the Great and Fear Inspiring Day (is come and gone)
Our Notice Board Week 7 is history! The class received their assignments after a stressful week waiting and a very stressful Friday REALLY waiting. …. and that’s all we’ll say about that. This morning (Sat) brother Ramseyer came in to do our Morning Worship and gave a service talk. He has had an amazing career in the service! 25 years in missionary work and some 40 years in the Branch! His stories were faith building for sure. We almost couldn’t bring ourselves to let him go and get on with our meeting. We had unexpected visitors this week. First of all, brother and sister Pintar came in for a visit at noon. He is the first Circuit Overseer I remember having. He was my hero when I was 10! Very nice to see them again (although he most certainly did not remember me!) Next day our new food crew included … Joy Barclay!! We have barely crossed paths with her in years. For those that don’t know her, we pioneered together in Sherbrooke over thirty years ago, before we were married. She was one of the Special Pioneers there then. We had a nice lunch together and caught up a bit. It goes too fast ….. Just a couple of quick ones today: Brother Ramseyer said : Trust in Jehovah and relax. Or trust in yourself and worry. Easy decision. Brother Charland: comment on Eph 5:15-1) keep strict watch that how you walk … because the days are wicked. Continue Reading →
Posted in The Summer of Our Thirtieth by jimt with 7 comments.
Only Two Weeks Left
I can’t believe that we have finished 6 weeks already! Time is flying! This week we did the last of our workshops. For the Bible Study workshop a couple of the demonstrations were “bad” examples. One was hilarious! She did EVERYTHING wrong. She flew in apologizing for being 30 minutes late because she had to get to Starbucks. Didn’t have her book and had to follow with her student. Asked the student where they were starting then looked it over quickly before telling the student to read the paragraph while she fixed her coffee! After one badly done paragraph she got a call on her phone and said that she had to meet friends for hiking so they would do the next paragraph on the following week. We were killing ourselves! I don’t know how she kept it together. Great acting! We had some visitors this week too. Actually, the Geedipallys had visitors and we joined in. The Gilbys, (for those of you that don’t know them, we met them in Newfoundland. We shared a room on our way out of NL on our trip to Africa, oh so many years ago!) dropped in for lunch. It was a day when there was a session for brothers only just before lunch so Leslie was out early. As it turned out we finished quite early too so I got to join in for a bit of catching up. Our Saturday Morning Worship speaker was brother Mike Ferguson. They had recently been to Continue Reading →
Posted in The Summer of Our Thirtieth by jimt with 1 comment.
Squeaking in a quick post
Whoa! Sunday night, actually bed time. But I’m going to get out a quick note. I didn’t think I get one done this week. Week four was heavier, but we were all tired this week. And we had a little more going on this weekend. Saturday was our last written exams. We had the normal weekly exam and then a second one for brothers only. From now on we have oral exams. So this ran us late on Saturday – past lunch time. The instructors had set it up so that we could have a class BBQ after. And we took it all back to the instructors apartments! Fun! We got a bit of studying done after, but ….. Then today, after the meeting we did our studying for tomorrow then went to Bethel where a brother in our host congregation was having a Pizza party for many in the congregation. Homemade pizzas by the dozens in the outdoor wood oven! Awesome! There is starting to be a lot of talk about graduation (if we ever make it that far!). We have all been assigned comments for the Watchtower study to be held that day (done assembly style). We will get our assignments on the Friday of the 7th week, but we are forbidden to share with ANYONE until the graduation. … so don’t ask!! 😁 Just a couple of gems: Teaching is an art. Counseling others is part of teaching and is a real art in itself. Art is Continue Reading →
Posted in The Summer of Our Thirtieth by jimt with 2 comments.
