We love teaching!

 Rod is teaching our branch president, President Quesdada (yes at first we remembered it by quesadilla) to do Trot Pony Trot and This is the way the Ladies Go with his daughter, Emily.  It was his idea to add fluency by adding singing with children.  I think it just may work.  I teach piano to three people in the house while they work together.

 I love the mayonnaise containers here.  They just squeeze and there is never anything left with a knife or a spoon.  We love egg salad sandwiches.  Eggs are $1.75 a dozen and they aren't refrigerated in the stores.  They do seem to be ranch eggs with nice yellow yolks.  We had a bad one one day, and Rod commented that who knows how long they were in the field before they were ours.

 This is Alan, the nephew of one of our students.  I was giving a piano lesson, and Rod was singing with him.  He loved it!

 We decided to fix our washer or get rid of it.  It really does make things easier.  The right side just spins out the water and it does a great job so our clothes can dry in much less time.  I suspect they'll be fresher because of it.  Hurray for machines!

 This is our sock drier.  It folds up neatly (although it is seldom folded).  It might be now with our drier socks.  It is an item I never would have bought, but my guide insisted.  She was right.

 I wanted to get him playing with the I Spy Go Fish cards.  We use them a lot.  I decided I liked the picture of him here much better.  He likes to join in with his brother and sister to learn.

 These angelic children live in one of my favorite places.  It has an open field across the street and the frog chorus is fantastic.  I tried to get a video, but failed.  I will try again.  They are learning English and know a lot.  Their grandpa is the one we followed in the rain to visit the neighbors. He is hard for us to understand but he loves us and we feel really welcome at their house.

We were clapping the rhythm at a first piano class.  Nancy couldn't see the paper, so I tried holding it differently.  Then I couldn't see it, so I put it on my front with my placque magnet.  We had a lot of fun.

We decided not to celebrate Thanksgiving because our students didn't celebrate it, and our taking a day off makes an entire branch miss their lessons.  Our one concession (and I had to twist Rod's arm) was to make a loaf of homemade bread.  He really hates the heat.  It affects him more than it does me.  The bread was quite good, though.  I expected the flour to taste stale, but it tastes better than in the states.   At this moment I am baking a loaf in the crock pot.  We'll see how it turns out.

I invited the elders over to study and have fresh bread.  They made the appointment for 9:00.  I waited until 10:00, then we ate.  They came shortly after.  I lectured them, even though they had the good excuse of no clean clothes.  They have a telephone.  After my lecture, Elder Cobba said "But better late than never."  He had missed the entire point.  In the kitchen later, Elder Pena said how sorry he was.  He had understood.  They are such good kids, but I feel the need to give lectures anyway.

I was really looking forward to District Conference today.  We went all together by bus.  This was interesting as the Elders asked us to pick up Jose, the young man who lives far out, and his family.  We went by the day before to make sure they understood what it was like.  Jose said fine, so we went back at 6:15 this morning to pick them up.  Only Jose came but he wanted to pick up his cousin.  She wasn't up, so we waited 10 minutes.  We got to the church about 6:40 and only one person was there.  Hm. Trejos had insisted we should leave our car at his house in his locked enclosure, so we went over there.  He took us back to the church, then he left to get others.  We finally left the church at 7:30, but then we started a route to pick up more members.

We got to District Meeting about 8:30 for a supposedly 8:00 meeting, but it hadn't started yet.  I ended up in the primary meeting.  The conference itself lasted over two hours.  I was asked to lead the hymn.  One of my students(she was a former student of another missionary couple) played the hymns.  The choir was a capella, and the director didn't know how to direct.  She wants to be a student and has three investigators lined up, she says, but she has missed class for two weeks.  We'll see. Whoever put the hymn numbers up put them in a different order, so when I was supposed to direct I wasn't ready and did my customary leap into the air.  I could hear the mission president laughing.  We take a lot of organization for granted.  I wonder how much of it matters.

I did love seeing all our students and trying to place them all in a different setting.  It felt like home somehow.  Enough for now.  Love to all.

Our Guardian Angel

 This is Hermano Trejos, our guardian angel.  He is a taxi driver and is the counselor in the branch presidency.  The president lives out about 10 miles, so we rely on H. Trejos.  He has a Yaris also, so he helps us with the car.  Yesterday we left our outer security door unlocked when we went to Chitre.  He called us to ask us about it, went to our landlady for a key, and made sure it was locked.  He warns us of the neighborhoods that aren't safe after 5:00 (it's still light) and worries about our flashy car.  He wants us to put it in his locked garage if we are  ever leaving it.  I suspect he knows the danger better than we do.  We don't have a locked garage, so just keep praying that it will be protected so we can continue our work.

Yesterday also, he came by to share a papaya from his tree and a pineapple.  The papaya was so sweet and good that I ate more than half of it while I was talking to my mom on the phone.  I ate part of it for her, of course.

 This is Rod's youngest English student.

 My fruit stand friend suggested that I try  granadia.  I had no idea what to do with it, but Elder Pena made an icy drink by blending this mushy fruit, putting it through a colander, adding sugar and ice.

