First I owe a special thanks to all those who took the time to establish that the strange creatures we saw last week are coatis (along with a few other related names). It turns out that they are supposed to be friendly, intelligent, and playful, and make excellent pets.
The government has announced that as of tomorrow, Jul 11, masks will no longer be required in most settings. The temple president has asked temple workers to keep wearing them, and they are required on the train or in buses, but at least in church and in stores we won't have to wear them any more. That is a welcome development.
One important thing we learned this week is that you can indeed order a pizza and have it delivered here. Unfortunately Papa John's pizza here is not quite the same quality as Papa John's in the United States. But I guess we can investigate a few more places.
We have also been learning to get around more by bus. We still think we will eventually buy a car, but for right now we are depending on public transportation to get around. The main bus terminal for all of Panama is just a couple of miles away from us here, so although we have to walk almost half a mile to get to the closest bus here, once we have done that we have easy access to any bus in the city, or really in the whole country. Much to our delight we discovered that the bus runs out to Amador Causeway - a long causeway next to the entrance to the canal which runs out to several islands. It is a beautiful place to stroll, enjoy the ocean, and even find a couple of flowers.
Saturday I was asked to run the baptistry at the temple as the brother who usually does it is out of town. We had several youths who were coming to the temple for the first time, and they were so excited to be there. I got to the temple an hour ahead of their scheduled time, but they were already there waiting. Seeing that makes me realize how important the temple is to them. While I was getting things set up for them a sister arrived two hours early for an endowment session. I remember when the temples were closed down for Covid I suddenly realized that, although I thought I had been appreciating the temple, I really wasn't appreciating it enough. Being in the temple (almost) every day is certainly a blessing, but I need to remember not to take it for granted; rather, I always need to appreciate it as a sacred opportunity.
Delkys and I spoke in church today. Delkys spoke about the love of God, especially how it is shown in the Plan of Salvation and the gift of his Son. I spoke about choosing to make the Savior central in our lives. Delkys pointed out that after speaking at least most people in the ward now know that we are not just here on vacation, but are serving as missionaries.
Love,
Elder and Sister Reading
aka
John and Delkys
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