Sunday, March 28, 2010

Malachi 3:10

Greetings friends! We are finally back online here at Patterson Bethel. Many apologies for the delay. Our journey back to New York went well...it's just a long drive and we unfortunately drove at the worst hours ever! We worked and packed all day and then left for NY at 9 p.m. eek! We decided we won't be doing that again.
Our arrival at Bethel was met with many blessings, hence the scripture for our title. As soon as we drove up Watchtower drive we noticed a different air about Bethel. There were cars everywhere for the Gilead graduation! The brothers at the front desk in the lobby were chipper and friendly (as usual, with a little extra enthusiam and stress due to the many, many guests for the graduation) We were handed our Bethel keys and discovered we are living in the same section 11 we were before, we are just relocated upstairs directly above our old room. We love this section because it is closest to the personal laundry room and we made great friends with our neighbors the last three months we were here. It was so exciting to see familiar faces! We unpacked our car and drug our stored stuff that we left here for our return, back up to our room. That was exhausting because we were already dragging from our long trip, but it felt good to be back in a one bedroom room, simplicity and no more big house to clean, whew! When we finished unpacking I realized I left my makeup slash hair stuff slash necessary lotions and cremes box in Indiana! I had a moment of freak out and a few overly tired tears, but got over it and got dressed to make a trek to the store for some necessities. When I walked out of our room and into the Occupant Supply Closet to get a jacket, our neighbors came out of their room to greet us. I told her the dilemma and she immediately gave me a brand new mascara and hair dye that was exactly my color! HEE! No more need for the trip to the store! We settled in for the night pretty early. We needed our rest for the next day- GILEAD GRADUATION!!!!!! It was a little hard to sleep, because all night long there was music, laughter and hoots and hollers coming from nearby rooms and sections. Gilead Grad gets everyone really pumped and excited and gives all these Bethelites a good reason to have some well-needed fun and get-togethers!
Gilead Grad was at 10 a.m., so we got up, got dressed and headed for the Dining Room where they were serving in buffet lines coffee, orange juice, pastries, eggs and sausage. I have never seen the Dining Room so packed and soooo LOUD! We watched and listened in on the graduation from the Dining Room. The auditorium can only hold so many friends and those seats are reserved for Gilead students and their family and friends that fly in from all over the world and high seniority Bethelites. The total attendance for the graduation was just under 8,000. That total includes Brooklyn, Wallkill, Patterson and Canada Bethel.

The talks prepared by the Governing Body, Branch Committee members and Missionary brothers alike were just wonderful. Beautiful information, insight and encouragment for the Gilead students and the rest of us listening in. Jamin and I are so thankful to Jehovah that we were invited back to Bethel just in time for that special event. We easily could have slipped through the cracks because of all the guests (almost double the Patterson Bethel family) that come and stay at Patterson for the graduation. We couldn't hold back our tears listening to many of the talks and the singing of our brothers and sisters. We are so excited for our Gilead Student friends. Their excitement and smiles was so contagious that day. Bethel was a totally different atmosphere, we loved every moment. I wish you all could have been there with us. Hopefully one day you can attend a graduation at Patterson.
The next day, Sunday, we went into the city with a Gilead couple and their family to do the Bible tour at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We had a blast and learned so much about the history of Jehovah's people and what struggles they had with the false religious practices and worship that surrounded them in their day. We saw with our own eyes pieces of art that our brothers Daniel and the three Hebrews saw as they lived in Babylon. It was soo cool! We highly suggest taking that tour if you are in the area or come for a visit of the Bethels here.
That Monday was our first day of work. Bethel doesn't skip a beat if they invite you to work here. We really weren't given any instructions on where to go or what to do for work before or upon our arrival. So, we went to morning worship and then headed straight for our overseers' offices. Unfortunatley my overseer wasn't in town, so it was a little crazy trying to figure out where I should be and the best way to be useful. I was eventually sent to an assignment. All the housekeepers' assignments were crazy, because priority was on all the guest rooms. We needed to turn over all those rooms in a week in preparation for the Elders to come back for school the coming weekend! It was stressful but Jehovah always gives us what we need in strength, peace of mind and direction to get the job done right.
We made it through the week just fine, had no trouble with times and schedule, probably all due to Jehovah! On Saturday the 20th we slept in. We did our family worship after I made a Chorizo and Egg breakfast :) We hung around our place a bit longer and then went for a hike! It was about 70 degrees, how could we not take advantage of the weather. The pics below just scratch the surface of the beauty and variety you will see on Bethel property. It truly is piece of paradise here.

