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
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