June: Some other fun things that happened

It was a busy month as we finished school, continued our service and studies, and prepared for convention.  Madi and Ty had some fun dressing up as Grecian people like Paul would have seen.

As you may have noticed, Madi got her hair cut:

And Ty pulled his out on his own his first tooth (he had the bottom 2 taken out at the dentist)!

Right before we left, Raymond took a couple of sisters in the Spanish hall back on some interest he had found while working territory in English.  One of the sisters also speaks Ngobe (the local Native Indian dialect):

It was pretty muddy, so they had to wash off their feet when they got in the boat:

It has been definitely the rainy season..I think it began mid June, went straight through July, and is supposed to start letting up here in mid August...we shall see.  Now although we are from Seattle and I spent a lot of my childhood in the midwest, I have never seen any rain like this...it even filled up the ditch right by the futbol (soccer) field into the middle of the street!

We also had some nice impromtu fun when we came across one of the grandchildren in the park playing baseball...Ty of course jumped right on in:)

The last three shots there were at a nice gathering some of the visiting friends threw at their rented house.  It was such a nice visit and we really miss them.  The entire congregation had fun playing cards, kayaking, yakking:)

The last meeting before we headed to the US was in a form of Guari Guari (pronounced Wadi Wadi), a local Creole.  It is sort of a blend between Jamaican and Belizian Creoles and English. It was amazing especially since we had just completed a survey of the local area about this language.  Many of our visitors loved that this was in "their" language as they stated it.  They felt totally at ease and comfortable listening to the talk:) I have a video, but it doesn't want to download for you to hear:(

June: Island service

After we tested the still un-named boat (we are taking submissions now--ideas we have had are "Unsinkable 2", "The Time is at Hand", "Kingdom Proclaimer", "Gift of Love", "Jolly Preacher", "WeebleWobble", "Paradise's Preachers"), we have been using it in service ALOT!  We have tons of fun heading to Bastimentos on Thursdays.  This is an island that is about 20 minutes away by boat.  This island is rich for culture and English studies.  Many of us have wonderful experiences there as we teach receptive people about the Truth.  It's crazy as we head to from the kingdom hall to the boat then arrive at Bastimentos...we fill the boat!

Gotta lock up your bikes!  I call this work of art:  "Bike Puke"

Raymond takes a Spanish group out to various islands on Tuesdays and a English group out on Fridays.  He will post more about that and share some pictures later.  I just don't have them or all the fun stories he knows from his adventures.

I do have one time that I was able to go out on a Friday though, right before we left for the International Convention in Seattle.  It was so much fun.  We enjoyed working the outer part of the main island of Bocas.  Most of it is only assessible via boat and that was where we came in:)

As we started our day we pulled up to a dock, we weren't sure if there was a house there or not, so a small group of 3 got out to explore the unknown.  The rest of us waited...

As we waited someone grabbed a rock and etched in the dock JW.org

We all thought that was cute so Ty pointed to it.  Perfectly captured his finger as the dot.

Here they come all muddy and with no house...oh well!  Nice try team!

Then a bit later, we come across another dock...this one has signs of life about and we can see a structure beyond the trees.  So Madi, Ty and Lynette jump off the boat to talk with whoever may be here.  I say that since often, people come build their beautiful homes and head back to their native country because they miss grandkids or family.  They leave their homes in the care of someone here and pay them to live their and maintain the house and property until they come maybe once or twice a year to visit.  On this property, however, as they near the end of the dock away from us, the sound of a nearing bark begins to beckon them to head back to the boat ASAP!!  Breaking the tree hedge, comes a huge German shepherd racing towards my babies and friend.  Madi literally leaps onto the boat, Lynette grabs Ty and jumps, I stabilize them and shove off just as the dog reaches the end of the dock...we were a little worried that he might jump aboard, so we had put up some of our bags just in case.  It felt like a close call!  As we pull away though, the lady of the house comes down the dock too, we carefully pull back up and chat with her (not interested) FROM THE BOAT!!!  It all happened pretty quickly, so I have no shots of this...there were more pressing things to do then take pictures, like help save my kids and friends from getting eaten:)

After that we all were pretty hyped up and were chatting amiably as we made our way around the bends.  As we talked about our near death experience[;-)], we came upon another really long dock.  This time as we came up, we saw afar something lying on the dock.  I half joking said, what if it's a body...

