We have heard from both congregations and are eager to visit them in person! The first congregation to respond also responded to my request to email with a sister in the congregation.  Luly has been charming.  She has sent me an invitation to look at pictures of their Kingdom Hall and of the congregation.  The brothers do not seem to have to wear ties in service but at the Hall they do.  Robin is excited about the no-tie-in-service since ties have always bothered him.  Otherwise the brothers and sisters could be in service anywhere in the United States.  They do seem to use more umbrellas for shade.  Luly said that her congregation's territory is half of the State of Tabasco and has 5 or 6 municipalities which I am thinking are counties but she says that they have only almost covered 2 of them.  Lots of work left to be done! They have also moved the English Congregation to another city since the Branch wrote us.  Most of the friends live in this city so meetings are more convenient.
The second congregation has also had a sister write me.  She restated that there are no foreign brothers or sisters helping out their congregation. (The first congregation has a couple from Florida and a sister from Belize helping.) The city is about 200,000 with the outlaying areas bringing it to 400,000. The brother said that it was a small city of 700,000 so he may be counting more area but in any case the congregation of 24 have a huge territory to cover! Pretty incredible to think about!
We are very excited about traveling down to meet everyone and to see the areas.  We are counting that Jehovah makes it very clear which congregation will work best for us.  Right now I think I am leaning towards the first congregation in the smaller town but if our goal is help out then we need to go where we can best be used. Anyone who knows me well knows how terrible I am about making choices!! Lots of prayer I am sure will be involved.

Today we heard from the second congregation.  The brother said that there are 25 in the congregation. Half are pioneers.  3 elders. 3 ministerial servants. The brother said that the town is small, only 700,000!! Now that is funny! Clifton is about 1700! The University requires that the students learn English.  There are many English speaking workers with the oil company.  From the email it seems that the entire city is the congregation's territory. Wow! There are no native English speakers in the congregation.  I have asked for the address of the Kingdom Hall so that I can Google Earth it.  I have written to the brother to ask if there is a sister in the congregation to email with ...it would be helpful, informative and fun!

First we tried calling Mexico by just dialing the phone number that we had.  Wrong.  So we called Verizon to ask about calling Mexico and found out that it is about 45 cents a minute to a land line and about 69 cents a minute to a mobile line. There is a monthly plan available where the cost is about 9 cents a minute to a land line and about 25 cents a minute to a mobile line.  When the customer service went to add the service to our line she said---"you already have that service!" Now this is after we have called and called Verizon about lowering our bill to just the bare minimum.  Paying for a service we didn't use...bummer.  Anyway we dialed through and spoke with the brother.  His family does not understand English very well.  There was great commotion getting him on the line and then we had to call back in 5 minutes.  His English is very choppy but he is happy to say that it has been less than 5 years since he started speaking English! So very good indeed! He said that the congregation is around 38 publishers with 3 elders and 10 regular pioneers.  They have a very large territory covering many cities.  So, the plan is to attend the English convention in Merida in September and then to follow or go with them back to their town.  It would give them opportunity to meet us and us them! He said that there is a brother who owns apartments.  We could check out the territory, the Kingdom Hall, housing, stores, etc.  The brother thought that it would be a good idea to go for an extended visit before actually moving.  So we would like to come home and then plan a trip back if it seems like it will work out.  The brother reassured us that it is very safe there! I hope so!! Funny thing is that I was looking forward to living in a city where we could walk to cafe-s and stores, take the bus, and so on but this area sounds much like Clifton but in Mexico.  I am anxious to find out how it really is...wish I could Google Earth it!

We are still waiting to receive a response from our emails to the brothers named in the Mexico Branch's letter.  In the meantime I have used Google Earth to check out the cities.  It is so cool to walk the streets virtually.  Poza Rica looks exactly like I had thought it would.  Lots of concrete and glass buildings.  I still need to do more exploring.  The other city has not been video-ed by Google but it allows me to fly over the area. It is very verdant.  We are excited to explore more about these cities.  For now we are going to focus on getting our life in order here.  Rob needs some medical things done.  Our plan is to attend the English convention in Merida in September.  On that trip we will explore both areas and visit some friends in Mazatlan. For now we will be busy with the convention invitation work here in Clifton and continue simplifying our lives. Tomorrow we will call the brothers in Mexico!!

Last night was exciting! Robin got an email from the Branch in Mexico saying that we are welcome to join the NeedGreaters there! We were given the contact info of two brothers but it was not apparent where they live.  So, for now we will have to wait on a response to our email to them.  I pray that our two suggested assignments are not border towns!! The timing couldn't have been better.  Next week we go to court to present Robin's case for Disability status. If he is shot down for the third time, he is taking early retirement.  So, this is a perfect time to pursue our desire to serve with an English congregation in Mexico!!

