Wow, the first 45 days of 2014!

I am sorry that 2014 has started out a little slow on the Blog, no, REALLY slow. But it has been a couple of months of highs and lows, sadness and joy, tragedy and miracles. If someone would have told me that I would be coming back from Panama without a finger, and that we would be involved in one incredible miracle of survival, I am not sure if I would have believed it. But you never know...So, I have gathered some pictures of this years fun and frolic, adventures and activities to share and update all. We have to say thank you to all right up front for your prayers, well wishes, calls, facebook entries, and emails. It has been overwhelming. We are loved, and we know that.

This is our Bombero, or fire department. There are some very old trucks here, and one new one that they are still learning how to use. Little did I know that they would be a very important part of our lives a few weeks after taking this picture.

don't worry, the fire department didn't even come out to this fire. This is a fire across the highway, and how the people cut the grass in their fields when it gets to high. They do this at all times of the day, but at night, it is especially spectacular with flames leaping high in the air. One man is usually near by, but I am not sure what he would do if it got out of control. O, probably run for his life...

The branch presidency visited our Elder's Quorum president after he had not been to church for a few weeks and we were worried. This was quite a trip up the mountain to his farm, and the car took quite a beating on a road that no one should try to drive on, but we did, and we made it both ways. Whew.... By the way, he had been ill, and it was good we stopped by.

Hermana Presley loves to do her cookies, and here she decided to teach the youth how to make chocolate chip cookies. I was banned from the kitchen, since I like to steal the cookie dough. But I did get some cookies, and they were great!

One of the responsibilities we have is to clean the church on Saturdays. Well, being that we like the members to help, here are two brothers, Isidoro and Albert (5 years old) mopping the floor. Great work, boys!

Not only does Hermana Presley teach cooking classes, but in our Mission Prep class, we decided to teach our future missionaries some sewing skills. Here they learned how to sew buttons on shirts, stitch a ripped seam, and hem pants, It was a lot of fun, although one of our young men actually sewed his fabric to the table cloth by mistake! Oh well, great learning experience for them, and what concentration!

Nurse Presley working on Moises, a young man who lives in the house we built. He was on a bike, coming down the mountain, and fell into the ditch along side the highway. He messed himself up real good, but only some cuts and scratches. Could have been worse, since these boys build these bikes, and have no brakes, and the tires are very stable. They wear out their shoes as brakes. And, no helmets....

Speaking of crashes, the following will be a little graphic, but it needs to be in the blog for our records. I did not get that graphic, but still, If you feel you don't want to see a few pictures of our car accident, you can finish reading here.

This is our car. I was driving, Lynda in the passenger seat. There is a shoulder on the road of maybe four inches, then it drops into a ditch. I went to open the window to get a wasp out of the car, and I must have moved the wheel just enough to move the car over about 6 inches and hit the drop off. It jerked the car instantly head on into the guardrail. The angels took over, and that rail went right between us. Lynda had fallen a bit towards the car door when the car tipped, and the rail just missed doing something I can't even imagine. Still, she suffered quite a gash on her mouth and lip, and had a big hit on the cheek. I had my right hand damaged, with a torn tendon on the middle finger, and the little finger cut off as the steel passed over my hand. We both had cuts on our face from the glass flying, and I had a broken nose. We were transported to the hospital, 40 minutes away, and both had surgery within hours. We were blessed with a miracle of life, and know that we were watched over in those critical moments, for I had no time to react.

Here I am in the hospital with two of our Young Adults who stayed hours, even through the night, to make sure we were taken care of. What living angels. 

Lynda lies with her cheek and lip covered after surgery. She couldn't talk for a couple of days, but she was also well cared for by these two young adults from our branch, Yendri and Maru.

Our own children were also so very worried, as was my mom. They cared for us through emails, phone calls, and Skype, and we were able to receive their love and strength, which helped us through those first difficult days, as well as every day through our recovery. We are so grateful for each of them, and our grandchildren.

Here we are, ready to leave the hospital after two 1/2 days. 40 stitches each, bandages and bruises, We look pretty pitiful, that's for sure, but glad to have survived this terrible crash. And we still have our tags!

Our mission president, President Carmack, flew to us from Panama City to make sure we were ok, and was a great help in contacting all our children. What a great man, and so caring to take the time to come the long distance to see us. Thank you President Carmack!

 

We received such wonderful support the first week at home. Members, like the family Bram, fixed lunch and dinner every day, and how we enjoyed the visits and the food.

We began to heal, little by little. Here are some progress pictures.

There is a song, "I left my heart in SF", Well, I have a new one, " I left my finger in Boquete, Panama" Boy, that middle finger hurts as well! Glad I didn't lose it too...

Not sure I was in beard regulation, but I couldn't shave yet, and this was the most I have ever seen on my face. But at least the stitches were out!

Getting better, and I love the mission shirt slogan that I am wearing: Siempre Fuertes (always strong)

And better! Hey, I could shave, and we both could smile!

and two weeks later, lots of healing had taken place. We still have to rest, and let the internal stuff heal, and the nerves that were cut get back into some sort of working order. But we are anxious to do what we are here to do.

This week, we were able to go to church and fulfill our responsibilities. We went into town today and were greeted by so many of the people in Boquete who worried and prayed for us, and these were not members of the church, just part of the community of which we are involved.
We thank you all, and want all to know we are being careful, be cared for, and feel loved by so many here and in the states. Ah, Panama.....