Panama Thanksgiving 2013 with 30 people!

 Welcome to our first Thanksgiving in Panama. In almost 40 years of marriage, this was our first to be away from family, and we knew we would miss them so much. So, we decided to do Thanksgiving here, even though it is not an official holiday. What fun! We hope all of you also enjoyed the company of friends and family, as well as expressed thanks for all your blessings.

To avoid some heavy homesickness, we decided to invite our entire zone of missionaries to have Thanksgiving dinner. Gratefully, there is a Pricemart, like Costco, down in the city, so we bought lots of Butterball Turkey roasts, dressing, vegetables, and potatoes, as well as the fixings for dessert to feed the masses. While this may seem a huge task, it is only about 10 more than some of our Thanksgivings at home.

Hermana Presley busy preparing food while singing away.

Elder Presley adding the spices to the turkeys and the stuffing. Yum

Oh my, the desserts! Ice cream pie, cherry dump cake, apple crisp, pumpkin pie. Double Yum!

Our missionaries enjoying the meal. Many expressed such joy in the fact that they actually got to taste flavors again, instead of the normal meals they eat of rice with chicken almost daily.

More fun. We had four large tables set across the room and packed them in.

After the meal, we had entertainment, including Elder Alfaro doing some great juggling tricks.

Music and guitar playing by both the Elders and Hermanas

I think they are full. Anyone need a nap?

What a wonderful group to spend our first Thanksgiving. Thanks to our member friends, the Nez family and Romel, for helping out in preparing and serving food.

And then, it was over, cleaned up, and quiet. 

Lots of stories to catch up on here in Panama.

It has been a couple of weeks since I updated the blog, and so much is going on that I want to share. Lots of different parts of this blog, so please continue all the way through. We love sharing our mission with you. 

These are the Montezuma children. From left to right is Moises (just graduated from seminary), Isidoro with Albert on his lap, and Mariella. They are a special family to us. The boys help us around the large yard, and we love having them all visit.

Last week was Albert's 6th birthday. Lynda and I decided to have a small birthday party for him, along with his family. We were also please that his Dad was with us, as well as 4 surprise guests, the Assistants to the President (one is looking on at the cake). We had an enchilada dinner, a cake with candles, a couple of small gifts, and a Spiderman pinata! What fun.

these are the 4 Assistants to the President. Normally there are only two, but the two current are going home in a couple of weeks and are training the other two. These are very special missionaries who I know will continue to lead the church in the future. We love them and welcome their visits. By the way, the Elders on each end are the ones going home after having a most successful mission.

This is wear the Montezuma family lives currently, back in the jungle area. It is one room, all live in there together, no running water, no floor, other than dirt, no door, other than a cloth. Along with a dog with 2  puppies. they bath in the nearby river. Brrrr

this is their "kitchen". A wood burning slab, which usually has a pot of rice on it to eat, with some chicken in it. What, if you could do something, what would it be?

With the help of some great members of the branch, including a true blessing from God to send us a man named Lloyd Gentry, we are constructing a house. For a while, I wasn't sure it would get completed, but with these special angels that have been sent to help, we are moving forward. Lloyd is a great handy man who can do anything and everything. Here, we are completing the welding of the framework, getting ready to put the roof on.

Lloyd welding the framework.

Once the framework was completed, the roof of metal was put into place, along with two clear plastic sheets to provide light.

Isidoro and Moises dug the hole for the Septic Tank. You cannot imagine how hard this is. Not only is the dirt solid and filled with rocks from volcanic activity, but the tools are nothing more than a shovel, pick, and a metal bar. This house will have a small shower, toilet, and a sink. It will have a propane gas stove in the kitchen area, A room for the girl, a room for the boys, and a room for Dad, along with an eating/study area, kitchen, and bathroom. It is incredible!

And then, the cement floor. What an incredible job. I was exhausted after working all day, shoveling and lifting buckets of rock, sand, and cement. Here, our Elder's Quorum president, Augustine, and I were in charge of the mixing of the ingredients, then wheelbarrowing it over to Lloyd and another blessing of a member who just moved here who is also good at construction. They poured and set the floor. We were also blessed to have a neighbor who rented us his gas powered mixer. This was wonderful to have. I am continually humbled at the Lord's hand in providing what is needed to get the project completed, although the work is some of the hardest I have done in years.

This is our friend, Mr. Iguana. He decided to show up on our yard wall last Sunday while I was teaching a class inside. The dog was going nuts, we went to see what was going on, and Wow! what a treat to see such a reptile. It was like Jurassic Park in my yard. Watch out for the tail, because he can whip it and strike a welt!

Once we had him off the wall, he couldn't set his feet to whip, and it was quite a unique experience for my two pre missionary students and me to hold him. We released him to a near by Mango tree, and he has been hanging around ever since.

A few days ago, our neighbor (we only have 5 neighbors scattered about this area), hollered at me that there was a large snake in the area. I grabbed my camera to check it out. This is a viper called an X, or a Fleur. It is one of the most poisonous in Costa Rica and Panama. This was a female, about 7 feet long, and had a sack of eggs hanging out of it after being killed, not to mention the fangs wide open. Panamanians in this area have no patience for snakes,as one bite here could be fatal, as the nearest medical facilites are 30 minutes away in David. We have to be very careful.

Have you ever heard of an Alaskan Huskie drinking coconut milk right from the shell. He loves it!

What does it mean to be a MLS missionary?

