Kingdom News 38 Begins

November 1st
The first day in the campaign we had a great morning. No outstanding experiences but we did find some English speaking individuals. We ran into an English speaking couple at the Mercado after the ministry and was just "friendly" with them, as a result they asked for our contact information even though they knew we were Jehovah's Witnesses so we gave them a card. We then paid our rent in full at Alto Dorado and ran into the Axler's at Canasta Basica and they gave us a ride home. I cleaned for the party and packed 3 bags for the move.
November 2nd
All the family got to work together this morning with Betty Lawson. We worked territory downtown and a few return visits. After a wonderful morning in service we had the most amazing gelato. This Italian lady lives here 8 or 9 months out of the year and then goes  back home during the rainy season. All the ingredients for the gelato is imported from Italy. She is very nice and Betty gives her the magazines in Italian. We got ready for the dance party after service and we had a fantastic time with the friends. Lots of food, fun, and dancing. We held this event for Alivia's 8th grade graduation. Danielle stayed over night with Alivia and Le Ann at the Sander's.

  

Eventful Day in the Ministry

October 28th
This morning Danielle was able to give her "Spanish" presentation for the first time. So exciting except she was not in my car group so I did not get to hear her. In the afternoon Jason started a bible study with a man from Jamaica who speaks excellent English. His name is George. He has a very sad story. His wife is dead and she dies while she was in the US and he has not been able to get her remains and it has been 4 years, all because of government. He is looking for comfort and Jason and Dylan visited with him on the hope of the resurrection for an hour! That night Alivia stayed over night and we made homemade pizza with the fresh basil we had bought for $1 for a whole sack full.
October 30th
Service today was good. I went with Langston's and we found a lot of Ngobe. I wish I could speak their language; I would probably have more bible students than I could handle. We went back to town from Palmira Arriba and the road was scary beautiful!  At Sheryl's return visit we saw three lizards each were about 6 inches long! Why don't I have my camera when I need it? In the afternoon I found a return visit that Lawson had given me named Marta. She speaks perfect English. She asked if I could call again Friday as she was really busy today. I drove the Moore's car home from the Sander's, my first driving experience in Panama. I was so nervous. Then that evening I went back picked up Lori and we went to Rosatio's. Oh my heart is so attached to her already! She is so saddened because her life is turned upside down because of her learning the truth about holidays and she is catholic, and the whole Mary thing. She is very emotionally attached but wants to please Jehovah. I hope she will make the right decision.

The Long Walk

October 26th
Jason and I worked with The Foster's this morning in downtown Boquete walking territory. The children worked with the Bancroft's and John Miller. After service Jason and I had errands to run so Wanda and Donnie offered to take the children back to their house and we pick them up on our way home. When we got to the Foster's to pick up the children the Bancroft's had dropped by also. We visited with them for awhile and then headed to the Alto Dorado to make a payment on our rent. The children ate lunch with Donnie and Wanda so we just decided we would wait and eat when we got home. We walked on down to Canasta Basica to get eggs. When we got there we discovered we had no $$$$. How were we going to get home? Not by bus or taxi. We started walking. This took an hour and 40 minutes. Jason and I had not eaten so when we got home we were starved! Once we made lunch and ate, we were so exhausted that we took a nap while the children watched a movie. After we awoke from our nap we studied our WT.
October 27th
After schooling in the morning we went to the meeting and Brother Langston gave the talk. He did a fantastic job and used his new bible. Afterwards we visited with the Newman's, two couples from PC area who were all, but the one girl, originally from Scotland. They moved here to help in English, Karissa already lived here and she met Samuel and they got married and now she is helping in English also. We went to the Foster's that night for dinner and Wanda made the most incredible stir fry! Lori brought desert and made wonderful chocolate avocado frosting to go on top of the cupcakes! Mmm! After we ate we danced and danced. I learned three different line dances...actually I am still learning, and then we just danced to lots of different music. We probably got at least 1.5 hours of exercise! LOL :)
  

