Jim, October 20

I went back to the apartment today to try to make some calls, but our Vonage phone had such poor quality I was unsuccessful. Apparently the temple compound was having internet issues and the chief engineer was trying ti fix the problem. 

President Boren drove me back to the hospital. The Bjornasons and Martins came along too. The Bjornasons bought a Canadian pillow for Jim. So sweet! Hna. Martin brought some of her muffins to share with us. Sister Nelson fell outside yesterday and was trying to be invisible because her upper lip was swollen and scraped. She was feeling very self-conscious. We really do work with wonderful people!

After I got back to the hospital the room phone rang. It was Hermana Sadoval. She's the Gospel Doctrine teacher in our ward and the assistant coordinator on the Tuesday evening temple shift. She noticed we weren't at Stake Conference and ask where we were. When she found out Jim was in the hospital she called to give her love and support. Good people!

Doctors Ycaza and Lopez both visited tonight. The tests done today did not show anything, so they will be doing a biopsy from the pleural layer of Jim's lung tomorrow morning. Hopefully, it will provide an answer to begin to help Jim get better!

We feel so blessed by the expressions of love and the prayers being offered!!!! Thank you!

Jim is in the hospital

Friday, October 17, 2014

Jim has had difficulty breathing for the last few weeks, so we went to the doctor a week ago last Tuesday. Jim was sent for a chest X-ray and ultrasound, which he got this past Tuesday. 

The doctor, Dr. Ycaza, contacted me on Thursday and asked me to bring Jim back for a CT scan Friday morning. The doctor's nurse called, while we were still at the hospital, and had us return to his office. He informed us that Jim's right lung was completely filled with fluid, his left lung has an infection and there's liquid in his abdominal cavity. He had his nurse get a wheelchair to take Jim directly to emergency. 

Dr. Ycaza contacted a pulmonary specialist, Dr. Lopez, to come to drain some of the fluid from Jim's lung. Dr. Lopez said he wanted to wait until the morning, as Jim had had an aspirin the night before and didn't want to risk internal bleeding. 

Saturday, October 18

I contacted Aetna, the insurance company for missionaries, this morning. They're trying to arrange with the hospital to have them direct bill. That would be nice! 

When I got back to the hospital this morning the pulmonary specialist, Dr. Lopez, was just finishing up. He drained 1600 cc's of fluid from Jim's lung, which was a dark coloured blood. They then sent Jim for another X-ray, hoping to see his lung more clearly. Dr. Lopez said it was a good X-ray.

The lung has to be drained slowly so as to not collapse. Dr. Lopez said he would be doing it again, but I don't know when. 

I had gone on line to look up blood in the lungs and found that it could be a result of congestive heart failure. I was relieved when Dr. Ycaza said that the blood, in his lungs, is not coming from his heart. I mentioned I had Googled blood in the lungs and he told me if I wanted to look something up to look up pleural effusion. It has several causes, but because the left lung has an infection I'm hoping this is the cause, as it seems to be the lesser of the other possibilities. However, he's not saying that is what Jim has. They will likely do a biopsy of the lung at the beginning of the week. Until then, they continue to give Jim antibiotics for the infection in his left lung. We feel good about the care Jim is receiving!

Jim is comfortable and feeling relief, as he can now breathe much easier, but he is still on oxygen. He had a bad night Friday because they didn't give him his regular night time sleeping pill and pain pill, but he's resting much better now that I've been able to bring his pills to give to him. They will probably not do anything more until Monday as the lab is mostly closed on Sundays. The doctor said that the blood, in his lungs, is not coming from the heart.

Here are a few pictures of Jim's room. It is quite comfortable. The closet has lots of room for hanging clothes, plus it has a set of drawers and a fridge. The love seat makes into a bed, which is where I'll be sleeping tonight. 

Looking in from the door. The window looks out at the clinic where our doctor's office is. Notice the flat screen TV. Calgary's hospitals need to take heed. The closet has a place to hang clothes, a couple of drawers and a fridge. 

The view outside Jim's window. The covered bridge connects the hospital to the clinic. 

This is a love seat that makes into a single bed. 

The bathroom. 

