Sunday and Monday

Posted on 3:16 PM
Sunday meeting was wonderful.  Vinny Barros gave the public talk on "Does your hope rest on Science or the Bible?"  Excellent talk! Then Chaba conducted the watchtower study and did an awesome job.  The meeting was once again very encouraging and the brothers and sisters are sooo loving.  The kids are making great friends. Here is Elesia and Logan enjoying their new friends...The Barros


The girls are sooo sweet
and the boys trying to decide what they should do....

Here's the ramp and step that the brothers poured and laid tile on so we wouldn't have to climb into the restrooms. ...The construction is coming along nice...Looking good !
After a hot afternoon we headed to the beach to cool off
Logan catching a wave on a board that we rented for the rest of our stay for only $40.00.  A great way to cool off after a hot day in service

Heres Nate helping Erika up on a board.  She was doing great by the end of our night!  Elesia and I played in the sand and enjoyed the sunset

Sunday night ended with a wonderful time with our friends and today, Monday we are cleaning, doing laundry and studying for Tuesday meeting.


Nate is reading the weekly Bible reading to the family while we enjoy a cup a juice with our sandwiches. 
The Barros family stopped in and off we go to a hotel to swim and cool off.  There is a local sister that owns the hotel and she was sooo sweet to let us come cool off and use the internet.  Here we squeeze into their vehicle that they shipped from home...It has AIR...nice!





We had a nice time at the pool and with our friends today.  Logan was trying to teach Elesia how to dive....Too funny! We're now getting ready to get a bite to eat and call it a night so we can rest up for another great day in the ministry tomorrow.  We'll let you know how our day goes....  Hugs and Kisses

Taste of Paradise...

Posted on 5:36 PM
A taste of Paradise is what we experienced as we visited the Manuel Antonio National Park yesterday.  We had a wonderful time and were privledged to have Jesus (pronounced Hey-suess), a Bethelite from Brooklyn, NY join us for the whole day.  WOW!  He was such an encouragement to us and he loved the kids.  Just what we all needed at the right time.  He taught us that we always needed to have JOY in our lives and told us the meaning of the word...
J = Jehovah first
O= Others next
Y= Yourselves last
I now will never forget the meaning of the word and when the kids start bickering...Nate just says...JOY and they get the point!  I would have never thought such a simple word would mean something so powerful. We're so glad to now have a friend in NY who's invited us come stay and wants to make all the plans for us.  We started at 7am with breakfast at our place and making lunches.  We then left left and caught the 8am bus for the park and that's when our adventure began. 
If this is just a little of what Paradise will be....I can only imagine!  We had monkeys hanging over our heads and lizards walking the paths with us.  We hiked up hills and rode the waves of the ocean.  Nate even got us to swing like Tarzan from a vine (and for us girls..Jane) .  We saw some of the largest bamboo trees and scariest spiders ( I was told that they weren't poisoness, but didn't take any chances either).  At the end of our day, we stopped and visited the family we are studying with and bought a few souveinirs from the vendors.  It was then dinner time at a Fantastic BBQ place called 'Chicken on the Run' and then across the street for an icecream bar to top it off.  We headed back to our place and Jesus came over and shared an amazing talk with us....It was a talk from a brother in Egypt where they are under ban and very very encouraging!  It is incredible how Jehovah uses ones to teach others about His purpose for the Earth...even in areas where Jehovah's Witnesses are under ban. I hope we can get a  copy of the talk to share with others...we will see
We had a very full day enjoying Jehovah's creation and taking many sooo many pictures that it was very hard to decide which ones to post.  Here are some we've selected and hope you enjoy them too!!!

One of the views from our hike...

"What's up there, Logan?"...

It's a sloth and he moves sooo slowwwwww

These guys were everywhere...on rocks, in the sand, on trees and even on the paths.  We saw some from 2" to about 2' long

We can't forget my favoite critter...NOT!  This one was the size of a baseball.  That's HUGE!!! (Don't worry...I zoomed my camera in on him) Too close even for my comfort!

Do we look hot and sweaty???? Because we are!

And the kids look cool as can be....that's because we just got done riding the waves and cooling off.  Sooo glad there was water to play in.  I wish the Oregon coast was as warm as here....

We can't forget these cute guys!  They were about 3' from us looking the opposite way when I made little monkey sounds  (eee eee) and they turned around for this pose....They probably were wondering who the crazy monkey was?
Later...we all had to try acting like monkeys...it was hillarious!

Don't let go Logan....

Elesia seemed like a natural! ....

and Miss Erika made it seem sooo easy that even Nate and I had to try....(we left those out till later...haha,)

We can't forget why we are here...... Nate placing a  Bible Teach book while informal witnessing to a tour guide passing by.  (Informal witnessing is awesome here!  People are sooo nice and willing to listen to the Bible.  It was a great conversation!

