News from the Hughes

WOW!  I can't believe it's been over a year since I did a blog update. I've received several requests to do another update... so I decided to just do a recap of ALL that's been going on in 2018. I thought it made the most sense to just recap things as they happened in time! I want to say life in 2018 was pretty routine and uneventful (there were moments), but it's Bolivia -- so of course alot happened! 

Here it goes.... Sorry for all the grammatical errors but it was a bit rushed.

San Lorenzo Builds a Kingdom Hall

One of the major events of 2018 whas the building of the very first Kingdom Hall in San Lorenzo. Many of you may remember that when our family came to Bolivia in 2014 we decided to support a small group in a small town called, San Lorenzo.  At that time (3 1/2 years ago), there were about 18 publishers in the group.  

Now, here it is 3 1/2 years later, the date is December 24, 2018, and we have about 56 publishers with an average meeting attendance off around 75.  What did this explosion of growth mean?????? We needed our own Kingdom Hall (at least that's what Bethel decided).  

So, in April we began building the very first Kingdom Hall in San Lorenzo.  It was a pretty amazing experience.  We're a small congregation and it meant everyone got a chance to help. But, just look at the result.....  I had to post this on YouTube because of the dize, but you can check it out on this link (it starts off slow but picks up with music and stuff):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvI1QFDz6nc&t=18s

Brothers and sisters came from all over the city -- even all over Bolivia to help our small congregation build it's first Kingdom Hall.  Needless to say, we're a bit proud of it.  We even have the big T = technology with 2 large, flat screen TVs to watch all the amazing videos at meetings.  

No more meeting in a small, cramped space with a roof constantly leaking, and a bathroom consntatnly not-working and smelling terrible. 

SAN LORENZO NOW HAS OUR MEETINGS IN STYLE!

A Visit from Family

The building of our Kingdom Hall was originally scheduled to begin in June so my parents had planned a 3-month visit from April to June.  But, the date of our build got moved up to April during the visit of my parents. So, it was a nutty 3 months but it was nice to have them come (this was their 2nd visit to Bolivia) and see us.   

But, they weren't the only ones to come.....  My niece Tabby also came for a visit while my parents were here. I hadn't seen Tabby in 4 years and it was amazing to have her here with us.  Aubri and Pris had a great time with their cuz.

I'm a Grandma!

For me, one of the most exciting things to happen this year was I became a new grandma. Connor and Carla had a little baby girl in August named Leah. I haven't even seen or held her yet but I leave for Spain on January 25th and I'm going to hug and kiss all over that little bundle of joy.  This is one of my favorite videos of Leah: 

And this is one of those moments where I say to myself, "Who raised that boy?"

I Became an On-line English Teacher

I'm not sure how many of you know but in November, 2017 Aburi and I both lost our jobs.  It happened just a few days after the Special Convention in Bolivia. How many of you remember this moment?  It was the last day of the Special Convention when the Bolivian brothers and sisters did this dance to say good-bye to all the delegates that came to visit.  I think I posted this video on Instagram.....

Anway, we had an amazing time only to get home and get knocked off center. Talk about a scary, reality check.  We had some delegates staying with us after the Convention and it was a nice boost for us. It took what felt like a horrible thing and made it not feel so bad.  Then, all our guests went home and we Pris, Aubri, and I sat around looking at each other and trying to figure out what do you do when you're living in another country, and suddenly find yourself without a job -- where's the money?  We need mo money!

You become an on-line English teacher and teach children in another country how to speak English.  So, Aubri and I completely changed careers in 2018 and became on-line English teaches. Not only that, but Pris joined the working gal ranks and also became an on-line English teacher.  YEP, WE'RE ALL DOING IT!

I like the work alot because you get to be creative, while having fun teaching children. It was a bit scary at first.  I mean afterall, I'm a 56 year old woman and it's not easy teaching an old dog new tricks or in my case, an old lady new tricks.  Well, maybe not old but not that young either.  But, I'm having fun with it!

Puddles & Ramsey Died

On a sad note we had 2 of our rescue animals die. I know, I know you're thinking if they died can you really say you rescued them?  One of the challenges for my family has been all the animals that you see sometimes living on the street -- especially the babies. 

We've brought so many baby animals home and while we've found homes for quite a few, we've also kept quite a few.  It's difficult because sometimes when you get these animals they aren't in the best health = many, many, many trips to the vet while you're trying to help them get healthy.  Sometimes you help them in time and sometimes you just don't. 

Puddles was one of those little pups that while he had a good 3 years with us, by the time we got him his health had been affected.  We found out his liver never grew properly, and so after a short but good 3 years with us, he died. 

Our cat named Ramsey's was pretty healthy but he was poisoned.  It happens here when people put out poison to kill rats and then if your cat kills the rat that ate the jacked-up food ..... well, it affects them too.  So, we were down to 2 animals and we had a big family meeting, determined to not take anymore.  So, we made it 4 months and then.......  

The Regional English Convention

You may not remember but every year since October, 2015 the Bethel Branch has lovingly hosted our Regional Convention in English.  For those of us that just can't seem to get passed learning basic Spanish, these conventions are a life-saver.  So, in November 2019 we headed off to the city of Santa Cruz to attend our 3-day convention hosted by Bethel in English!

Most of you already attend the convention by the time we go but it was still absolutely wonderful.  It's a time when we get to see friends, go out to eat, and visit with ones serving in other parts of Bolivia that we haven't seen for a long time. 

Then, these 2 little rescue kittens happened.....  Pris met a sister at the convention whose from England and she found these 2 little kittens. Yadda, yadda, yadda we had the fun experience of trying to get 2 poopy kittens who had parasites and were sick back home on a 14-hour bus ride.

YUCK! 

Once again it was back to the vet many, many, many times but I'm happy to say both of our new kittens are doing better, they're growing, and turned into healthy cats!

Tried Using Facebook and Instagram

Hated them both. I don't know why but I honestly don't like either one of these, which is another reason I'm back to doing the blog.

Said Goodbye to Another Friend

When you come to a place like Bolivia, you meet and make friends with amazing brothers and sisters from all over the world. It's one of the blessings you get in stepping over into Macedonia. It's an amazing things to make good and close friends from everywhere that you keep in touch with and maintain a close friendship with!

But, it's bitter sweet because you know eventually most of them will leave. It's either time for them to go home, or for some it just means going to another assignment.  So, we also said goodbye to our dear friend, Karen.  Some of you had the wonderful experience of knowing her and becoming her friend.  Others go to know Karen at Connor's wedding.  But, for those of you that don't....

Karen has been in Bolivia about as long as I have.  We're about the same age, and we both started going to San Lorenzo when it was just a small group. Over the last 3 years she's been there for so many brothers.  I'm not exaggerating when I say that she's going to be missed by not just the friends living in Tarija, but many others living in other parts of Bolivia.  So of course we had to send her off in true Bolivian style.... Can you find Aubri & Pris in this dance?

BYE KAREN AND WE WISH YOU ALL THE BEST!

It's Kingdom Hall Dedication Time

So, I decided this was a good place to stop. We had the dedication of our new Kingdom Hall on January 13th. Here are a few special moments of that day!

So, that about wraps up 2018.  I hope you had fun with the photos and videos.  Today, it's March 20, 2019, I just got back from visiting Connor and his family in Spain.  I had a blast getting to know my new granddaughter and I'm hoping to move to Spain in October..... WHAAAAAAT!  But, that's for another day!  

I hope all of you are well and you're in my thoughts.