The Great Gas Frenzy

Day 41

Over the weekend all of us girls and two Bolivian sisters all went to the town of Santa Rosa. It was about a 4 hour drive in a 4 wheel drive vehicle, which was necessary because the road was rough. It was full of ruts and super muddy and huge lake of water and rivers running over the road. Definitely not a smooth ride haha. Also, there were tons of dead cows and horses all along the side of the road. Because of all the flooding all the animals went to dry ground and so did the snakes so they died of snake bites and lack of food. Then when we got almost to Santa Rosa there was a huge line of trucks and we couldn't drive any farther because a huge river washed out the road. So we had to grab all our gear, which included tents, sleeping bags, food, and all our clothes for the weekend. We then had to carry it all about a half hour into town and then a brother picked us up with his truck and we threw all our luggage in the back and then sat on top of it on our way to our lodging, aka the Kingdom Hall. A special pioneer couple lives in a house right behind the hall but since all the flooding, they are sleeping in the Kingdom Hall, so we did too. We set up our tents inside on the floor, to keep out the mosquitos. But it was so interesting to visit, because Santa Rosa is even worse off than Rurre. So many of the roads in town were flooded, and they weren't getting food into town because of the bad road, and they still don't have gas or bottled water.

On Saturday we went out in service in the morning and then two brothers took us on a river tour in the afternoon. The roads were so flooded than we actually were on the boat about a half hour until we made it to the actual river. But it was so beautiful and we got to see so many animals. We saw: all sorts of beautiful strange birds, emus, alligators, capybara (which is a real life ROUS), pink fresh water dolphins, a sloth, turtles, and monkeys. At one point he pulled the boat up to a tree full of adorable monkeys and they walked right up to us and even jumped onto our boat. Later we got to an area where the dolphins hang out and we jumped in and swam with them :) I didn't actually touch one but they swam so close! It was so cool because we got to see every animal we wanted. Sometimes you can pay for a tour and see nothing at all.

We got to meet the brothers and sisters, which didn't take long. Its only a group, and I think about half their meeting attendance is children. Their average attendance is about 20, so there are only a few baptized publishers. I think we doubled their meeting attendance on Sunday. But the kids commented so much and were so eager to comment, it was so sweet.

Tent Witnessing

Rurrenabaque Flooding (From a Week Ago)

Day 36

So after it downpoured for a week straight and we complained about that, now it hasn't rained for a week, and when it doesn't rain, its hotter than you can even imagine. So two days ago we went to a swimming pool, which felt amazing. As we were walking home from the pool we met a brother who told us our Witness neighbors were waiting in line for gas for cooking. And the town hasn't had gas since before we got here, so its a big deal and everyone is lining up on this one street to replace their empty gas tanks with full ones. So we find our neighbors to help them wait. They decide to go home because they had been waiting for about an hour and so we took over (we being courtney, kayla, me, the three girls from WI, and kezia, a sister from Denmark who lives here now) so there is 7 of us waiting in line with about 40 other people, all Bolivians. Then in the distance we see the gas truck coming and hope it comes to our side because we were at the beginning of the line. But as he gets closer he drives past without stopping. Then someone shouts, "he's going to the plaza!!!" Which is about 5 blocks away. So as gas is this very important and emotional thing and people have been waiting for weeks and hours in line, everyone just starts running like crazy towards the plaza. Like complete madness haha. So of course we pick up our gas tanks (5 in total) and start running, awkwardly because the tanks are heavy. Two girls each carried one tank and one sister grabs a tank and hops on a motorcycle taxi towards the plaza, while yelling at us to run. So here we are running as fast as we can through the streets, us and at least 100 other Bolivians all carrying gas tanks following the truck to the plaza. Funniest scene. Ever. It was such a huge commotion that all the street dogs are barking at us like crazy and running with us (there are lots of street dogs). Just to top it all off, at one point I see in the corner of my eye something passing us. It is this scrawny little 12 year old Bolivian boy running with this huge cart, about 3 feet by 4 feet, with just one little tank in the middle of this cart too big for the boy and the tank. And his little legs are just booking it haha. And they are tons of people just watching from their houses and the streets, taking video and pictures. When we get in sight of the plaza we see at least thirty moto taxis following the gas truck with people on the back holding their gas tanks. So the sister who took the moto taxi actually made it to second in line, with 50 people already behind her. So we run up to her with our tanks and get our five new gas tanks fairly quickly. But let me tell you, people were MAD. They were screaming and throwing tanks at the driver saying they had waited for hours and would wait no longer. But in the end we got our gas, so all is good in that area. But my dear friends, I wish more than anything I had taken a video for you all to see. Unfortunately there was no time to take my camera out in all the madness. I do however have a few pictures from finally getting our gas at the plaza, which I will post soon. But even all the brothers and sisters who live here have never seen anything like it. We had a very good laugh about it for a long time.

I'm trying to get caught up with posting all my pictures, so as you have probably figured out, what I'm posting is from a week or two ago.

Day 34

Service has been so interesting here. The day after tent preaching, we went to all the schools where people are living who's houses are flooded. I saw a few people crying when we talked to them, some people have lost everything. They don't have beds or enough clothes and don't know when they will be able to go home again. Also, I talked to a man who had a stroke and couldn't move very well. I read Isaiah 33:24 and talked to him a little. At the end he grabbed my hand and either said "thanks for visiting me" or "when are you coming to visit me again?" (My Spanish still needs work haha). But either way it was very touching.

Also, it hasn't rained very much in the past week and that's our source of washing and bathing water. We really needed to wash our clothes and so we went with a bunch of brothers and sisters to a small lake to wash our clothes haha. Definitely a first for me. We stood in the water and filled a bucket with lake water and then added the laundry soap and washed with hands :) Then I rinsed the soapy clothes in the lake and hung them up to air dry. The water was brown and there were tons of floating weeds and garbage (yuck) but it was better to wash them in that than not at all. Also, there were tons of people washing their clothes there, all lined up along the edge, it was like a normal outing or something.

Since it hasn't rained much in the past week, the sun has been out a ton, and when the sun is out, it is HOT. Today we are at a swimming pool which feels so fantastic!

THE Bus Trip