Training in Tocumen

Christmas Party in Panama City

December 27, 2010

27 December 2010

Dear Family,

I had a lot of fun talking to everyone and was really excited that they allowed us to use skype. I was really happy that I had the chance to see Gwen and Grant. I did not think twice about seeing the Brock family there but afterwards realized that was a big deal that they were there. Did they fly out? I am feeling much better now than when we talked. I finally unpacked my first aid kit and was able to take some bismuth tablets.

My Christmas this year has felt a little more like the fourth of July with the heat, fireworks, and bbq. It has been really hard to work this last week because a lot of people are outside drinking, out of town, or lighting off fireworks. Everyone is really friendly when we walk by and I have been offered quite a few drinks. Thank you so much for the package you sent. I have been passing out some of the little toys you sent. I gave some out to all the children of the families that feed us then passed out some more to children in the ward. We are encouraged not to give out anything to children on the streets because it spawns harassment in the future. Elder Voss and I are going to make no bake cookies today with the peanut butter you sent. We were fed very well on Christmas. The people here just eat all day and were happy to have us join in. Most of the families buy ham and turkey. It was nice to eat something other than chicken. The bad thing was we were really tired from the turkey.

I was going to send some pictures of the Christmas party we had on Thursday but I forgot my camera cable. It was really fun. We had it in the church right next to the temple so we had the chance to walk around it and take pictures. Each zone put together a skit and presented them all. We put together a top ten things that happen to missionaries in this mission including packed chicken buses and dog chases. After the party the mission president gave us all temple ties with a stitched mola design. I also visited with Elder Scrimsher and Polera for the evening. They are good friends.

Elder Voss and I had a strange experience that I am not sure if I should share but will anyway. We were walking to a dinner appointment when this woman ran out of her house and practically dragged us in. She explained that her mom and dad both died in the house within several months and she was feeling evil spirits. She asked us if we could purge them. We gave her a blessing of comfort and she said she felt something being lifted off of her and felt at peace for the first time in awhile. The whole family was really impressed and they accepted a restoration pamphlet and invited us to come back. She told us she has been looking for Jesus in her life. The whole thing was really strange. She knows where another Mormon church is and did not know there was one closer that we attend. She wants to come to church next Sunday.

Water has returned! Not only has it returned but we also have ok pressure back too just in time for Christmas. We took super long showers and we are going to wash our clothes today. Earlier in the week we were joking around that all we wanted for Christmas was some water. Well Merry Christmas.

On Sunday I gave a talk on una Navidad Misional. I shared some experiences of sharing hymns and the story of the birth of Christ during this month. I was only asked to speak for ten minutes and I was not nervous because everyone is so friendly and casual. People just go up to the microphone and chat with the congregation. I guess I did an ok job because a lot of people came up after and thanked me. One of the poorer families in the ward came up to us and gave us each really cool souvenir plates of Panama. Elder Voss plate has the canal on it and mine has the ruins of Panama Viejo. These people never cease to amaze me. I felt bad because we did not have anything for her but she told me that my being here and my talk today were enough. I had to wipe my eyes after that one. I am really started to love these people so much. I don't feel like I am even really working on it. They just make it impossible not to.

I am not really sure what to write since I just talked to you. We are excited about this next week because we are going to invite a lot of our investigators to be baptized.

I wish I could have been there to hear Ben speak. He is so funny. I am glad he made it home safely and that Jeremy was able to get married.

I love you.

Elder Whiting

Mission Pictures

Jeff and his companion at the MTC with their travel plans.

MTC Christmas decorations

Jeff in Panama

Old Panama

Week 12

Dear Family,

We were so thankful to have the water come back this morning. We went two weeks without washing our clothes! Fortunately we have been able to bathe out of buckets of rain water. We have stored up a bunch of water in buckets so that if this happens again we can at least soak our clothes in soapy water. For other needs such as brushing teeth and drinking we bought big jugs of water from a Chino (chinese owned 7/11 type of store). It was really hard to go out and work all day in the sun knowing that when we get back we would not be able to bath and there was a chance we would wear the same clothes again. Still the Lord answered our prayers and returned water to us just in time for prep day when we have time to wash our clothes. We are very fortunate because we have one of the only missionary houses in all of Panama with hot water. All of the rest of the houses use cold water. The only problem has been that we do not have water. We are not quite sure what the problem is. I think there has been a lot of contamination with the record rain fall or something.

We had exchanges this week so I spent a day and a night with our zone leaders. They ride these little buses in their area. It is really uncomfortable if you do not get a seat because I cannot stand up all the way in them. I really like Elder Stoddard from California. He went to Del Oro. When he came to pick me up he shined all of my shoes and swept our house. He is really an example of service to me.

