My goal is to visit every single one. Every. Single. One.
In planning for this trip, Gi, Toti and I had the idea of writing the Bethel Branch of Bolivia to see about actually staying there as temporary guests. After several weeks of letters exchanged and plenty of emails, we were finally accepted to stay about 2 1/2 days onsite. We found out, oh, the day before I left for South America. (^-^) timing!
So, remember from my last post the lost luggage debacle? WELL. The idea of potentially having no formalwear to visit the Bethel Branch was admittedly disconcerting for me, but Jehovah stepped right in. Toti lent me a dress to wear for our early morning flight to Santa Cruz, a gesture that I still find heartwarming given the fact that we had literally just met a day or so before.
Still a tad shaky from our altitude sickness run-in, us 3 ladies went from the cool wintry feel of La Paz to the shockingly tropical Santa Cruz. Amidst a political airport protest and no phone reception, our lovely Bethel escort arrived.
OK BRIEF SIDEBAR. DID YOU KNOW THAT BOLIVIA IS HOME TO AN OSTRICH-LIKE FLIGHTLESS BIRD?!? Along the way to Bethel, we passed by a flock(?) of these birds, known as rheas. Unfortunately, in my excitement, I could not produce my phone camera fast enough to capture one. Next time though!
Back to the story.
When we arrived at the complex, we were taken by not only the actual beauty of said location, but more importantly the incredible WELCOME we received. Our next door neighbors had gleaned us food since we arrived past the lunch hour, as well as the friends having set up our own personal guestroom. We had a bit of time to kill before Watchtower Study, so we got a mini tour of some of the common areas like the commissary and caught up on much-needed rest.
The remainder of our days there at Bethel were very pleasant and copacetic, filled with lots of picture-taking, laughter, touring, exploring and meeting incredible new people. Don't just take my written word for it, I'll let the pictures do the talking!
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| #mood |
To wrap up the sweet albeit brief Santa Cruz section of this trip, I shall regale you with a snippet of this well-loved tune...
"Bethel means the house of God
We call this Bethel because this place is His
Bethel, it's the house of God
To serve Jehovah is the best work that there is!"
That's all for tonight everybody! Thank you Bluebearies for reading and stay tuned for the next post!
Love,
The Adventurous A.
