Missionary Email #15

 Dear All -

Last Monday we went for a walk on an urban trail along the ocean front.  It has some beautiful views of the city, and there were lots of joggers/bikers/walkers.

There were a number of cats that just seemed to sit along the sea-wall, but we also saw an old friend - or maybe the relative of some old friends.

It was a relatively cool evening, and there was a nice breeze, so we didn't get too overheated.

The work in the temple this week has been a bit challenging because there have not been a lot of workers.  On one shift there were a total of five brothers, and three of them were new workers.  On the other hand we have been calling and setting apart quite a number of workers, so I am hopeful we will soon be better staffed.  The members are attending in larger numbers, which is greatly appreciated.  As the Lord calls more people to the temple more and more of them will also want to serve as workers.

Last week I called and set apart a mother and daughter as temple workers.  The daughter will be leaving on a mission in December, and the mother decided she would like to work alongside her daughter.  As I set the mother apart I was amazed at the flood of tender love that the Lord poured out through me.  I know my words were not adequate to express all the things I felt, but I trust the Spirit was able to make them clear to that dear sister.

There is a brother here who is in charge of the patron lodging, and he also works in the temple.  His name is Alberto, but as I was looking at the "Open" sign on the front of the building I realized that "Abierto" is also very close to his name.  So I call him Hermano Abierto, and he calls me Hermano Leyendo (reading).  He is a retired police officer, and rather gruff at times, but this week I have gotten to see how deep is his love for the temple and temple work.  On one of the days we were so short of workers the shift coordinator called him to see if he would officiate on the session - in 10 minutes - and he was immediately there.  We may not have lots of workers, but we have very good workers.

Hope things are going well for you.

Love,

John and Delkys

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

Missionary Email #13

 Dear All -

Delkys pointed out that we don't have many pictures from this week.  That is probably because we haven't gone out much.  I did take one picture of the temple, but I can't get it to transfer from my phone to my computer.  Anyway, I knew the clouds weren't really what I wanted, but then I noticed a large vulture sitting on Moroni's trumpet.  He was happy there, but may have detracted from the spirituality of the picture.

President Garcia has decided that we will have one shift all week, so last week they had the morning, Delkys and I had the afternoon, and the Rodriguez's didn't have an assigned shift.  Since Sister Rodriguez is recovering from cataract surgery President Rodriguez just helped out wherever he could.  I expect this week Delkys and I will get the joy of opening the temple in the morning, so we will be popping out of bed a little earlier than we have been used to.

Part of the good news for this week was that we were able to make masks optional for the workers.  In most meetings when I announced that one or two workers would quietly slide off their masks, but yesterday I think all the brother workers took theirs off.  I discovered that no one looks like I expected them to.  Since I have only known everybody with masks on I had unknowingly formed a picture of what the rest of their faces looked like.  One brother I had recognized because of his perfectly bald head, which should have looked about the same without a mask, but when I saw him I didn't even realize who he was.  Anyway, no masks required.

Many of our workers and patrons depend on buses to get to the temple, and some live quite a distance away.  Consequently they have to get up at atrocious times to get to the temple on time.  It really makes me appreciate their dedication and love for the temple.  It also makes me appreciate my stroll across the parking lot to get to the temple.  One of the things I have learned since starting in the presidency is why temple presidency members always express appreciation for the workers in training meetings.  My gratitude for them and their work grows hugely with each passing day.  One evening I was watching a group of brethren as they worked and felt that my heart might burst with joy from seeing their humble dedication to their callings.

Yesterday afternoon there were several things that did not go smoothly in the temple.  We have a meeting with the coordinators at the end of each shift to review the work, and we spent a lot of time discussing what had gone wrong, and how we may be able to address it differently in the future.  At the end of the meeting I realized we had spent a lot of time concentrating on problems, so I said "We might also consider the number of things that went right today!  There were hundreds of those."  And it is true that we should not just look at the problems.  I can quickly start beating myself up if I spend too much time on what went wrong.

