This is why Dominicans are such good baseball players
By Anton | July 27, 2009
Here is a fun scene we happened upon after finishing our last study one hot Saturday afternoon. We had to stop and watch of course since there was plenty of good shade under this enormous tree and the kids were more than happy to have their picture taken.
At the beginning of the video, when the “Ump” hits the base, listen carefully as he yells “Play Ball!!!”. Then after it goes into the river, he shouts “Foul Ball!”. There are actually very few Spanish words in baseball, most of the vocabulary is borrowed since they all grew up watching the “American Past Time” on TV, in English.
Click the “Read the rest of this entry” button below to see some pictures.
Topics: From the Dominican Republic | No Comments »
Darwin, Luis and Luis David (the 15 year old rush)
By Anton | July 26, 2009
So these boys are my new project!
All three boys are in the deaf school and do very well. I contacted Luis (middle) first about 8 months ago and he has gone from being a lifeless lump to looking forward to his study every week. Little by little he has been opening up and asking more and more probing questions. I think it is amazing the way we were created to have an intense curiosity for our Creator and it really shows in Luis. For being a boy that doesn’t know much about communication, he has some pretty interesting questions every week.
Darwin (first on the left) was contacted about 4 months ago. Friend of a friend of a friend said they talked with him and that he wanted to study the Bible. He is the popular kid at school so he likes to talk a lot… though sometimes about nonsense. We have worked with him a lot and now he doesn’t go off on his tangents nearly as much as he used to. His study is going quite well.
Luis David (right) isn’t actually my student, he is the student of another sister in our congregation but he has really latched on to the other boys.
A few weeks ago while we were cleaning out the house, we found a big bag of ties and a dress shirt that was too small for me. I gave the dress shirt to Luis and 2 ties each to the boys. I also gave 2 ties to another student of mine who isn’t in the picture (I will have to write about him(Alex) another time). It was so exciting to see all of the boys at the meeting in their dress shirts, slacks, shoes and ties. And they all commented at least once at the Watchtower study (I think Darwin commented 5 times though 2 were a little off lol).
We are really hoping to get them to the District Convention this year in the Capital. Darwin’s and Luis’ parents already said yes but they said that they are a little tight economically with the new school year approaching but they would do their best to contribute to the hotel and food. With our uncertain job situation, we aren’t quite sure how it will work out but we are continuing to pray for their fine progress.
Topics: Darwin, From the Ministry, Luis, Luis David | No Comments »
Dominican Flora - You Can’t Find this Plant in Michigan
By Anton | July 23, 2009
Very cool random plant outside the pool where we swim! It is a little like a willow tree, but a lot thicker, and the green little stubs are quite hard.
I am a botanical person, it’s true, but I don’t know the name of this one!
Topics: From the Dominican Republic | No Comments »
Leonel is Officially Paving Calle 3 Sin Salida in La Hoya del Caimito
By Anton | July 23, 2009
For those of you who don’t know better, this is our street. The bulldozer is actually right in front of our house. As you can see, the fixing of the road is the most entertaining thing going on… other than the gringos taking pictures that is…
This is an interesting little project to repair the road on our dead end street. Funny thing is, they started from the entrance, not from the dead end so… if your car is stuck on the other side of the bulldozer, looks like you’re walking to work for the next… 3–5 months. (They work a little slower here in DR than they do in Michigan.)
We are currently parking our CRV on the next street over, or wherever else we can find room.
We were excited to arrive home and see how much progress they were making. You see, throughout this whole process, they have shut off our water, only letting it run late at night, if that. *Even* if they aren’t working that day. Frustrating, but that’s life I guess. (Lots of bucking showers and filling up a large tank out from with a hose that stretches from the neighbors house the block over from us… it is quite hilarious actually.)
So, the bulldozer was running when got in, but not actually moving anything… then I saw why. Take a closer look at the operator in this picture below:
Random neighborhood kid playing on the heavy machinery! *Gotta* love the Dominican Republic!
Topics: From the Dominican Republic | No Comments »
Progressive Teaching = Progressive Students
By Jac | July 16, 2009
We are always encouraged to try and go with different friends when we conduct Bible studies, that way we can learn from each other’s teaching methods. I have to admit that oftentimes Anton and I end up together, or I go out with Jess, and what we use to reach our students generally does the trick. However, recently I had the pleasure of going out in the ministry with someone I haven’t preached with in over 4 years: Liz Tucker, and she helped add a whole new element to my teaching.