As we neared the dock, we could see that, Yes, it was a body--sleeping on the dock!  A couple of brothers got out to go chat with the poor working man we just woke up from a lunch break nap.  They had an amazing discussion with him and left some literature for his reading pleasure.

After that we also ate some lunch then continued on our way.

As we came to another house, we realized this was a private resort.  The Brazilian man, his fiancee, and her son came out and engaged a brother (who came speaking Portuguese) in a wonderful talk.  He was so cordial, he invited us all out--we felt uncomfortable with this, but about 4 ended up joining him on the porch, then sharing the video about why we should have a bible study from JW.org.

As we sat, we learned the fine art of taking a picture of something in a stealthy way pretending to take a selfie...It really works:)

Then we came upon a house where the 2 housekeepers came out and wanted to chat with us too.  They wanted some information in Spanish, so we scrounged around the boat and our bookbags to see if we had anything to share.  These two sisters speak Spanish, so it was really nice to be able to witness to people who had not hear the Truth for many years.  That is why there is a huge need here..it is hard for those of us (In Spanish and English) need greating here to meet the needs of our studies in town and all of the interest in these only by boat territories.  

They too wanted to and enjoyed watching a video...it was a downloaded Caleb video...the little guys wants to watch too!

After a wonderfully fulfilling day, we ended up at Starfish Beach to let our hair down!

So many visitors on this trip, but what is nice, is we are all one loving brotherhood!  It's amazing to be able to meet people from around the world that you wouldn't have ever met before.  What a great experience for us right before we head to the US for International Convention!

May: One Day Assembly in Boquete

So Boquete in May reminds me a lot of Washington state in the spring.  The days are sunny and warm and the nights are cool.  This was the beautiful spot we were able to hold our assembly.  It is a very nice community center with amazing gardens on their grounds.  Behind the center is a rushing river and view of the mountains/volcano.

The assembly was wonderful as spiritual food, but also as a way to associate with others across the country.  We were able to reconnect with some friends from New York who also know my sister.  It was nice to catch up with them.  As well, it is always encouraging to talk with other need greaters who have kids and have lived here longer...we get some good ideas for longevity!  Here is a shot of some of the kids we were able to meet and befriend.

As the assembly began, we stood for the first song and in true Panamania style we had no sound.  This amazing woman behind me started the first song.  Everyone else chimed in and we nailed it.

Here's a shot of the inside of the community center as we all listen intently during the day.

After an amazing day, we had some fun.  Cleaning, taking pictures with some friends and just plain enjoying ourselves.

These two sisters are smiling, but had a rough weekend.  In David, prior to making it to Boquete, they had their passports and some of their stuff (like credit cards and electronics chargers) stolen out of their car when they ran into a store super fast.  They were supposed to be heading to Canada the next day and without passports, that was going to be a trial. Then later after we had left their hostel, someone broke into the their room while they were sleeping and stole the rest of their credit cards and IDs.  Thankfully they were able to cancel all cards and Jehovah provided for them as they were coming into David to head to Panama City, they got a call from the Police that their passports had been found!  They were able to leave the country on time to see their family.  "Put first the Kingdom and all other things will be provided!" We can't wait to see them in the next couple of weeks as they return to Bocas!!

As it began to get dark, we headed to dinner at this fish place in downtown Boquete and had a wonderful meal.  Then we headed with many in our congregation back to their hostel.  We had brought down to town our swim suits, some casual clothes, etc so that we could hit their hottub and hand out to play some music later.  We had  a really nice time, although we left SUPER late like at 12:30am.  Thankfully we got to sleep in on Monday before hitting breakfast, a coffee shop (our first since Panama), and the bus back home!

The community center where the assembly took place was about 5 miles downhill from our hotel.  We had to take a taxi to get there or just to get to town for eating or groceries.  It was a beautiful hotel although we were the only witnesses staying there.  We felt very safe as it was pretty much the only hotel in a totally residential area.  The Hotel Regio had amazingly gorgeous grounds and decor.  I've included some pictures of these.

The lobby

Amazing breezeway to the backyard

Places to sit outside to eat breakfast.

Breakfast nook! It's made out of a stump...beautiful!

So after we had a nice stay in Boquete, we headed back to Bocas...man those mountain roads are windy!!  As most know I get super motion sick in those sorts of situations.  This time was no different and I was most thankful for a bus stop and bathroom about half way home:)  We somehow caught the last boat home and we very thankful for the chance to visit Boquete and meet so many wonderful brothers and sisters!