Apartment Remodel

Just wanted to share a few pics of our apartment.  We've been slowly redecorating for the past year and a half.  Its not easy to find stuff down here! So we bring a few things back here and there from the states or buy them at random shops that we might find in the big city.  Bry wishes she could be more crafty and put into action all her "Pinterest" ideas, but since we're here in Honduras this will have to do.

So we started by removing a small half wall in our kitchen to make more room. Now its more of an island.  Also notice the "vibrant" colors of the walls!!

 

Then we painted it a nice calm plum and grey color in the kitchen and living-room area...

 

 

We finally got to hang up some pictures of family and friends...

 

This is the hallway between the two bedrooms...

 

Aaron did some wiring so we could move the TV and we salvaged an old sound box from the kingdom hall and fixed it up for a TV stand...and the most exciting part: a new couch!

 

 

On to the bedrooms...first sanding and washing all the walls down.  We hired a friend, Diana, to come help with the project. Again, notice the lovely old colors!

 

 

 

Before and after of the guest room:

 

 

 

 It went from peach and lime green to plum and an aqua/teal color.  Its kind of a peacock theme.

 

 

 

Our bedroom went from mint green to a nice chocolate with teal accents.

 

Bry was excited to get new curtains and be able to put up some wedding pictures finally!

So that's pretty much it so far.  We'll keep working on it little by little. Its nice to make it feel like "home"!

Back into our Honduran Routine

Since returning from the U.S., we've been trying to get back into our normal routine.  However I think our bodies have gotten used to the American lifestyle a little too much!  After our first few days back, Bry could barely walk!  And Aaron's allergies are already protesting the nice clean, pure Honduran air! Haha.  At least some things never change...Chirpa our cat was home waiting for us when we got here.  He's is just as fat and independent as ever!  The congregation is also doing amazing!  Here are a few updates and stories:

While were gone, there was announced 6 new unbaptized publishers.  That's great news. But even more exciting is that they all ranged from ages 6 to 10!  It was so great to come back and see these young children taking their stand for Jehovah.  They all have been active in the preaching work for years along side their parents but now wanted to take the next step by themselves.  Many of them are just learning to read but already have several presentations memorized, 10-15 different scriptures memorized and are comfortable conversing with total strangers in the ministry by themselves to explain their Christian beliefs.  We are SO proud of them!  Our congregation now has close to 50 publishers, and many more on the way. 

Many studies are attending the meetings and progressing well.  One cute experience that I wanted to share happened while were gone to the states.  A local woman named Maria has been studying with our friend Xiomara.  Maria lives near us and is in her 70's.  From the very first visit that Xiomara had with her, she began attending the congregation meetings.  Xiomara offered to walk by her house and bring her to the Kingdom Hall, but Maria said that she didn't want to wait for Xiomara...she wanted "to be there nice and early to enjoy listening to the music and talking to all the nice people!"  During her first meeting, she was so enthusiastic that she yelled out several times "Amen!" and "Glory to God!" Hahaha, it was funny but also very sweet that she was enjoying the talk so much.  She cannot see well and only knows how to sound out letters since she never went to school.  Nevertheless, she is striving to learn about the bible during her weekly studies in the "Listen to God" brochure using the beautiful illustrations and simple writing.  Recently, we had the visit of our Circuit Overseer; a special bi-annual visit by a brother that travels from town to town encouraging and giving special talks to the congregation.  During his discourse on Thursday he reminded everyone that there would be a meeting on Saturday morning for those that wanted to go out preaching.  Saturday morning came along and there was Maria!  She said, "The brother said we should come, so I came!"  She enjoyed listening to the meeting for field service and then Xiomara conducted a bible study with her afterwards.  We are looking forward to seeing her progress!

Its been nice getting back into our normal routines.  Aaron is busy with things in the congregation.  We have several brothers that are really stepping up and making themselves available to help out in the congregation.  Bry is busy with her bible students.  On one of her first days back, she went on the bus to conduct a study with Lourdes, a young mother of 2 kids that lives in a mountain village about 20 minutes away.  Since we didn't have the motorcycle cleaned up and running yet, she had to take the bus there.  Unfortunately she missed the bus as it passed by on the way home and had to wait to find a friendly truck passing by for a lift.  To welcome her back to Honduras...the only thing going by was a cattle truck!  Needless to say, she arrived back in Taulabe a little stinky and dirty!

We are also very privileged to have the opportunity to help out with the construction of a new Kingdom Hall in a nearby town of Siguatepeque.  The project is completed entirely by volunteers.  Some are full-time construction workers that are part of a regional group here in Honduras and others are just there to help out for the day, like us.  Here are some pics of the project:

Our dear friends Oneyda and Raul are part of the construction group.  They travel from project to project full-time as volunteers.  They get their food and rent paid for and a small monthly allowance for personal items. But they have to cover all their travel expenses, etc.  They are such a great example for us of self-sacrifice and hard work.  But you can also see that they really love what they do!  We are so happy that they are assigned so close to us right now.