I took Liz (who some of you may know as being from our old ASL congregation in Michigan) on several of my studies while she and her husband Scott were here visiting for 2 weeks. Most of my studies are 15 year old girls, and I am comfortable with that nitch, however, I do teach one woman who is 31, Yesenia, lives with her deaf boyfriend, and has 
never been to school, not one day in her life. She actually didn’t know any sign language until she was contacted by Jehovah’s Witnesses nearly 8 years ago. She studied at that time, but then her family moved deep into the country, and she fell off the radar for nearly 5 years. This is Jess and Yesenia in the photo, from the stairs to her apartment.
That all changed in January, when she and her boyfriend, Carlos, showed up at our Kingdom Hall and asked us to help them understand the Bible. We gladly obliged.
Studying with Yesenia has presented lots of challenges for me. She is “trained” to answer a certain way and so she appears to have a lot of knowledge, but she lacks the ability to reason, which is something that I require of my students. We have been working very hard with her, and she is coming along fantastically (said with a nice thick Michigan accent).
It was Liz though, who brought something more to her study.
I go every week on Wednesday to give her a personal study of the Bible and every Saturday morning to help her study her copy of the Watchtower for the meeting on Sunday, so that she can participate and give comments, which she loves to do. Up until I went with Liz I had just been watching the paragraphs, which we have on DVD, and then drawing a little comment for her every so often.
Liz took my drawing to a whole new level! She suggested drawing pictures on a separate sheet of paper for every paragraph. Since Yesenia can’t read, she could use the pictures to help remind her what the paragraph discussed, kind of like taking notes on the Watchtower, or underlining the paragraphs. I thought it was a lot of work, but Liz was willing to draw, and so we went with it.
Yesenia LOVES her drawings. She has saved every single one and uses them at the meetings, as well as at home to review the things she learned with her boyfriend, who is often at work when we call. (Anton visits him on Sundays, his only free day of the week.)
I knew the drawings were a good idea, but I didn’t realize how great they were until I saw this:
She drew it after I left one week Wednesday on what she had learned. You can see the lame man being lowered into th room in the second column of pictures. She likes the annointed – you can see them on the far right, even though they weren’t in the lesson! Oh, and you can see Jesus has the red coloured garment on – that is how I always differentiate Jesus from the apostles. Since then, she has drawn the Wednesday lesson each week as her way of “taking notes” and remembering what she has learned.
It just goes to show you that there is always more to learn and always ways to improve to be a better teacher. Thanks Liz! Yesenia still associates the drawing of pictures with you!
Topics: From the Ministry | 1 Comment »
Yeah, you heard me right, a POOL!
By Anton | July 13, 2009
In all of the hustle and bustle of the past few months, we seem to have neglected to inform everyone of a most exciting find… a pool!
This may not seem like that big a deal to you northerners but when the heat index is well over 100 F, cooling off can be rather important. We had been searching for almost a year now for somewhere where Jac can swim (guess i can use some exercise too). As any of you who know Jac knows, swimming is like air and food to her. Having swam competitively in her high school years, she was really hoping to find somewhere that she could unwind and get her blood pumping.
We happened upon the pool one day when visiting a student. She was helping to setup a party at a sort of a party hall type place and after talking briefly, she told us to take a look around. When we found the pool, it was a horrid mess! Green… really more like a pond than a pool. I swear all it was missing were some lilly pads and cat tails and it would have been complete. We spoke with the man in charge and he told us that the owner was away for a few months. Long story short, we got in touch with him and were given permission to swim any time we want for free!!! I guess he likes the idea that Americans are using his pool and feels it will bring good PR.
We spoke with the man who cleans it and after helping him fix the broken filtration system and teaching him how to us proper chemicals, the pool is now clean and beautiful… and we have a place to cool off a few times a week!
Topics: Personal Life | No Comments »
Tree Fences - True Dominican Genius
By Jac | July 10, 2009
What better way to build a fence then by using untreated wood that can take root and eventually give you a full tree barrier? These kinds of “fences” are all over the Dominican Republic, and I just think they are so neat, I had to share these photos with you.
