Let’s just say all my areas
have been fun and unique. This one has to be my favorite and I have only been
here two weeks. Unlike my old areas, I live in a wooden hut with dirt floors.
Surprisingly enough after so much time walking on the floors, they're pretty
compact. Well at least compact enough to sweep and not dig a moat or break
into the rat tunnels. But its dope. We have running water. Not all the islands
do, but its suggested not to drink it. Sometimes it comes out brown. I've been
drinking a little here and there to see if I can build up my stomach strength.
We have a Shrek looking outhouse, but it has a toilet. We live basically off of
canned beans, canned shredded chicken, and tortillas. 80% of our meals. We do
sleep in hammocks. Now occasionally a Columbian ship will come to the islands
to trade. They spread out all their goods. In the words of a local here "I
want, I buy. I don't want, I don't buy". Yeah, they're kind of a simple
people. The men just go out to the mountain, collect their coconuts and
sugarcane. The woman wash clothes and sew mola all day long. The kids just run around the island...It is about the size of a High School and so you can only get so lost. And so....I saw, I wanted and I bought a family sized Colombian hammock. I know sleep like a baby. It is big enough for you, and a wife and a kid. But this one is just all for me and now I sleep like I am in a cocoon.
Out here we do
have quite a bit of service. A lot of people are constructing. So they bring in
sand and dirt from the mountain and we end up taking it back in barrels. I
can't remember how many times we've hauled barrels of sand. All I know is my
arms are sore. This Sunday our investigator was just shoveling from his canoe to
haul it all in. We jumped in to speed up the work. I was feeling sort of dead.
After not really having the opportunity on the mission to truly workout you, I have lost quite a bit of muscle. So, when a young mom saw that I was exhausted under
this blistering sun, she called out saying. "When you get back home, you're
going to be so bulked up and so tan your own dad won't even know who you are." You
know it’s just little things like that, which motivate us in life. We came back
with more energy and we worked faster. Anyways with double the man power we
finished in time and our investigator actually went to church. Sweet!
Now I invite you guys to look for little ways, especially in this giving season to give compliments and to lift up the lives of people around you. It can really make a huge difference.
Now I invite you guys to look for little ways, especially in this giving season to give compliments and to lift up the lives of people around you. It can really make a huge difference.
Oh, and we had two
baptisms this week.
Love you all - Jake