The nurse just came in and made up my bed. 

This picture shows it in relation to Jim's bed. It was not comfortable, but at least it's somewhere for me to sleep. It's a comfortable, quiet room!

Sunday, October 19

Jim's doing well this morning. He got up, ate breakfast and has taken a shower. 

A technician came in to get the blood samples the doctor had ordered. The nurse came in right after and took his blood pressure. It had been somewhat high for the last couple of weeks, but since the stress of not being able to breathe has been relieved, it has begun dropping to a more normal level.  Other than this, today is a wait and see day. 

This is Jasmin, Jim's morning nurse. The nurses still wear the white cap and some still wear skirts or dresses. 

Dr. Ycaza came in and took Jim's vitals. He wants us to find out what kind of cancer Larry died from and to find out what the navy said about why they felt it was probably related to the time Larry spent in the ship's boiler room and around asbestos. 

This makes me a little nervous, but Jim's calm and not exhibiting any anxiety. 

We were told that Jim will likely be in the hospital until at least Thursday. 

We serve with wonderful, caring people! Elder & Hermana Bjornason accompanied us to the doctor the first time we came. On the way back, via the Metro, Elder Bjornason was robbed by a pick pocket. Hna. Bjornason has shown me care and concern, and Elder Bjornason has called Jim every day since he's been in the hospital just to give support and show love. 

Elders Bjornason and Nelson gave Jim a blessing last week. Thursday night I went to the Boren's apartment to ask Pres. Boren for a blessing of comfort. 

The Boren's have been helpful in getting me home from the hospital in the dark and back the next morning with a bunch of stuff we would need in the hospital. 

Hna. Martin has been a wonderful friend! She has offered me love and support through her many phone calls! I know she would do anything I needed! I feel bad that this is happening so close to the time the Martins will be finishing their mission and returning to Argentina. 

October General Conference 2014

It was so wonderful to be able to watch all six sessions of conference!

Hermana Boren invited the sister missionaries to watch the Sisters' Session with her on the Boren's flat screen TV.  They then invited us to watch the Saturday and Sunday sessions too, after we discovered the TV was snowy over at the chapel. The chapel shows conference in Spanish in the chapel and English in the Primary room. The men did go to the chapel for the Priesthood session and I watched it on the laptop. 

It was an incredible conference, which it am enjoying reading now. The talk that touched me the most is Come and See by Elder Bednar. I'm hoping that by sharing it in my blog my family and friends ,who aren't members of my church or are no longer active, will understand me better. The following is a link to his talk.

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/come-and-see?lang=eng

Here are a few scriptures from the Book of Mormon that I'd like to invite you to read as well:

*  1 Nephi (creates an introduction to the people whose history is written in the Book of Mormon)

*  2 Nephi 31-33 (tellis why Christ was baptized and testifies of Christ)

*  3 Nephi (my favourite...Christ's visit to the Americas after his crucifixion and resurrection)

*  Moroni 10: 3-5 (a promise to all who read the Book of Mormon)

The Church of Jesus Christ has brought such peace, direction and joy in my life! I know that I am a child of God and that He loves me. I know that families can be together through the sealing power of the priesthood within His holy temples. I know that the Book of Mormon was preserved for us in these latter days and that it was translated through the power of God by a prophet of God, Joseph Smith. I know we have a living prophet today, Thomas S. Monson, and that our lives are blessed as we listen and heed his words. I know God listens to my prayers. I know that I can receive comfort and healing blessings from worthy priesthood holders. I am comforted by this. I share my testimony with you, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

Hermano Pascual

We have met some people with truly amazing stories! One of these people is Hermano Pascual. One evening, during my temple shift, I had the opportunity to chat with Hermana Pascual. It started out by me asking whether she and her husband had both been members before they got married. She said she had been, but not him. After they got married he did join, and then he served as bishop of their ward for about 9 years. For many years there weren't roads to get to church so they had to walk and it would take them a couple of hours. 

