Missionary Email #14

 Dear All -

This week we worked mornings at the temple, so we got to get up earlier in the day than perhaps I am used to.  On the plus side, it is a really nice experience to be first in the temple and go around turning things on.  The temple is a place of peace, but more so when the two of us are the only ones there.

Wednesday morning I couldn't open the lock box which holds information I needed to share in the training meeting, so I was a little flustered as we started the meeting.  I told the workers I would start the training video, and then I would excuse myself for a few minutes to go deal with another problem (the lock box).  As I left the room I heard the two opening sentences of the training video, and I was reflecting on how powerful and sweet they are - a great introduction to the video.  About 5 seconds into my reflection I suddenly realized "Those words were in English!"  I'm not sure how the room audio got flipped, but I suddenly had two things I needed to deal with.  Delkys said she was quite happy watching the video, and did not immediately realize why people were getting agitated.

When all was said and done the problem with the lock-box was that it needed a new battery.

Monday we went to a hotel in Gamboa, which is only a few miles from here.  It is where the Chagras River, which provides all the water for operating the canal locks, joins the Panama Canal.    As we pulled into the parking lot we saw this iguana.  His body was about nine inches long, and his tail twice that.  He kept an eye on me as I got closer, but he wasn't too concerned.

We took a nature walk at the resort there.  They had a building dedicated to orchids, but unfortunately most of them were not in bloom.  This particular orchid is called "Espiritu Santo" (Holy Ghost) because the central petal is supposed to look like a dove.  It is Panama's national flower, and also a motif that is used in some of the furnishings in the temple.

We also went by an enclosure that had frogs in it.  I did not understand how tiny these little frogs are.  In about the middle of the picture below you can see the bright green and black frog.  These frogs are highly poisonous in the wild, but it turns out they are poisonous only because of the bugs they eat.  In captivity apparently they eat a more benign diet, and they are not poisonous at all.  There were also some bright red frogs, but they were even tinier.

Incidentally, in the course of taking all these pictures I discovered that my camera has an optical zoom, which I had never known.  Unfortunately, taking pictures with the zoom only accentuates how badly my hands shake, so it didn't help me much on this outing.

We also got to see some sloths.  After reflecting on the resting positions they find comfortable I have concluded that they may well be related to Charlie, our dog.

Last week we had a rather unfortunate moment in the temple where some patrons were very upset by the actions of some of the workers.  Unfortunately I didn't find out about it until after the patrons had left, so I was left feeling rather distressed that this had happened and I didn't even get a chance to talk with the patrons to help them know that is not how things are supposed to go in the temple.  I sat down and thought about things for a few minutes, then needed to go deal with yet another (less disruptive) problem.  As I was feeling rather distressed myself I thought of two things.  First of all, it was not good for me to wander through the temple looking upset and anxious.  I need to reflect the Lord's peace, love, and joy no matter what is happening there.  Second, if Christ truly paid for all of my sins, weaknesses, and sorrows then he had already dealt with that situation, and so instead of trying to carry the weight of it myself I needed to trust in him and not be upset.  I thought of the angel telling Alma as he left Ammonihah the first time to lift up his head and rejoice when he was feeling weighed down, and I was able to improve my attitude and my semblance.

Oh, yes, one other area of progress.  I think I have managed to erase the reaction to look for my father every time someone says "President Reading."

This week we will be working afternoons again.  On the one hand we get to sleep in, on the other we end up staying pretty late at the temple some days.  Still, it is a huge blessing to serve there and be in the temple almost every day, and I am very grateful to the Lord for this opportunity.

Love,

President and Sister Reading

aka

John and Delkys