History of a Three Months' Journey: January 2010

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?