Missionary Email #22

 Dear All -

Yesterday I watched a primary program via Zoom, baked brownies, and attended a training session for temple workers.  As you already figured out, none of that included writing a weekly letter.  So here I am on Monday morning again.

Delkys asked me to share a few pictures from the girls' visit last week, so here they are.

Even though it was a quick visit it was great to have them here.  Thanks again to the husbands and kids who helped make it possible.

Several weeks ago we had a training meeting at the temple for all the shift coordinators.  After that meeting someone commented that it might be useful to have a similar meeting for all of the workers.  We decided we would do it in two sessions, the first of which was yesterday.  When I started preparing points for my part of the discussion I was concentrating on training issues which need to be addressed - procedures relating to the ordinances and worker behavior.  As I worked more and more on the list my thoughts turned more and more to what might be called doctrinal issues - motivations, attitudes, willingness to learn.  Delkys and I sat up until far into the night Saturday discussing some of the doctrinal issues, and they turned out to be profitable items of discussion in the training meeting as well.  As is to be expected, the more we serve in this position the more the temple influences our spirits, and the greater we feel the importance of the ordinances and covenants which are effected in the temple.

I made four batches of brownies.  Well, I say "I made", but Sister Garcia (the temple matron) actually made two of them under my tutelage because she wants to be able to make them for her family.  Watching the brownies after the meeting made me think of snowflakes on hot pavement.  I got them out one batch at a time, and they disappeared just about as quickly as I could produce them.

Speaking of snowflakes, I checked the weather this morning, and in Highlands Ranch it was 21° with a chance of snow.  I looked out the window at the falling rain, knowing that it was about 80° outside, and felt slightly left out.  Oh well.  Of course, Friday we got home from the temple and discovered that the temperature in the apartment was 79°.  Something in the air conditioning system was broken, and I was temporarily worried about my survival.  However it was soon repaired, and I made it through.

Two of our sealers are ill, so I ended up conducting several sealing sessions this week.  Each opportunity to do that further strengthens my testimony of the worth of those sacred ordinances.  Also as I bear witness to the youth about baptism, and especially the baptisms for the dead in which they are about to participate, I feel more deeply the need for the saving ordinances of the gospel.  I am very grateful to the Lord for this opportunity to serve.  It is very difficult to consider anything I am doing as a sacrifice, because the Lord is blessing us so bountifully in everything we do.

Love,

John and Delkys

Missionary Email #21

 Dear All -

Yes, late again, but this time I am going to claim slightly extenuating circumstances.

It all started a little over two weeks ago when I sent a group email to the kids saying that Delkys' birthday was coming up, and I was soliciting ideas for a gift for her.  Pretty quickly a steak dinner and some house plants were offered up as ideas.  Then one of the girls suggested I should fly them here to pick out the plants for Mom.  For some reason that really struck me.  The more I thought about it the better it seemed.  So I looked at flight prices, and asked them if they would be willing to come.  They immediately jumped at the suggestion.  After a little thought I opened the offer to all four of our daughters.  They all agreed to come.  So Thursday evening Jandel and Ashley flew in from Utah together, then early Friday morning I drove to the airport and picked up Rebecca and Sarah, who did not fly together, but got in close to the same time.  Then I drove back home, walked into the apartment, and told Delkys there was someone to see her.  Much laughter, tears of happiness, and general mayhem followed.  I thought I had videoed the greeting, but it turns out I was out of sync with the "record" button on my phone, so I made a nice video of the phone going back into my pocket.

There was a sealing on Friday in English of a couple from the United States that I had promised to perform, but other than that the other members of the presidency conspired to allow us to have time together as a family.  In fact, this is a week of patriotic holidays here in Panama, so the temple was closed Thursday, and was only open Friday and Saturday mornings, so we didn't skip too much work.  We saw different sites in Panama, ate lots, stayed up talking until late each night, and generally had a wonderful time.  Today was largely consumed with good-byes and trips to the airport, although since Rebecca had a fairly late flight we drove over to Colon again to visit the fort/castle there.