The Lord has been quietly blessing us through this work.  We find greater insights in the scriptures, and a greater closeness to the Lord Jesus Christ.  We have felt the love of the other members of the presidency, as well as of the workers and the patrons.  I thought about two comments from the Temple Leadership training - one matron had over a thousand sister temple workers in her temple, another matron commented that since their temple is smaller she has been able to get to know many of the regular patrons.  Although I am still struggling to get names right, I am certainly recognizing more and more people.  Certainly one of the blessings of temple work is that it is always done one person at a time, so it is easy to concentrate on individuals.

So perhaps not much to share, but I just want you to know that we are doing well and loving our work here.

Love,

President and Sister Reading

aka

John and Delkys

Missionary Email #12

 Dear All -

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday we participated in the Temple Leadership Seminar.  All the sessions Tuesday and Wednesday were recorded, which allowed  us to participate with some flexibility.  There was enough material, though, that that meant viewing sessions for over 7 hours each day.  One of the sealing rooms in the temple was set up for viewing the sessions, which was an unusual experience.  We received messages from the First Presidency of the Church, as well as from several of the apostles and general organization presidencies.  We had some symptoms of trying to drink from a fire hose, but I think the sessions did inspire us to have a more careful view of the temple, its ordinances, covenants, and procedures.  Thursday morning was a live-streamed question and answer session with Elder Bednar, Elder Gong, and several leaders from the Temple Committee.  The answers given were very practical and useful, and hopefully will guide us in our service.  The theme that was repeated time and again is that everything in the temple should bring the workers and the members closer to Christ, and that we should avoid anything that interferes with that goal.  All was at the same time very inspirational and very humbling.  We certainly feel like we have been given some huge challenges for our service over the next three years.

Thursday (once we finished the Q&A) was our first day of service as a temple presidency.  President Garcia and his wife have served in multiple temple presidencies before, so they were somewhat familiar with the day-to-day issues of getting going.  Sister Rodriguez had cataract surgery Thursday morning, so they were unable to participate in most things.  Delkys and I were content to observe and learn Thursday, but on Friday and Saturday President Garcia put us in charge of one shift each day.  This included things like providing instruction in the training meetings, giving instruction to several members attending the temple for the first time, and generally attending to the smooth operation of the temple.  There were definitely a few hiccups along the way, but we survived the whole experience with a minimum of catastrophes and major trauma.  Although we were exhausted by the end of each day, it was an exhilarating experience.  We opened the temple each morning, then Thursday and Friday we had late endowment sessions, so we ended up getting home after 8:00, so sleeping in this morning was a real luxury.

Well, relatively sleeping in.  There was a meeting today for all stake presidents run by an Area Authority Seventy, and the temple and mission presidents were asked to attend.  However, there was also a stake conference in San Miguelito which had invited speakers from the temple and mission presidencies.  So Delkys and I attended the stake conference and spoke as representatives of the temple presidency.  Delkys was baptized into the San Miguelito Branch, so there has been a significant growth in the church since then.  Interestingly, the ward that now meets where her branch once met is no longer part of the San Miguelito Stake, but there were plenty of members at the conference that recognized her from 40+ years ago.  It was an exciting and humbling experience to speak there.  I realized that I have never spoken in a stake conference before, so it was rather amazing to be introduced as a visiting authority.  It was also very rewarding to see a vibrant stake where once there were only a few scattered members.  Of course, there were also a number of temple workers among the congregation, so it was fun to greet them.

As President and Sister Smith, the out-going temple president and matron, were leaving they assured us that our service would be a wonderful experience.  After three days I can already attest to the truthfulness of that statement.  We have witnessed several cases already where the Lord intervened to keep things running smoothly even when we had missed some details.  The outpouring of support from the temple workers is at once hugely reassuring and humbling.  I remind myself over and over that where I see the same person I have always been, they see a counsellor in the temple presidency.  It is a challenge to live up to the expectations that people - and the Lord - have for us, but we also feel the Lord's love, support, and strength as we do our best to do so.  Yesterday after telling the workers in training meeting how much we appreciate them and their service I paused for a moment, then said something to the effect of "I have heard temple presidencies express such appreciation hundreds of times over the years, but I now understand much more clearly why they always feel compelled to express it!"  As much as I have loved temple service over the years, after this week I see it with new eyes.

