Boquete, Panama

Ok, so let me tell you a little about our time in Boquete! A missionary couple, David and Julie Reynolds from Sacramento, CA have been serving in Panama for the last 5 years. They were SO great! They invited us to stay with them in the missionary home, which we did. Flopped a mattress on the floor in the living room... OK with me! It's better than having grout lines in my face like my "sleeping on tile" experience in Changinola. Bah!

They helped us out so much to learn about life in Panama.... the ups and downs. What they loved and missed. And especially the good things about the congregation and ministry there. Their congregation has about 200 bible studies, but 80 publishers... so though there is a large need in the ministry, they have a lot of help from the publishers in the congregation. Most of the bible studies and RVs are waaaaaaay out in the mountains... you need a car, truck, or motorcycle to get to these places because there's no way to get back if you take a taxi or a bus up there and a bike is out of the question! So though we LOVED Boquete, it pretty much rules that out for us because we need a lot of public transportation options.

Let me tell you about the ministry! One morning we went out with the group... I worked with 2 sisters who didn't speak any english... hehe... that was interesting! We fumbled at communicating, but we did and it was fun. They speak so clearly and slowly in Boquete, it was easy to understand. Since they're waaay in the moutains, everyone was really laid back. The sisters would come up to the door and say "Hi..." looooooooong pause "How are you?"                         PAUSE                    
"We are sharing these, um...................                   .........magazines." 
So, I dont like to rush at the door, but I'm really not used to this pace either. I was feeling bad for the householder, but they were perfectly fine to let the sisters go at a nice, slow, extremely relaxed pace. Alright. I'm learning....

The first sister did a door, then the next, but that was a not at home... at the next door, a man was sitting in the front yard in a wheelchair. He was watching us walk up to him the whole way but they didn't say anything till we were about 4 feet in front of him. "Buenos Dias" We all smile... I look at the sisters... they look at me... one of the sisters gestures her hand in a welcoming motion like "This one is yours..."

PANIC

[[[[[[[[  REMINDER:  I DONT SPEAK SPANISH ]]]]]]]]

So, I just jump in, head first...with my mini spanish presentation... talking about the problems in the world, wicked people and the hope for the future. I ask to read a scripture... the sisters are waiting for me to read it, but I don't have a bible in spanish! Finally one of them caught on and read it for me. I explained the scripture a little... in very limited spanish. |Then he started responding... I had no idea what he was saying. He spoke like he had marbles stuffed in his mouth. But I figure I have to try my best.... I know the words "good" and "bad", "people", "future", "no more problems" and "hope". I just kept re-arranging those words and making a bunch of little sentances. If he didn't get the point the first time, he got it by the 3rd time around. hahaha! And he was very nice, he accepted the magazines "Is it possible to live forever?" and "Television". Yes! Success! (haha Don't let me fool you... I just played stupid english girl...."No speak spanish. Take magazines now!")

The next time it was my turn, I was a little more prepared. They told me ahead of time that I was going to take the door. So, I'm standing outside the house and I shout a greeting, waiting for someone to come... "Buenos dias!"..... "Buenos dias?" No answer. So I'm ready to leave, but then one of the sisters says "Maria!?"
I'm like... "huh? Maria? Who's that?" I look at the other sister confused... I finally realize..."You KNOW the person who lives here? But you want ME to do the door?" haha No, worse... the householder was a return visit and they wanted me to do the door like it was a new call so they could all get a giggle at my bad pronoucation! hehe Julie says everyone knows everyone in the town so when a new face is around, they have fun. It stirs things up a bit. Well, it was cute. I'm glad they can be amused at my expense!