The ministry is very diverse here. There are lots of Americans retiring here so we have them as part of the field. Then there's the local Panamanians who know enough English to have a basic Bible study. Our generation of the locals especially know basic English. We also take our time in the ministry to make it fun for us and the kids. Here's a picture when we saw a horse tied up on the side of the road. We decided to feed it some.

There is also a hydroponic lettuce greenhouse here. They grow Bibb lettuce and green and red lettuce. It's only $.85 for a head. They also have fresh eggs and tomatoes.  It's the best lettuce we've ever had.

And here's a couple spots we stopped to take some pictures. I know Adam and Coop aren't in these I'll get more of them soon. They were in another car group. 

We really enjoy getting the emails from you all so thanks for taking the time to do that. Much love!

Here are a couple pictures of our house and car. The house has a great backyard that has several fruit trees. Some limes trees, orange trees, banana trees and a plantain tree. You can see our clothes lines for drying.  Our washer is outside under the awning in the back. It is interesting how we moved here to simplify which we have. But with that you realize how much you took the luxuries of back home for granted. It's very time consuming washing dishes and doing laundry.  I have now invested in paper plates because I'm tired of washing dishes morning, noon and night. 
The ministry is great. Adam now has 2 Bible studies and I found a very nice girl on Saturday that I'm going to back and discuss the Truth tract with. Her English is very basic so we will be helping each other through it. People are very receptive here. We're used to getting to the point at the door before people shut it on us, but here it's the opposite. You could talk all day at a door before you even get to the point. They are very friendly people here. Next I'll try to send some pictures of our adventures in the minitry. 

Hello to all our dear friends! We miss you! What a trip we've been on. So many stories to share that we don't even know where to begin. Traveling here to be honest was long and grueling.We had so many bags that it was overwhelming how much work was in store. We made quite a scene in the airports with people asking what in the world we were doing.

 But the girls did amazing and learned how to sleep on planes, taxis, and in bus stations.

Once we arrived and were all thoroughly exhausted, we hit the ground running. Our house was completely unfurnished and we had no car. The town to buy most of our stuff is David, Panama and it is a 45 min drive away. So until we got our car we had to rely on friends who were so helpful and loving. It's very hard going from ones who normaly help others, to accepting others help. What an experience it was. There is nothing like the brothers and sisters in Jehovah's organization. Because of our friends, we were able to get a stove, refrigerator and washing machine first thing.  Then, we finally found a car.  Once we finally got a car, we were able to do some major shopping sprees. We'd fill our car up with stuff and bring it back to our house, then the next day do the same. The girls stayed with a couple families 2 of the times Adam and I went, but then they went shopping with us some too. Here's how Cooper liked that...

But once we hit Conway, which is like the Target back home, they both got their energy back eating at their cafe upstairs...
We visited a brother from the Spanish congregation to see about getting furniture made and we used lots of gestures and pictures to try and tell him what we want, then the girls made a friend.

The next day the girls and I went on a sisters Bible study. It's a Panamanian family with 2 boys aged 2 and 4. They're very sweet and the girls had fun playing with them. They live very simply but seeing their love for nature and how creative they are with their surroundings left me in awe.

That's their 4 year old son who knows some English but ALL the words to every Michael Jackson son. It was quite humorous.  This is his mother with Buffy who is the sister who studies with her. (Buffy's the one with glasses)

Our neighbor right down the street is a Bible study of a sister in the group. She was so kind one day to bring some vegetables down and some of the biggest prettiest flowers I'd ever seen. I didn't have a vase but it wouldn't have mattered anyways... they were so heavy I had to use a bucket!

Our first meeting was very emotional for me. We're in a hall that's so primitive with 25 people but it was the loudest singing you'd ever heard. Fortunatly I sat down to help Kaia sing...the tears couldn't help but come...
The second meeting was better for me. The Bible study I showed pictures of earlier brought their grandma. She did not speak a word of English but was the cutest lady you'd ever seen. We had her get in a picture with the kids.

There's a couple that are heading back to Texas for a couple months then heading back here so we had a small going away party for them. Here are a few pictures from that night.
To start with here's the first picture of all 5 elders together for the 1st time.

Then all of their wives....

Here's some pictures of ones in our group....

Sorry we don't have pictures of our house and car yet. We'll do that soon it's just been so busy.  We do ask that you don't pass around our blog address to anyone and everyone. This is mainly for our family and dear ones in the Antioch congregation and a few extra close ones. :)  We love you all so much and feel free to email anytime! We'll do our best to keep in touch. We think of you often and hope all is well.