It has been quite a week.  We have some 147 more to go (not counting maintenance shut-downs).  We love and miss all of you, but greatly appreciate your love and support.  May the Lord bless and keep you all!

Love,

President and Sister Reading

aka

John and Delkys

Missionary Email #11

 Dear All -

We survived the second week of the maintenance shutdown, and shortly will get to return to the temple.  Of course, we will serve for two days in our accustomed roles, then on Thursday we begin our new adventure.

Probably the biggest news from this week is that we managed to get our Panamanian driver's licenses.  We had heard horror stories, but aside from being somewhat convoluted and having to spend lots of time waiting it wasn't really that hard.  We first had to take the driving test.  It turned out to be a rather simple little excursion around a fenced-off area of a muddy parking lot.  Then we had to report to another area for the paperwork, followed by a hearing test, and finally a written test.  Of course, both of those were computerized, and they turned out to be pretty easy.  Then we paid a fee, and within another 15 minutes we had our licenses.  I have skipped over lots of stretches of waiting, of course.

Also yesterday we moved into a new apartment.  I was never completely clear on why we were moving, but we now have a different view out our window.  Before we overlooked the cemetery, now this is our view out the front window:

I just went over to the window and snapped that, and not until I looked at the picture here did I realize how artfully the clouds cooperated.  The other advantage to this new view is that the weather tends to move in from this side, so we can see what is coming instead of what is leaving.

When I was a boy I saw an advertisement for sensitive plants, which would move when you touched the leaves.  I ordered some seeds and grew some plants, and was completely fascinated by them.  I hadn't thought about them in years, but Delkys noticed a patch of them growing in the cemetery.  I'm not very good at doing something while filming, but I did get things to work more or less:

Sensitive Plants

We've also seen streams of ants in the cemetery carrying pieces of leaves.  This week we came upon a group actually doing the work.  I thought it was very interesting to watch:

Ants cutting leaves

With the end of the maintenance shutdown people are coming back to the temple.  Since we were the only ones here in the building for two weeks it is kind of nice to have people around again.

This week I have been reading about the Nephites shortly before the coming of Christ.  They had successfully held off two Lamanite invasions in a row, but the third one had very different results - the Lamanites were successful in conquering most of the Nephite lands.  What was the difference?  The Nephites had become wicked and depended on their own strength.  As a consequence the Lord withdrew his protective power, and they were truly left to their own strength.

I have often thought that, like the Nephites, I live in the midst of so many blessings that if I am not careful it is easy just to believe that this is how life should be.   As someone once said, "Fish discover water last."  If I ignore the giver of the water in which I swim I am being very ungrateful, and someday might be subject to discovering just how hard life without water is!

Well, I hear thunder rumbling, and the view has changed to this:

We may be in for "a little" more rain.  Hope your day, sunny or rainy, is going well!

Love,

Elder and Sister Reading

aka

John and Delkys

Attachments area

Preview YouTube video Ants Cutting Leaves

Ants Cutting Leaves

Missionary Email #10

 With the temple closed this last week we have been busy with other activities, including taking care of a few things we haven't had time for - buying a car, working on getting our driver's licenses, doing some more random shopping.  Everyone else who lives in the apartments here has gone home, so it is just the two of us.  Things are rather quiet.

One of the most visible maintenance activities on the temple is the removal of the large palm trees in front of the temple.  From time to time the palms shed large chunks of themselves, and apparently that was adjudged a safety hazard.  So the front of the temple looks a little different now.

Hmm - I guess I was standing a little sideways when I took that picture.

Earlier this week I was out on a garbage run and noticed this little fellow waiting to get into the guest portion of the apartment building.  He was about 7" long from snout to tail.  I thought he was a frog, but from his feet you can see he is a toad.

We spent three days this week at a beach resort where we wandered on the beach, ate lots of food, and even tried sliding down some pretty impressive water slides.

