We do it all!!

One of the things I love about the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that you can use and develop all your talents.  I have had many callings over the years to do things I didn't necessarily think I was good at, but I learned to do them.  I even have had the opportunity to discover talents I didn't know I had.

This is so true here our first month in Santiago.  These are some of  the things we are doing:

• We teach non members about the church.
• We have visited members who are strong and try to encourage them and tell them they are doing a great job.
• I have worked with people to find names of their ancestors and get them ready for the temple
• I have made chocolate chip cookies and brownies for Family Home Evenings and some branch activities
• We are starting an English class next week which will run 6 weeks.  We will have others after that.
• We are starting a literacy class for some youth who have a hard time with school
• We have been teaching some classes on strengthening your marriage for some couples who are having some struggles
• We are teaching a couple a Temple Prep class in their home so they can progress more as a family and get ready to go to the temple
• We are saving our coins to help a family get married
• Everyone we visit we share a scripture and have prayer. 
• Mark and I are both teaching Sunday School classes on Sunday, sometimes more.
• We encourage all our families to read the scriptures and to pray.  Individually and as families.

These are just a few things that we do.  Some we feel more comfortable with than others.  

I love it when we go out to visit people and there is a beautiful spirit and we feel we have been instruments in the Lord's hands to bless some of His children.  That's the best thing we do.

The two youth are members of our church.  This is a great family.  The father loves to read.  He has bookshelves in his home, which we don't see too often.  Very nice family.  This was the wife that told Mark if he didn't eat what he was offered he may not be offered food again.  I love her.  She's very traditional (told me they don't eat at fast food places).  At the party she fed us a delicious pork and rice dish.  This is at the father's birthday party.  We had a great time.

We had to go to Panama City this past week.  We went over Monday afternoon and had dinner with the office couple (on the right).  We went to Benihanas. We had an early morning appointment to get our government ID called a cedula on Tuesday morning.  We are now officially here.  They ask for your ID for everything.  If you buy something with a credit card they want it.  They often have road checks where they ask for your ID.  On Tuesday afternoon we went to dinner with our mission president and his wife (on the left) and the office couple.  We went to a Mexican restaurant.

Our wonderful mission president, President Carmack, finishes at the end of June.  The office couple finish in August.  We will miss them.  They do so much work.  The office couple, The Brinkmans are fantastic.  She is the mission nurse.  She's had to deal with Zika, rabies bites, etc.

The mission president has a heavy load.  They supervise and organize 200 missionaries from all over Latin america and the states.  The president is the ecclesiastical leader for 4 districts across Panama. He has responsibility over buildings and leadership in the districts.  He's also involved in the youth from Panama getting ready to go on missions.  Mission presidents leave their jobs, maybe not to go back to, for 3 years.  They do have living expenses while they're here.

I've always said you couldn't pay me to do the work I volunteer to do in the church.  Mark and I are paying our way to do this wonderful mission.  The church did pay for our trip down and will pay when we go home.  It is worth every penny!

Here's the poster we had made to hang outside the church for the English class we are going to teach.

Mark just got back from a service project in Chitre.  They did work at a public school.

My fingers are sweating

It is very hot here in Santiago right now.  For the past two weeks it has been to the mid to high 90's.  Today it hit 100.  Most of the time there is a nice breeze so if you're in the shade it's not too bad.  Not much breeze the last week.  Today it rained a little bit for the first time since we've arrived.  It barely got the road wet but it rained!

We just love it here.  I can't say enough how wonderful the people are.  They are so warm and friendly, and very hospitable.

The couple to the left are a young couple recently married.  She's the primary president and he's the branch clerk.  They are Brenda y Javier.

This is our wonderful Branch president and his lovely wife.  She is from Peru.  They met online and started corresponding.  Fell in love, he went to Peru to meet her and they were married three weeks later.





This is the S family.  They moved here a few months ago from Venezuela.  Just love them.  Myrna gave me my first plant cuttings.  We're going to cut more so I can get ready for the rainy season and plant some plants.  His parents also moved here but right now, they're visiting family in the states.