The story I really wanted to share is of his early life. His mother was raising four children on her own. An older son, who was in his mid-teens, and three younger children four and younger. Hno. Pascual was the four year old. At this time in his life his mother died. His older brother tried supporting the two youngest, but wasn't able to support Hno. Pascual too. For the next several years he ate fruits and vegetables, and slept in mango trees. Hna. Pascual said he was like a feral child. Eventually, his older brother was able to help take care of him too. 

It's incredible that having gone through this experience that he has been able to come out of it with such a caring, wonderful nature! God has blessed his life! He's currently one of the temple sealers. 

New Temple Missionary Couple

A new couple arrived on Thursday night. They are the Nelson's from  the Logan area. They know Sharon & Ladell Hoth, my Sonberg relatives. Small world! They both speak fluent Spanish. Hermana Nelson is originally from Torreon, Mexico and Elder Nelson is an Idaho boy. He served a Spanish-speaking mission in the mid-60s. 

Yesterday we had a special temple session at 6:30 pm. Usually the temple closes at 1 pm on Saturday, so Pres. Boren asked if the missionaries would help out. Of course we did! I was the only sister missionary to not take some part within the session because I was coordinating and they needed me at the end. Jim and a three other elders also stayed out to help at the end. This provided Jim and me time to study. Jim's almost got the session ordinances memorized in Spanish! He just has a couple of pronunciation errors to correct!

The Area President had requested it for all of the stake presidents and their wives throughout Panama. There are some very young stake presidents! There were 16 sisters, including Hermanas Boren, Nelson and Mojica. There were about the same number of men, but President was the only non-stake president. Some travelled 8 hours to get here. It was marvellous to see the church leadership, of Panama, all gathered together!

Today they were all in our ward's sacrament meeting, seated in the choir seats. The Area President spoke at the end of the meeting reminding us to prepare ourselves for the sacrament every Sunday and to think about the Saviour's atoning sacrifice as we take the bread and water. He said if we don't, then we are just taking bread and water and not the Saviour's blood and flesh upon us. I'm going to really try to make an effort to do this more purposefully. 

The leadership all came to the patron housing after for the quarterly training. 

What a privilege it is to be serving here in order to have this kind of experience!

I love the temple! It is only in the Lord's Holy Temples where families can be sealed together forever! I am so glad that I have been sealed to my family, Jim ,and Stacy and Craig! One day we hope to be able to go with Neal too! 

It is such a comfort knowing that even those who have died can receive this ordinance through proxy! Thank you Al and Ann for sending us family names! We have been able to do all the baptisms and are still working on the other ordinances. The work for two of the names has now been completed. 

P Day Excursion to See the Widening of the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal

On Monday, September 15, President and Hna. Boren drove us to the Atlantic side of Panama to visit the construction of the new Gatun locks. It was pretty impressive! It took us about an hour to drive from the temple compound to Colon. Panama is a beautiful country and the road from here to Colon was a nice four-laned freeway with lush vegetation bordering it the entire way. Every once in awhile we could glimpse the river, Gatun Lake or house nestled in valleys or small slopes. 

This is a view of the Chigres River and surrounding countryside from the van. This is looking in the direction of where the Embera natives live, but further down the river. 

This is a sign along the road near the locks. 

Here's our group, minus the photographer. Elder Mathieson, President & Hna. Boren (Hugo & Camille), Hna. & President Martin (Celia & Andrés) and Hna. & Elder Bjornason (Kathy & Leon). They are standing in front of the visitor centre entrance of the expansion. 

I just had to have a picture of me in front of this beautiful orchid near the entrance. 

The Bjornasons, Jim and the Borens in front of Gatun Lake. This is where the ships end up aftering leaving the locks on the Atlantic side. They travel through this lake to get to the Pacific side and vice versa. 

This is looking at the construction of the widening. You can see several of the gates sitting, waiting to br put into place. The water in the background is the Carribean Sea. 

I believe these spaces are where the gates will be placed. 

These are so e of the gates that were just shipped over from Italy, where they are being made. They will eventually be hauled over to the expansion site to be put into place. There were already a few there, but not in their places yet. Apparently there are still about 8 remaining to be shipped over from Italy. 

Jim standing in front of the expansion. From here you could see ships in the original locks. There's a small white tower looking structure just to the left of the top of Jim's head. This is a ship travelling towards the Atlantic. There's another ship just a short way in front of it too. 

