July

It is now July, and Pearl Lagoon is in the beginning of the rainy season once again. The congregation is still making regular boat trips up the lagoon, in fact there is another trip to Karawala coming up very soon. This time I plan to bring more camping gear. 

We are also getting a new boat! It was determined that the Mensajero III is not the most suitable class of boat for our territory, as it cannot carry enough people to effectively work our distant territories. So it was approved by the branch to have a new one built! This type of boat is known as a Cayucon (not sure of the spelling) as opposed to a Panga. It is much larger and is often used on the river communities to deliver cargo. The Mensajero III carries 5-7 people at a speed of 12 knots. Our new boat will be able to travel at 13 knots, and carry 20 or possibly more passengers. It will be covered to protect from the rain and also have a closed compartment for literature and supplies to keep them dry.

Mensajero IV, under construction

We have also been informed that new special pioneers have been assigned to Pearl Lagoon. That means that we will have 4 in total. The first couple is working on Miskito and Mayagna translation and also taking the lead in the Miskito language field as they are both fluent in that language. The next couple however have much experience in the Creole language, and will be focusing on that. This is something we really need, as learning Creole is quite difficult for many. Rather than learning a new set of words and grammar, you have to learn how to speak your own mother tongue in a way that you have been taught all your life is wrong. It takes courage to comment in Creole, we have a tendency in the congregation to simply comment in English because we are timid about using Creole. For us foreigners, we are afraid that we will say something wrong and sound silly, whereas the locals are timid to use it because when they were growing up they were taught it was just "bad english" and that they had to speak properly in the kingdom hall.

The best thing, from what I have seen, in combating both of these mentalities is for someone who knows how to do it, to work up the courage and set the example by just commenting in pure creole. Hopefully these new special pioneers who have dealt with all these challenges before will be able to motivate us to progress with our creole.

Oh and one more new detail, I got engaged. My Fiance Jean grew up in Guatemala but is originally from the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua. We met and have come to know each other while serving here in Pearl Lagoon. As far as I know, ours will be the first wedding in the Pearl Lagoon Kingdom Hall. We actually first met 3 years ago on my first visit to Pearl Lagoon, but didn't start dating until this last year. In fact, i made a post about that visit to pearl lagoon here. she's even there in one of the pictures.