Skype Report

We were able to Skype with Hermana Koehler for about an hour and a half. At first she kept laughing because she said, "I'm not used to saying so many words in English. It's weird." She was using a computer at the bishop's house. At first we weren't able to hear her, so she switched from the computer to someone's cell phone and she went outside where there was a hammock and some chairs. Maybe she was sitting in the hammock because it seemed like she was rocking some of the time. A few times she said, "It's really cold." We found out that it was around 80 degrees where she is in David.

I will put our questions in bold followed by a paraphrasing of her answers.

How's the weather?

Really hot. It's a little cooler at the bishop's house because there are more trees, fewer houses, and there's a breeze. There is no air conditioning, no fans. We don't even have fans.

How often does it rain?

Not very often anymore. We just started summer. The rainy season is over. My umbrella died. It was turning the color of rust. It wouldn't open all the way anymore. What caused it? Panamanian rain. I threw it away.

How are your shoes?

My feet get really hot in my big, bulky shoes, so I've been wearing my Crocs. Other sisters wear sandals, but I haven't gotten the final word from the mission president if that's okay, so I haven't. Also, the roads are really rocky and I don't think that would be good for my feet. Plus the insects. They have really nasty worms here. I thought our house didn't have any bugs, but then there was this one really big cockroach that my companion killed. We also had some standing water in our bathroom and maggots came, these nasty white worms, so we got rid of them. There are spiders that are really small, but we don't kill them because there are also flies. We'd rather have spiders than flies.

Do you have hot water?

No hot water. We had one day without water because they had to fix the "tubes." What are they called? Oh, "pipes."

The water is drinkable. I had a water bottle with a filter that they gave us in the MTC, but mine turned yellow so I threw it away. Nobody else's turned yellow. Everybody drinks the water. The water is good here.

What is your favorite thing to eat?

Arroz con pollo (chicken and rice). They mix it all up like a stir fry. I also love fried plantains. I didn't really like it when I first tried it, but now I love it. I love their natural fruit juices they make. Pineappples and passion fruit. Also, one that starts with an N. A member made us some strawberry juice that was really good, like a milkshake.

What kind of rice is it?

Every person makes it different. I have learned there are so many different ways to make rice. It's usually white rice, but sometimes it's orange. Probably because of the spices.

What is your least favorite thing to eat or drink?

Nancy. What is it? I don't really know. It's a gross fruit drink. It smells like vomit and tastes like vomit.

How is the chocolate?

Same. They have some yummy chocolate cookies-- square things with chocolate on chocolate. Mom, you'd be proud of me for trying the chocolate here. [I forgot she's never been a big fan of chocolate.]

Anybody speak English there?

No. Nobody speaks English. They understand English but they won't talk to me in English. We went caroling to all the widows in the ward and at one place somebody who lived in Minnesota for five years spoke to me in English.

Are there piano players in your ward?

No. We don't have a piano. They had a keyboard but it broke. I tried to play it once but it didn't work. We just start singing with the person conducting the music.

How is your ward? Are there a lot of less-active members?

It's a smaller building-- just chairs, no benches. The chapel has dividers in it that we can close where they hold classes. There are a lot of less-active members. I would like to have a rescue activity where we invite everyone to come all at once.

How many missionaries are in your ward?

Four-- two sets of sisters. Two are from Peru and my companion is from Honduras.

Do you still have trouble with Spanish?

Yes. I have trouble understanding some key words which can be a problem. People can usually explain it using other words and I can understand.

What did you eat for lunch today? 

Leftovers. A family gave us food yesterday.Our neighbors saw we went to bed early and felt sorry for us so they brought us food. So we took it over to a member's house and shared it with them.

Is there anything you want us to send you? What do you miss most?

Hot water. [We all laughed.]

How is your stress level?

Better. There are definitely some stresses in the mission, but I'm doing okay.

What percentage of the missionaries there are from North America?

Maybe 10%. I have had eight companions so far and none from North America.

Do you ever do splits with the members?

No. I don't really know my area yet. I would get lost. I follow my companion around. We just don't have the time to visit everything. We need to get to know where the members live.

Do you have maps?

No. We have one map that's really big on the wall of our apartment. It's confusing.

How do you pay for the bus?

It usually costs 35 cents (centavos) to ride the bus. We use change. We never use our cards. We take out money from the ATM. We pay the woman who makes us lunch every day 30 bucks when we get paid. We buy breakfast food for 30 bucks. We use dollars-- the green American kind, but the coins are Panamanian. They also have dollar coins called "balboas."

When you cook for yourself, what do you make?

We only eat breakfast at home. So, cereal. We also buy fried dough. There's a place right out in front of our house that makes it. So good. They also make really good chicken. We also have leftovers if we get home later and didn't have a dinner appointment. We usually have dinner appointments, but if we don't then we don't get home until 8 and we have leftovers.

Describe a typical day.

We wake up at 6:30. Actually, we've been waking up earlier, at 5:30, so we can meet a recent convert member at the church and we exercise with her. We get back to our house at 7 for our studies. We have lunch with Hermana S. It's usually rice. I'm getting chubby. We have chicken or beef. After lunch we work. We are out here by the bishop's house more often because we have more progressing investigators here. We work until night. We have dinner with different members in the evening. We have ward activities.

How many progressing investigators do you have? [She looked at her appointment book.]

Three with baptismal dates. One will get baptized in February. Looks like we have fifteen investigators, but we need to find more. Part of the problem is they've already tracted out, contacted, a lot of people here. We also have a really big area. It takes an hour to thirty minutes to get to some parts. So we try to talk to people on buses.

Was the talent show a success?

No, not really. I was disappointed that there were not many members there. We were hoping they would bring friends. But we talked about it in ward counsel and it's going to be even better next time.

What are the cultural traditions?

They have Christmas trees, but they celebrated Christmas yesterday. There were fireworks, dancing, drinking, and crazy music. They stay up until 12. Today is for relaxing with friends and family and enjoying their presents.

Are there a lot of Catholics there?

Yes, but they don't go to church. The Catholics I know didn't go to church on Christmas Eve. There are a lot of Evangelicals too. They enjoy talking about Christ but they say, "I'm Catholic."

Has your testimony grown since you've been on a mission?

I am learning a lot doctrinally. It's hard to express my personal experiences. I have a bad memory.

How has your health been?

I don't have any stomach issues any more. In my first area I think I was just getting used to the food and the new country. I get headaches sometimes because I'm sound sensitive. So when there is a lot of noise and I'm trying to focus on the Spanish I get headaches.

Tell everyone to always put "Mision de Panama" on letters. Otherwise it may go to another part of the same building where the mission office is.