I zoomed in on the ship so it would be easier to see the ship travelling through the lock in the near distance. 

Hna. Mathieson with her dear friend, Celia Martin. Celia and her husband go home to Argentina at the end of October and will be greatly missed!

Elder Martin, Elder Mathieson, President Boren and Elder Bjarnason in front of Gatun Lake. Gatun Lake is where the ships enter as they leave the locks on the Carribean side. 

Ships anchored in Gatun Lake. 

Hermanas Boren, Mathieson, Martin and Bjornason just prior to starting the nature hike at the lock widening centre. 

While hiking along the nature trail nearby and we saw a golden silk spider. I know it's hard to tell the size, but it was enormous!

This is the entrance into the current Gatun Locks. We got there just after they closed to visitors, so it'll be nice to go back one day to experience watching the locks work. 

This was a ship that we saw while driving away. It was almost nearing the end of the locks to exit into the Carribean Sea. 

There is a one lane bridge that goes past the entrance into/exit out off the locks. This is what the gate looked like as we drove over the first time. 

This is what it looked like as we drove back over. 

This is what going over the bridge looked like, from the other side of the van, on the first trip over. 

Same spot, just minutes later. We are guessing that they are emptying water to lower the ship into the Carribean Sea. 

It had started to rain, on the way back to Panama City, so the windshield wipers got in the way. This highway was absolutely beautiful...Tree-lined and windy. 

Another view of the drive home. 

The guys always sit at the back of the van. It's probably the least comfortable seat, so they are being very gracious to us. 

This selfie is not very flattering, but it shows how we usually sit. President and Hermana Boren sit in the front, of course, unless Elder Bjornason drives. I'd be willing to drive, but it seems to just be a guy thing and Jim has no desire to drive. Plus, we don't have access to the van as it is intended for President Boren's use. This May be our last P Day excursion for a while, as we just got a new couple on Thursday night, the Nelson's from Cache Valley, Utah. The van only holds 8 and we are now 10. 

This is a diagram of the expansion project. I've heard the ferry trip down the canal is fabulous. We'll have to see if we could do it while the van is too small for us all. 

Here's the link for the official expansion website: http://www.pancanal.com/eng/ 

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Fruit & Vegetable Market

A couple of weeks ago Peter & Donna Wendt came to Panama City from Boquete, to attend the temple, and offered to take us to the fruit & vegetable market. The market sells large quantities wholesale and smaller quantities too. It was a positive experience. Donna provided me with the information to get there via the metro bus or taxi, so we can get there ourselves. We've been meaning to go back, but we haven't been able to make the time. It takes a lot of time to get there, shop and get back to the apartment. The Wendt's will be back next week, for the temple and General Conference, and have offered another trip to the market, so I think it'll have to be our next time there. 

Elder Mathieson (Jim) and Peter inside the vegetable section of the market. 

Jim carrying Donna's and my purchases. I bought a dragon fruit at this stall. It cost $3 at the market. I've seen it for $6 in stores. 

Hermana Mathieson, Cheryl, in front of the section that sells bulk quantities. 

People park their vehicles anywhere. It gets pretty tight. 

Some of the other missionaries have said it's a dirty place, but I found it to be quite pleasant. I smelled fresh fruit, not rotting produce, and there are big dumpsters that show up to haul the small spoiled, discarded heaps to the dump. You can see how this would clog the narrow roadways inside the market.

I got some really sweet pineapple, called Dorados, for just $1.25. They were so sweet! 

At one stall we were just looking at buying some avocados until the vendor cut us off a piece of mango...Jim said it was the sweetest mango he had ever eaten! It was incredible, so we ended up buying a few. 

I'm excited to go again to get some more fresh produce! 

Sloth in a Tree

This past Sunday Jim and I went outside to sit on our ledge to feel the sun, enjoy nature and to see if we would encounter José, the man with whom I had the conversation last Sunday. When we got to the ledge we opened our iPads to try to get WiFi from the chapel, but we weren't successful. I said to Jim that I wondered if there was a sloth in a tree across from the security gate and I thought I actually could see one; they really blend in! We hurried done the hill and what I thought was a sloth really was one! We took several stills and videos. 