You can find these fences in all different stages, from stick to tree; this is a more mature one, although some boast trees even bigger than this!
If you look hard enough for the genius, you can find it anywhere!
Topics: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Spanglish at its Finest!
By Jac | July 10, 2009
This building, at first glance, is just like any other building you may see in the Dominican Republic. Meters on the wall, curtains held back from the breeze by the window slats, an old coat of paint, and writing painted directly on the wall.
The white writing to the right of the window states that the building is for sale, because the owner will be traveling. But let’s take a closer look at the black writing on the left side of the photo:
Ah yes… May God bless those who come in and leave this building and peace and tranquility to those who stay. To the youth, please say no to drugs and yes to study and to the church. The cleaning is “sal” (the rest of the word is blocked by the peach curtain, but my guess is “salud” which means health)
Then we have 503 W One Way 169 st and Ansternan Ave Manhatan… it is all so clear now, the owner is in New York!
The last three lines are my absolute favorite, and the reason I pulled out the camera:
“God blessio Unite Etate. Dios vendiga a la Rep. Dom. y Haiti y a Africa…”
That first sentence is supposed to be English…
Topics: Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
The Many Faces of Anton
By Jac | July 10, 2009
Who knew how goofy my husband was? LoL. Check out some of Anton’s most interesting get-ups.
The Swimming Bandit
Bedazzled!
Ebenezer Scrooge!
Neck tie anyone?
Topics: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
CO + DO and a Full Week of Activity
By Jac | June 1, 2009
Just one week after our Circuit Assembly we had the privilege of having the Circuit Overseer, Carlos Sosa and his wife Dalila, and the District Overseer, Juan Ramon Guzman and his wife Sandra, visit our congregation.
Two incredibly cool things happened during the visit:
1. Juan Ramon suggested we stand during our songs, now that we have a big enough screen to do so. It may seem minimal, but it is SO AWESOME for us. Being able to freely move while signing a song in ASL is so much better than being trapped in your chair. I love the acting influence the DO has!
2. Juan Ramon signed Jess’ regular auxiliary pioneer application and since she hasn’t ever gotten less than 50 hours since she started publishing they said she could start in May, the month in which she got baptized. So, 11 days after her baptism she attended her first pioneer meeting, hopefully one of many to come. She has the goal to start regular pioneering in 6 months, and is already scheduling her hours accordingly.
She is the first deaf female pioneer our congregation has ever had, and she is only one of two deaf pioneers in the hall. She was also the only auxiliary pioneer in attendance at the meeting.
We had a very nice, very encouraging week with two wonderful couples. Both will be heading on to new assignments, so we hope Jehovah continues to bless them, and look forward with excitement to the new brothers who will come and serve us.
Topics: Jessica | 1 Comment »
Congregation Picnic! Gringo - Style!
By Jac | May 30, 2009
I don’t know what the local brothers and sisters thought of the crazy American style congregation picnic Anton and I planned with the help of Scott and Liz Tucker who came down to visit from Flint Michigan (and brought us lots of wonderful goodies, thanks guys!).
First off… there was a water balloon toss, a tug-of-war, a three legged race, hoola-hoop competitions, foot races, relay races, football, frisbee, soccer, kickball, and lollipop bouquets for the winners… and pretty much everyone else since we bought so much candy!
But even more crazy-gringo-out-there was the fact that at dinner, THERE WAS NO RICE!
That’s right! We served ‘em hot dogs, potato salad, chips and good old coca-cola. The way a real picnic is done.
Everyone had such a good time, we have decided to schedule another one for November or December, after the incredibly unbearable heat of the summer months has passed.
Topics: Personal Life | 2 Comments »
May 16th, 2009 - The Most Important Day in Jess’ Life
By Jac | May 20, 2009
Dinora, Jess’ mom; Jess; Idalia, the sister who first brought the “wild child” to meetings when she was 6; Marilin, Jess’ sister; Jordy, Jess’ brother
The English language does not contain words capable of describing how awesome this feels.
Topics: Jessica | 1 Comment »
ASL Assembly Video Department Set-Up
By Jac | May 20, 2009
So they decided to have our pioneer meeting at the Assembly Hall, which meant all the video stuff had to be set up well in advance. We also had to sand (iron), paint, sew, sand (plastic), grommet, tape, zip-tie, collect sand from the street, make sand bags… the list goes on and on! It was well worth it though!
