In Case You Haven't Already Heard...

Hey guys,

I'm sorry it has been so long since my last post.  I have been over in Belize City, at the hospital with the Houghton's since last Wednesday.  Dan is doing better every day.  He is one of the strongest willed people I have ever seen. I wanted to personally thank you and the Houghton's send their love and thanks to all of you.  It is untelling how many prayers were said for Dan and his family.

Anyways, I have made one of the hardest decisions of my life...I am coming home this week. I hope that doesn't disappoint any of you. I have prayed about it all week and I talked to the body of elders in San Pedro and made the decision to come on home. I will explain the full scope of my reasons when I get back, so feel free to ask me why I decided to come back a month early.

I hope that my coming back early doesn't discourage others from serving where the need is greater. This has been the best experience of my entire life. I have grown so much spiritually and have been able to experience things that I will never forget. This is definitely not the end of my serving where the need is greater. I want to do it again in the future. I want to take just a second to thank each and everyone of you who helped and supported my being able to come down here for these 2 months. It would have never been possible without your help and support. So, I have to go right now, but I will seemost of you this weekend if everything goes as planned.

I love you all,

Josh

The Last Few Days...

Hey guys,

Well, we have been in service everyday this week.  We are still going early, because it gets so hot here.  I went back to the guy at the hardware store, but he ended up having to work later than he realized and was leaving work to go to Belize City...so I will get to talk to him this week.  

Just so you know, there are no cases of "swine flu" in Belize at this point.  One of the doctors had a little seminar about the "swine flu" and things to do to protect yourself.  From what I understand, it was basically reminders about hygiene...like, making it a habit to wash your hands frequently and covering your mouth if you cough or sneeze, in order to avoid spreading it to others.

So, don't worry about me...everything here is fine right now.

We have been getting ready for the visit of the Circuit Overseer, Ozzie Oxley and his wife.  They will be here on Tuesday night...so we will have 2 meetings during the week... Tuesday and Thursday instead of Wednesday.  I have heard that he is a trooper in field service, so he will motivate us to put in some longer days...which will be nice...and tiresome. :) 

This coming week, Buddy Magania Sr., does his VERY FIRST Bible reading.  He has really practiced hard for it, even coming down to the Kingdom Hall to practice...and you can tell!

He is definitely ready to give it...and everyone here is so excited to see their family making good progress!

Now, here are some pics for you...I hope you like them...

1st pic:  This was William Magania after the meeting on Wednesday night. That is his "throne" in front of the Kingdom Hall!  The hand coming in behind him is his brother, Buddy Jr., sneaking in the picture...haha.

2nd pic: We were in service on Wednesday morning (I think), and this eagle sat there for about a half hour while we talked to someone on the street.  Once we finished talking, I was able to get this pic.  These eagles are building this new nest at the opposite end of the island from where the last eagle pics were taken.

3rd pic:  On Thursday afternoon, Jeremy and I went kayaking again and I, being the genuis that I am, didn't think I needed sunscreen...Haha...BAD IDEA!!!  I thought I would take a picture of the results of that decision.  It's not that bad of a burn, especially since we were out there for about 4 hours.  However, I didn't have ANY sunscreen on, so it obviously doesn't feel good.  Kayaking is always fun though...and good exercise. :)

4th pic:  This sign is at the part of the island famously known as, "The Split".  One of the past hurricanes here actually ripped through that part of the island and caused the island to "split"... thus the name.  There is a bar and restaurant there where a lot of tourists go.  The bar is not a good place to hang out, but that is one of the best swimming areas on the island.  However, you can go swimming the avoid the bar scene, which is good.  Anyways, this morning in service, we were down that way, and I noticed this sign for the first time... I thought it was funny because of the bar's slogan: "A sunny place for shady people".  I couldn't help but laugh.

5th pic:  I took this pic earlier in the week while I was out on the pier where I go sometimes in the evening.  This house is directly behind the pier.  It is a really nice place.  I think the guy who owns it is a nuclear physicist.  He docks his boat at this particular pier.  The law here says that you can go out on any pier during daytime hours, but you can't get on anyone else's boat.

I hope you like the pics...

Thanks again for checking out the blog...

By the way, you should look at Jeremy and Karen Scriver's blog.  They are originally from Canada.  They just started their blog, so check it out:

scriversincayecaulker.blogspot.com/

Love ya'all,

Josh

The Special Talk!!

Hey guys,

It's Sunday afternoon, and I just wanted to take a minute to post a quick blog about the Special Talk today.  I heard that Wayne Cox did a great job in Corbin...

