Casa De Bailey

Hello friends! It's a cold , rainy day here in Santiago so it's the perfect opportunity to update you all on what's been going on. I mentioned previously about the increase in response but I'll give a little more detail. Right now I'm conducting 7 bible studies with Haitians and Dominicans! So my week of activity usually goes something like this.

Monday: day off
Tuesday : territory
Wednesday : territory, RVS
Thursdays : RVS
Friday : Studies , RVS
Saturday : Studies
Sunday : Studies

I've found that Sunday preaching is so effective! Because most of my students are studying in the universities , they have the weekends off. So Sunday from 1-6 is prime time to find these guys at home. I know most of you know this feeling , but for me it's new. The feeling I'm talking about is when you're teaching a bible student about the hope that Jehovah has set before us. It's so amazing to see the look in their eyes , the spark, as if a firework has set off inside of them! It makes me fire up even more and I use this to make myself a more dynamic teacher. For example, I talked about James in a previous post and the study we had about death. Seeing his emotions as he began to realize he could see his mother again one day was so overwhelming! It made me want to help him even more to appreciate what Jehovah god has done and will do for us. Another student , Rodnee , has made great progress and is really making efforts at attending every Sunday meeting. I'm trying to imagine him soon on that platform giving his first talk. I'm so excited to see him progress.

We have a very faithful older couple leaving our congregation soon and so we had a nice gathering for them. We even put on the bible drama of Wise King Solomon. You'll see below Solomon and his three guards. Sister Duran and my mom did an amazing job with our costumes.

Our home is coming along now ! Below are just a few pictures of the living room and kitchen.

I hope you friends are doing well. Hearing your experiences from back home has been so encouraging. Please keep them coming!

Nos Vemos,
Aaron

P.s. at the bottom is our congregation. Sorry the picture isn't too clear, but we've been growing !

Goodbye Graham!

So our friend Graham returned back to the States this past Saturday. He stated that this experience had shown him there was more to life then what he saw back home. I remember exactly what he feeling from my visit to Dominican Republic in October 2011. I think seeing the international brotherhood was an amazing experience as well as seeing what life is like outside of the United States. He was expressing desires to return soon , so maybe we'll have a new need greater in the Santiago English congregation!

So as I had mentioned before , the studies have been pouring in. But I just wanna share the experience of one for now. His name is Rodnee and originally he was contacted by a sister visiting from Texas. His initial questions were based around god's kingdom and what it was. Using the new brochure , Doing Jehovah's Will, we answered his questions and more! He continued to ask very good , deep questions such as "how do we know there are only 144,000 going to heaven ?" His answers were based on the bible and you could see that they were truly touching his heart. On his recent study he told me that he had told a friend of his all about what he was learning and now the friend wants to sit in on our study. Immediately he called his friend and within a few minutes , both of them were learning more about Jehovah's will for them! I'm constantly in awe by the response we face here because people are SO receptive. At times it can be overwhelming , but with a good schedule and plenty of rest, we make sure everyone has an opportunity to learn of what Jehovah has promised. Another thing about Rodnee is that he told me he wanted to know what we would be studying next week so that he could read and prepare the scriptures in advance!!!! THIS IS TOO EASY! Rodnee attended his first meeting this past Sunday and has expressed a desire to continue to attend. I'm excited to see how Rodnee will progress even further as he regularly associates with Jehovah's people.

Today , we preached in an area that needed to be indexed or in other words, we needed to take information down about the houses and then the languages of people living in those houses. While we were preaching we began to notice a dog following us. As we went to a door, she would sit and wait. Then once we moved on, she followed behind us. This dog seemed to share the attitude of a bible character. "For where you go I shall go" said Ruth at Ruth 1:16. So we decided that Ruth was a fitting name. Below you'll see a picture of our faithful friend.