We stopped at this particular spot for a while because there were a number of iguanas strolling around on the beach.  It's hard to see in the above picture, but the dark spot silhouetted against the water in front of Delkys is an iguana.  They were wary of us, but not too perturbed by having us there.  The biggest one was probably about 14" long without counting his tail.

The temple will reopen the 30th of August, which corresponds with the beginning of the temple leadership seminar, in which we will get more training from the church leadership in preparation for our new calling.  The first of September is when we will actually begin serving, and we are looking forward to the experience.  In some ways it feels like there is simply too much to learn in order for us to be truly ready for our service, but we also know that the Lord will bless us as we dedicate ourselves to him and seek to do things his way.  We appreciate, and indeed, rely on, your support and prayers, and pray that all is well for you and your families as well.

Love,

Elder and Sister Reading

aka

John and Delkys

Missionary Email #9

 Dear All -

As of the close of business yesterday our temple is shutting down for two weeks for regular maintenance.  Everything I did on the afternoon shift reminded me it was the last time for two weeks.  After dedicating so much time to the temple it is rather strange to consider not even going for two weeks.  When we return the old presidency will have two more days of service, and then the new presidency begins.  It ought to be interesting.

We got the approval for the extension of our mission to three years.   With everything we heard from others I had little hope that it would happen, but it did.  I have felt so grateful to God for this extension, and I hope we can make full use of the time to serve him and his saints.

Tuesday there was a luncheon planned by the temple workers to bid farewell to the outgoing temple president.  We had said we would make rolls, then Monday night Delkys was asked to cook three hams.  So Tuesday morning was a whirl of food preparation, coping with a small kitchen and conscripting every oven we could to baking.  We finished up just as the luncheon was supposed to start, so it was with a palpable sense of relief that we settled into our spots at a table.  The brother that was conducting announced that the outgoing presidency and their wives would speak before we ate.  There were some very poignant stories and feelings shared, and it was very nice.  But I was starting to get very hungry, because I hadn't eaten much in the midst of all the preparations.  Then he announced that anyone who wanted to could stand and give a message to the presidency.  At that point I started wondering if we were just going to starve to death.  Eventually we were allowed to eat, and perhaps the food was all that much better for having to wait for it.

Thursday, President Smith, the outgoing president, had planned a luncheon just for the two presidencies and a few others who work in the office.  He stood up to kick things off, and announced that he was going to speak for two hours before allowing anyone to eat.  Fortunately he was kidding.  The meal almost had to be postponed because of the attack of the giant gecko (see picture below), but we managed to press on anyway.

The Jamaicans were here until Thursday afternoon, so we had several more sessions in English this week.  There was a young lady who received her own endowment in anticipation of leaving on her mission, and I commented to someone that I missed the announcement lowering the age of missionary service to 14.  The claim was made that she really is old enough to serve, but she certainly looked young.  Of course, I never looked that young when I was on my mission.

At one of the train stations I had noticed these vines reaching out to find new horizons.  There is something just slightly ominous about their enthusiasm.  I guess they don't show up as well in the picture as I hoped they would.

Delkys and I have made arrangements to purchase a car from one of the members here; now we just have to figure out how to get drivers licenses.  Previously we have just driven on our US licenses, but that only works when you are here as a tourist.  Since I am now on a permanentish visa and Delkys is here as a citizen we need to get Panamanian licenses.  The process sounds a little intimidating (why do they need my blood type?!?), but I am sure we will get through somehow.

So the next two weeks we will be doing more touristy things, and hopefully getting rested up for the things to come after.  We appreciate hearing from you, and hope and pray that things are going well for you.

Love,

Elder and Sister Reading

aka

John and Delkys

Missionary Email #8

 Dear All -

This has been quite a week.  We had about 22 saints from Jamaica at the temple.  Historically they have come to the temple twice a year, but with COVID this is their first trip in three years.  They were very excited to be here.  Very few of them speak any Spanish at all, so most of the endowment sessions at the temple were in English this week.  I ended up officiating on many of the sessions, so worked a little more than is normal.  It has been a great experience.  Three members received their own endowments, and two couples were sealed.  A few of them went home yesterday, but seven more are coming on Monday.  One of the Jamaican sisters bore her testimony today, and shared how grateful she is for her calling as a Primary teacher.  That won my heart.