Limited Cars

October 23rd
Service starts to get more intense now that we have fewer cars. With the Murphy's, the Moore's, and the Liston's gone and the Sander's car out of commission along with the Foster's car in the shop we are down to very few vehicles.  In the A.M. Jason and I did downtown public witnessing, and the Langston's took the children along with John Miller. In the afternoon we worked with the Sander's walking to return visits and doing public witnessing.
October 24th
After the meeting this evening they had a "Service Group Gala" for our service group at Betty Lawson's. Dylan and Jason went because Danielle and I stayed home from the meeting she had a real bad UTI. We had our own meeting just her and I but missed all the friends. There is no phone hookup here. The friends were super sweet and sent some of the food from the "gala" home with the boys for Danielle.
October 25th
The service groups this morning only had one walking group: Lori, Arybie, and Isabel. Our group was Alyvia, Danielle, Maxine, and Mysellf. We went to the mountains in El Salto and it was amazingly beautiful, but we were unable to finish the territory in the little toyota car. We came back to town and made some return visits. By the afternoon we were all walkers in the ministry, but we had a great time! That evening the Sanders came over for dinner. We had Sushi, rice, and beans. Then Lori and I walked to catch a bus or a taxi to Rosatio's bible study. None came after 30 minutes and it was pouring rain! Like the deluge in Noah's day! Ted had to take the scooter in the rain and go borrow the Moore's vehicle to take us because we could not get a ride. The study went well, but I was devastated because my bible had got wet!!!!!!!!! :(    Lori and I were soaked to the bone even after the study!

 

My First Sick Day

October 21st 
This Monday I end up not going in service. I was so sick, my head was pounding, I was vomiting all morning. Lori was so sweet, when we called to check on Ted to see how he was after the accident, she offered to bring by acid water, and Kombucha since I was so sick. She told us that Ted was sore and had a headache and was going to the Dr. in David tomorrow. We just hung out around the house and did our bible reading. Jason and Dylan went to town to get gas by bus, and Pete brought them home.
October 22nd
While Ted and Lori go to David to Dr., Ahlivia comes to spend the day with us. They got back around 1p.m. and stayed for lunch and Family Worship. It was so much fun getting to know them better and all of us finding out about each others' spiritual  goals. It was neat to see the similarities in our families goals and yet the differences in the scriptures, songs, and bible characters we relate to.

Amigos

October 19th 

Saturday service was a great time. Us girls worked with the Sander's girls and the boys worked with Betty, John, and Autumn. In the late afternoon we went to the home of Pete and Buffy Conza's. We played games and ate Yummy Potato Soup and Salad. Getting to know our brothers better made the evening especially enjoyable.

October 20th

A brother from Volcan gave our talk this Sunday. He and his family moved here from TX and they were in the Tagolog congregation there, so being here in the English field has kind of been like a foreign language to them. They have a little girl who is 11 and a boy who is 9, her name is Cecilia but I cannot remember the little boys name. The mom, Lisa, home-schools them. After the meeting we went to the Sander's home for dinner along with Sylvia and the Langston's. When Ted went to the store to get powdered sugar some girl ran smack into him!!! Thankfully he was alright, but his vehicle was not! Getting into a car accident here is nothing like getting into one in the States. It was like a three ring circus. The policia nacional came and they show up on a motorbike, wearing camo, armed with automatic rifles. They are just there for safety, to make sure everyone is O.K. The insurance people come later to make the report and you have to wait for them. The woman who hit Ted was fine when everyone got there, Ted asked if she was alright and she said she was, but then later she was crying and had to get a neck brace, and be put on a stretcher, and couldn't bend her knees. The ambulance took her away. When all the commotion was over  we went back to the Sander's ate dinner and played dictionary. Steve took us home.

Preach the Word

October 18th

As you have figured out by now we spend the majority of the time preaching the word. Today we spent the day with different ones working in the ministry trying once again to find those who speak English and who want to learn more about the bible. Pete and Buffy Conza were the ones who our family, minus Dylan had the privilege of joining. While we were out they took us by a rental home to look at. The home owner had a pet monkey who for some reason must not have liked me and pulled out a handful of my hair, then their little dog nipped my ankle. We decided this was not the house for us for those and a few other reasons. The other car group that Dylan was in found a call for me who speaks perfect English. Lawson did not get her name so had to just give me the directions to her home. That afternoon we worked with Gail and Lori and Gail started a bible study with Boni at "Curvas Bonitas". Since Gail is going to be gone the next few weeks I will get to take care of her while she is in the states. That evening I went with Lori on her bible study with Rosatio and it went wonderful. Her and her mom have decided that they would like to study twice a week! They offered us "Tilo Te" while we were there and it was amazing!