We had 39 people there, including several who are studying and a couple who are disfellowshipped.

The talk went very well... Brother Dennis Kay came over from San Pedro to give the talk ("Is There A True Religion From God's Standpoint?")  He did a great job...

I took some pics today before and after the meeting, and here they are:

1st pic:  That is Dennis Kay. Again, he gave the talk today and did a great job...

2nd pic: (From left to right) Dennis Kay, myself, Dan and Dolly Houghton, and Betsy Chalderon

3rd pic:  (From left to right) Buddy Jr., Brendan, and William Magania.

4th pic:  Shirlette Gomez, her son Keanu, and her daughter Kimorra.

I'm sorry this is such a short post, but I have a Bible study this evening...

I will be posting again in a couple of days.

By the way, check out these blogs from back home:

http://katelynmesserofcorbin.blogspot.com/      (my little sister)

http://jaredofcorbin.blogspot.com/    (my cousin)

http://krisinky.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2009-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2010-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=4      (Kris Terry - family friend)

http://www.blogger.com/profile/17214052607136694585    (Brett Wells -  family friend)

Love ya'all,

Josh

Thursday's Pics and Some Updates...

Hey guys,

In service on Thursday, I went back to the guy at the hardware store.

He had read the last magazines I left him and had looked the "Teach" book over...

He mentioned that he would like to talk about Chapter 6: "Where Are The Dead?".

So, I'm supposed to go tomorrow (Saturday) at noon, when he gets off work, and study a few paragraphs from that chapter.  He say that he has questions and wants to find the answers!

So, we will see what happens, but he sounds sincere and very interested in learning what the BIBLE says!

While we were in service, we went to this guys house (Kenny) who has taken in some of the stray animals on the island...

Three out of the first four pics are from inside his yard...

1st pic:  That is a big, "testosteroned up", male iguana in Kenny's yard...It lives there and was actually pretty cooperative while I was taking it's picture.

2nd pic:  This is one of the dogs in Kenny's yard...its name is Benji.

Don't you think he is definitely part hound dog?

3rd pic:  This little guy was lying under a tree just up the street from Kenny's place...

Jeremy and I are pretty sure he was dreaming...

4th pic:  This is a "wild" cat that is in Kenny's yard, too.  Jeremy started petting it and this was one of the shots I got of it...

5th pic:  There is kind of a funny story about how I got this pic...  I went down to one of the piers that we swim from in regular clothes.  It was in the evening and I was just going to see if I could get some more pics of the sun setting and because the breeze off the water makes it so much cooler. It's really relaxing to sit there in the evenings.   Anyways, I had my camera and my MP3 player, but I saw this huge starfish out in the water...So, I emptied my pockets, pulled my shirt and belt off, and in I went!  Then, after I picked up the starfish, I brought it back over by the pier and took some pics...So, there you go...I hope you like it!

Then, when I got back to the "treehouse", Karen Scriver stopped me in the yard and wanted to know if I fell in or something...haha!  It was really funny!  

Today (Friday), Jeremy was at Kenny's doing some work on his kayak and I went down there for a while... While I was standing there, looking at this freshly painted kayak, the wind started blowing and we were underneath some kind of fruit tree...All of a sudden, this piece of fruit about the size of a lime, but with a harder shell, fell out of the tree and hit me right in top of the head.

Haha... It didn't hurt me or anything, but it was funny... Then, it broke open and landed in Jeremy's freshly painted kayak!  No biggie though...I'm just glad it wasn't a coconut!

Now, this video is one that I shot while I was sitting out on the pier Thursday.  I saw this guy "wind-surfing" and thought it would be an interesting video for the blog...Let me know what you think...

Anyways, I gotta go...I hope you are all still enjoying the blog!

Keep in touch...

Love ya'all,

Josh

Wednesday...During and After the Meeting!

Hey guys,

The meeting went well tonight...I only had 2 parts in the Service Meeting and both of them were question-and-answer.  It wasn't too difficult, because the friends here comment very well and then I had to cut some time off the last part.  We were running a little bit behind schedule.

Now for the pics:

1st pic: Keanu Morgan and his sister, Kimorra.  Keanu really helps his mom with his little sister, which is good to see.

2nd pic: That's Keanu doing the Bible reading. He is such a good reader and is only 9 years old!!

I wish  you all could have heard him,,,I was very impressed!