Half way done …. ( or half way to go )
Myles needs a bigger desk! We have finished what is allegedly the heaviest week. It was quite a big one. Still, I’ll reserve judgement until I’ve seen the next four! There were some nights with tons of study. There was a ‘brothers only’ session each day that had us sweating! The sisters enjoyed some down time …. or so we thought! Turns out they were putting together a slideshow of us, their husbands, and a version of “Shepherds – Gifts in Men” incorporating 6 languages! They came in and sang it for us on Friday! Wow! We had some nice spiritual addons this week. Our Friday afternoon recorded lecture was by brother Mark Noumair on “Imitate the Apostle Paul”. It was a whirlwind tour of Paul’s life, following him on his missionary tours and noting when and where he wrote his letters. Awesome! Saturday we had brother Pratt, from the Branch Committee, come and do our morning worship. He added on a short talk “Keeping Looking for the Donkeys” about King Saul as a young man being sent on the lowly job of looking for his fathers donkeys and receiving the privilege of becoming king. Nice application to accepting humble assignments. Our adopted Kingdom Hall Hayden, my first service partner The congregation we are assigned to is the Sandalwood Congregation. They meet with the North Park Congregation but in the downstairs Hall. This week they have invited a speaker from Warwick NY to come for the weekend. Yesterday he gave Continue Reading →
Posted in The Summer of Our Thirtieth by jimt with 4 comments.
Third week and all is well
Three weeks in! Actually this week seemed a little easier. That might be an illusion or maybe we are getting used to it. We are bonding well as a class. We move about tables in the cafeteria each day so that we sit with different ones and get to know them better. Leslie is threatening to adopt the single sisters (individually or as a set. I’m not sure) and I have explained to her that we can’t afford them! Last week we sent greetings to the SKE class that graduated out west. This week we sent a video greeting to the first SKE class graduating in Thailand! Brother & sister Fiebig, in our class, are serving in Thailand so they taught us how to do a proper greeting. There is a different way of saying it for men and women. Friday at lunch we took a few minutes and sang a kingdom song together. I really hope that doesn’t make it out into the wild! And, of course, the lunches continue to amaze! We mostly avoid the desserts, but occasionally we have to give in for a specially good bit. I did not have any of the ones in the photos! Just shot them with the camera. We also went out with the class for supper on Friday night. We can’t afford the time to do it often, but it is nice to take the time once in a while to see each other ‘off the clock’. We had a Continue Reading →
Posted in The Summer of Our Thirtieth by jimt with 5 comments.
Getting into the swing – Week 2
Its hard to believe that week 2 is over. It seems like we were waiting forever, and now it is 25% done. The schedule is becoming our routine now, but it is a real day’s work. We’re up just before 6am, out the door by 6:45. Breakfast at 7:30, Text & comments at 8:15, official classes at 8:30. Every day except Wednesday we are staying for supper (gleaned from lunch) and doing our studying at the school. So we get home at about 9:00 – 9:30. We try to be in bed not long after 9:30. We are learning about ‘over-viewing’. We started out trying to study every article. Our instructors shook their heads knowingly. We dropped down to just reading some articles. Still we found some nights too much. Over-viewing is more like skimming and I still feel like a heel for doing it. But, it is encouraged. Our days in class are discussions and presentations. It is much like day long meditation. Awesome. One couple in our class, Jim & Veronica Grey, had their 30th anniversary this week. Some found out and had a micro celebration waiting for them at their desks in the morning. We are very quickly getting so close to each other in class. It doesn’t take much to bring tears, and there is much expression of comfort and commendation. Well, here’s some gems of the week: When the pope makes a decision for the church it is called “motu proprio” or, basically, ‘of his Continue Reading →
Posted in The Summer of Our Thirtieth by jimt with 6 comments.
First Week and Still Alive!