On a side note, everything here has been truly great! We have settled into a nice routine and are starting to find some normalcy in life. See, since we had started moving in April , our lives had been pretty crazy. We then went from moving to living with other people for almost 3 months. So now that we have our own place , it's truly beginning to feel like home. Even saying that is giving me chills !

I hope you guys are going well! Thank you so much for the emails and encouragement! You have no idea how much your words mean!

Nos Vemos,
Aaron

Pictures for everybody !

Well today is gonna be kinda a lazy post. I have so many pictures that you friends need to see! Tomorrow I'll fill you in on all the success we've been having. When I say we are starting a bible study nearly every day, I'm not exaggerating! It's been incredible! But today, we look at pictures.

First is the scenery section. Most of these pictures are from Jarabacoa. It was an amazing day with Jovita! We rode motoconchos all around the mountain. My mom tried her first motor concho ride too! It was so much fun! I even got to preach to my driver on the way.

Next is the fancy restaurant we went to that's up the mountain. It actually ROTATES so everyone can see the valley. The food was amazing and the company was even better. We met friends from La Vega sign language congregation and also met up with some other good friends of ours.

Last but not least is the crazy bunch of kids, myself included. We had so much fun! It was Laurine's (Jovita's niece) last day in the country before she went back home. But needless to say, we made it plenty entertaining.

Hope you friends enjoyed the pictures!

Nos Vemos,
Aaron

"I shall speed it up in it's own time " - Isaiah 60:22

So I'll just give a couple experiences of how the preaching work has gone as of late.

The other day , Blake and I went to a bible study and it went so incredible! Blake did an awesome job conducting the study and handling his students questions. Afterwards we were going to get in the conchos to go back home but for some reason I felt like we should go to this juice place that I had just gone to. They have chinola and cereza there so it's the place to go when you need to get something sweet to drink. We headed over to the place to find out that it was closed. I was saying to Blake that we should go get a coke at the pharmacy and then some one approached us. The man says "what are you looking for ?" Yes. In English. It was like Jehovah sent us someone! We knew that Holy Spirit most likely moved us to go where Jehovah saw the need. It felt so good to have an experience like that. So we continued to the pharmacy and then Blake was saying how great the price were in there. I was looking around and saw someone smiling at this and I realized that he knew what we were saying! I immediately went up to him and he knew exactly who we were. Business territory here is so nice because people take time to listen. It's not rushed at all! We can take out the bible and actually discuss thins with them. So as we were leaving I held the door open for a younger man who in return said "thank you!" AGAIN IN ENGLISH!! We have a return visit set up for tomorrow afternoon! It's just been amazing to see Jehovah drawing people and even more amazing that we get the privilege of being used to find these ones.

So we've been working in a territory called Villa magisterial and we've been finding amazing responses in English! Many of these ones are young men who are studying at the local universities. One example is a young man named James. We found him yesterday morning and he was so responsive that we set up a return for this morning. My mom and I went and had the study with him! James wanted to know what happens at death. He never said why , but he was eager for answers. We went through the first 2 or 3 subheadings of chapter six in the bible teach book and showed him the true condition of the dead. He then revealed why he had the question. Last year James lost his mother to death. He said he had been told that god wanted his mom and that it was his will. But now he ha the answers that he had been searching for. I then pulled out the listen to god brochure and showed him the resurrection picture. I described to him the events occurring. Jehovah and Jesus calling these ones from death and the families and friends waiting for them. I asked James to imagine himself there waiting for his mother. "Imagine waving her over and being able to hug her again. " At this point I was starting to get emotional , as well a James. It was such an effective and heartfelt study ! I invited James to the meeting tomorrow and we are having another study in the afternoon!

Well friends besides that , all is well. Below are some pictures for you! First is our street sign. See, in DR if you want to change your street sign, you do. In this scenario , the people who live here on calle 10 decided that calle 1 was much more desired. So we'll just duct tape that thing up and BAM. Calle 1. Next was my interesting concho ride. There was a literal hole in the floor of the car. A hole. Next was my amazing hazelnut cappuccino at square one. It was. Delicious and only 85 pesos!!!! And lastly is my new friend and I. We saw this little guy in the road and couldn't pass up the chance to snap a photo with him.