3rd pic: ICE CREAM!! I had the mint chocolate chip if you were wondering... (Starting at the front left) Karen Scriver, Betsy Chalderon, and Carol Pugh. Then, Dolly Houghton and I are in the back row. The ice cream was really good!

4th pic: We are all standing in the same order, but Dan (who was taking the pic) wanted to get his ice cream in the pic, too.  So, there it is.  He had "Belizean Fudge" flavor, I think.

Anyways, nothing too exciting tonight, but I wanted to post these pics and just say hey...

Love ya'all,

Josh

What A Week!!

Hey guys,

Here is the post I promised you...Things here are going great!

We have had an early group for service almost everyday for the past week.

I have to tell you about a really good call I had last week...

I was out in service around 8:30 am...I went to Dan Houghton's place to get the Kingdom Hall key because I lost mine while I was snorkling at the reef.  So, he gave me his key to the Kingdom Hall and told me where to go get another one made.  When I go in, I already had my bookbag and I was in service and the store was empty...no other customers.  So, I decided to offer him the mags.  He said, "Dan already gives me those, when I see him".  It just so happened that he hadn't gotten the March Watchtower entitled "Is Your Life Decided By Fate?"  So, he said he would like to read it and told me that the previous week he'd had 2 friends on the mainland get decapitated in a car accident on the mainland...this magazine was perfect for him and what was on his mind.

So, I left the March mags. with him...

Well, the very next day we were out early again and I saw Dan on the street, coming back from that same hardware store...he had a problem with a key I'd had made for him the day before...

He said the guy working there said he had read BOTH mags. the day before and wanted to know if I had some more.  When Dan told me that, I went straight back to that store and sure enough...

he had read both mags. and showed me his favorite articles from both of them!!  I showed him the new April magazines and he took them eagerly and he also accepted a "TEACH" book...

I don't know what will happen with it, but he did say that he was checking out several different religions and that he wanted to know which one was correct...I'm going back tomorrow to try and start a study...I will keep you posted about what happens.

Then, yesterday, Dan Houghton gave the talk here and then had to go to San Pedro to give it again, like I did last week.  That meant I would be conducting the Watchtower again...which I did yesterday.  I was much more comfortable conducting it this time and the commenting was great...the problem ended up being that I mis-managed my time and ended up rushing through the last 6 paragraphs or so.  But, that just comes with not having much experience in doing it, I guess.  I enjoy conducting that meeting though.

I just came back from about 4 hours of kayaking/fishing...I'm exhausted.  I found out that I love kayaking though.  I went with Jeremy and he did the fly fishing while I played around in the kayak...Check out what he caught...

This was an "amber jack" weighing approximately 10 pounds...and it was tasty!!

Jeremy was fly fishing and it took him about 30 minutes to actually get it in his hands...that fish fought with everything he had, but he didn't get away.

I'm definitely going to be doing some more kayaking here though and hopefully once I get back home, too.

I had better go for now...service in the morning!

I hope you guys are enjoying the blog so far...please keep in touch.  Check out BJ's, too!

Love ya'all,

Josh

Another Blog...

Hey guys,

I'm planning on posting a new blog tomorrow...its too late tonight.

I just found out that my friend over in San Pedro, BJ Vista, just created a blog...

Here is the link... http://bjvista.blogspot.com/

Check it out...he and his wife are in Belize for the long-haul!

They will have a lot of interesting things to post.

Remember to check mine tomorrow for a new post, too.

Love ya'all,

Josh 

Pics of the Island!

Hey guys,

I just wanted to post this quick blog before the meeting to show you some recent pics I've taken.

Three out of the five I'm posting were taken in service yesterday (Saturday)...the sailboat, the parrot, and the turtles.

The pic of the sun starting to set, was taken from the top of one of the hotels here...it has a really good view and one of the sisters here knows the owners, so he will let us go up to the top and try to get good pics of the sunset.  The clouds actually covered this one up, but I thought it looked cool as the sun went behind this cloud.

The basketball court in the next pic is here in Caye Caulker...I tried to play there one day, but the basketball I bought here busted as a young brother here was dribbling it.  I'm pretty sure it was dry-rotted.

Anyways, I will be posting another blog today or tomorrow to tell you all about this week.

I had a nice experience in service and will be conducting the Watchtower again today!

I will tell you all about it...so watch for a new post in the next day or two.

Love ya'all,

Josh

Basketball on the Carribean!!

