My Grandparents asked me this week if we celebrated Pioneer Day here in Panama. I can tell you that I have not seen anything but can testify that like the pioneer children, I have walked and walked and walked and walked.
Can I just tell you of the many blessings I have seen here in Boquete?
Can I just tell you of the many blessings I have seen here in Boquete?
1) It's actually cold. In fact, we sleep with blankets at night.
2) We have a shower and there is running water!!! It has been a little while since I've had running water. The last area where I came from was an area where we were lucky if we had enough water pressure to fill up a bucket to take a shower. The water we did get was freezing, yellow, with a mound of dirt at the bottom, and had small worms in it. And so I am going to enjoy this all I can. No more bucket showers for a while!! The best thing about this shower and you're not going to believe this...we also have HOT water. YUUUP I said it. HOT water. You guys won't believe this but it is one of the three apartments in all the mission with hot water. The only time I remember loving a shower more in my life is when I got back home from scout camp. You'd take showers there, but there was so much dust that by the time you get out it didn’t even matter that you took a shower, so you just kept working on merit badges and didn’t waste your time taking showers.
3) We have found a handful of people who actually look like they were chosen to hear us. Normally I find a few people to share a message with, but every day we have been finding literally a ton of people who are receptive. For a few of them, they have expressed that they needed to hear my voice. Recently we found a woman, at an old investigators house, who grew up in New York. Her father was American, her Mother was Panamanian, but when her parents got divorced the family moved back here. She speaks English and lived in New York for some years after leaving the home. Because she didn't have anything better to do on Sundays, she even went to Church a couple of times. She is a spitfire, but in a fun way and has asked us many questions. Do you want to know the best part? Her name is Eileen. Ohhhh Come on Eileen (Too ra loo ra too ra loo rye aye). Ever since I met her that song has been stuck in my head all week long. With all the people we have met, it has been rather special experience here already.
4) One day we didn’t have much of a budget to eat, so like the normal Panamanian missionary, you get a soda and a bag of chips or a loaf of bread. One night we did just that and a man came up to us and said, “That’s your dinner? Oh no, follow me.” He then walked into a restaurant and bought a pizza for us. He then said, I understand completely, I once was a missionary too. #Milagrodecosechas
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| Elder Nievas and I |
5) This Sunday while I was at church, I ran into a family touring Panama from Arizona. They were looking for info on the church here in Boquete and ended up reading my blog. How weird is that!?
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| The Haws Family |
(Note from Jakes Mom): What a treat it was to get a text from this sweet family yesterday while my daughter and I had just finishing attending Relief Society. It read: "I was searching the internet about the church in Boquete and came across the blog of your missionary last week. I thought to myself, I wonder if we’ll meet Elder Irizarry at church in Boquete on Sunday!? Well, sure enough there he was! I know how much it warms the heart when a random stranger sends me a note and photo of my missionary when they are far away. So, please know that your missionary is awesome and serving the Lord beautifully here in Boquete Panama! "
This was the first time we have heard from anyone one in Panama. We wanted you to know what a happy surprise this was. We loved that you shared this with us as well as some of the amazing things your family has been able to experience while in Panama.
All our love,