Downtown Field Mnistry

October 16th
Today our ministry was in Downtown Boquete. We worked businesses and homes in the area between the Dollar store, which by the way everything is not a dollar at the Todo a Dolar store here, and the Library. I met a girl by the name of Isis at the Cafe and Cacao restaurant who speaks amazing English. She took the magazines and I offered her a free home bible course. She did accept but explained that she is very busy and may not have much time as she is a student and works full-time. I said even 15 minutes a week would be beneficial for answering questions she may have from the bible. 
After working until about 12:30 Dylan and I went with the Murphy's to David. We went grocery shopping at a store called Pricesmart, it is just like Sam's Club. When we returned home once again my lovely esposo had made dinner for us all.

Doctor Visit

October 15th
We had our first experience with foreign medical care today. The Dr. was very nice but does not speak English too well, and does not understand even less than he speaks. We tried to explain that Danielle needed a shot in each arm for vial A and B but he just did one shot in one arm. He also showed me the IV he would use if she had a reaction and gave me a tour of his office. The Dr. was very concerned about her "mosquito bite size" reaction and wanted to make sure we put hydracortizone cream on it and gave her antihistamine and put an ice pack on her arm. She has those reactions all the time back home and they don't say a word about it. We also went to Organica, the only health food store in the area, got ice cream at Ice Cream Zone, and went to some different grocery stores. After we got home we had our very first Family Worship Evening in Panama! 

Portrerillos

October 14th
Another wonderful day in the ministry! Danielle and I worked with Arybie, Lori, and Wanda in Portrerillos. It was very warm! There were a lot of mango trees but it's not mango season until March or April! :(  We saw a lizard and a hairy he-goat in the ministry this moring. Lots of Ngobe were in this territory and also we saw a man riding around on a horse, that was his transportation. We got back too late to meet with the group, so we just stayed together and we worked out in the ministry until about 5 p.m. in showers of rain. That day Jason and Dylan worked with Ted and Lawson in the morning and the Langston's in the afternoon.

  

Sunday Meeting

October 13th 
We studied our Watchtower together before the meeting. The meeting on Sunday starts at 2 p.m. We decided to have brunch instead of breakfast and lunch both. The brother who gave the talk was from David. He and his wife moved here from the states but she is originally from Jamaica and is beautiful. Their last name is Dancelor i can't remember their first name. 
After the meeting the Sander's had us to their home for dinner. They made an amazing meal: fried rice, curried vegetables, salad, and brownies with ice cream. We played a game called Scribblish; it was so much fun! Ted was kind of enough to bring us home! :)

Saturday Service

October 12th
Our group this morning was Lawson Murphy, Arybie Sanders and our family. We worked towards David between Las Brisas and Dolega, I don't know the name of the town. It was warm there! Lawson found an English speaking girl whose name is Maribel, he turned her over to me. Yay my first call! On our way back to Boquete we went to look at this awesome canyon in the subdivision of Los Molinas. It was so beautiful! No one met for service in the afternoon so we just went out until 1 p.m. and then went on home. I went with Lori to Rosatia, and it was incredible. The mom has a lot of questions but she speaks only Spanish whereas the daughter speaks wonderful English. The study lasted a little over 2 hours. Lori brought me home and Jason had prepared a wonderful meal with rice and vegetables. (arroz y legumbres)

First Day In Service

October 11th
What a great time in the ministry! We did search work with Lawson Murphy and Lori Sanders. The ministry is nothing like I thought it would be! We have an enormous territory when it comes to area, so a vehicle is super nice to have or else you count on the friends to transport you in the field. Some territory is walking but there is a lot of driving. After doing search work I got to meet some of Lori's return visits and made arrangements to go with her to Rosadia's bible study. We then went in the afternoon in service but before we went home Lawson took us to Cafe Mirador.  Amazing coffee, incredible views! We took the bus home from Alto Boquete.

First Meeting Day

October 10th - 
For breakfast we had fresh papaya, I had rice and the rest of the family had toast. We studied for the meeting together and did laundry. Brandi Bancroft brought peanut butter cookies over for the family and we visited with her and Kaia. After the visit we got ready for the meeting and headed off to meet "our family", the meeting is at 4p.m. All the brothers and sisters were very welcoming and even had the privilege of giving a demonstration with Lori Sanders. That night the Kemkaren's brought us home.