YouTube - jackeline gutierrez

For those who might be interested, I found this YouTube piece of my piano teacher playing. It's really shows her talent. Take a look.

YouTube - jackeline gutierrez

Irma y Vielca

Irma began to study the Bible in Machala (on the coast of Ecuador). She made changes in her life and this started to raise questions for her cousin, Vielca. You see Vielca was a party girl and in their family they always got together for Carnival, Christmas and other religious holidays. Suddenly, Irma stopped participating in the parties and instead babysat for the family especially for Vielca and her two children, Angie and Micheal. But, it bothered Vielca a bit that Irma was staying home caring for the children instead partying with the rest of the family. She thought Irma was boring. However, Vielca's curiosity got the best of her and she started to ask questions. Irma mostly told Vielca "you need a bible study." Everytime time Vielca had a question, Irma did her best to answer, but eventually ended up saying "you need a bible study."

Irma progressed, got baptized and moved to Cuenca. Vielca followed her to Cuenca and eventually started to study the Bible. She quickly made progress and now both Irma and Vielca are faithful sisters in our congregation.

Shortly after their studying the bible, both of their husbands traveled to other countries to work leaving Vielca and Irma alone with their children. Irma has one son named Jeferson and as I mentioned before, Vielca has two children Michael and Angie. Irma's husband went to Spain and Vielca's to New York. They have now been gone for 4 and 6 years respectively. However, both husbands are diligent to communicate and send money. What impresses me the most is how Vielca and Irma maintain their integrity under these dificult situations. They are both young and beautiful women, yet they remain chaste and faithful to their husbands. They deal with the frustration of not having their husbands near to help raise the children and of course they are lonely. Both husbands have noticed this and expressed their surprise and gratitude and both see how well Irma and Vielca are raising the children. The family reports back to the husbands and always mention how well behaved the children are and even comment on how they are able reason beyond their years on matters like why one shouldn't smoke, drink or steal. This, of course, sparks curiousity in the husbands and they ask questions. This gives both Irma and Vielca an opportunity to witness to their husbands.

Michael, who is 7, is quite the young man. A couple a weeks ago at the meeting Michael approached me and asked if he could talk to me. So I sat down and asked what was on his mind. He asked me "hermana, are you a pioneer?" I said "yes, why do you ask?" He said, "I know that if you are a pioneer, you must be wise and experienced and I was wondering if you could help me with a problem I am having at school." He then related that a boy at school was picking on him and he didn't know how to handle the problem. What made things worse is the kid was apparently the son of a witness family and in Michael's mind should know how to behave. So we talked about some suggestions about how Michael should handle the situation. Last week I asked how things were going and he said, "I applied the counsel you gave me and thank you very much. Things are much better now and the boy stopped bothering me." He added that because he did things Jehovah's way, they are now good friends. How precious is that? This is a testament of how well Irma and Vielca are doing raising their children and teaching them about Jehovah even though their situtations are difficult. What a good example for all of us.

Update on Donna Nicoll

I received a call from Donna (my English study). She is back in her hometown and getting into her routine. Her recovery is going very well. Most importantly, she is continuing her study and making progress. She is commenting at the meetings now even in Spanish. She is fighting with her health and getting rid of old habits, but Jehovah is blessing her efforts and she seems very happy. She told me her goal is to get baptized at the English Assembly in July. Won't that be grand? Her call was just what I needed to brighten my day.

Why is She So Special?

This is Nancy. Look at that face!. Isn't she cute? What makes her so special? Nancy is the niece of a bible study named Digna. Digna has six children of her own, no husband, and is raising two of her sister's children, including Nancy. Nancy's mother lives out of town and she doesn't get to see her very often. They are a very poor family and live in an old adobe house with dirt floors. However, they all are very faithful in meeting attendance and field service. Nancy here always sits with me at the meetings. (We split the children among different brothers and sisters so that Digna doesn't have so much to do and can enjoy the meeting.)

So why do I say that Nancy here is so special? Tuesday night was my first meeting of the Theocratic School and Service Meeting since my surgery. I haven't seen Nancy in three weeks. That night it was literally raining cats and dogs when we arrived to the Kingdom Hall. Nancy sees our car pull up and runs out into the rain with no umbrella and opens my door to carry all my meeting books into the Hall. She didn't want me to get wet or carry the books. Soaking wet she escorts me into the Hall and finds our seats and makes sure that I'm comfortable. Then she gives me a big hug and tells me how much she missed me and hoped I was doing better. During the meeting Nancy is quite a leaner and always ends up with her head on my arm, cuddling. I think she really misses her mother, but I don't mind standing in even for just a two hour meeting. She is very precious to me and I know to Jehovah.

Sunday Outing

Sunday was a very good day. I was able to attend almost all the meeting. The fist time in three weeks. After the meeting we went to a "Welcome Home Chad and Michele" party. It was held on the roof of the building where Beth and Mark live. Chad and Michele are back in Ecuador after working several months in the States and everyone is happy that are back "home" here in Ecuador. Beth posted some nice pictures on her blog (called the Ecuador Experience) if you want to see a short review of our good time. So progress is being made regarding my recuperation. However, I am still "squeaking" since my voice isn't fully restored yet. But, I won't let that stop me.

Deaf Pioneer School

This photo was sent to us by Veronica Molina, the first deaf person baptized here in Cuenca. She shared with us the good news that she just finished pioneer school. It's wonderful to see her progress. FYI, Veronica is second from right sitting in chair.

Fiestas de Cuenca

Oh how I wish I had my camera this weekend. Started out with the camera with hope of getting some really good pictures as this weekend are the Fiestas de Cuenca and what that means is that there are a lot of parties and artwork to check out. But woefully the camera ran out of batteries. So I'll try to describe some of the glory.

They close off the main streets and just allow foot traffic. As you walk there are rows after rows of artwork and artesanias. I can't believe how many talented people there are in this world. Artists that do water colors, oil paintings and drawings that are unbelievable. Then there are the textiles. Embroidery that is so beautiful. Hand made hats, scarves, sweaters, jewelry and wood carvings. If only I had a million dollars I would buy one of each. But, I settled for a couple of scarves (to cover the ugly scar on my neck) and a couple of jungle jewelry pieces made out of local seeds. They are beautiful and natural. I wish you guys could've been hear to see it. Then there is the food! Pork sandwiches that are out of this world and homemade candies, juices etc. It's like a mini State Fair of Texas but with a lot more interesting stuff that you would never see back home. The only setback is that the parties went on until about 3:00 a.m. this morning and we heard every bit of it from our bedroom. Needless to say we didn't get much sleep last night. I guess it's a good thing it only comes once a year.