Monday I went to Immigrations to get my permanent visa.  Well, it's only good for six months, so maybe I should call it my "longer term visa".  Anyway, I had heard all sorts of horror stories about Immigrations, how crowded it gets and how people have to wait for hours.  I was not looking forward to it.  I got there at 7:00am, the lawyer the church uses for immigration cases already had a ticket for me, in 5 minutes they called my number, snapped a picture, and I was done 15 minutes after I got there.  It was pretty painless.

We went to the produce market again on Monday.  Although food shipments are getting through, compared to our first trip there was noticeably less available, it was of poorer quality, and cost more.  I got a picture of a few coconuts

along with a little garlic for seasoning.

The carrots in the foreground of that last picture were of truly impressive size, but it just doesn't show up well in the picture.

One night shortly after sundown I went outside to throw away some garbage and noticed that with the lighting and the clouds were truly lovely.  I snapped a number of pictures.  The way they turned out made me reflect on camera technology in general, and the fact that the device I used to take the pictures is not even primarily intended to be a camera.

Between having the Jamaican saints here, the number of hours I got to spend in the temple this week, and some thoughts I have had about ordinances and covenants, this has been a very spiritual week.  I want to testify that this is the work of the Lord, he is involved in the details of the work, and I feel highly blessed for being able to participate here at this time.

Love,

Elder and Sister Reading

aka

John and Delkys

Missionary Email #7

 Dear all -

Another week has zipped by.  Especially in retrospect it always seems like they have gone by so fast.  I have to remember that we really did enjoy the time while we were going through it.

Last Monday I finally got moving a little and baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies.  I do not follow the recipe religiously, and so they turn out a little different each time I make them.  This time they turned out particularly well, if I say so myself (which I just did).  We gave some to all the families here in the apartments, but quite a number of the cookies found a home in my stomach.

Delkys got together with some of the other sisters here and processed some coconuts into different types of confections.  I tried a little bit of the fresh coconut, and had to admit it is much better than the packaged stuff we usually get, but it is still not my favorite.

Apparently the unrest in the country is settling down somewhat, so all the streets are open at least part of the day.  There are still some people that have trouble getting to the temple, but it is not as bad as it was.  I think the protesters are still negotiating with the government, and there is some progress being made.

The rain continues to fall, which is expected.  I awoke from ... I mean, after some meditation this afternoon I looked out the window and realized the rain was pouring down.  It doesn't look as impressive in a picture, but I had to try.

For the last few weeks I have been getting weekly statements about my transactions on my missionary debit card.  Since I didn't have a missionary debit card they have been pretty boring.  This week I finally got a missionary debit card.  I doubt there is any money on it, so the weekly reports will not be much more interesting.  I told the temple president I'll never leave home without it.

The temple department requested a portrait of the two of us together "for use by the temple department and the general authorities."  That sounds ominous.  So we went through a moderately painful process of trying to find a studio, but finally found a really nice place and had our picture taken.

President Garcia has been giving us instruction in preparation for serving in the temple presidency.  Someone from the Temple Department teaches him, then he in turn shares it with the rest of the presidency.  President Smith, the current temple president, has been giving instruction to all the sealers one-on-one, and he said since I will be a sealer he also gave it to me.  It has all been very uplifting, and rather awe inspiring.  Both the new presidency training and the sealer training concentrate on creating the most uplifting experience possible for the temple patrons.  In some ways I am really looking forward to starting our service, in other ways I am very nervous.  I guess growing experiences tend to be like that.

So that's it.  We are staying very busy, having a great experience, and looking forward to the adventures that yet await us.  We love all of you, and appreciate your support and love.