It is interesting that you mentioned skype. We were informed this morning that we are allowed to call home using skype or something like it. This is also the cheapest method for me to call home since internet is only a dollar an hour. We are also allowed to call a couple days before to figure everything out. What is the best day to call? It will be hard to find a computer with skype on it but I think gmail has a similiar feature of video calling. The computers here are equipped with headsets and webcams so that should not be a problem. I do not remember my skype account though. We are going to look around and see what we can do. At the very least I can buy some calling cards and call you from our house or somewhere.

We are expecting three baptisms for this month. We have some amazing investigators. Some people are really prepared to hear the gospel. It helps that the people here love to "hear the word" and are really humble. We get a lot of help from the members here too.

I enjoyed all of the letters I received today. Emery and Campbell drew some really cute pictures. The support I receive from home really helps.

I am going to get some molas for the men in the family. I have ordered some white ties from distribution center. The kuna indians then stitch really cool designs on them. They look very similiar to aztec designs. I do not have access to a post office at the moment so it may be awhile before they arrive. Speaking of the kuna indians, I have been learning a lot of words in kuna. Most of the indians speak spanish in addition to kuna but some do not. We taught a lesson to a family that was completely translated into kuna from our spanish. I really like their clothing too.

In church on Sunday we sang we wish you a merry christmas as a special number in English. My fellow choir members sounded more like we weesh you a merreeey chreeestmas. I was trying not to laugh. I wonder if that is what my spanish sounds like to them. I hope not. I am giving a talk next week. I will be speaking on an article in the Liahona. I will be practicing that a lot.

I am really trying to work on the language. I can speak just fine and people can understand me most of the time but when they answer back it goes way over my head. Here in Panama they leave off the last part of words sometimes. I guess this will just take time to adjust my ears to their frequency.

I am really starting to love the food here. At first it was "bastante" (too much) but when we work hard I gain an appetite to match it. I really love the bananas and all of the different ways they prepare them. I have had all sorts of preparations. They also made some really good salads. What I mean is several pieces of lettuce with pepper but I like it.

I have sent some picdtures from old Panama, travel plans, and the mtc at Christmas. Sorry if they are too big. I cannot shrink them.

I love you,

Elder Whiting

Greetings from Panama

Dear Family,

We have had a fun morning for our P day. We walked around old Panama city and looked around some ruins. I will have to send you some pictures. There are a lot of historical sites in downtown panama city. We visited some art galleries, and I talked with some German tourists that spoke English. It is amazing to see so much history on one street and then walk down two blocks and see modern skyscrapers.

We have been receiving a ton of rain. Ironically, we have been without running water in the house for the last three days. We finally got it back last night so we were able to shower again. I have been doing everything else out of a water bottle I have, such as brushing teeth. It was not really a big deal looking back on it, but it was a little uncomfortable to go to bed sticky and I am sure I smelled really bad.

We have been having a lot of success here. The people we contact during the day are very friendly rarely reject us completely. We are teaching la familia martinez among others right now. We are worried about her because she found a hard lump in one of her breasts. We are hoping it is not cancerous. They have a really cute baby and are progressing nicely. The biggest problem in Panama and probably in Central America in general, is getting people married. The process is complicated and it is relatively expensive for humble families. Right now we are teaching about five families and find more every day. Unfortunately, none of our investigators came to church because of the water problems. No one could bathe.

Church was really interesting. We sang in the choir because my companion said they need people that can sing on tune! We will permanently be in it every Sunday now. Mom, I have been dreading the day I would have to say this, but it appears my talents with the piano will soon be called upon. We have a keyboard in our house, so I have been practicing to play. Not many people here know how to play the piano. In Elders Quorum we talked about staying away from some of the false practices we have in the church. He told a story about a ward somewhere that would only ordain boys facing the temple. President Monson visited and turned the chair the other way to make a point. I really like the bishop in our ward. He has been giving me a lot of encouragement. He told me a story about a general authority that was given difficult Hawaiian names in the temple to pronounce. He said he tried his best and everything was fine because the Lord knew he was trying too.

There are two schools in our area. All of the children wear uniforms. Sometimes when we are teaching, we will have the children read if the parents cannot. The schools are simply concrete shells with no doors or windows. The schools teach the children a little English as well. They like to practice a few simple phrases on us as we are walking by like how are you and what is your name.

There are about 200 missionaries in Panama.