It was amazing!  It tastes much like slush punch all by itself.  I also used it as a dressing for fruit salad.  Yum!!

 The Elders have a great system of putting multiple cameras on a table and preparing them to take photos.  Then they sprint to be in the photo themselves so no one needs to be left out.  The whole process is a lot of fun.

Do you see the red shoes?  It's p-day, so Elder Cobba says they are legal.  They remind me of Aryl's red hightops that he wanted to wear to his mission farewell.

This is the other couple serving in our zone.  She was born a McAffee in Lost River Valley where I was  born and knows my Aunt Hilda and Uncle Ellis King.  It IS a small world.

There is no such thing as reverence in our primary, so I decided to try to get them busy and interested.  It worked, sort of, but I can surely hear my errors in Spanish.  We needed something other than my camera to replay it.

Rod:
Several of the missionaries are looking forward to being helped by the perpetual education fund.  They really come from tough backgrounds, many of them, not being members long and having to be bread winners for their families.

I got my annual lung stuff, but otherwise we are healthy.  We took the brother of a doctor with us to the Pharmacy and they gave us the medicine (amoxycillin) without a prescription -- with a discount.  They handed him the medical book so he could look up what was needed -- thus they are somewhat more advanced than the states in self diagnosis.  The mission way is to call the mission nurse (a missionary) and two weeks later she called to see if we got the medicine -- sending it through the zone leaders doesn't appear to be working.

We have appointments for Thanksgiving and it is so hot here that we are not going to fire up our oven and make the whole house hotter.  Only two of the missionaries are from the states (and the other couple in Santiago) and it is so much work that we are going to just keep teaching -- maybe make a squash (pumpkin) pie or a loaf of bread with the fan on!!  We haven't been Thanksgiving grinches before -- for family it is worth it.

A 'must' see -- Janell with a bottle brought home in a brown paper sack

 These are our two Elder Penas.  The one on the right is here with us in Aguadulce, the other is one of our district leaders.  I love to work with both of them.  Our Elder Pena helps me with Spanish.  When I am speaking and hesitate, I can look at him for help. He reminds me of Doug Knighton, our nephew, so he is even more special.

 These are the sugar cane fields.  On the left they are in bloom.  Harvest comes after they bloom.  I hope I get to see the harvest.

We had an appointment out in the country.  This family has received a piano from the grant, but they currently have no electricity, so they can't use it.  We are trying to figure out a solution.  We started here with three, and another family joined us.  By the time we finished, it was dark (as you can see in the video below when we are singing together.  It was awesome.  They were smoking sausages but I forgot to take a picture.

 

We were invited to dinner Sunday night at the home of the primary president, a young woman.  They were celebrating the birthday for two children in the family.  We played "Go Fish" in English with these two while we waited for dinner to begin.  Later we took them home in our car.  We had 5 adults and three kids in our little Yaris.  It worked!  No seatbelts in back, of course.

We've discovered a fruit stand in Chitre that we enjoy.  Last week I explored their wares and discovered molasses for $1.50.  I was so excited thinking about "Molasses Milk" which I love.  It reminds me of Postum and the potato harvest in Idaho when I was a child.  I bought it and brought it home before I thought about the fact that it is never cold enough that I want a hot drink.  We never bake, so here I am with a quart of Molasses.  Oh well, live and learn.

 

President Ward has given us permission to do as we think best with the missionaries here.  They are open to our suggestions, so I suggested some English instruction at District Meeting each week.  This is our first attempt.  We had a lot of fun.

 

This might be termed excessive celebration, but the guys were really having fun.  I think we will look for more paddles so we can play round robin.  I did play a game or two.  After a few serves on my part, it was "No more Mr. Nice Guy" and they were playing for keeps.  It was fun.  The young missionary on the right side in the game isn't really on his mission yet.  He is to leave in February, but there was a problem, and he is filling in.  He has a great companion.  When I visited their apartment the dishes were all done and it was as clean as mine, (pert near).  I was IMPRESSED.

Our work now consists in visiting one city per day to do our classes.  The elders have made appointments, and they are accompanying us the first day to give us directions to the homes.  We are having much better success than in the chapel here in Aguadulce.  During visits if Rod doesn't have work while I teach, he cares for little children in the home or teaches English to the Elders.  I think we have enough work.  Each day starts with appointments about 12:00 and continues with appointments each 1 1/2 hours until 5 or 6.  Days are full, but the members are great.  I confess that I am tired, though.  We are trying to get to bed a little earlier.


I was able to deliver my first address in church.  Rod was asked to give his testimony and he worked harder than I did to prepare then wasn't asked to do it.  He's prepared for next time.

Our members here are eager to learn and work hard with what they have.  I can definitely learn from them.  I have been surprised and pleased with how many 'coincidences' we are receiving to help the work, make things easier and build our testimony of the Lord's hand in his work.  (Rod)

More (Sorry, my clever titles are nonexistent)

 We were playing with a family.  They have the same game of "Who can hit the fingers, who can move them more rapidly".  Rod enjoyed himself.

 Elder Cobba was ecstatic to get white bread and mayonaise sandwiches.  Then when I offered TUNA!!!