Hi, I'm Back!

Hi everybody!  Did you figure out that I am not the best blogger in the universe?....but maybe in my home since I am the only one! Well, we have enjoyed a spring, summer, fall and now a winter in our new hometown.  We hadn't expected it tobe soooo cold! Today it is warm! Up to 72!! Wow, the sun feels so intense....we didn't even talk about how sad it is that our car heater decided to die before the winter weather set in.  No, we drove/rode along enjoy the sun's heat coming through the windshield with no reference to how glad we are that our Volvo at least has working seat warmers...nope, we just enjoyed the warm rays! We have talked a lot about the weather since the fall.  We have had rain, snow and sleet.  Rob and I have both concluded that we are not very fond of cold weather.  We admit that living in a 100 year old house with no insulation is a drawback.  Our heat pump is pretty ineffective in heating the house.  We have researched space heaters and will be buying some.  Our heart was set on buying an Edenpure heater or the Surge Amish heater that looks like a real fireplace but the cost is about $400.  Space heaters will cost less.  Our oven has died....so, forget the baking to warm the house idea. Our house warms up to a lovely 63 degrees or so on the cold days. Our historical house has original wood floors in the living room and bedroom which was "quaint" when we first saw the house.  Those original floor wood slats are not flush so they allow the cold air to come on up into the house.  My last two homes have had saltillo tile floors but I was able to walk barefoot on them during the winter months in Tucson.  My "quaint" floors here prohibit walking barefoot in the morning.  We are now robe and slipper users.  I always thought these items were just extra stuff people bought to clutter their lives but never used.  I was wrong.  At this moment in my life I am dreaming of owning a pair of Ugg type boots...ones that are cozy and keep your feet warm...who cares that it is an animal product...or maybe I could just get some Walmart ones.... I am torn by buying affordable but guaranteed to last only one season because it is made of inferior materials and shoddy workmanship or buying a better brand that will last...but hurts the pocket book.  Decisions.  We use lap blankets in the car while driving on the cold nights and mornings.  Robin has started wearing a black "Russian" type hat that a friend gave him because she probably didn't want her husband using it! He wears it and gloves in the car!!  Rob's sister Terry sent us scarves she had knitted.  Rob has added that to his winter weather gear.  Seeing snow has been delightful.  We also saw ice on all the plants and trees one morning and it was beautiful to see.  If we are here next winter, we will be prepared! All in all we are glad that we moved here.  Being our grandkids and their Mom and Dad makes it worth it!

Rob's Miserable Week....

Okay, moving is a lot of work; a lot of adjustments.  Our friends have moved to Michigan which is many states from here...but I have to say adjusting to Clifton has been harder than I had anticipated.  Love living by the grandkids and their parents.  Good times! I actually love my new old house...lots of quirks but always surprising and interesting! Lots of character. For once, it was not me who was battling disappointments but my ever agreeable soulmate, Robin.  It started with unplanned food poisoning from stopping at a truck stop.  The general consensus is that you should commit to eating at truck stops on a regular basis or forget about it. We were coming home from Tucson after the quickdraw weekend.  Rob thought we might be a little adventurous and try a new culinary option...it seemed acceptably clean, which I did comment about to the cashier who let me know that they are trying very hard ever since they had been closed down by the health board....I try to fight reading into things as if it is a sign of some future happening...but I felt sure that it might be.  We both got the chills, fevers, body aches and other related unpleasant body function problems. It was pretty pathetic and horrible.  It was during this time that Rob's watch stopped working.....then computer showed the blue screen of death...which led to it going to the computer miracle fix-it man who told us that it was not a software problem but a hardware problem and that it was not even possible to access the hard-drive at all so as to save files.  He is still figuring out how much a repair would cost us.  Then yesterday, Rob's beloved volvo refused to start up.  The car was towed to the only bonafide car repair business in town that is not run out of someone's garage.  Since it is a holiday weekend...(note this was on Tuesday) they would not be able to look at it until next Tuesday.  During all of this a friend had offered Robin the exact phone that he had been drooling over....a smart phone...the HTC something android phone...but it was for Sprint and we are with Verizon so Rob set about his quest to find out if a Sprint phone can be used by a Verison customer....answer= no! So, Rob said that he would be willing to change services and was told that Sprint is not in our area!!  But one of the most shocking items was that Rob was told that unemployment had stopped because the state of Arizona is not in compliance with the federal laws and regulations regarding unemployment extensions.  So, Rob has had a very disappointing week so far..hope it gets better.  We did have our first monsoon rain today!!