Basta per adesso

Turns out that having extremely limited access to the internet is kind of a blog killer :( I have been here in Bologna now for two months now!  Time flies when you are having fun, right??  I am working on getting internet, so hopefully I will be better with keeping in touch with everyone.  I have to admit that today I miss home.  Maybe having some kind of internet access and being able to keep up with friends and family will help that a bit though.  Here is why I am here though...:)

 

August in Bologna…I was either mildly sweaty or SUPER sweaty the entire month.  Everyone clears out for the month for holiday (I can see why!!) so the city was pretty empty.  The meetings mostly consisted of need greaters and studies!  Remember the two weeks we studied about the wild beast and statue prophecies?  We only had 26 in attendance, and half were not baptized!  We made it through though and somehow I managed to make my last 87 hours for the year!  The best part about coming back to Bologna has been seeing how much some of the studies have progressed in the few months I have been gone.  Two studies became publishers while I was gone, and one got baptized at the convention this summer.  I arrived just in time to see him do the microphones for the first time at the meeting.  It’s so encouraging to see how seriously he takes his assignment!  One study named Kenneth gave his first talk in the school right when I got back. 

I almost cried watching him on stage doing the Bible reading in his suit.  Last time I was here he came to all the meetings in jeans and a sweatshirt, and this time he looks just like a brother.  Based on his comments and getting to sit in on his study, I don’t think it will be long before he will be J

One of my favorite moments here was with a study named Moses.  I sat in on his study one evening and before we started he mentioned that he had gone in service the day before!  We were like, “What?!?”  Haha.  He said that he and another study just walked down the street from the camp and started to preach!  We asked what he said and he told us that he had John 3:16 prepared to read but asked us what literature he should give people.  What zeal!!  Even though he needs some training, it was so encouraging to see what learning the Truth does for people.  He has been moved to share what he has learned with others.  It made me think that I need to increase my boldness and zeal as well!  As of September 1^st, we are both publishers of the good news!  I hope to work with him soon in the ministry-we can learn a few things from each other!  Just to give you an idea of how things are going in our congregation, our local needs was about training the studies in our congregation to study properly for the meetings and training them in the ministry because they are our future brothers.  Usually back home we may have one or two studies at any given time making progress towards baptism.  Here we are almost outnumbered!  Now our focus is to help the studies really make the truth their own by doing their own personal study for the meetings and helping the new publishers progress in their own ministry.  I can’t tell you how privileged I feel to be serving here! 

Pretty much since I arrived back in Bologna, I started being convinced to stay here longer.  Money was going to be tight with me only staying here as originally planned, but I decided to let Jehovah decide for me.  Through some very specific prayers, things seem to have worked out for me to stay here a few months longer than I planned.  So how to best describe the life of a need greater??  You live day by day.  Jesus taught us to pray for our daily bread and a lot of us here get exactly that-enough for NOW.  I'm not going to lie-I freak myself out everytime I look at my bank account, but somehow there is always just enough to get by and pay the bills!  Being here really has taught me to rely on Jehovah completely.  I really feel like I can't make it one day without Him, and He never disappoints me.  I think sometimes we tend to rely on ourselves too much.  I know I catch myself doing that all the time.  We feel like we need to provide for ourselves and we never give Jehovah the chance to provide for us like He promised He would.  I have seen what it is like to get by with a lot less than I am used to and realize that I am way more content with much less. 

This is where I do service everyday...not quite Loganville, GA!

 

 

More to come soon!  To everyone back home-Love and Miss you!!

 

-K