Dinner on our way home...It was if we had never ate before...we'll actually, I think the kids were just glad that we didn't make them eat rice and beans again.  We had ribs, chicken, salad, plantains, tortillas and soda...all six of us ate for a little over 11,000 colones, which is about $20.00.  A great deal and we were full...except for the room we left for an icecream bar... yummy!
That was our incredible day and there is more to come later.  Hope you are enjoying our trip.  We send all our loves....Hugs, The Olvera fam xoxo


American food...Yummy!

Posted on 5:29 PM
It's Thursday and a good morning to an all american breakfast....No not bacon, eggs and potatoes, but how about pancakes and bananas drenched in syrup.....yummy.  I had enough beans and rice for one day...so when I saw pancake mix...I bought it right away and price didn't matter!

I thought it was funny that the syrup said, "for export only"...I guess they were thinking of us 'homesick americans'...haha

Oh, i forgot to tell you that when we came home last night, we found this friend waiting for us on our window by our front door... It's a 'locust'
We used Erika's hand as a measuring tool.  Don't worry, she was on the inside of the window...we couldn't get anyone to volunteer for an outside measurement...Anyway, it was HUGE and I know it was closely watching us with its very BIG eyes!

After breakfast, we headed to the hall for service at 8am.  We setup at table with literature at the bus depot and it was very busy.  We placed a couple of Bible teach books and had several great conversations with interested ones.  With one lady...she thought that only 144,000 were going to be saved and she knew that there were more Jehovah witnesses than that, so what would happen to the rest? ...A great question...I was able to share Rev 14:1-3; Rev 5:9,10 and Isaiah 45:18 . After a wonderful conversation...she said, "that makes sense" and I invited her to the hall on Sunday, so we will see if she comes.  Nate also invited another man who was very nice and wanted a book too.  It's exciting to see such interested ones here and almost everyone has been sooo nice and willing to talk about spiritual things. 
Here are some people that we met today and I took their pictures

This was one of our invites to this Sunday's meeting

( I'm almost as dark as the tica's here.... thanks to the almost 100 degree weather)

So there is a great story behind this picture!  Tuesday was my breakdown day....(I cried all afternoon and wanted to go home) Just when I had seen enough poverty for the rest of my life and knew that only JEHOVAH could take care of their situation I had this stray dog approach me limping and I called it over to see what was wrong...when it turned around, I saw that it had a huge hole in its back leg(aprox 5 inches long and an inch wide) and I could see the bone...that was it for me....I got sick in the curb and didn't understand how people could just let an animal walk around town sooo injured. No one even blinked an eye at him, as if it was normal .
That's when 'Venessio' approached me and said, "It be OK, mi amiga".  Apparently when I was crying in front of his house, he heard me and came out to comfort me.  Later he told me he was one of Jehovah's Witnesses and shared Mark 12:30 with me (You must love Jehovah your God with your whole, heart, and with your whole soul and with your whole mind and with your whole strength) and He told me "to be strong" (I forgot to tell you that He didn't speak very much English either...just enough for me to understand the compassion he had for me)
I knew immediately that Jehovah used him to comfort me and it worked.  The last two days have been very different for me.  My focus has been back on the ministry and to encourage my brothers and sisters here that are working so hard in the ministry and not on myself and my problems...which are so minor compared to many people. So that's my new friend and a wonderful brother.

This is Luis and we are studying the Bible with him and his whole family(even his sister and her 6 kids)  Today his eye's teared up after our study and he said..."So, I need to taste and see that Jehovah is good"  He got it!!! Put Jehovah first and see how He will bless us....I love his family...wonderful people.  Here is his niece dancing for us..

She was sooo cute and not shy at all.  She learned God's name today, "Jehovah"

We'll, we just got done eating and Elesia and Logan are happy campers...sitting in their bean bag chair

while Erika chuggs more water and works on homework..."ughhhh", she say's 

 
Gotta go for now....luv u all!!!!








Tues Meeting and Bathroom Remodel

Posted on 5:38 PM
Hi everyone!
Tuesday nights meeting was sooo encouraging.  We got to hear all the friends comment and then meet some wonderful people from a lot of different places...like Canada, Texas, Florida, California, Virginia, Tennessee and more... I'm still just amazed that I went to the Kingdom Hall with my study material from Portland, OR and was able to jump right into the meeting here in Quepos, Costa Rica with no problem.  I'm really apppreciating how Jehovah is an organized God .(cause I know I'm not!!! haha) and His people are united even if we speak different languages.  I've met some wonderful Spanish people that I could only communicate a little with, but the Hugs and kisses said it all and I knew that we had the best thing in common and that was we all love Jehovah and I can't wait till the day that we can all speak one language again.
Here is a couple of pics from last nights meeting and my new amiga, Carmen. 