Reaching out to grab a leaf. 

Turning around. 

Climbing up onto another branch. 

The sloth (oso perezoso) moves a lot faster than we thought it would. It was absolutely fascinating! This picture is on the other side of the tree from the first few. 

We stood along the roadside watching the sloth, which attracted attention from those passing by. Several stopped to take pictures too. 

It's heading further up the tree now. It's amazing the limbs are able to support its weight; however, sloths are quite small. 

I put this picture and the one following to show the size of the tree. This picture is identical to the one below only zoomed in. 

This is what it looked like without being zoomed. It eventually climbed all the way up into the higher cluster of leaves. 

When we went to The Summit (an animal rescue centre) we read that sloths are eaten by harpy eagles (world's largest eagle and Panama's national bird). Looking at this picture you can see how easy it would be for this giant eagle to pluck a sloth out of a tree. I believe the harpy eagle is found in the rain forested areas closer to Colombia. 

If you want to learn about the harpy eagle Google YouTube and search for 'jeff corwin and harpy eagle'. It even shows a harpy eagle taking a sloth out of a tree. Scott, I think you'd get a couple of laughs too, because Jeff is holding an eagle and it keeps knocking him on the head with his beak. 

Back at the Temple!

Coming back to work in the temple, after two weeks away, reminded me of how it felt going back to school after summer holidays...after a few minutes it felt just right and like we had never been away. 

It's a wonderful feeling to be able to go to the temple every day! The Spirit in the temple is so serene and there is a great sense of love and fellowship! We get to serve and serve with really good people. People who are not perfect, but trying to do their best!

Some days it's quite slow and other days, especially Saturdays, it is absolutely packed. This past Saturday we had 157 people who came to do a session. The ordinance room holds 40 people, with folding chairs it can hold 50. There are only 3 sessions scheduled for Saturdays, but to accommodate more people another session was added. In the session, Jim officiated and I followed, there were 33 sisters and 14 men. 

In addition, there were 3 stakes who had come with youth to do baptisms, one unscheduled. It is so wonderful to see the youth in the temple! Their faces radiate the joy of the gospel and the love of God. There was a live sealing and many proxy sealings. Initiatory was busy all day too! I don't know the statistics, but we were very busy! We ran out of lockers and had to issue plastic bags for the sisters to store their belongings. The laundry room was busy all day, and the missionaries worked 3 hours beyond the closer to finish it up. Great day!

Week days are harder for the people to get to the temple because of transportation and work. Not everyone has a car, and those who do have traffic that might affect their arrival. The roads in Panama City do not really accommodate the number of vehicles and there are constant traffic jams. Those who don't have cars have to rely on taxis and metro buses, which are also affected by traffic. Taxis are expensive for the average Panamanian, in relation to the monthly wage. Metro buses are affordable, only 25 cents, but the closest bus stop is one mile away. Those who come on bus have to trek up a hill in 31-37 C dressed in their Sunday best and carrying a temple bag. Attendance for the morning shifts seems to be better, I don't know why. It might have to do with the buses and having to walk back down the hill in the dark. A little scary. 

The church is fairly new here. President Boren, the temple president, said that there weren't missionaries in Panama when he served in the Central American Mission as a young man. Elder Bjornason said that when he served his mission there was only one chapel and only a handful of missionaries. Panama was a part of his mission, which covered Costa Rica, Honduras and El Salvador. In 1989 the Panama City Mission was created and there were just over 10 400 people. Now there are over 50 000 people. 

President Boren said that not everyone here has heard about the church, so Jim always has pass along cards or Article of Faith cards to give out. People are very receptive. It would be wonderful if something would come of one of these cards being given out! The gospel of Jesus Christ brings such joy and peace!