This is a glimpse of the apple orchard. Majorly testifies to Psalm 72:16 because literally this orchard is on a mountain.




Here are the basketball courts also on top of the mountain. Just to the right of these are tennis courts also used for soccer. You will also find BBQ'S, picnic tables and an area to play horse shoes.



This is behind the courts heading toward the reservoir. Looks so peaceful and quiet huh...






actually, to the right of where Jamin was standing in the last pic there is a paintball park about 200 yards away, on land bordering Bethel's property. The day of our little hike there was a paintball battle-game-thing going on, so we heard lots of pops and yells instead of birds and naturiffic sounds.






A better shot of the Reservoir. Jamin really isn't pointing at anything particular, he just decided it would look good for the picture :)






This a rad rock. Jamin likes to do arabesques on that rad rock as you can see.







Ok, this is our favorite spot! It is sooo amazing. I can't wait to see it when all the trees have leaves and everything is alive and green! We spent a lot of time here and will definitley spend more time there in the next three months.

































There is a video of this area at the bttom of the page too, just for your viewing and hearing pleasure hehe!












This is also part of the Reservoir. We say it would make a great water slide and the hill would be awesome for sledding!














These next pics are behind the Batch Plant where Jamin spends a lot of time working. There are waterfalls and streams and bubbling brooks all over Bethel property!





























Yes Jamin is standing under the road. This little tunnel allows us and Bethel cattle to cross the highway safely.



































HOLY COWS! No, really, they are. These are some of Bethel cattle. The one on the right is prego. We herd, I mean heard that many little baby cows were born this week...awwwwww...i know..awwww.









There are so many more pictures I could post just of that one hike, but I just can't, I'm tired now. I can show you some more later or you can just come here to visit us and you can see it with your own eyes! After we saw the cows we went into one of the huge barns and walked to the Bethelites' garden plots where they grow their own fruits, veggies, herbs and flowers. Then after 3 hours of hiking and walking and seeing we decided to go home...we were tired.
Now, the last time we were here I wrote about housekeeping and all the fun things we do. I especially mentioned towel animals for guest and elder rooms. I said I would post pics and never did....Well, here they are, finally. I took these the first week back to work. All of these animals were made for the elders. Let me know your favorites :) I forgot to take a picture of a piggy I can make, so I need to add that one later. The little plastic package with orange things in it is ear plugs. There are two elders per room, so you can put he rest together.














Well friends, we hope you enjoy the first of many more blogs to come. I will do my best to keep up with it weekly. We miss you much and love you even more!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

back to life, back to reality

hi all. we're packing right now...sigh...

I sigh because it's a lot, and because I'm pumped to come home and see your faces and hug you and to work and I'm going to miss Bethel! We will be home next Wednesday. Jamin will back to work on Thursday and I will work on Friday. Back to the grind. Gotta work hard for the money! I know the seven weeks we are home will fly by, so we must savour every moment. These past three months have been a blast and we have made memories and friends that are soo valuable. The next three months will just add to it. Nothing will really be new, we'll have the schedule down and now that we've been here we know exactly what we need and don't need. I've made a list for what we need to bring back with us, it's kinda long, but just basics like: Spatula, serving spoon, CAN OPENER (man! we've had a really janky one for these past three months and I can't take it any more!), flip flops (biggest mistake ever leaving those at home...I'll explain later), and so on and on.

Man! I can't wait to see you!
Ok, I'm winding down and I still have oodles to do, so please pardon the shortness.

Much love


soon...

Saturday, January 2, 2010

day by day, by day...