Elder and Sister Reading

aka

John and Delkys

Missionary Email #6

 Dear All:

Earlier this week Delkys and I had an interview with Elder Godoy of the Seventy, who called us to be assistant to the matron and second counsellor in the incoming temple presidency of the Panama City, Panama temple.  This is a very humbling and awe-inspiring experience.  It vastly changes the nature of our service here, and opens up many opportunities for learning and growth.  We will begin service with the new presidency September 1.  This call by itself does not change the term of our mission, so we are in the process of seeing how we go about requesting an extension to our mission since we would like to serve in this position for as long as possible.  This has also caused me serious reflection on my spiritual state and how well I am doing at living the gospel.  I feel the weight of responsibility very heavily, and am anxious to give the best service that I can.  I had previously gotten to know the incoming president and his wife, Brother and Sister Garcia, but not until this week had I met the first counsellor and his wife, Brother and Sister Rodriguez.

This has been a week of many happenings in our family as well.  A cousin of Nate's (Jandel's husband) passed away earlier this week, then Doyle, Jeanne's (my sister) husband passed away.  Finally, Ashley and Daniel announced that she is expecting their fourth child, which is very exciting news.  Life keeps moving along, whether we are ready or not.

The demonstrations in the city and country here have continued.  There have been some improvements, in that those blocking the roads have let some trucks through to deliver supplies, but there has been little improvement in the negotiations between the unions and the government, and some sporadic violence has been reported.  We continue to pray for a positive resolution to the situation.  Delkys and I still have not been affected directly, but many people have had trouble traveling to the temple, and people who live here in the apartments have reported getting stuck while they were out running errands and roads have gotten closed.

We had a tropical wave move through on Wednesday.  It looks like a tropical wave is a distinct phenomenon from tropical storms.  Delkys and I had been at the temple, and came outside to walk home only to discover that the rain was coming down so hard that even with an umbrella we got pretty wet on our way across the parking lot.  We had some wind here, but in other parts of the city there was widespread damage from very high winds, with trees down, roofs gone, and windows blown out of buildings.  It was a pretty impressive storm.  I would guess we got two inches of rain in less than an hour.

With the unrest we have not gone out much, and so I have done as poorly as ever on remembering to take pictures.  However, we did get a nice shot of a spider that lives right next to the gate leading into the temple.

He (she? It's so hard to tell) is about two inches across with the legs, although it (there you go) seems to be growing somewhat rapidly.  I had not realized there is another similar spider just to the right of this one until after I took the picture, so he/she/it didn't make it into the shot.

All in all, things are going well.  We are enjoying the service we are currently giving in the temple, and we are excited about the new calling.

Love,

Elder and Sister Reading

aka

John and Delkys

Missionary Email #5

 Yesterday as I was changing clothes after our shift, I thought "And just like that, the week is over!"  We are so busy from Wednesday through Saturday, but it certainly seems to fly by quickly.

Things I wish I had brought along (even if they don't fit into the 50 lbs / suitcase category):

  Dishwasher

  Stand mixer

  Disposal

Maybe that's all.  They seem to cluster around the kitchen.  Oh well.

Since I read international news I know that the situation here in Panama is not making much of a splash.  For the last week and a half there have been wide-spread demonstrations against the government, mainly centering around the high cost of living and low wages.  The protesters have blocked all of the highways between cities, and most of the major roads here in the city are also blocked.  Food distribution is heavily affected, with no fresh vegetables available in the grocery stores.  We are pretty well stocked up on food for the moment.  We are also grateful that so far the demonstrations have been peaceful.  However, attendance at the temple has suffered badly, as workers and patrons have a hard time getting there.  On one of the shifts this week we had five brother workers and four sisters (our shifts are usually pretty small, but not that small).  Anyway, other than that we are largely unaffected, and we are praying that there will soon be a peaceful resolution to the problems.