 

Its so encouraging to see everyone helping out and smiling as they do it.  Even our dear friend Noe, who is disabled and cannot use his feet, wanted to come help.  He worked hard all day shoveling rocks and sand from either his wheelchair or sitting right on the ground. 

 

The Kingdom Hall is one of the first in all of Central America with this design.  Before we only had 3 styles to choose from and they were all made with concrete blocks.  Our Mexico branch office sent brothers here to teach the construction group some new methods for building, including using bricks, putting the bathrooms inside rather than outside, adding a 2nd school, and using sheetrock.

 

Aaron spent the day shoveling sand and gravel.  Bry was assigned to tie together rebar with small wires to shape concrete supports in the walls.

 

So its back to work after our little vacation in the states!  We're hitting the ground running!  There is always lots to do here and we can always use help.  So anyone that's looking for an adventure or to try something new, you're always welcome to visit!  We promise we won't make you ride in a cattle truck you're first day here!  :)

 

In fact we are looking forward to the visit of our friends Manoah Anderson and Nick Butler.  They arrive January 1st and will be staying for a couple of months.  Aaron is excited to have more brothers in the congregation to help congregational stuff and also more support in the preaching work.  We are both very excited too for Bry's aunt Trudi's visit in January and February.  She has become an annual visitor here and the local friends are always anxious for her return!  We'll post more updates when all the guests get here.  Take care everyone!

Starting Year 5

So we're back home in Taulabe finally!  We left in the end of July for the states to work and had a great time seeing friends and family.  We were able to catch the district convention in Rochester with Aaron's family, go to Las Vegas with Bry's mom Jaki and visit her great aunt Shirley in California, spend time with our niece and nephew, and had a good harvest season at work.  Here are a few pics of our summer:

 

It was our first time in Las Vegas and we had a blast! It was an unforgettable vacation with Bry's mom, Jaki.  From the second we arrived to the minute we left we were laughing and making lots of awesome memories.  Aaron's favorite part was probably the food and happy hour specials!!

 

 

We stayed at the Stratosphere hotel on the end of the strip.  It was a great deal and had a lot of fun amenities to it. It was one of the tallest buildings in the area and even had a bar and theme park on the roof!  Bry wasn't quite brave enough to try out the ride that dangles you over the edge of the building...

 

We enjoyed walking up and down the Strip and seeing the beautiful hotels and landmarks.  Each hotel was truly beautiful and unique in it's design.

The Venetian reminded us a lot of our wedding day since it had the gondola boats outside.  Too bad it was around 110 degrees! Too hot for a ride!

After a couple of days of sightseeing, we rented a car and went over to Hemet, California to visit Jaki's aunt Shirley.  We had a great time hearing all her stories of the past and family history.  We really admire her strength and faithfulness to Jehovah for many years.

Then it was time to head back home. Driving through the desert was a new experience.  At one point the car said it was 114 degrees outside!  Needless to say we didn't make too many stops!

After our mini vacation, we arrived back in Minnesota and got to see Bry's family for a week.  Our favorite part was spending time with our niece and nephew!  We really appreciate Derik and Kelly for hosting a little family barbeque.  Lots of great food, fun games and time with friends and family.  Zane of course had to show us his new trick...popping a wheelie!

 

Ruby is still the same smart, independent and charismatic little girl as ever!

 

Sadly, we had to rush off to work soon after.  We were really fortunate, thanks to Bry's amazingly supportive family, to aquire a small travel trailer to use while we were working.   The job pays for a campsite while we're working and its only a few blocks from the job so it worked out perfectly!

 

 

We had never had the time to go camping together before so took advantage of every free moment we got to cook outside on the fire and pretend like it was a little camping trip!  We really enjoyed it.  We actually think the camper was an upgrade from our actual apartment in Honduras! We had running, hot water...air conditioning...heat...electricity!  It was luxury!

 

In September we were able to meet the family in Bemidji for the circuit assembly.  What a refreshment of spiritual food!  And playing with the kids was a nice treat too!

 

 After we were finished working and preparing to head home, we got some sad news about one of Aaron's aunts in South Dakota.  We extended our stay a little bit to be able to spend some time with her and the rest of Aaron's family.  Along with the rest of the Persing clan, we took a road trip from Minneapolis, Minnesota out to Rapid City, South Dakota.  Along the way we stopped to see Aaron's grandparents in Sioux Falls.

 

 

It wouldn't be a family road trip without a little sightseeing and some goofing around!  Anyone know how many road signs there are along the highway from Sioux Falls to Rapid City for a place called "Wall Drug"???

 

Or maybe it was the 12 hours car drive that was making us lose our minds???

 

In the end, we made the trip safely and were able to see Aunt Carol.  We will always treasure the time, although it may have been short, that we spent with her that week.

 

After that we had to rush home to get back into our routine again here.  We always love getting home but at the same time hate leaving our friends and family.  We can't believe that we'll be starting our 5th year living in Honduras.  Our lifestyle may be strange, traveling back and forth to work, then living in a foreign country the rest of the year...but we love it!  Its not always easy, in fact most of the time it is really complicated...but we make it work and enjoying many blessings because of it.  We are so grateful for all the support of our friends and family, both back in the states and our local congregation.  Thank you all!