The definition is Member Leader Support. So for us that means every week is different, new assignments, changes every time we turn around. So at the beginning of the week we found out that Friday and Saturday would bring taking the youth to David for Seminary Graduation. Friday they had a dance- Panamanian food, and music. And, yes senior couple missionaries even get to dance! Elder Presley is a lot of fun on the dance floor! Saturday Night was the graduation. They make a really big deal out of this for the kids, as you can see. The most surprising thing that happened was that it actually started on time!

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This is Moises Montezuma. He is not happy about all this hubbub, but
he survived, and Elder Presley reminded him that it means that he doesn't
have to go to seminary anymore. 

On Sundays, MLS means that I get to play with the kids in Primary. I am the Branch Music chairman and so I help with the music in Primary. I love, love, love it. It isn't easy, I have to relearn all the songs in Spanish and then teach them. I have to tell you, this could only happen with the Lord's help. The gift of tongues is very real. In this picture (thanks Tina for taking it), you can see 3 of the 4 Marcusi boys, Bruno, in front is 3 and too cute for words. We had the presentation yesterday. Hermana Presley was muy nerviosa, and in walks the Stake Primary Pres, and the Stake President. Well, the kids did great, all 9 of them. Bruno just sat and looked cute and played with his worn out shoes, every once in awhile, he would move his mouth like he knew the words to a song. Angeli, the little one on the other side of me, sat and tickled him during the Stake Presidents testimony. Tooooo cute! They stole the show.
For Elder Presley, Sundays mean being tugged in every direction from early in the morning until we head for home, usually around 1pm. When we get home he prepares a lesson, for the young men preparing to go on missions and to the Temple. He has a really hard job, and some days doubts his effectiveness, but if you could see how our little branch has progressed in just 4 months, you would know that the Lord is using all of his experience to bless the lives of these people. In December 29 members will be attending the temple. Of those, 2 families will be sealed, and a couple others will receive their endowments preparing to go on missions. It is truly amazing to watch the hand of the Lord work in Boquete!

You have met this family before, in Subway. This is the Montezuma Family. This is the family that lives closest to us and in a month or so will live in our backyard. The picture you see is the house they live in now. The house in our backyard has progressed very slowly until a few weeks ago. We weren't sure where the $$$ would come to buy the materials, even a tin shack costs money, and the man power to get it done was diminishing. Then Brother Lloyd Gentry moved into the branch. He is 72, has boundless energy, desire and all the know how needed to get this done. He even has the time. His sweet wife even asked friends in the states to donate and they have come through. Other $$$ has been provided and things are looking so much more hopeful to have them in for Christmas. Who would have ever guessed that building a house would be on the list of reasons we are here in Boquete? Elder Presley is spending several days a week helping Brother Gentry. It is not an easy task, but it is in the Lord's hands. Amazing what can be accomplished when you hand over the challenges that seem overwhelming to us, to the Lord. He knows this family and they are as precious to Him as all the rest of His children.

Just to add a tidbit for my memory, we didn't have a lot of luck with the rain and planting a garden, so we tried planting cucumbers in containers on our patio, this is what we get to watch, and they are super yummy. We also have a couple of tomatoes and some peppers. It is all an experiment.

Out and about our little town of Boquete

We traveled to a small city on the other side of Baru, our local volcano. The city is named Volcan. On our way, we found a beautiful river hidden off the road.

I love having my companion near me always!

We stopped at a small vegetable stand in Volcan,and Lynda was able to buy fresh vegetables right from the farms. Get this...30 lbs of assorted vegetables for 5 dollars! We bought two bags, and then gave shared alot with some of our members that needed food.

There are beautiful flowers surrounding us all the time. This particular flower has a very dark little part inside its flower, and looks like a small bug. It attracts other bees to help pollinate it. The flower opens in the morning, and is gone by the next day, only to have several new ones opening to do the same. You have to careful smelling these, as you never know what is a bee and what is the flower!

On the other hand, because we live in the jungle environment, plants and trees also can become infested with bad bugs as well. This tree is in our backyard, and within a few days, was almost completely eaten by worms. the leaves were covered with these awful and hungry critters, that soon turned into small black and yellow beetles.
Below is a small piece of one of the leaves I took to the nursery to see what I needed to get rid of them. The larva are packed tight on all the leaves, just like this. Eeech!

The tree larva. 

We often hike along the river path to visit a family that lives in the mountain side. It is a stunning view, and Hermana Presley is properly equipped with her umbrella, since it seems to rain everytime we visit out there. 

Last Friday was Institute Graduation. The man on the left is the Institute Director, Brother Bram. He would be similar to Dave Jones, only has to travel all over the country to visit other institutes. He is also the Sunday School President in our Branch, as well as teaches the Youth in our branch Seminary at 5:30 in the morning. An incredible man! This is a picture of our graduate student, Maru, and 3 others with certificates of accomplishment.

At the end of the meeting, the Stake President had a final special presentation. Since there are no addresses here in Boquete, mission calls are sent to him, and then delivered to the missionary. Romil was surprised to get his envelope for his mission. He decided to give it to me to hold until Sunday, and then opened it after Sacrament meeting in front of all the members, since he felt that was his family. He is going to Mexico, Aguacaliente Mission, and leaves April 1st.

This is the Sanjur family. They live about 3 miles from us, and are the closest active family that lives near us. Brother Sanjur just was called as the 2nd counselor in the Branch. His wife is the Primary President, and their daughter, Kristine, is the music director in Sacrament meeting. They are great people.

After a hard days work of walking through rocky trails, mud, and rain, one must keep his feet in good shape! Actually, I never had a pedicure before, and I promised I would do one when Lynda had her next one. The woman who does this is actually a member of the church, but has not attended for years. So, as you can see, we are doing all we can to work with the people in our missionary efforts, no matter what the sacrifice!