the house to house work in this country. You can't HELP but get studies. I don't want to do house to house work because you talk to people for 5 minutes, and they ARE interested... but we simply don't have enough time, energy, etc... to teach them all. THIS IS WHY NICARAGUA NEEDS HELP!!!!!! But it's only 1 o'clock and we're still working til 3pm. That means I have 2 hours to preach without making anyone TOO interested. hahaha

Finally it got to 2:30pm and I was feelin good. What a successful day! We were almost done, even though we were tired... it was great. Only a few more houses to go. We walk up this long path off the road that goes up a big hill....the path is surrounded by this cactus-bush and flowers. When we finally got to the house at the top there was an older gentleman sitting in a hammock trying to fix a measuring tape. He was trying to pull it apart. He greets us kindly and motions for us to come in. His wife brings us some chairs out from the house and an extra one for her and she sits them down next to the hammock. So I start my presentation... sometimes it's good to feel the people out first to find out how much information they can handle. If they're older or less educated, at times they can get confused if you start talking about God's Kingdom or why we can trust the Bible. So I decided to start out simple... "Do you know what God's name is?" I asked "Yes, of course, " the wife responds "Jesus." This is soooo common and one of the hardest to break beliefs of the evangelicos (80% of Nicaragua). "That's what many people believe," I say "But let's see what the bible says at Psalms 83:18." she reads it and I have her repeat the name of the most high God... Jehovah. "So then, who is Jesus?" we turn to 1 John 5:5... God's son... Then we read John 17:3... "Whats the best way for us to learn about Jehovah and Jesus?" I ask. "Through the Bible" she says. Excellent! You see, in just a few minutes you learned something new about God from the Bible... I leave her a magazine and tell her that we are Jehovah's Witnesses and we usually come through this town every 2 months or so, so if she has any questions about what she reads, then the next time she sees witnesses she can ask them and we'd be happy to show her. She nodds gratefully and we get up to leave. "Thank you!" she says "So... in 2 months then?" Huh? "In 2 months someone will be back?" *sigh* I'm such a sucker. "Well, yes, we will come back to this town in a couple months... but if you're really interested in learning more, then I can come by sooner and we can continue our discussion using this Bible Teach book.... Would you like me to come back sooner?" "YES please! Sooner." she says and we finally said goodbye. Thank goodness we were almost done, because at the rate that I was going I was going to end up with 15 studies by the end of the day. As it was I had aquired 5 studies in one day. And brings my total to a whopping: 9 Bible Studies. I don't know if I should jump for joy or cry.... I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to handle all of this. Well.... yes I do. (Matthew 19:26) "with God all things are possible" because he gives (1 Corinthians 4:7) "power beyond what is normal".