This was our first week of the new meeting arrangement and schedule. Tuesday and Thursday seemed very strange to pass without having a meeting. One nice thing though was we didn’t have anyone show up either of those days expecting a meeting. Then Saturday morning we had our first meeting with the study of Jehovah’s Day book, the School, and then the Service meeting. One reason we had given for going to the Saturday morning meeting was that we felt that there is less of a chance of rain in the morning than in the afternoon. But seeing as we are in the middle of rainy season, it was raining Saturday morning. In spite of that we had 30 come for the meeting. Then we had 54 on Sunday.One newcomer on Sunday was a man Eugene had spoken to while out in the ministry on Wednesday. He had invited him to come and he came with his wife and two children. He said he might be away this next Sunday, but when he is here, he plans on attending the meeting. Another group who came had been invited by a woman Terri studies with. Her man had come the week before, and when I was there for a study with another individual Tuesday, I had heard he was there3 but sleeping in another house. I saw him walking by the house later that day and he asked me why I hadn’t included him in the discussion. I said I had thought of it, but was told he was sleeping. He told me next time, to be sure to get him up. He said he planned on being at the meeting Sunday.Sunday I didn’t see him so I asked and was told he had not returned from the backdam (anywhere in the bush they go searching for gold). I saw him on the road today and told him I missed him Sunday. He told me that he had not made it back in time, but hoped to be there this Sunday. Then he asked me if we hadn’t finished the study articles in the Watchtower we had been using. I told him we had, and he asked about getting the one for this week because he wanted to be able to look it over ahead of time. I assured him that I would get one to him.With all the rain, there is a lot of sickness going around, Everything from malaria due to the increase of mosquitoes, to the common cold. I had experience a scratchy throat the middle of the week. I was worried that it would develop into a full-blown cold, but it seems that I may have dodged that bullet.We recently learned that rather than leaving Monday as originally planned, Krystal is going to be spending another three weeks with us. We will be getting another visitor from the Warwick congregation, Jared Karas. He is coming to the Ridge on the 23rd and will be traveling back together with Krystal on the 2nd of February. I think that could be a very timely visit because somewhere about that time, Stephan is planning a trip into Georgetown to get himself a motorbike. So having another brother here to assist with the meeting will be great.As of now, once Krystal leaves, we have no one else scheduled to visit us. But hopefully that will change. We just got a letter from a sister in our congregation and her first words were about how enthusiastic Aletha was when she returned, and how she comments so well at the meetings now. We were encouraged to think that we had been able to play a part in her spiritual growth.In my last post I had mentioned our new Year’s Text. I am including a picture of Krystal with her finished project. Since at present the whole inside of the hall is natural wood, there isn’t the contrast that I could have hoped for. But if in the future we paint the inside, then the sign will be set off nicely. But again, or main goal was to make something that could be easily changed from year to year.