Again, I apologize for the delayed update.
Now that I got that out of the way- WOW! Have these last to weeks flown by! I feel like I'm in one of those little cartoon flip books that you draw when your 3rd grade teacher isn't looking. Except Jehovah's thumb is flipping the pages... I have some pictures and their explanations below, but first I have to let you know that yesterday at Morning Worship the Gilead students recieved their assignments! It was emotionally charged. The students had to maintain their composure as they patiently waited for the invitation to stand up and line up in alphabetical order. If they were a beverage their ingredients and directions would read this way:


Excited 40%

Zealous 33%

Anxious 17%

Nervous 10%


Caution- When fidgeting and excessive water are added explosion may occur




I pretty much felt the same way, only with a dab of jealousy on the side. As I wrote down last names and more than 25 countries, I couldn't help but fight back tears. These couples have proven their love for Jehovah by throwing their futures into his hands for the sake of His will to be fully accomplished. Knowing this really makes you realize there is so much more room for improvement and adjustments in our spirituality and circumstances. The entire Bethel family could hardly wait to bombard them with hugs, kisses, hoots, hollers and tears. I have had the privilege to work along side three students and let me tell you, their positivity and peer pressure to do more is something I will think about when I make decisions from here on out. I can't wait to share more of their experiences with you when we come home.
This last Monday Brother Losch conducted our Family Watchtower study and after we had another lecture titled It is Impossible for God to Lie.

I just have to say it again, the spiritual blessings you recieve from Jehovah's Organization in His house are more than treasures. Everything is designed to encourage us and deepen our love and appreciation for our Grand Creator...sigh...



Okie dokie...Our New York City trip was a blast, cold, but totally fun! When we got into the city of course we had to make a pit stop...so that's what you're looking at in this pic HAHA! Yes we are in a bathroom...taking a picture...okay you get it, neeEExt.
Mission #1: Walk the Brooklyn Bridge




Proof!




Mission #2: Me want RAMEN!

See Jasmin with Ramen


See Jasmin eat Ramen



This is a rad building...that wasn't a mission, just an extra

Mission #3: Meet up with cousin and have fun in the city


So Casey (that's my cousin's name) texts me during our day of tourism and asks me if we would like to go to a really cool but exclusive place for dinner. We say "Of course!", of course. We met at Brooklyn Bethel (where he lives) and then headed by train and foot to this secret place. He said he could only get a reservation for 6 p.m., that or 1 a.m. Anyway, we get off the train and we're walking and walking and then he enters into a restaurant that has the sign you see below. I'm thinking "Hmmm, okay...a hot dog joint, exclusive? hmmmm". We get inside and he makes a quick left into what looks like an old phone booth. He picks up the phone and says "Reservation for 4 is here, yes, okay thank you." Then!! the wall opens up! We walk through and the girl who opened the door secures the door once again like nothing ever happened. It was a dimly lit, 30' long by 10' wide brick room. There were taxidermied animals with bowties, top hats and the like. We slid into a black, leather booth, were quickly handed slim drink menues and the way I knew it was going to be good was because Radiohead thence commenced for a stellar ambiance. Their specialty was bizarre drinks. Bizarre like rum, scotch, sage and black pepper. I had a drink with root beer, gin, egg white and something else. Basically, it was weird but interesting. The only food served was 'tatoes: Waffle fries and tater tots with a side of cheese and diced jalepenos. Oh, yeah you could order a hot dog from next door too if you fancied.

We had a fun night after that exploring and sight seeing. We were with two other friends of my cousin's before our night ended. Heard lots of funny stories about Bethel life and serving in the Albanian field. Good times.


The food and yes, that is an orange peel frozen into a giant ice cube.

The view from Casey's Bethel room. Pretty sweet huh!

Last Friday we had the pioneer meeting and dinner in one of the Bethel lounges. The food was amazing! It consisted of black rice, ribs, ham slices, a purple cabbage concoction that tasted soo yummy, fried and baked turkey, gravy and more. We sang songs from the new song book, played games and read some poems written especially for the Seaside Pioneers. It was really encouraging!
Below is Sister Spears. She is 96 years old and is still pioneering. How old are you?


Little Stinker!

It's time to get out! You're too crazy and loud!!!!!


Check this out. This is a graveyard we saw. It goes on for miles. Jehovah's memory is GINORMOUS!!!!!!!





tHIS IS fun. These guys are playin' in the Subway!