June 17, 2014

It was another week in Paradise, both Panama and the temple!  It really  is a privilege to be able to serve in the temple!  We truly appreciate our President an his wife!!

This week their daughter came for a visit.  She is such a nice person!  It's been nice for all of us!

A special experience that Jim had this week was while he was assigned to help out in sealings.  A sister who was acting as proxy started to cry after a particular sealing, and even the sealer got teary eyed and choked up.  Jim said the spirit was very sweet and felt that those for whom the dealings were being done had probably accepted the ordinance.  I know that the spirits of those whose work is being done are able to be in the temple.  I wish my spirit was more sensitive to them.

Yesterday after grocery shopping we went to a municipal park called The Summit.  It is funded by the municipality only and the funds generated by donations and the entrance fee to the park.  It is a conservatory for animals rescued, either from illegal exotic pet owners or from being orphaned or injured.  What a marvellous park!  All of the animals are indigenous to the Panama area.  They also have plant species throughout that are plants from Panama.  The park costs $2 for Panamanian citizens and residents, $1 for seniors and students and $5 for non-residents.  Jim and I had to pay $5 because we don't have our residency or our retirement card yet.  They are issued by the Panamanian government to all who are residents.  Women are eligible for the card when they turn 57 or 58 and men when they turn 62 years old.  It is quite a savings!  If you show it to your waiter they give you 25% off your meal.  All of the tourist venues are a definite savings!  The president told us he'll take us to the Miraflores Lock after we get our residency because it is only $1.50 for retired residents, but $15 for non-residents.

We met a lovely family, the Jensens, in church on Sunday.  The woman is originally from Panama and her husband is from the U.S.  They have four children, two girls and two boys.  The girls are 13 and 10. Boys are 6 and 3.  What a nice family!  We were visiting after church and everyone else had already left, when it began raining.  When it stopped the family took off down the hill to catch the bus.  They didn't get very far before it started raining again.  Before long the family returned. one by one, running.  Since it was the lunch hour Jim went upstairs to the apartment and brought them down snacks...chips, cookies and chocolates.  The woman said that she had told her husband it hadn't stopped raining but he thought he knew better.  She said that she had known because she grew up here and knows how to read the sky.  I wonder if we'll ever get to that point.

Apparently it rains for 9 months of the year, but only for short periods of time most days.  After the rain it gets really muggy, but never stops feeling hot.  Yesterday we had a very nice breeze that helped to cool off our sweaty bodies.

Well, Jim went to the temple to study and I told him I'd meet him there so I better get going!

I'm hoping to post pictures this week...