Saturday morning we decided to go to an endowment session at the temple together.  It turns out that there were no workers available to receive sisters in English, so the shift coordinator asked me if I could receive all the girls at the veil.  Curiously, I couldn't identify the first voice, until I realized it was a sister from our ward who speaks no Spanish.  But as I received each of the girls and thought about the promises upon my posterity I was deeply moved by the experience.  I have tried as much as possible to avoid letting the temple ordinances become routine, but when performing them with my family members they take on even more significance.

Earlier last week Delkys and I went to Gamboa Resort, which is set where the Chagres river meets Gatun Lake, which actually forms the bulk of the Panama Canal.  There we took a boat ride to visit Gatun lake and some of the islands there.  The scenery was beautiful.

There are certain places that these boats always visit and the monkeys know that if they wait long enough they will get goodies.

It was a fun trip.

Yesterday I was asked to address the District Conference in the San Blas Islands, which is where the Guna Yala Indians live.  My talk was via Zoom, so I didn't have to travel, but it was a really unfulfilling experience to speak when all I could see was my own face on the screen.  I was still grateful for the opportunity to bear testimony of the temple and the Savior's presence there, but I am not a fan of addressing a group via Zoom when I cannot see anyone.

After a somewhat crazy weekend it is back to our normal routine tomorrow.  We already miss having everyone here, but perhaps we also have a renewed appreciation for family.  We love and pray for all of you.

John and Delkys

Missionary Email #20

 Dear all -

Today was the Primary program in our ward.  It was fun to see all the kids give their parts, but it does remind me that I miss Primary. Well, I'm enjoying my current calling as well, so I shouldn't complain too much.

During the 2nd hour meeting today someone commented about the members in Chiriqui (a province at the west end of the country) hoping for the announcement of a temple there.  It is true that the temple here in Panama is not running anywhere near capacity, so perhaps there is not a need yet.  However, the closest we come to filling the temple is on the weekend when the saints from Chiriqui come in buses.  Maybe they have a good claim after all.

I have been reading about Samuel the Lamanite preaching to the Nephites.  The record says "the voice of the Lord came unto him, that he should return again, and prophesy unto the people whatsoever things should come into his heart."  I have thought a lot about the weighty responsibility of speaking in the name of the Lord like this, especially as "whatsoever things should come into his heart" seems to suggest he was not given words to say, but thoughts and impressions that he had to translate into words.  After pondering this, though, I realized that I accept the same assignment from the Lord each time I place my hands on someone's head to bless them or to set them apart in a calling.  I do not generally receive words to say, but thoughts and impressions that I have to put into words.  It is extremely humbling to realize that is the same commission as the prophets receive.  I appreciate all the prayers offered to help me succeed in this rather frightening assignment.

Last week Delkys and I decided to drive to Colon, which is the city at the opposite end of the canal.  In doing so we drove from the Pacific ocean to the Caribbean Sea, which is a rather impressive feat in itself.  It took about an hour.  We visited a fort there that was built by the Spaniards back in the 1500's.

Although it is called a fort, I noticed that several of the informational placards refer to it as a castle.  So it may not match the castles of Europe, we got to visit a castle here.

The road over takes you through all sorts of lush jungle areas, and it was a beautiful drive.  We got there just as they were closing, so we didn't get to spend a lot of time there.  The plus side, though, was that there weren't many people around.  Interestingly, the fort is located where the Chagres river empties into the ocean.

Shortly after we got here I read the history of building the canal.  The French originally planned a sea-level canal, and one of the biggest impediments to that plan was the fact that the Chagres river (the upper left in the above picture) is a pretty sizeable river, but it can rise 40 feet in an hour after a heavy rain, and the proposed canal path crossed the river 14 times.  With the locks in the current canal the water from the Chagres is used to fill the locks, and the river is dammed to create Gatun Lake, which actually constitutes most of the canal.  That said, I had the impression that all the water from the Chagres drained out through the locks, so I didn't realize that it still also flows through its normal course to the sea.  All of this also means that the Chagres is the only river in the world which flows into two oceans on opposite sides of the continental divide.

The upcoming week has three national holidays, so the temple is closed entirely Thursday and half-days Friday and Saturday.  We are planning to use some of that time to take an overnight trip.  Maybe I'll end up with some good pictures.

Love,

John and Delkys