Sunday, August 31, 2014

It was fun having the Vandor family go to the Embera village with us! The Vandors (Daniel and Lina) came from Sweden to adopt two children. They are siblings. The boy, Matthew, is 8 years old and his little sister, Madeline, is almost 4. They have another sibling who is 6 and being adopted by another Swedish couple. While they've been here, both couples have made the effort to get together twice a week so the 3 siblings can spend time together. Daniel and Lina told us that the other couple live about an hour and a half from them in Sweden, but they are making plans to visit once a month. There is also an older sister, but she was past the age of ten and apparently anyone 10 or older is not eligible to be adopted. They said they will do what they can to try to maintain a relationship with their children's other siblings. Elder Bjarnason said he was told they want to help the older sister have the opportunity to have a better life so are planning on paying for her schooling. It's been fun to see this little family blend together! I know there will be challenges, but these children are so blessed to be going to a strong LDS family! 

On Sunday the Vandors got to church a few minutes late. When Matthew saw me he came running over to the bench where we were sitting and threw his arms around me! Children have so much love! Both kids kept moving between their parents and me. I say 'me' because Jim woke up not feeling well and didn't go to church. 

I'll need to take a picture of the Vandors before they leave. 

Jim and I usually go outside on Sunday afternoons to sit on the ledge of the wall separating the church from the driveway up from the road to the temple. Jim was still sick and I had cabin fever so I went outside to our usual spot. I had spent a little over an hour outside when I decided I should be going in before the mosquitoes came out at dusk. I walked towards the temple and saw the newly reguilded Angel Moroni and decided to take a picture. As I walked away I noticed that the sky was turning pretty shades of pink and purple so went back to take another picture. 

I've posted this picture before in my maintenance blog, but it matches this story. 

When I went back to take the picture one of the security guards walked past me. I mentioned how pretty the sky was and as I started to walk away he called me back to see the moon. I mentioned how beautiful the Angel Moroni was with the new layer of gold. He then asked what the angel represented. I told him that it represents the angel spoken about in the Bible who would blow his trumpet announcing the preaching of the gospel in the last days. He said it was his first week on the job at the temple and it will be something for him to think about because he remembers reading on the internet that people in several European countries heard trumpets blowing in the skies. I haven't heard anything about this. 

We continued talking and I mentioned that I had hoped to see a sloth in the trees across the street from the temple. He pulled out his tablet and showed me the pictures he had taken of a sloth about a half hour earlier. He had also taken a picture of an iguana that was on the driveway just beyond where I had been sitting. : /  

I asked him where he was from and he told me Boquete. I told him we had gone there the other week. He then started showing me photos of his family's farm and a picture of his wife and son. I told him one of the things we do in the temple is seal families together for eternity. He said that Hermano Phillips, the chief engineer, had also mentioned this to him and he had spent time thinking about this. 

He then told me about his cousin's son who took some venom and killed himself nine years ago, and that his cousin's youngest daughter had just done the same thing. He asked me if she was going to hell. I explained to him about the three degrees of glory and that every person who has ever lived on earth would inherit one of these glories, even murderers. That Satan and his angels, who were cast out of God's presence in the pre-existence were those who were going to purgatory. I also reminded him that God is kind and merciful and knows his cousin's daughter's heart and would be her judge. He said that was something else he would think about. 

By now it had gotten dark, the mosquitoes were biting and I knew if Jim woke up he'd be worried about me. I told the guard, Jose, that I needed to go in so my husband wouldn't worry about me, but that I wanted to give him a card that told our thirteen basic beliefs. I didn't have one with me so I told him I'd give it to him the next time I see him. I've been carrying it around ever since. I've added the church's websites to the back of the card, plus the mission office phone number. 

In case any of you want to find out what we believe I'll post the websites here. 

www.mormon.org 

www.lds.org 

Embera Indians August 30, 2014

We were going to go to an Embera village last weekend with about 20 other people, but the Embera ended up having their tribal election on that day. It's a good thing that President Carmack called to make sure everything was a go. He was planning on giving the chief a Book of Mormon. He had met with a bishop a couple of weeks ago who had mentioned his cousin was a chief. He wasn't able to go today, so I made arrangements with a woman from the church who has helped other missionary couples get out to visit an Embera village. We ended up with 3 missionary couples (Bjornasons, Massaros and us), the Vandor family of four (from Sweden) and 4 painters who were here from the States to paint inside the temple. 