Hey guys,

When I was in San Pedro, I finally got to play some basketball.  The court had lights on it, so we played after dark. The court was right on the beach, and there was a vicious wind coming off the ocean.  Shooting from outside was really difficult. The last game we played was another brother and I versus Barry Vista and Rob Colon...They are in the 1st pic... Barry is in the brown shirt and Rob is in the white shirt.  The game was tied and Rob shot a three-pointer to win the game and just nailed it. I couldn't believe it!!

Even though we lost, we had a blast!  It was cool getting to play right on the beach like that.

We were so close to the water that the officials there in San Pedro are having to build up the beach next to the court so the ball doesn't bounce into the water!

The 2nd pic is Rob's son, Gabe...he is 2 years old and is doing dishes.  He actually did a really good job. His parents are learning Spanish, so he speaks some Spanish and some English.

It is really cool.

Well guys, I have to go for now, but will be posting again soon...

Love ya'all,

Josh

My Trip to San Pedro...

Hey guys,

After giving the talk here in Caye Caulker on Sunday, I jumped on a boat and headed to San Pedro.

Their meeting did not start until 6 pm, so I had a chance to rest for a few hours before giving the talk again.  I was told the talk sounded good.

I decided to make a few minor adjustments to it, but the majority of the information was just as needed and beneficial here as it is in the States.

It was a very interesting couple of days...

Giving 2 public talks in one day is exhausting, but also makes you feel really good because you know that without the help of Jehovah's holy spirit, you couldn't do it.

The chairman at the meeting in San Pedro, was a brother named Denny Sunderman.

When he announced the opening song, the music didn't start...so he started to hum, and then led the entire congregation in an ocapella version of song #178 (The Excelling "Peace of God").

It was really cool. I had never seen that done before.

Then, after the meeting, a group of us went to eat at a little restaurant right on the ocean.

The food was great. 

Then, I had to stay overnight because the last boat from San Pedro to Caye Caulker runs at 4:30 pm.  I stayed at this brother and sisters house, and they live at the "Belize Yacht Club".  There was basically an extra apartment downstairs, which is where I stayed.  It was the first night I've slept in air conditioning for a month...so that was nice.  To be honest though, I kinda missed my "tree house".

I ended up having to stay another night to get my passport stamped by the immigration office here in Belize.  You have to do that once a month and you have to go to either San Pedro or Belize City to do it.  The second night I stayed with Barry and Danielle Vista, a young couple who has moved down here from North Carolina.  They are planning to stay here.  Actually, Barry took the lead in laying the tile for the Kingdom Hall here in Caye Caulker. I had a really good time with them.

Now let's get to the pics...

1st pic: I am standing outside the Kingdom Hall before I go in to give my talk, with a man named "v-mail", i think...He is studying right now and is deaf.  So, he comes to the meetings and the brothers in San Pedro play the meetings on video, which translates the material to ASL.

2nd - 4th pics:  These are just pics of the inside and the outside of the Kingdom Hall in San Pedro.  Since their Kingdom Hall has air conditioning, all the brothers wear jackets when they are giving their talks. However, I didn't even bring a jacket down here with me!

So, I had to borrow one from Dan...it was pin-striped and my pants were not, but it turned out ok.  I always look funny anyways, right? Haha

5th pic:  Closest to the camera is "v-mail", to his left, the brother in the blue shirt is Nate. He is 18 years old and fluent in ASL...he actually did the translating for the meeting on Sunday.

Next to him, the couple in the back of the pic is Randy and Cameron Smith. They both served at Bethel and moved down here a few months ago.  They, too, are planning to stay here permanently.  Last, but not least, is Dennis Kay.  He and his wife, who was sick Sunday, are who I stayed with on Sunday night. They are also here permanently.

Anyways, that's what I did the last couple of days.  I heard the Special Assembly Day went well.

Congrats on getting baptized Brother Bellevance!!

By the way, we figured up the ratio of people at either the Spanish or English Memorial compared to the number of people on Caye Caulker...1/ 8-10 people living here were at the Memorial!!!

Thanks for keepimg up with the blog everyone.  Please keep in touch. I've heard that it can be difficult to post a comment on here, so if you are having problems with it, just e-mail me at:

messer_23@hotmail.com

Love ya'all,

Josh

The Memorial!!!

Hey guys,

These are pics of the fully remodeled Kingdom Hall here in Caye Caulker about 45 minutes before the Memorial started.

It was a really cool experience to be at the Memorial on an island in Belize!!

The biggest difference that I noticed right away, is that, people didn't get there much earlier than they do for a regular meeting.  It was 20 minutes til time to start and there were 5 people there.  That was different for sure.