 

This is Katy and Tomas.  He's a musician and she sings.  She is due to have a baby in a couple of weeks.  She's the one we had a baby shower for.  We just love them and their sweet family.  They have two children already.  He is quiet.  She is energetic and fun t be around.





We leave the members to feed the young missionaries.  Occasionally we'll be visiting someone and they bring out a huge plate of food.  They give us way to much food for a serving but we eat it.  It's great because with the heat I don't really cook much.  I probably cook a meal a couple of times a week.  To tell you the truth, when we get home we don't really feel like eating much.

I love the fruit!!!  I was looking forward to coming and enjoying fresh fruits and juices from the tropics.  We get lots of watermelon, mango, pineapple, maracuya (passion fruit) and other types of fruits that we just don't have in the states.  We usually make fresh orange juice each morning.

Here is a member climbing a tree to pick ciruellas.  They look a little like grape tomatoes but they're a fruit.

 One of the families gave us these platanos.  They're not bananas.  They're more of a carb.  I love them.  Mark-- gag.

Here are the oranges we buy for juice and maracuya (on the right)

We've had some funny experiences with the food.  They make this corn drink, called chicheme- they cook the corn a long time until it's real soft, they use the corn and water it was cooked in to make the drink.  They add water.  Here's a link to a recipe http://www.cocinerita.com/chicheme/.  I've had it three times.  The first one was not so good.  The second one was ok and the third one was delicious. Poor Mark just can't handle it.  Mark is not really good at hiding his feelings so he about gags when he tries to drink it.  I feel bad for him but I don't want people to be offended.

There was a baby shower for one of the sisters from church.  It was a fun time.  She had invited a few men to help her husband cook the meat for the party.  One of the games they played involved the four couples there.  The women were blindfolded and had to feed their spouses baby food from a jar.  As I was feeding Mark, I could hear him gagging.  I didn't want him to be sick all over me so I fed him slowly.

I make chocolate chip cookies or brownies and everyone loves them.  The first time I bought chocolate chips I left them on the shelf in my kitchen and they melted to liquiid.  Not just melted but liquid.  I keep them in the freezer now.

I feel so blessed.  My health is great.  We are working hard.  I love the people.  They seem to love us. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for this opportunity to invite others to draw closer to their Savior and thus help them and support them through trials and difficulties.

I LOVE PANAMA!!

Guided by the Spirit

I love this scripture.  I really truly believe this is the message of Jesus Christ.  Through Him we can have joy and peace and most importantly hope.  Many of the people we work with have few material things.  Some are stretched very thin.  It doesn't matter how much you have in order to be happy.  I have met beautiful hopeful families, filled with the Holy Spirit.  That is what I love about meeting people here.  You feel their spirit.

The other important part of the work we do is trying to follow the Spirit in leading us to people.   We also depend on the spirit as we teach people.  We have had wonderful experiences being led to say certain things to certain people and seeing the blessing that it is in their lives.  Today we went out with a young man who arrived about the same time we did to Santiago.  He is from Panama City and is great!!  He served a mission to Nicaragua.  He has a great job with one of the cellular phone companies here.  He says he has felt he was led here and feels that great things will happen to him here.  We feel it to.  He went with us to visit some young adults and he hit it off right away with them. We went to visit one young man that we had just visited yesterday.  I didn't want to bother him again today but Mark felt we should go.  It was great.  It really was inspiration that led us there.

I have felt so blessed to have received inspiration throughout my life to help me through trials, to help me in my decision making, in helping me to learn and develop my talents.  I know God lives.  He is waiting to bless each of us through his Holy Spirit.  We need to open the door and allow Him in.  E is there.  He loves us.  He will be there.

I have to share these pictures.  The first one we went to visit a member of our branch and as we walked up to his door he was up in the tree picking ciruelas.

Missionary LIfe

I'm going to explain a little of what being a missionary is like.  As a couple it's a little different than when we were younger, but it's pretty much the same in other ways.

This was a couples activity at the church last week.  I made brownies which were a big hit and Mark and I did the swing for our talent.  It was fun.  I think they loved seeing us having fun.