The painters had a rental so they drove to La Cabima, a town just past the end of the metro line. The Massaros lived closer so they took a taxi, and the rest of us went by metro to Los Andes (the end of the metro line), and then caught a taxi. When we arrived Sonya, the lady who contacted the Embera, asked us where our transportation was. I responded that we are temple missionaries and don't have transportation. She ran down the sidewalk and within minutes was able to get a ride for the ten of us who didn't have transportation. It cost us $2 each for the ride to the river where we met our Embera guides. 

This is Sonya who helped us organize the trip. The person at the front of the boat is Donald, one of our Embera guides. Counting Sonya and the two guides there were 17 people in our boat. I think it coul have held maybe 3 more people. It was quite large!

The traditional mode of transportation for the Embera were hollowed out tree canoes. They are still made with hollowed out trees, but they now have Suzuki outboard motors. 

They were times when Donald had to use the pole to push us over shallow parts of the river. They haven't had the usual rainfall this year, which is kind of scary because the canal needs rain to produce the necessary water to work the locks. 

We passed this boat going in the opposite direction. These boys were playing while their dad drove the boat. The Embera dress in western style clothing when they go into town, as their traditional clothing does not meet with approval outside of their area. 

We passed by this Embera village on our way to a waterfall. 

The path leading to the waterfall crossed a stream several times and we had to crawl over a very large rock! It was a fun hike! We even saw an iridescent blue butterfly. 

This is the waterfall. Neither Jim nor I went beyond this point because the path was completely covered in mud and uneven rocks. 

Here I am with Donald and a guide from another group that was booked with another boat. We are standing on top of the giant rock we had to climb over to get to the path again. When I climbed down my left foot was level with my shoulder while my right foot searched for the bottom of the stream. I was amazed I could stretch that far!

This is the village we visited. We were just bringing the boat around to the landing. 

Another view of the village!

As we walked up from the landing the men played instruments as a way of greeting us. None of the Embera wear shoes. Donald told me you get used to it and don't notice rocks, etc. the men wear a loincloth under and draped over a beautiful hand-beaded covering. 

The women sang a song of greeting from the other side of the stairs leading up to the village. The women wear a lava lava type of skirt and a beaded halter style top. The bead work is done by the women and is beautiful!

This little girl was climbing up these poles. 

The women did a couple of dances. One was called a bird dance, but they didn't explain anything about the dances. I think the women look very Polynesian. 

This was a couple dance, but as you can see the children are included. The dancing reminded us very much of Pow Wow dancing that the NA natives do. 

These little kids were sitting under the table in the middle of the community hut. At one time there were three of them, but I had trouble getting their picture because it was during one of the dances. 

This is what they gave us to eat...tilapia fried plantains. The tilapia was delicious! I think the Embera know Colonel Saunders secret spice blend. Seriously, it had wonderful spices!

This is another picture with Donald. He asked us our names and we told him while we're missionaries we're called Elder & Hermana Mathieson. This started a conversation about Christ. He said his wife goes to a church because she believes in Jesus. I told him we believe in the Bible, but we also have a special book called the Book of Mormon, which has the history of his people. I hope he remembers about this conversation when the mission president goes and leaves a Book of Mormon there. 

We look quite bedraggled because we were wet up to mid thigh from our hike to the waterfall and it was probably 30 C, but felt more like 37. We loved the feeling of family and community while we were there. 

This is our group getting back into the boat for the return trip. 

Apparently, the government pays the Embera to maintain their traditional way of life and to maintain the rain forests on the eastern side of the canal. 

These Mom's were down at the river's edge bathing their kids. 

This is a basket I bought from an Embera woman. They weave it from palm fibres that they have dyed with natural things like flowers, plants, a hard wood and black mud. They also weave bowls. The weave is so tight that it can hold water. They charge $1 for each day of labour. This basket cost $25. 

This papagayo was carved out of a nut and then painted with natural colours. I've watched a man doing this at the artesian market. It's amazing how detailed some are! I just fell in love with this one! It's larger than most, so the man who carved it had to have used more than one nut. 

We were tired and dirty when we got home, but it was a great day!