From Kato

Kato is totally not what I expected. I was expecting jungle. It is savannah among the top of the mountains. There are no trees, except some small ones around, so it is very windy. It makes it a lot cooler here. Because of the breeze, you don’t feel the heat of the sun, but the sunlight still burns you.

We have no current. No one does. Some of the houses and buildings have solar panels. Our house is cute and small.

Karen and Diana, the two sisters here, are so nice. Terri handled an 18 minute Q&A part out of the KM. The Meetings are held right here below our house. 4 PM on Thursdays and 9:30 AM on Sundays. For each day it is held on opposite sides of the house due to the difference in times and position of the sun. That way everyone is always sitting in the shade.

We went in service today (2/17/2011). Terri has started 3 studies, Nikki started a study with a man we met at the shop. There were a lot of people who were not home. I guess everyone leaves their houses to go to the valley where their farms are. They don’t sell much of what they grow. They are self-sustaining farms.

Food here is really expensive. A coca-cola was $200 ($1.00 US) in Georgetown. Here in Kato it is $460 ($2.30 US). Peanut Butter is $700 ($3.50 US) for a small jar.

The view truly is beautiful here. I don’t feel like I’m in the same country compared to Matthews Ridge.

While walking the other day we saw a man on a horse driving a herd of cattle. This place reminds us of “Out West”. Something between out west and Australia. It’s cool.

2/23/2011
We just spent 7 hours in Service. Karen took us into the valley. There were five houses. The climb up………..steepest, longest hill I have ever climbed in my life! No Kidding!

Last night (2/25/2011) I did my first meeting part. I conducted the part out of the KM introducing the “Bearing Thorough Witness” book. I prayed a lot before and during it. It went smoothly. Joelle conducted the bible study. She did very good and was right on time. We have a renewed appreciation for everything the brothers do for our meetings.

3/3/2011
There is a dog here we started to feed and now he thinks he is ours. We call him Yoda. Terri came up with the name because of the way his ears are. He is in general a coward but I was impressed this morning when he started chasing cows away from me.

The other day at one of Terri’s studies a bird suddenly flew into Joelle’s hair. It was one of the families pets. It was very unexpected. This is Joelle’s last full day here with the rest of us. She leaves on the plane tomorrow morning.