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!

Panama culture just for you! And some Acting too!

there is no reason for us to be afraid around our house with Bobby and Monty always hanging around. They are always waiting for a special treat from Papa

Last Saturday, we had our Stake Mutual Standards activity, in which the Youth of Boquete acted out the Scripture in Ephesians 6:10-14. It was about Obediences, and putting on the whole armor of God to protect oneself from temptations. So first, we had to get used to the tools of the trade by having a battle in the backyard with the shields to protect from the softballs of temptation thrown at each other. That set the mood!

after hours of rehearsal for a 5 minute act, (whew), the youth did a marvelous work and a wonder as they did their parts perfectly. Mariella was the soldier with the physical armor of God, made by our YW president, Sister Bram. Kristina sat in the middle, our "I don't really care about the church teachings" example, and open to temptation. Isidoro was our spiritual soldier, armed with scriptures and blessings to protect him.

On the other hand, Katherine was the voice of temptation, running from person to person whispering weakness. Here, I was one of the "friends" of Isidoro, trying to tempt him to come with me to a dance and activity on Sunday, where there would be lots of  "fun"...He turned me down, and even invited me to church!

At the end of our act, we all took sword and shield in hand, and stood tall. Of course, the audience went wild for us! Gracias a todo los jovenes de Boquete!! Son los mejores jovenes en el mundo!!

Now, a little culture. These are our water tanks. They store our water which we use for drinking, showering, and all other water needs. They are about 300 gallons each. But when there is no water coming from the city to refill them automatically, we had to think of something to keep our water. As you can see, it rains very hard, and the water pours right onto the blue tank like a spout, so.....

I took the top of the tank, put a maya, or screen, on top with a rock to hold it in place. This would help to keep out rocks and insects. Because it rains so hard, it fills the tanks quickly to overflowing. Never fear, first this water is cleaner that what comes down from the city, and second, it goes through 3 filters before it gets to be used by us. It is clean and good.

As I said, we have to filter out insects. This spider was not in our water, it was in our house! I am not sure how they get in, but since they houses here aren't built tight, and the roof has openings, I have a good idea. I just am glad we got this one. I often wonder what happens when I am asleep, but then, maybe I shouldn't think too much on that......

Enough culture?

What do we do in Panama?

First, thank you all for your support and comments as you share our mission with us through this blog. As much as you may enjoy seeing the pictures, we too enjoy your comments. It helps us keep connected with home. So, rest assured that we will keep on posting, and look forward to your responses!

This past week we had a baptism! A wonderful woman, named Rosemery was baptized. She is from Honduras, and was living with a member. Because of the example she saw in this member, (who is in her 70's), Rosemery asked for the missionaries, and she was taught and accepted the gospel. Many of the branch attended, and we had a barbeque at our house afterward. 

Lots of other daily events as well, and let's look at the pictures.

If you have wondered exactly where we are here in Boquete, Panama, take a close look at the map. First, notice the bold face city of Panama in the bend of the country. That is where the mission home and where the mission president lives. Now, take your finger and move all the way to the left where you see the city named David, close to the Costa Rica Border. Above David, if you were to move your finger up to the faded writing, Boquete would be just about there. We are too small to even be written on the map!

This is Rosemery, along with the wonderful Sister Missionaries, Sister Vroom (what a great name for a missionary!) and Sister Herrarte, as well as Sister Lancaster and her grandson, who Rosemery lives with.

Rosemery was baptized by Moises Montezuma, a priest in our branch. It was his first time to do this.

We had quite a houseful of supporters for the baptism. I wonder if having a barbeque helped encourage so many to attend?  It was a lot of fun. Don cooked hot dogs and hamburgers. We had coleslaw, potato salad, and Lynda made Snickerdoodles cookies that were a big hit!

Saturday mornings always include a Two hour seminary class taught by Sister Bram to the 14-17 year olds. These are the kids that go to school too early for the daily seminary class at 5:30 am. This particular lesson included using faith as a shield, so the teacher had several "shields" made of cardboard, and lots of rubber balls. Some of us, like me, were the bad guys, and threw the balls at those with the shields, who were to protect themselves from "temptations". It was great. And, this is in our backyard. Just a small little location.....