The turn-out was awesome though...there were 82 people in attendance, in a congregation with 12 publishers!!  That was unbelievable to see!  It was a tight fit.

It makes you realize what kind of brotherhood we have, though, because I was down here and knew that the very same thing was happening in every congregation in the world on the night of April 9th!

I got to be the chairman for the Memorial, and was asked to say the prayer over the wine.  Those were both new and exciting priveleges!

I heard that Corbin had 166 there last night...if I remember right, we only had like 157 there last year.  Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it was somewhere in there.

Anyways, look at the other pics I posted from the Memorial, too.

Keep in touch.

Love ya'all,

Josh

Memorial Pics!!!

Hey guys,

Here are some pics I took at the Memorial last night...

1st pic - That is Keano Morgan and his little sister Kimorra.

2nd pic - That is Dan and Dolly Houghton.

3rd pic - That is Jeremy and Karen Scriver.

4th pic - This goofy looking guy is yours truly...I did get a haircut yesterday before the Memorial though.

5th pic - This was a group of 3 couples visiting the island from San Diego.  They found the Kingdom Hall on Tuesday and we actually met them while we were in service that morning.

The guy in the white shirt, Aaron, actually spent a year in Ecuador a few years back.

We went and ate after the meeting and Carol Pugh, a sister who is here for another month and who lived here for 2 1/2 years until her husband passed away last year, discovered that Joe, the bother in the orange shirt actually grew up in her congregation in Montrosse, Colorado.

It was really neat.  She had been good friends with his parents when he was a kid.

He remembered her husband, Jim, from that congregation.  What a small world!

Anyways, I'm gonna post another blog right after this on and give you all the details of the Memorial here, along with a couple more pics.

Love ya'all,

Josh

Tuesday In and Before Service...

1st pic - We went past the Fire Station in service.  I didn't even know the island had a fire truck... but there it is.

2nd and 3rd pic - This gecko was on the wall in the Kingdom Hall...then Jeremy caught the gecko.  That is a scary pic, huh?

4th pic - Jeremy was helping Willie "fly".  Willie said he was "Superman"!

5th pic - Brendan (to the left) had a new hat that he wore all morning.

Willie (to the right) is so proud of his new sunglasses, that he's worn them for the last 3 days.

I just wanted to let all of you see these.  I'll put a longer blog on in a day or two and let you know how the Memorial went here.  I hope it goes well back home tonight...

Love ya'all,

Josh

More Pics from the Island

1st and 2nd pics - I finally got a good sunset Sunday evening.  I didn't get a pic of this, but just after the sun disappeared, about a 4-foot sting ray swam right out from under the pier where I was standing. That was cool!

3rd pic - An eagle's nest, in a telephone pole down by the airport.  Icould not believe this shot...they stuck their heads out at just the right moment for me to take the picture.

4th pic - I don't know what kind of spider this is, but it looks really neat.

5th pic - If you look really close, you can see a lizard on this branch.  It's a gecko.

This one camo'd himself so quickly, that I could barely find him to get the pic.  I was trying to zoom in and not scare him off, but it turned out pretty good.

I hope you like these pics, too.  I've posted 3 new blogs tonight (total), so make sure you don't miss one.

Love ya'all,

Josh

Pictures of the Friends and in Service

1st pic - The couple to the far left in the pic is Jeremy and Karen Scriver (originally of Canada, now of Caye Caulker).  The couple in the back of the pic is Ronnie and Maria Brown (College Park, Maryland). They were here all of last week visiting.  We had a lot of fun.  The young brother to the far right of the pic is Jeremiah Lund (Idaho / Portland, Oregon).  He actually stayed with me for a few days to avoid paying for a room.  That dear sister in the front is Carol Pugh (Montrosse, Colorado).  She is here until mid - May.

2nd pic - This was taken Sunday night when a group of us were playing a new dice game , which the kids here just love.  I think the name is BRUNKO, or something like that.

3rd pic - That is myself, Karen Scriver, and Willie Magania out in service on Monday morning.

We worked the end of the island called "new side" and as you can see, it's an area that is not as well developed as most parts of this island.  It's really cool back there...actually it's hot and has a lot of mosquitoes, but I liked it.

4th pic - This is an awesome bridge we got to cross while working that territory in "new side" on Monday.

5th pic - Jeremy found a rib to something big...not sure what exactly.  Kinda cool.

I'm gonna post one more group of pics now...I hope you like all of these.

Love ya'all,

Josh