155. A Happy Last Sabbath

Saturday, 5/11/13

We were blessed with the best, last Sabbath experience possible.

We woke up at 7 a.m. and drove into Rurre. Just our family. We were headed for the church across the river in San Buena. The ridiculous wakeup time was because of the protestors. The teachers and workers want more money and are making entering Rurre difficult. Thankfully, they were not up yet.

We ate a picnic breakfast in Rurre and Chad and I chatted with Ron for a bit. We made our way across the river on the little ferry boat. We then walked for a good 15 minutes to the homely Adventist church. The myth was true. Only old folk. Zero kids. That was about to change.

They embraced us with open arms as the 20 members welcomed 20 of us from Familia Feliz. We doubled their size. The service was beautiful even though they made Chad and myself talk. The unfortunate thing is that Juan thought I was going to preach the sermon even though I never said I would. I did not even have a translator, and I am not about to speak a sermon and sound like a 2-year old. So he spoke. Chad blessed us with his heavenly violin music—finally! Juan was so happy.

I was in charge of Sabbath School and led out in songs, told a story, and played 20 questions with the kids. They had to guess which Bible character I was and they absolutely loved it.

After a picnic lunch, we snoozed in the Sabbath School room until the Youth Program at 3:30. At 3:25, Janette asked me to do the sermon. I said no. Then no again. Then once more, before finally giving in and taking up the challenge.

The service itself took more than 2 hours but was well organized and everyone had fun. There was a memorizing scripture game in which you had 10 minutes to memorize a verse and then sing it in front of everyone. Chad was forced to do it and did quite a good job. My 15-minute talk went decently despite the short notice and very careful Spanish. I was speaking slower than ever to carefully use every verb in its proper tense. Hermana Emy kept laughing at my grammar but I kept chugging away.

When the service was finally over (6:00!!!!) we took pictures, giggled, and eventually returned back to FF.

Chad playing "As the Deer"

The 7 "contestants" memorizing their scriptures

Using David as a cross

Chowing down

Five minutes after arriving, we were back in the truck. Warren was taking all the guys out to celebrate Chad and my departure—our farewell bash. We were going to Juliano’s!

What a pleasant and joyful evening! The food was great. The company was great. And the occasion was great. We were even given a little “toast” at the end there.  But, being overchievers, we ended the party with a brainstorming session on making FF better. After doing all that, we headed home. Chad and I are bringing Sam and Warren into town at 6 a.m. and want our sleep. Sam and Warren are going to Santa Cruz to work on their visas. We will not see them again. It sure was a pleasure to get to know them both. Trust me everyone, Familia Feliz is in good hands.

**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**