Christmas is huge down here. There are nativities everywhere and many families decorate their houses with lights. I have seen many creative Christmas trees made out of Sprite bottles or one made out of green plastic wrap. I saw one of the biggest nativities I have ever seen in Panama City.

Internet is a dollar an hour here, so it is a pretty good deal. Most of the people in here are either playing World of Warcraft or are on facebook. Interestingly, there are signs posted everywhere that warn people not to look at pornography. I can imagine how bad that could be.

Thank you for your letters. Morgan sent some cute pictures printed onto a page. Mom and Dad, I have plenty of time to read your emails. If the dear elder pouch service is costing anything just know I can access your letters either way. We have to wait until P day to get your mail anyway.

I love you,

Elder Whiting

Headed to Panama

Week 10

Dear family,

Monday will be my regular P day as you predicted. The Wednesday email was a one time occurence because of changes. I have time to read your emails and I am also getting your pouch mail. I did not know the dear elder service extended past the MTC. Do they charge now?

We are having a lot of success in Tocumen. We have gotten into every single door we have knocked. The people are really friendly. It is hard to teach by the spirit because there is either a dog barking, rain tapping on their tin roof, a bus going by, etc. Still we are optimistic that we will get at least three baptisms this month. I have been informed by the President that this is a baptising area. The investigators here amaze me for good and bad reasons. Some turn off the tv, gather their family, and take notes during our visits. Others leave the tv blaring and the men leave. Many people here cannot read and understand very little, even simple questions.

Many of the frustrations of my summer job are coming back to torment me here in Panama such as the language barrier and hot weather. This is much more than a summer job though. I am told that things get better at about the end of your third change. Each change is 6 weeks.

All of the gringos were able to watch the Christmas devotional in English last night. They stuck us in a small room and set it up. The messages seemed to especially apply to me this year.

Surprisingly, I have not gotten sick yet. Everything seems to be going normally.

I have run out of time. I love you.

Elder Whiting

I cannot access Myldsmail at the moment. Anyways, like I said I am not sick at the moment. I also did not run out of time. They just did not reset the timer.

The members that feed us give us a ton of food. It is crazy. I do not eat much as you know so it is really a struggle to finish.

Here are some photos. They are taking forever, so I will probably only have time to upload a couple. Ok maybe just one. This is an archaic computer.

Love,

Elder Whiting

Stake Conference in Tocumen

Elder Voss, his first companion & trainer, is to his left, behind him.

Elder Whiting Arrives in Panama

Elder Whiting with President & Sister Ward

 Group of new missionaries

Hola - Week 9

Dear family,

This computer is telling me that I am spelling everything wrong. I guess it is set to Spanish. I have arrived in Panama just fine and have met my new trainer. His name is Elder Voss. He is from Reno, Nevada. I am in Tocumen I think. We are only approximately 15 minutes from the capital. President Ward and his wife are great people. I really enjoyed my time with them. You will not see a picture of us by the temple. Since we arrived on a Tuesday instead of a Monday, we did not have time. We did take a picture by one of the churches though. I did not interview with him either. He said we would learn along the way. 

We have two investigators. We are trying to get one pair of investigators married right now. Apparently it is expensive and complicated. We had dinner with the bishop last night. Chicken and rice of course. His wife made a really good juice by combining orange and apple juice. The bishop asked me about the gold mines in California, and I started talking about the Book of Mormon thinking he meant the gold plates. I have not felt well since that dinner. I am anticipating some problems.

I wish I had brought my camera. I took some pictures of the house I am staying in. I got lucky for my first apartment they say because it is relatively nice. I took a cold shower last night, but that was just fine because it is super hot here.

It rains constantly here. The first thing I unpacked was my poncho. We have been riding those crazy chicken buses everywhere because they taxis are more expensive. They cost 25 cents.

We get $245 a month on our cards. However we are only allowed to withdraw $100. The rest we can only spend if they accept the card. This is really rare as most places only deal with cash and coin. The biggest store in our area is a chino which is a chinese owned little garage. Inside, I saw pig heads and other meat on hooks. They sell glass bottled beverages and other snacks. They do not accept cards so I doubt we can find anywhere that does. You have to go into the city to find stores that can afford card swipe equipment.

Our area is very poor. Most people are living in cinder block houses or worse. There are dogs and cats everywhere that do not look like they have owners. It is a little scary to walk around after dark. Robberies are rare, but the reported ones are usually at gun point. My companion knows the area very well though and he zigzags us around so we stay in safer areas.

We had my first zone conference today in the church. They talked about using the Book of Mormon in our teaching.

I enjoyed the chance I had to talk with you in the airport. I love you.

Elder Whiting