If you didn't see this on facebook, this is the remains of a coral snake, a very poisonous snake common here in Panama. It was fighting with the dog in our front yard, so Isodoro, a young man who is here often to help with the house, called me out to help him. We took a machete, and after Isodoro hit the snake a couple of times, I took the machete and cut of the head, buried it so it wouldn't be a danger, and then picked up the snake to show off our prize. Although it looks small, this is an adult, and could have hurt or killed. It is an adventure here in Panama!

Just so everyone doesn't think there is nothing more than our house in the jungle, We have a wonderful shopping center at the bottom of the mountain in David. It has electronics, a grocery store, drug store, and even a Subway sandwich shop! We come down here weekly for something it seems. Below is the Conway Store. Notice it has a symbol that looks alot like Target. It seems to be an upscale version, more like a cross between a Sears and a Penney's.

If you think that prices can be cheap here in Central America, take a look at the price of a box of cereal. I don't eat Lucky Charms, but at 7 dollars a box, someone really better like it! This is a typical price for the imported cereals.


And this is one of my favorites. This is milk, both regular and fat free. It comes in boxed, and sits on non refrigerated shelves. I am not really sure what it is made of, but it's shelve life is two or three months. Lynda has actually come to like it. I have a hard time. It reminds me too much of the milk in Argentina that was in bags. Yeech.

And yes, we actually do missi

onary work as well! Here we are at our little booth at the Tuesday market. We had a banner made that I designed about geneology, and had lots of materials available for free. Lynda and I come here every Tuesday morning from 9-12 and talk to lots of people, many who are ex pats from the US. It is a good way to be a part of the community, and let them know who we are.

Day to Day living in Boquete, Panama

Our Little Garden has grown and producing beans and zucchini. Isodoro and I are picking beans for the 4th time. We have carrots that are growing, zucchini waiting to be picked, and we just got corn seed so we can plant that next. We give the beans to Isodoro and his family. You can see Albert, his brother, in the background.

We were traveling on some backroads, and noticed this huge vulture like bird above us on the light pole. He seemed to be posing for us, or maybe judging us as his next meal. He was huge! Wingspan was about 5 feet.

Also, while on the backroads, we saw a sign that said there was a waterfall, so we decided to stop and check it out. First we had to go down some steep and moss covered stairs...No problem for Sister Presley!

We felt like we had walked into a movie set of a tropical jungle. Water dripped from the vines and trees, the river rushed below, and the waterfall cascaded beautifully down the rocks.

Not a bad place to be as missionary companions!

We have a baptism coming up next week, but our little pool that we use for the font is full from all the rain that leaks through the roof, so it has to be drained......by hand. Thanks to Isodoro and his brother, Moises, their strong backs and arms started the task of bailing water and dumping it. No pump to help us.

Within a few hours, the water was down to inches left. They bailed water that stood about 5 feet deep.So glad they are helping care for the house. We love these young men.

I teach missionary preparation class on Sunday afternoons. These are my students...Ramil is the tallest, then Isodoro, then Moises. Isodoro and Ramil are both 19 and getting their papers ready. Moises is 16 and curious. 

Around here are lots of Coconuts, and they are like you see in the Survivor TV show. You have to cut away a leathery and fiberous outer shell, then open the inside hard shell (that we get in stores), then carve out the meat and drink the liquid. This is what was left after I got most of the white coconut meat out. Hard work, but yummy!

Our garden has attracted friends! This is a baby Iguana. They love to rest on the Zucchini leaves in the sun. There have been some larger ones as well. We also get some frogs as well.

No, this is not a fountain, this is a leak in the water pipe, a 3/4 inch pvc tube that carrys water from the mountains in Boquete to the houses all over. The tubes lie on top of the ground, exposed to everything, and many times the pipes break or a hole lets out small to big leaks. We saw this one, and went to the city office to report it. You can never be sure if they will fix it quickly, as there are several of these every day. But luckily, this one was fixed after a day and a half. Not the best system, but we have to live with it.

This is the pipe in front of our house. Same size, with leaks. I have asked the city to come to us to fix this, but after asking and asking, I finally decided to do something about it, since no one comes, and I can't stand to see the water constantly watering the already wet and rained on ground. So, thanks to some electrical tape, I wrapped the two leaks and at least most of the water is staying in the pipes. That's life in Boquete!