Topics: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
One of the BEST Hockey Nights EVER!
By Jac | April 25, 2009
Monday after the English assembly was rockin’ awesome!
Check out the pics and videos below: (Mom even skated around a bit!)
I will post some video in a bit… I am too tired to log into Youtube and post.
Topics: Personal Life | 1 Comment »
Mom Comes to Visit and We Head to Santo Domingo!
By Jac | April 20, 2009
Mom came to visit! She was here for the Memorial and our English assmebly, where Anton had the Bible reading that will be talked about until the end of forever, and we had a funny little interview about my “check-marks” on the road to Gilead.
To start off with, I think Mom had a rockin’ awesome time while she was here. (I think the car helps a little…. errr, a lot.) We did service, the beach, an assembly, the Memorial (Kreol for Mom!), some souvenir shopping, 
oh (!) and put up the cool new projector that someone donated to our congregation. We had it shipped to Mom at her work the day she flew out… the UPS truck couldn’t find her office suite, but Mom saw the truck at the building and they passed by her office! A few frantic phone calls later and the package was safe and sound with Mom where it belonged!
That was only one of the many goodies she brought, including lots of love from Michigan. We miss our Great Lakes State! I was really happy to have dark chocolate and other great gluten free surprises Mom brought along.
Anton was the one who surprised us all though, the entire English assembly audience included. You know how it is when the Theocratic Ministry School rolls around in the circuit assembly? It is kind of normal; you just sit back and listen. They announced that Br. Anton Suhy from the Santiago Sign Language Congregation would be reading Exodus 9:1–19 and you could hear everyone flipping pages to get to the right spot.
And then he started. And everyone’s head snapped up and the whole audience went silent. Seriously.
By verse 3, “look!” I had snapped enough out of the trance that Anton’s booming voice had put on the audience to look around briefly… everyone was staring at him – not a single head was looking down following along in the Bible. His reading was absolutely captivating.
I don’t think I have ever had anyone compliment me on anything Anton has done as much as they did that day. Funny thing too, they all said the same thing, basically this: “It’s the reading… you never expect it to be like that. It was… I have never heard such a good reading in my life…” and so on and so forth. It was nice to hear such wonderful things about my great husband, as I know he really valued receiving such an assignment.
Day two brought our interview, with Alan Kemp, an elder from a nearby Spanish hall, and left forward on our hockey team. His talk was all about goals, and he used the sports analogies, which made it an instant favorite among the very active audience of young ones serving here.
We were interviewed with a young Dominican sister who is currently serving in the English foreign language field here (1 congregation and growing, if you’re interested!). She spoke about giving up pursuing music to start auxiliary pioneering. Then, they spoke to us.
The part focused on our long term goals and what short term goals we set to get there. The funny part came when Alan asked me, “So is that all the goals you’ve reached on the way to your goal of Gilead?” And I answered, 
looking over my shoulder at Anton, “Well, there has been one more check-mark.” Laughter from the crowd. Alan then said to Anton, “Anton, I notice Jackie has the same last name as you.” Anton responded, “She does now!” and there was more laughter.
The best part about the interview was that it was done by such a close friend, and on one of my favorite parts of the whole program. It was such a privilege to be able to share our experiences, especially how really striving to reach our goals has resulted in such blessings from Jehovah.
I know that Mom really enjoyed the English assembly, and she got to meet so many wonderful brothers and sisters, who without fail commented on how much alike we are!
If you can ever plan your trip to come for an English program, do it! They are special programs designed to help us continue in our service here, and they are incredible!
Topics: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
The Memorial Pick-Up Extravaganza!
By Jac | April 10, 2009
Anton, Jess and I wanted to do everything we could to make sure we got all the students to the Memorial that we could. So, we made a list of the
12 students that we were going to attempt to pick up, and started filling in the times we would have to pick them up going backwards. We wanted to arrive to the Kingdom Hall by 6:05, as Anton was going to be passing the emblems and had to get the video department all set up. (The Memorial started at 7).
