San Lorenzo

For a while now we have been trying to move to San Lorenzo, which is a small town of about 10000 people about 30 minutes drive from Tarija. We are in a congregation in Tarija called Guadalqivir, and this congregation sponsors the group in San Lorenzo of which we are a part. We have been looking for a house there for quite a while, but they were all either too expensive, too rudimentary (i.e. outside kitchen etc.) or too far out of town to be within reasonable walking distance. Well last week in the ministry we met a man at a door who invited us in. We discussed the Bible with him for about 20 minutes and he agreed to come to the meeting the next morning.
   Before we left somehow we got onto the subject of houses, and he offered us his house to rent. At first we thought we may as well look at it because some other witnesses in Tarija are looking for a house in San Lorenzo also. When we looked though, it became evident it was ideal for us. Three self contained bedrooms, a HUGE lounge, kitchen, even a separate toilet for guests. It is a little bit rustic in some ways, for example it has an adobe bread oven in the kitchen which works like a pizza oven, but it is very tidy and includes about a hectare of land running down to a stream. The house is about 800 metres from the central plaza. We mentioned we didn't have furnishings like a washing machine, stove, fridge etc. and he said he would furnish it for us. Before we knew it we had signed a contract on it for a year! It is costing us $250 US per month. Not cheap but not too expensive either for here! Tarija is about double the price, so for us it is perfect. As a bonus, our hall in San Lorenzo is the lounge of an English couple here, which is quite small. We get lots of interested people at the meetings and some have to sit outside in the courtyard. Our landlord (who did come to the meeting by the way, and intends to come again tomorrow) said we are able to use our lounge for meetings. We may end up doing that as it is twice the size.
   Anyway we have one meeting in San Lorenzo on Sunday, and attend the mid week meeting at Guadalqivir in Tarija on Thursday nights. Last Thursday Drew and I were called into an Elders meeting after the meeting. We thought it may be about our appointments coming through from the branch now that we have our residence visas. But no, it was to talk about forming a full congregation in San Lorenzo, now that we have two Elders there - Drew and I. Scary stuff! From the 17th of this month San Lorenzo will operate as its own congregation, although I guess formal recognition will come when the Circuit Overseer visits.
   So here we are, not even appointed yet, in fact we haven't even given a talk yet and we have a congregation to run... and we don't speak the language, why would we have a problem with that? Carl Smith we need you!!
   So a bit scary yes, but exciting, and a real privilege to be a part of. Actually I joined the school 2 weeks ago and have my first Bible highlights in 2 weeks time, despite not being appointed yet. Lois isn't very impressed as when I joined they added her name too and she has a talk before me!
   On a different subject, I finally got my motorcycle license. After they gave me the pass without me even having to answer a question or ride a bike, what a drama with paperwork! My receipt wasn't green which for some reason caused quite a ruckus. Apparently the receipt should be GREEN not WHITE! Who cares if it shows the right amount has been paid to the right people, it SHOULD be green! This honestly took half a day to sort out. Various managers had to be consulted until one was found who was either colour blind or mysteriously endowed with common sense. Also I had one form which had extra information on it. All the other forms I needed had my name and various other bits of information. But one form ALSO had my mother's maiden name on it. UNACCEPTABLE! In the end I had to go and reapply for another license without the extra information, and get fingerprinted twice more. Anyway I now have my license and a motorbike. I will post a photo of it next time.
   One last thing, we saw our first serpiente (snake) yesterday, it had just been run over by a car, but here is a picture of it. Apparently it isn't a venomous variety. That's all for this post, thanks for reading.

                                                     Lois preaching in serpent country!