Wow! What a busy week! And I suspect that was the easy “warm-up”. Actually, it is mostly just a matter of getting used to the way things are done and setting a routine. I think we have almost settled into a routine. …. almost. We have been ordered (strongly encouraged) to get enough sleep. Don’t study all night! No danger here! By nine-thirty we are ready to crawl into bed. Of course, remnants of Newfoundland timezone still have us waking up shortly after 5:00am. That will probably change, but for now it is not a bad thing. We are not the oldest ones in the class, but we are the runners up! A few in the class weren’t born when we started pioneering. sigh. How are we to keep up to this kind of energy?!? We have a diversified class, several speak multiple languages. One brother is Egyptian. He moved to Canada to escape being killed. Extremists took a hit out on him for becoming a Witness! We go in every morning (Mon-Sat) about 7:15 in the morning. There are two sisters that come in every day at 5:00am to cook breakfast. Imagine! Other couples are assigned to help serve. Breakfast is at 7:30. There is something for everyone. Porridge, granola, fruit, bacon, eggs, even crepes one day! At 8:15 we have morning worship Bethel style. A couple are assigned to comments each day. We had day two. This lasts until 8:30 when class starts. Lunch is amazing and …. Continue Reading →
Posted in The Summer of Our Thirtieth by jimt with 4 comments.
Class – first glimpse
Thursday – first time setting foot in our class! We were to report in for 1:00. It was mostly a meet ‘n’ greet. A time to get to meet the other students and our Instructors. Our instructors are Morris Charland and Frank Correia. There are two other C.O.s and their wives attending as observers too. Our class is made up of 12 couples and 2 single sisters. Each couple shares a desk, a microphone and a plug for recharging devices …. we added a power bar! Seating is alphabetical so we are in the back row (like all trouble-makers!). Maybe I can hide behind the ones in front? Friday we had our orientation, received our study list, and our first two weeks of personal assignments. The wall where the assignments are posted is called the “Wailing Wall”. We had a great breakfast to start the day. Each day – Mon-Sat – the sisters come in a 5:00am to get us breakfast. Imagine! Each noon a congregation is assigned to provide a meal. They bring enough that many students pack some up for supper and stay at the Assembly Hall for study rather than returning to their rooms. We may do this most days too. We are being looked after by a wonderful couple, Grant & Marlyn Miles. We are the third couple they have hosted! Amazing! It is quite a sacrifice to have someone stay in your house for 8 weeks. They are trying to over feed us with great Continue Reading →
Posted in The Summer of Our Thirtieth by jimt with 5 comments.
Toronto Bound
Off the boat at 7 am after a nice breakfast on board. We had planned stops along the way and didn’t plan to make our days too long. The day was good with only light rain at times. We stopped for gas in New Glasgow and lunch in Amnerst, NS. Then we booted through to Temiscouta sur le Lac, QC! Guy & Helen Stephen, whom we had not seen in decades (literally) took us in. Raclette for supper! Yea! We had a nice visit, woke up to snow everywhere, and headed on to Ottawa. Marvin & Penny were waiting for us with massive food (etc 😉). We had a nice, but little visit for a day and then, Wednesday morning, headed on to Bethel. We had not been to Bethel for at least 17 years. Might be more. Imagine our delight to get to spend a night there. And things have certainly changed. We met someone who kindly showed us about. Some of you might recognize her! In spite of preparing to head to Turkey in a very short time, Krista Lea gave us a very nice tour. Leslie got lessons in quality control. …. like she needs that!!! We met a few other friends along the way. some more real than others. Which is which? We even tried the Bethel time machine and practiced our 1940s frowns. ok, … I did.
Posted in The Summer of Our Thirtieth by jimt with 2 comments.
Meetings & Parting
It was great to be at our pioneer meeting with the West Coast Gang! The program was excellent! Poor brother Sideris was battling a cold and still carried off all his parts on the meeting. Like the energizer bunny, never stops! I had a part that was supposed to end with the music video “Best Life Ever”. I introduced it, but technically difficulties help it up for a few minutes. I was beginning to think I would have to do a little song and dance on my own! Saved by the system recovery! We had stayed for the night with Fred & Doris Waldron, They have kept us before and had our apartment waiting for us. Just great! The Smiths took us in after the meeting for an amazing supper! Just what we needed to carry us through the night on the boat. An uneventful drive to the boat, brief wait and we boarded. Much better than last time! We had reserved seating which gives you a nice big reclining seat. There were only 4 or 5 others in the whole section! Practically had the whole thing to ourselves. A little “ginger-ale” to help us sleep and … … we were on the mainland
Posted in The Summer of Our Thirtieth by jimt with 1 comment.