Counting backwards from Claritza back to Estefani we realized we would have to pick the first student up at 4:05 pm, leaving our house at 3:50 pm! It was crazy, and included three carloads of students to the hall, but we managed to do it. How exciting it was to have all of Jessica’s students there (3), and all but one of mine and one of Anton’s. A couple that Anton and I study with also came on their own, so the whole lot we brought to the Memorial totaled 12, ranging in age from 11 to 31!
We didn’t want the 
parents to worry, especially for those who were getting picked up first, as they would be dropped off last, so we printed out little slips of paper for each set of parents with the pick-up and drop-off times written on them. I have to say, the entire project was a major success and we had a fantastic time, as did the students!
Topics: From the Ministry | No Comments »
Visiting the La Vega Congregation
By Jac | March 30, 2009
Last week a Bethelite and his wife who work in translation came down to the DR and he gave a talk at the La Vega congregation. One of the brother’s in Anton’s Spanish class is an elder in that hall, and he invited us to come, and to bring Jess with us. It was fun, since it was the first time Jess has visited another sign language congregation. Also, two of her closest friends, Roxanna and Yasiris, two awesome deaf women, are in that congregation. If you are in sign language you might 
recognize the brother as Jeremy Mallory (or Malory, I have no idea how to spell his last name), and his wife Debbie. He is used a lot on the DVDs because he is such an expressive and experienced signer, and having see him give multiple talks at the New Jersey 3 day assemblies, Anton and I both knew what an amazing speaker he is. Needless to say, the Kingdom Hall was packed! People turned out from congregations hours away to see the talk. There were 144 there with over 80 deaf. It was a great talk, and a really nice opportunity to see so many of our 
friends. Both Jeremy and Debbie knew Anton from when he was at Bethel, and we have many friends in common, so it was nice to get caught up. Jessica was her normal shy self (when it comes to new people and crowds, she immediately becomes very, very timid), but that didn’t stop her from meeting Jeremy and Debbie and thanking them for coming, and for all their hard work at Bethel before she ran off to chat with her friends.
Read the rest of this entry »
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Jessica - 2006-2009, Then and Now
By Jac | March 27, 2009
I can’t believe the amazing journey that I have had working with Jess. It all started for the two of us back in March of 2006 when Emmy left and I took over her study. It is now March of 2009, and she is an incredible young woman, thanks to everyone’s hard work and Jehovah’s spirit. She has become like family to Anton and me, as well as one of my closest little friends. For any of you who know what being a “Leah Massey” means… I have officially become one.
In the picture above, which was taken back in the summer of 2006 Jess is drawing her house and my house in Paradise. She put us both on opposite mountains, even though she prefers the beach! Since that picture was taken she has completed her study in Learn from the Great Teacher and What Does the Bible Really Teach? and is now over halfway finished with the Worship the Only True God DVD, and is conducting her own Bible studies in the Learn from the Great Teacher DVD with other deaf youth.
In this picture she is assisting another deaf sister in our congregation with illustrating some Bible texts as they are seen on the Bible Teach DVD. Ever eager to acquire new skills, she has been mastering the art of drawing to aid deaf who are still learning sign language.
She also never neglects her study with me, or her personal study, even when it is “freezing” outside. (It was probably 60, but we were really, really cold!)
Jess is just one of the many blessings we have received by being down here. It hasn’t been easy to get to the point where we are at with her (sometimes she still leaves the water faucet turned on when there is no water due to pipe issues, and we come back to the shower running) but overall, she has been a joy to have in our lives.
Topics: From the Ministry, Jessica | No Comments »
Video From Anton’s first public talk
By Anton | March 27, 2009
I recently was talking with a friend and found out that they had taken a short bit of video when I gave my first public talk. This was the first I saw of myself giving it.
Topics: From the Dominican Republic | No Comments »
John (again but with more detail)
By Anton | March 27, 2009
So in case any of you saw a few posts down and wondered who this John guys is, here is a brief run down. John is 20, from Utah, not a Mormon, handsome, has been in sign language for 3 years, used to be in Puerto Plata, now lives in Santiago, is going back home soon, will hopefully be coming back more permanently in the fall.
We are in the Bethel sponsored Spanish language course together and when he was talking about moving here, Jac and I did all we could to help him make the move and it just so happened that it brought him to the upstairs apartment in out building.
He has been a great help to the congregation, especially for me with the territories. We are really hoping he will come back after he goes back to the states to work!
Topics: Personal Life | 3 Comments »