Our objective as missionaries is to invite others to come unto Christ.  We are doing this in a variety of ways.
1.  We visit with leadership in the church here.  They are a small branch of the church and often carry heavy loads in running the church here.  We do not have a paid ministry, so anyone from the "minister" he's called a branch president here to the Sunday school teacher is not paid and volunteers their time serving their fellow members.  When we visit we try to encourage them and ask what we can do to help them with their responsibilities.  Our view is to try to lift the loads they have.
2.  We visit members of the congregation.  Our branch president gave us the name of 9 families to visit.  We have visited with them.  Some we have visited many times.  Often there is a challenge they are facing that we are trying to help them with.  Sometimes it may be a couple who are struggling or a youth who has no support.  We have been received so warmly.  If feel like every time I go to a new home, meet new people, I feel I leave with new friends.  People that I now love.
3. Non members of our church.  We aren't really going out and looking for people to teach but we have found some in the homes of members, as we've been around town- we always tell people what we're doing, or sometimes they show up at the church.  We teach them beautiful lessons about the Savior's love for them.  About his atonement.  We teach them how they can know these things we teach are true.  We invite them to study and to pray and ask Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ if these things are true.  We give them challenges to read, to pray, to come to church, etc.

We also have the opportunity to work with young missionaries.  We have the best in our branch.  El L is from Guatemala, Elder P is from Idaho, Elder M from El Salvador and Elder F from Panama but going to Mississippi (He actually left today).  We are also part of a zone that had a wonderful outing yesterday on our day off up in the mountains.  We played capture the flag and had lunch.  Took lots of pictures.  Then we walked to a beautiful waterfall.

This was the drive over.

We try to leave the house around 11 a.m.  We visit members, we're still trying to find where everyone lives.  Sometimes we have meetings during the afternoon.  In the evenings we meet with families, usually 2 sometimes 3 different ones.  Often we drop in on people.  We now have phone numbers so we try to call first.  Everyone here uses whats app so we text that way.  If you want to text us you need to use Facebook messenger or whats app.

One of the things the members like is Family Home Evening.  It consists of a scripture, song, lesson, game and refreshments.  We had one last week with a family and it was really fun.  I was in charge of refreshments and made choc chip cookies.  They loved them.  Mark did the lesson and he did it on gratitude.  It was great.  He made a gratitude box where each family member wrote about 5 things they were grateful for.  We picked some out and read them.  It was really fun.  The 7 year old girls loved it.  The 12 year old son was in charge of the games.  We played hot potato and one where you say a word, the next person has to quickly say a word that begins with the last letter.  The daughter read a scripture.  Grandma was in charge of the song and the mom made the drink.  The father led us all.  We had a good time.

The elder from Idaho is teaching an English class once a week.  We may have to take over when he goes.  We're also talking about tutoring some kids in their school work.

Why now?

I was writing in my journal about my visit to a Doctor here in Panama.  I will need tests and blood work done in the next year and a half and wanted to have a doctor here to visit.  I had brought all my history with me.  I was writing that this doctor agrees that for the next few years or many years I really won't need to do anything with the Lymphoma.  I had to ask myself why then did I have to find it right before I left on my mission?  Believe me this created such a time of uncertainty, worry, and stress that I really didn't need right then.  I was already experiencing those feelings for other things.

I am so grateful to my Father in Heaven for the many tender mercies that He has given me in my life.  It was strange that during this whole time of uncertainty, I truly felt calm.  I felt at peace.  We weren't sure if we were going to be able to come to Panama depending on the diagnosis but I felt at peace.  May I just say that I have had this peace before and the incredible blessing that it can be in a time of trial or hardship is hard to even describe. It is unlike anything else I've ever felt.  It's not something I can make myself feel or talk myself into.  It is a precious gift from a loving Heavenly Father.  This whole experience, right before my mission, has reminded me once again, that God lives.  That He loves me.  That he is aware of my trials, my needs, my desires.  At a time when I should not have felt peace and calmness- I did!

This is the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ that I think I'm supposed to share.  This is the message of hope of love, of peace that we can all feel as we turn our lives to Him.  As we trust Him.  This is the message I can share with those who sometimes feel they may not have hope.  He is there.  He knows you.  He loves you. If you knock he will open the door.