 Our new car made it home from Panama City in the rain in the dark.  The next morning it had a flat.  Luckily I had had the shop explain where to find the jack, etc. so I thought we would be fine.  Actually the spare was flat as well.  Our neighbor graciously carried the spare to the tire shop where they filled it with air.  Then we took the other back.  It costs $2 to fix a flat.  Hope it doesn't happen often even so!

 When the elders visited they thought it unfair that we had a pet.  It isn't ours, but it does like us.  I like to play with him.  One day he surprised me and put his nose on my leg.  I was nervous because Rod had just killed a 2 or 3 inch cockroach.  My reaction wasn't friendly and he didn't come back for a while.

 This is our new car.  It's a 2009 Toyota Yaris.  We aren't convinced that it was a great deal, but we will use it and be much more safe and effective if it continues as is.

We are teaching the new couple how to teach English to the 

Spanish-speaking Elders.

 This poor baby chicken isn't feeling too well, but he reminded me of ours in our classroom.

 We brought fruit to a sister who had had surgery.  We shared with her family.  This is her 100 year old grandmother.

Our first class of Piano in the Chitre branch.  We have two days there and teach a class in a home every 1 1/2 hours.  We'll see how long we can keep it up.

Fun with "La Gente"

 Family night with Jose's family.  We sang, Rod read a story, and the children created a "Tree of Life" with white and delightsome fruit (bananas).  We had a belt for the iron rod, and Rod decided to get lost much to the children's delight.

 Dinner with the Familia Cordero.  He cooked.  Unfortunately it was our third meal of the afternoon.  The elders joked that Rod will be able to be Santa Clause by December.  At least here he allowed me to choose the size of my portion of white rice.  Other places they just set before you a large plateful.  At one house I got brave and asked for a half serving.  The mother and two daughters weren't eating before, but afterward one of the daughters sat down to eat with us.  Hmmm....

 Some of the handwork designs she sells.

 Elder Cobba drew a small version of our wall map.  We are working to create a map to use since we can't find one to buy.

 The Familia Smith, Kuna Indians,  shared their Mola with me.  Spanish is Lizardo (name of dad and son)'s second language and he speaks slowly.  Rod feels like he has died and gone to heaven.

 This is how we look when visiting the members.  I usually have my guitar on my back, but it was raining and we were going to get a taxi so I didn't put on my plastic bag.

Saturday while waiting for the talent show in the afternoon after the piano class in the morning, we played games and had lunch with some of the youth.

They taught us this game.  It was a lot of fun to play.  We recommend it for family night.

Two stories for this week.  We decided after walking one night with a member who was very nervous that we do need to buy a car.  We had to return to the city on Thursday (leaving at 4:00 a.m. by bus) to have photos taken for our visa.  It isn't possible to do them when you are there immediately after entering the country!  I felt pretty sorry for myself until we met with elders there who had been traveling by bus since the previous afternoon.

We thought we would be efficient and buy the car while we were there.  We visited a Toyota car lot with a member of the mission presidency.  We had walked from immigration, without umbrellas, and while we were there the rain started.  We had purchased a car, but no one there thought it was worth it to give us a ride two blocks down the street or to loan us an umbrella.  We waited for about a half hour, but the rain just kept coming.  Finally our friend ran for the car.  We had paid 1/4 the price of the car on our credit card, but needed to visit their other dealership to finalize that transaction, then go to the office to call our bank and try to transfer funds.  They wouldn't guarantee the funds could be there the next day, so we returned to Aguadulce.

The next morning we called to verify that the funds had arrived.  They had, but the dealership had sold the car to someone else.  They thought we should be willing to buy another sight unseen.  We called our friend, and he said he would go to deal with them.  We have to go back in this Tuesday to meet another couple who are beginning their mission an hour away from here.  We'll see what happens with the car.  Welcome to Panama.

We attended our first branch activity, a day of talents.  We had our class that day, and students stayed with us between the two activities, as it is too far to travel.  We went to the church at 3:00 because one of my piano students wanted to practice his piece for the talent show.  He arrived at 3:45.  We practiced "Sweet is the Work" many times, then went to see when we would begin.  The activity actually started at 5:00.  We had just one family and the youth who were performing.

By 6 we had about 35 people and we began the performances for the second time.  I suggested it because the mother of my student had arrived and I didn't want her to miss his performance.  We translated the chorus of "Kisses sweeter than Wine" and had them sing with us.  Rod was the capo, of course, and we had fun singing.  The second time he leaned down and asked for a kiss at the end.  It went over very well.

Rod mopped the floors all the way to the door to go home and we returned here about 8:30 with the Elders to do English study.  We are trying to get them to study with us every day.  They have a hard time doing it, even though we tell them it is our work and we appreciate their giving us the opportunity to do it.

Elder Pena wanted squash pie for my contribution for the potluck.  I used the oven even though it was so hot, and it turned out reasonably well.  We had to put the cloves in the blender forever, because they were whole, and you can't crush them because they aren't dry enough. 

English classes aren't going well except for the elders.  People just don't come.  I am not ready to give up, but we'll see.  Until next week Chiau.  I think that's how you spell the word "Chow" for good-bye.