Friday afternoon we went out to buy groceries.  It is about a half-mile walk down to the bus stop, and just as we left the temple the rain started to pour down.  We had umbrellas, but the rain was pretty intense, so we took shelter under the entrance to the cemetery next door.  As we were waiting there was a car coming out of the cemetery, so we decided to move on so the car could get out.  However, the car stopped, and the driver called something to Delkys.  When Delkys went to talk to her she discovered it was her niece whom she hadn't seen in several years!  The niece said she thought we were workers from the cemetery, but when she got closer she thought "That looks like my Aunt Delkys, but Aunt Delkys lives in the United States!"  So they got caught up with each other, and she gave us a ride to the supermarket.

Our ward choir sang in Sacrament meeting today.  There are about 15 of us that have gotten together to sing, and we managed to get through "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" pretty well.  The choir director wants to start on Christmas music next.  Most of the choir members have little experience singing, and we need to leave lots of time for rehearsals.

I have been thinking a lot about my own spiritual welfare lately.  This mission is quite a different experience from my proselyting mission when I was 19, but I still want it to be a time of spiritual growth and improvement.  Two words keep coming to mind as I contemplate this: "holy" and "pure".  Those are not adjectives that I am comfortable applying to myself, yet it seems if I am to grow to be more like the Savior then they should be applicable to me.  As I think about all the work to be done to get myself to that point, I am grateful that it is not solely dependent on my efforts, but that I can count on - in fact, must count on - the support of the Lord Jesus Christ.  On my own becoming pure and holy may seem impossible, but he specializes in doing the impossible, and I have great hope in him.

I have not taken many pictures this week, but here is one to remind me of why we are here:

We are doing fine, and having a great time.  We miss all of you, but are grateful to be serving the Lord.

Love,

Elder and Sister Reading

aka

John and Delkys

Missionary Email #4

 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

Missionary Email #3

 Dear All -

We just spent a delightful evening visiting with the next temple president and his wife.  They are currently temple workers three weeks each month, so we have been getting to know them.  They are very good people, as you might expect.  They have some delightful stories to share about previous temple missionaries, some of which are good object lessons for us.

Monday we went to a large produce market fairly close to here.  I was impressed with some of the variety of things available.  For instance, would you like a papaya?

Or maybe an ear of corn?

I was also impressed with the mountainous stacks of garlic, but I didn't get a good picture of those.  There were also pineapples, bananas, lettuce, celery, and many more.  There are a number of things that I don't recognize, but apparently are staples here.  The prices were good and we bought a lot of stuff.

The work in the temple continues apace.  In many ways the activity at the temple is still recovering from the pandemic, so we are seeing a little more activity with each week.  We had a group from Chiriqui (7 hours away by bus) here, and we were helping in the baptistry.  I was trying to figure out who could help with what assignment, so I asked a young man in the group if he was an elder.  He kind of laughed, and admitted that he was the bishop.  I thought Daniel was a young bishop!  Turns out he is Bishop Lezcano, which is Sister Reading's maiden name, so they are making plans to figure out how they are related.

I know I comment about the rain every week, but the rainfall can be very impressive.  There have been at least two days when it hasn't rained at all.  We went out to eat lunch on Monday in an open-air restaurant that is on a causeway running out to some islands at the mouth of the canal.  As we were sitting there I saw a distant hill disappear behind the rain, then the entire city-scape disappeared, then I watched as the masts of the boats anchored closer by disappeared.  When the rain finally arrived it was very intense.  The temperature dropped to about 71 and the wind was pretty strong, and I thought we were going to freeze some of the patrons in the restaurant.

After church today we went to visit Brother Estribi, who was the branch president when Sister Reading was baptized.  He had a stroke several years ago, but looked much better than he did the last time we saw him.  On the way back we passed a gang of critters that were raiding garbage cans close to the road.  I don't remember what they are called, they look kind of like a cross between a raccoon and a monkey.  I didn't get a good picture of the whole group, but there were at least 30 of them.

Wednesday through Saturday we feel like we are pretty much on the run keeping up with temple assignments; then Sunday hits and it feels like forever until we get to go back to the temple.  We are doing really well, and learning to fit in with the work here.  The work in the temple has a completely different pace than in Denver, but we are adapting and learning.  We think of all of you often and miss you, but we are loving the work here.

Love,

Elder and Sister Reading

aka

John and Delkys