More changes...

So we moved again...  Yes, we were only in our new congregation for about 2 months and we hadn't even finished construction on the kingdom hall when we were invited to a new assignment.

Last May during the reconstruction of the kingdom hall in Imbert we submitted our applications for the construction program here in the country.  By August we hadn't heard anything so we made ourselves available to the C.O. to be moved to another congregation.  That's when we moved to Torre Alta.  In the end of November the international servant in charge of the school renovation/expansion project next to the assembly hall in Villa Gonzalez contacted us about helping out on the project.  It was just an informal invitation to work there a few days a week, travelling back and forth from our apartment in Puerto Plata.  We said we could, but after our current KH project was completed.  Then we received an official invitation from the branch to be assigned full time to the project.  So, we sold a bunch of stuff and moved to a house the construction group rented.  It's in the town of Villa Gonzalez right next to the assembly hall.  We share the house with another couple.  They are Venezuelan and have worked at the branch here for several years.  They were assigned to this project a few weeks ago.

A lot of stuff is changing with the new worldwide construction program.  There are currently 4 construction groups in the country.  Group #3 is assigned to the school expansion project.  Two international servants are assigned to the project along with a few other people they've taken on (like us).  In total there are 25 people assigned full-time to the project.  Two more will be coming this month.  We work Tuesday through Saturday, and life is similar to life at bethel.  We have morning worship.  Starting last week, 4 days a week we are tied in to the branch's morning worship program.  We have family watchtower study every Tuesday night.  Starting next week we will be tied in to the bethel family's watchtower study.

The project is a remodeling/expansion of the existing school facilities.  The school was built to house single brothers.  Of course now it needs to house couples, single brothers and single sisters.  A new building is being added with a large storage room and six bedrooms.  Another laundry and kitchen are being added.  The existing residence building is being renovated and will have two large bathrooms and 6 bedrooms.  Some other small changes are being made to the existing school building.  The project looks like it will continue into the summer.  There is talk of another expansion project at the branch and a possible remodeling of the assembly hall next to the branch.

The new residence building.

The current buildings with the beautiful mountain in the backround.

Prepared for the frigid 70 degree temperatures.

Safety day

If you want to follow us on instagram, we post pictures to our account , CMCOOK25

New KH!

So it's been almost 3 weeks since we moved.  We've been having a great time getting to know the brothers in our new hall.  We're also excited that we'll be able to participate in another construction.  Two truckloads of equipment arrived yesterday.  Tomorrow the construction group will be arriving.  The actual construction should be starting on Tuesday and will probably last around 2 months.  The new hall will belong to three congregations.  Ours is one of them, but after it is built there will likely be some restructuring to maybe create a new congregation.  Our congregation has 108 publishers and is still not the largest congregation in the city.  Our neighboring congregation has over 120 publishers.  That's even considering there was a restructuring about 3 years ago that created a few new congregations.   

I created a new photo album where I will post pictures of the new construction.  Here is the link

https://plus.google.com/photos/115774820596448587458/albums/6070733149138994481?authkey=CJfWuMeNoqLMlgE

This is the view out of our back bedroom.  You can see the ocean!

 This was last Saturday.  We were preaching in a territory outside the city.

New Year!

Well, another year has come and gone... and what a year it was!  (construction, two trips to the states, Kyle's visit, pioneer school, campaigns, etc..)  We're looking forward to what the new service year may bring.  I guess you could say we are starting it off with a bang.  On Friday we are moving to Puerto Plata.  Puerto Plata is a city about 30 minutes from the town where we currently live.  Here is the link to the wikipedia page that talks about the city.

http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Felipe_de_Puerto_Plata

There are 10 Spanish, 2 Haitian Creole, 1 English and 1 sign-language congregation in Puerto Plata.  Soon there will be two new kingdom halls built in the city.  Our new congregation will be meeting in one of the new halls.  It's name is Torre Alta and has around 115 publishers (4x the amount of our current hall!).  It will definitely be a big change.  We'll be sure to post some pictures of the new place once we get settled in.

Below are some pictures from this summer.

 This is the new screen we have at our assembly hall. 

A new brother who was baptized this summer.