We hope you friends are well!

Nos Vemos,
Aaron

Safeguard Your Mind Circuit Assembly part 2

Well as you all probably guessed , the assembly just got better and better! The symposium on Sunday was geared towards families. The main point of the series was how each member of the family should be reflecting Jesus mental attitude. It was so great to be with our family and to feel the warmth of our international brotherhood as we met friends from the Uk, Canada and many parts of Asia !

Following the assembly, we were invited to a special gathering in La Vega, an area located outside of Santiago. It's up the mountain so the sights were gorgeous! When we arrived I looked around and saw that there were branch members there as well as missionaries and circuit overseers! I felt so small compared to these spiritual giants! But after chatting with them for a little but, I could easily see they were no different then anyone else there. After we all ate, there was time given to interview a Circuit Overseer and his wife from Canada. Their experiences about serving in the most northern parts of North America were amazing! They've been busy encouraging all the pioneer and with much success! Then a brother from the branch was interviewed for a bit about general things concerning need greaters. Also a sister who had been serving here in DR was interviewed about her experiences and how she's seen much growth in the ASL field over the years. It was such an amazing time!

Unfortunately I got a little food poisoning this weekend. No, it wasn't my mom's cooking (she'll kill me when she reads this). I was sick through Saturday night into late Monday. The friends helped me out so much tho! They gave me tablets of charcoal to calm my stomach. On Monday, Isabel gave me a drink that was basically just a whole lime squeezed into a glass with some water and honey. Thankfully I like sour things! This little concoction killed whatever was hurting me because within 2 hours of drinking that, my appetite was back with a vengeance. I commenced the feast of all feasts and then all was well again.

The preaching work has been booming friends! We need so much help ! Tomorrow I'll post up some of the experiences we've had just this week. It's easy to see Jehovah's guidance in our ministry and even easier to see how much he is handing out blessings. But there's even more for all of you friends too! We hope you'll consider joining us here in Dominican Republic. If it's for a week or a month , you will "taste and see that Jehovah is good. " If you'd like more information on coming to DR , my email is ensueno91@gmail.com. We'd love to share with you any answers we can provide to your questions!

Below is a family we met serving in Samana. This mom and son duo are doing great! After that is the lavender sunset in La vega. It was just gorgeous ! And lastly is another benefit of serving in DR : my cookies! If you come , you will eat to your hearts content!

We pray you friends are doing well and of course we think about you often.

Nos Vemos ,
Aaron

Safeguard your mind Circuit assembly 2013

Well friends, for those of you who haven't gotten to go to your assembly yet, you are in for a treat!!!! The information has been so timely and needed. One thing that is a little different for us here is that the information is geared more towards us need greaters. We have the same
outlines and demonstrations, but with a slant at those who are serving in a foreign country. For example , we get information on keeping our joy, just as anyone else does. But they'll add in points about staying here on the island. As well as things about keeping in mind why we are all here serving in DR. So it's even more encouraging because each talk has been prepared for us! My mom was able to have the privilege of having a demo on the pioneer meeting, as well as an interview on the assembly. She did awesome!

It's been awesome to be able to see all my friends from across the island as well. We have our last day of the assembly tomorrow so I'll fill you in on some outstanding points then.

O! And the friends who are staying with us are awesome. Jovita used to be a missionary and has been here in DR for years. She is so lively and awesome ! She brought her niece who is from Cali as well. And Aki, the brother from Japan, has been a MAJOR encouragement. He has been serving here in DR for some time now and he's been by himself. Tomorrow I'll try to get a group shot of everyone for you friends.

Below is Adrean , Graham and myself. Next is mom during her demo with Jenny. And last is the assembly hall with the mountains in the background.


We pray you all are doing well and think of you so often! Please take care.

Nos Vemos,
Aaron