She is a great sister and sooo encouraging to me.  She was my householder for my part, which went very well and the friends even applauded.  They were sooo happy to have us here to help out with some of the parts and they are all making us feel at home.
There has been a remodel of the bathrooms the last couple of days...I guess they were having sewer issues and needed to raise the floors. Here are a  few shots I took while they were doing the concrete work and tile... These brothers are amazing!  They started at 7am and worked all thru the night...eating breakfast, lunch and dinner at the hall (thanks to the wonderful sisters her prepared all the meals.

Since they raised the floor, they had to put a ramp and step in and had to raise the windows


Nate wanted me to include this junction box....Only an electrician or handyman would appreciate this!!!   :-)

This is Daniel and Vinny with Nate

Working into the night, but glad this part is over.....looks good!


and the tile is coming along nice....


Everyone has been sooo busy helping out and we can't wait tell its finished.
Oh yeah, so today was a great day in service. 8 hours to be exact!   Nate setup a table at the beach with the kiddos and another bropther full of literature and talked to several people and Erika and I got to help out in the mountains in finding English speaking people...which we found several and had some great conversations and shared encouraging scriptures with.  A long hot day (98 degrees to be exact with high humidity) and some very bumpy roads.  We even has to drive across two creeks cause the bridges were broken and walk up several hills because our SUV couldn't make it.
Some people were amazed that we were all the way in Costa Rica to preach....(but God says that...The good news will be preached in all the inhabited earth).  How exciting to be part of this prophecy!!!
After a long day we headed to the cafe for icetea and icecream.  A great combo and to check our e-mails... I guess its off to our casa to wind down and get ready for another great day! 
We send our luvs and hope everyone is doing well.
Hugs and kisses   xoxo

Beach Trips

Posted on 4:24 PM
We finally made it to the local beach...I know that might sound funny but where we are located there is only a pier with rocks and no sand. Our bus ride takes about 15 mins...not to bad.
We'll its still very hot and we are slowly trying to adjust and make our place "home".  Today we went to a few stores and bought a fan and some kitchen stuff that we needed. (I sure miss the dollar tree!)  Things are not as cheap as I thought they would be, but Nate now has the ATM down and thanks to Justin for making our deposits for us, we should be A OK!
We are getting ready to go to the Kingdom Hall for meeting at 7pm and I'm sooo excited to be giving a talk here in Costa Rica.  What a privledge and blessing.  We sure are experiencing a small part of Jehovah's united worship.  Amazing!!!
So, here are a few beach pics that I took



The beach at Parrita....beautiful! and the water...Hot

Erika and Cindy jumping waves (another sister in our hall)

All the kids digging and having a blast with their new friends..the Barrow's

This pelican decided to pose for me and let me get 10 feet from him....

The sun was starting to set here.

We'll I better get going.  Need to meet up with the rest of the fam before meeting.  We miss and luv you all.  Hugs, Ang




More of Weds...and Thurs.

Posted on 4:25 PM
Got back from store and started cooking. We had a spill with the substance that kept Erika sane (Limon Tang)...then it happened, tears started welling up:( But all is well due to Elesia and her bamboo stick that she had to bring.
Nate got it all cleaned up and we had one more packet of juice.
(Had to go get more)

For dinner we had noodles with celery, carrots and tomatoes...How refreshing, just like stir fry.
Then a walk around the neighborhood.

 The sewer just drains to the gully in the street, leaving a wonderful aroma.)Erika says..."Gross"
The kids are learning realquick that people don't all live the same and we are so grateful for what we do have (which is too much!)

This morning we got up and met at the kingdom hall for service. We walked the pier to a park where we met a few people along the way and had great conversations, placing a few pieces of literature. We came back into town and met wonderful sisters, some local and some from other areas that had a table set up at the bus debot full of literature. After visiting we took over the table and talked to a few people while placed four mags. and approx. ten tracts... she has the "Pioneer Spirit". It was really hot out and we were hungry. We heard of a brother in the spanish congregation that owned "Pollo Frito"so we got fried chicken and it was yum yum. On our way back in we stopped for ice cream to help cool down where we found the internet cafe. Here we are now. The kids just had a snack and now we are getting ready to head back to our room to do some things for the evening. Heres a few pics we just took of us and the cafe
.

 Not sure if we will post tomorrow or not, we will be in service all morning and then off to the beach to play. But will talk to you soon. Miss everybody but feels great to be helping out where the need is greater and learning more about ourselves.
Love you all, XOXO


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