Take a hike

Hey everyone! 

Yesterday we took a break from service and went on an amazing hike with some people from the sign group. We hiked up a mountain that had 3 waterfalls we could jump into. It was a strenuous hike with lots of rock climbing so my legs are pretty banged up but it was totally worth it. There were cows and goats along the way. At the end of the hike we stopped by a store that had brand new baby puppies! I'll attach some pictures but they don't do any justice! 

Got my hair did Bolivian style 

Informal witnessing

Hi everyone! 

We've been having a blast here in bolivia. We're slowly but surely adjusting to the culture here. We have been having such a great time at the meetings and informal witnessing. The congregation we attend is the Bolivian sign language group and everyone there is so nice and welcoming. They are very patient with my sign language and Spanish, but it is also very helpful because there are quite a few English speaking need greeters here as well. 

We've been doing a lot of informal witnessing here as well. A lot of people will come up to us and ask us why we are visiting in Bolivia so it gives us a great opportunity to witness to them. Today we went out to a few parks and did informal witnessing almost all day. We would just go up to people on a bench and in my broken Spanish I would say something on the lines of "would you like something to read while you're waiting" and everybody would not only take something but they would actually read it! Someone even came up and asked us for a tract! It's so encouraging, they really take the time to listen to you and offer a warm smile. We are having a great time here and can't wait to see what the rest of our adventure brings us! 

Rachel and Rebecca 

The Bolivian sign language group 

A dog we met while informal witnessing 

Empanadas

Hi everyone! 

Sorry it's a little tough to update this blog since our wifi is spotty 😖. We've been pretty busy here with meetings and service. Everybody is so kind and welcoming! We have to walk about an hour to our territory, but our biggest challenge is probably the dogs. The householders let them roam free (which is fine) but they're not very friendly. They will jump up on the roof of the house and bark at you and the ones on the ground try to bite. We are able to find quite a few deaf people today! We're still figuring our way around, but always seem to find plenty empanadas. Hope all is well with with everyone at home! 

Much love, 

Rachel and Becca 

Territory 

Hi everyone! 

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while, we've been pretty busy navigating our way through bolivia.

I really like where we're staying because we're right in the center of town, which is super helpful because we literally walk everywhere. There are a lot of plazas which are pretty much these nice parks that have a lot of restaurants and where people can go to sell things (handmade jewelry, empanadas, fruits and vegetables...). There is also a lot of markets in Bolivia where we go to get our fresh fruit, vegetables, and meat (we've never actually gotten meat from the market because we're not 100% sure that we won't get sick from it).

We went out in service yesterday. We all met in the territory, which was about an hour walk from where we are staying. Since we are in the sign language group we did canvassing, which is pretty much when you go up to people's houses and ask if they know anyone deaf. But I have to give my whole presentation in Spanish (which I hardly know any of. But I am being forced to learn fast because nobody here knows English). My first presentation the householder just looked at me with a blank so ally had to step in and save me, but the next few semmed to understand me. The good thing is everyone here is so kind and patient and a lot of the people in the sign language group are from America so they speak English. 

We are having such a great time here!! 

Rachel and Rebecca 

The view from the Jesus statue 

Drinking water from a bag 

One of the markets 

Out in service 

We're hereeeeeeeeee

Hi everyone!!

So we have officially made it to bolivia safe and soundly! And most importantly we found ally and she is doing awesome! She won't admit it but she's pretty fluent in Spanish. I feel like I have my own personal tour guide. We are getting settled into our Appartment and it is perfect! Becca and I are sharing a room and a bathroom then everyone who lives here (who is all Jehovah's witnesses) shares a kitchen. We are in the center of town so it's nice because we can just walk everywhere which is perfect! It's summer time down here so the weather is perfect! I feel so weird because just last week I was freezing out in service and now I'm here in shorts and a t shirt! 

We had a great flight, but it was long so I'm getting ready to go to bed! Thanks for checking the blog! Goodnight! 

Much love,

Rachel and Rebecca 

The Tarija airport! 

All stuffed into a cab 

Our kitchen 

Hasta luego

Anddddd we're off!! We are at the airport anxiously awaiting our long flight ahead. We go from dc to Miami, Miami to la Paz, Bolivia, la Paz to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, then Santa Cruz to Tarija, Bolivia. We will land in Tarija at 1:45 Wednesday afternoon.I'm so excited and will definitely miss everyone but I know that we will see you all soon 😘

Much love,

Rachel and Rebecca