I love the Lord.  I know He Lives. I know He is my Savior.  I'm so grateful for this time I have to serve Him.

The people are fantastic!!

The people of Panama have been incredible so far.  We love the missionaries we work with, we love the members we've met so far and the people we meet around town have been fantastic.  As we mentioned earlier, we've had to get a house furnished and utilities set up since we've arrived.  We've been to the garbage collector's office, furniture stores, department stores, groceries, "Do it" centers (like Lowes), cellular phone offices, and government buildings.  Everyone has been helpful, kind and curious.  We have no problem telling people why we're here and that we'll be here for about a year at least and in Panama for 18 months.  They're impressed that we speak Spanish.  They're interested in us being a mature couple doing this and most have heard of the church.

Since we didn't know our way around Santiago, our 83 year old member over missionary work has gone out with us so many times.  He's always ready.  His name is Franciso O.  Just love him!  Here he is at the church with one of the sets of Elders in our branch.  Elder Lfrom Guatemala and Elder P from Idaho.

Hermano O is a stalwart.  He was one of the original leaders here and has served so faithfully many years.  He usually walks 3 miles to the church for our meetings.  He never complains.  He loves the Lord.

The missionaries we've met have been fantastic.  We have recently had meetings with our Zone, about 35 missionaries and then with another zone about 60 missionaries.  There are a few Americans mixed in but most are from Central America- El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and others from Peru, and Mexico.

The members are so faithful, have testimonies of Jesus Christ and make great sacrifices to be at church and to serve others. Many people don't have cars so to get to church they need to take a bus which costs money and has very limited service on Sunday.  There's no schedule to count on either.  It's very hot for all of us here.  To be out in the sun, fighting with little ones, can be very wearing.  And yet, they come.  They serve.  They're happy.

 It's fun.  You start taking a picture and then more join in.  They are such wonderful young people.  They don't seem to mind us old folks being with them.

 This is at our house.  We're having a district meeting and then the zone leaders came.  I fed our elders breakfast first.

The members are so wonderful!  We just drop by, we don't have their phone number, so we can't call ahead.  It doesn't matter what they were doing they welcome us in, they give us cold drinks and snacks, they make us feel welcome and share their testimonies of Jesus Christ.  They share with us how their lives have changed through the Savior.  They tell us of burdens he has lifted, of light he has shined down on them, of the love they feel for their families that they didn't have before.  I leave each visit loving another family in this branch.

We have met many not of our faith with the same results.  I leave, loving their humility, their kindness and their faith in Jesus Christ.

Life is hard here.  It  could be discouraging.  I have wondered how we can help.  Next post will share some of my thoughts.

Home Sweet Home

We've been in Santiago, Panama for exactly one week.  What a week.  We have made new friends, we have done lots of shopping, waited a long time for deliveries, meetings, parties, electricians, etc.  Mark and I are pretty punctual people and so we have had to make some adjustments this week.  I know that generally when a Latin American tells you they'll be there at 3, they probably wouldn't think of arriving before 3:30 or 4.  We were told there was a party at the church at 1 on Saturday, the party didn't really start until about 5 and we ate at 7.  Now I have no idea when things are supposed to start :)

We moved into an empty house.  It did have a refrigerator, stove and washer.

We had an air conditioner in the bedroom but we didn't have the control.  We ended up staying in a very nice hotel for three nights while we bought what we needed and had it delivered.  This is the hotel Mykonos that we stayed at.

We bought a queen size bed, but when it arrived it was not long enough for the mattress.  We had to sleep with our feet up over foot board with the mattress hanging over the end.  The store owner made new side rails the right size so now we are good.

The house is about 700 square feet.  It is perfect for us right now.  There are two bedrooms, the other one we use as an office.  and a little bathroom.  Mark put together a shelf so we could have our toiletries in the bathroom.

Here are the final pictures of our home.  We are planning on planting outside.  It's pretty much weeds and garbage right now.  We're going to wait for a month when the rainy season starts.

My favorite part of the first week was the people we met.  In our church and also in the community. The people have been so helpful and kind as we've waded through cell phones, looking for maps, buying furniture or just looking for directions (non existent).  That's for next time!