First talk out in Panama!

This is the Kingdom Hall in Los Pozos. It's up in this little hill so cute. The little boy sitting there was having his lunch, it looked so good!! Rice and chicken, but he wasn't about to share, he was hungry! They also have the meetings all in one day so this was the intermission time, time to snack! This little brother loved to comment though!

I know, Justin looks very big in that small platform! :)

So this is Justin's first talk out, here in Panama. He did great!! We went to this little congregation in a town called Los Pozos. The brothers there were so sweet!! The hall is small and their bathroom is an out house, but wow what a zealous spirit. They only had one elder, but there were 2 couples from the Ruta that were coming for only 2 months and they loved it so much that they stayed. They have been a great asset to that congregation. They are both from Costa Rica. One of the brothers was telling us that in the 5 months that they have been there, he has 22 studies and his wife also has 20 studies!!!! They are so happy there. They realized that material things are not a necessity, if you are doing Jehovah's service, that even though they were pioneers in Costa Rica, they now come to realize what service is all about and how happy they can be if they give their all to Jehovah and keep their life simple. He will always provide what we need and even more than we can imagine. The 2 couples were trying to figure out how to support themselves, so one of the couples opened a little car wash, which so far is going good for him and the other couple is selling pizzas from home!!! The government authorities of the town even told them that they would give them all the permits they need to do that! What a blessing from Jehovah!! I haven't tried the Pizzas yet, but I'm sure they are delicious!!!

This is how lush Los Pozos is. It's kind of up in the mountains. Beautiful!!

...and these, these are the mangos that the brothers gave us. I put them by my crockpot so you can see how big they are!! So delicious too!!!

After the talk one of the couples that are serving there invited us for hospitality. We had such a great time there with them so encouraging! I hope one day you guys will meet them. Oh! and their house has a huge backyard which grows the mangos you see above. So yummy!!!!

The couple we went for hospitality, Los Morales,  and this is their little home. The brother that's to the left of me,, is another brother from the Ruta, he came from Mexico. The brother next to him is originally from Los Pozos and the brother standing up was the brother that for a while was the only elder there. He is so happy now with all the help he is getting!!

Manguito Boy!!!

Yes, believe it or not he does exist! The mango boy!! 
We had to take the picture of this cute little boy. Let me tell you why. We were conducting the study to the girl that I had mentioned on the last blog, the one that her mom chased down Justin to tell him that her daughter really wanted to study with Jehovah's Wittnesess. Anyway we were beginning our study, when this young man, about 20 years old or so, goes by the house with these two little boys and stops and asks what we are doing?? We explain to him that we are having a study of the Bible. He immediately says, "Can I join you guys"? Of course we tell him, "Sure!!" He comes and sits with us and reads paragraphs of the Teach book and gives amazing comments! We were in shock! Then about 20 minutes later this other young man. about 16 also comes in and joins us in the study! Soon we don't only have the study with one person, but with five!!! 
So anyway the reason for this picture... We were in the middle of studying when this little boy stands up and says, "I need a mango!!!" Of course there are mango trees everywhere, so he goes and looks for one. Soon he comes back with this huge mango!! He was savoring every minute of it! He had mango all over him, his face, clothes, hair everywhere, but did he care?? No! He was enjoying his mango!! As you can see with his serious little face he didn't even care that we were taking pictures!!
So yes you all, little mango boy does exist!! :)

Service updates!!

Service has been an amazing experience these past weeks! Still can't get use to the fact that people have such a hunger for the truth and you actually have the problem of organizing your return visits and finding times to visit them all!
So last week was especially interesting. We were out in service in Sabana Grande, there's a dairy place where I love to get cheese from, it's organic and because the manager likes wittnesses he sells it to us for half the price of the stores. When we went there the first time, I noticed a pile of magazines and brochures. He tells us that there is a brother in his town that has been visiting him and his family. So me and a sister went there and I noticed that the manager was not there, there was a lady in the office so I assumed I would not be getting my cheese today, but we figured, at least we can share the truth with her, then she proceeds to tell me, "don't worry the same deal he gives you I will give to you also." Then I noticed she kept looking at us with this big smile on her face, then she finally asks, "are you guys Jehovah's Witnesses?" We immediately say yes! Then she says, "Good! My boss told me, that there were a couple of witnesses that come once in a while to get cheese, so I've been waiting for you, I want a Bible Study from you! My parents and I want the study!" Then she proceeds to explain that her brother became a witnesses

(So this is us, the sister and me that went to the cheese dairy farm, with the beautiful cows in the background that provided us with the delicious cheese!!)

and has talked to her about the truth, but she knows that she needs her own study. So she gave us all her information and we made arrangements to visit her in her home! So we got some cheese and an amazing study.
After we left there I met up with Justin, he had an amazing experience that had happened to him also!!
It turns out that after they finished a call, this lady from a house further down called them and said, "please come to my house!" So they followed her and she invites them into her home and she proceeds to tell them, "my daughter really wants to study with you guys, please can you come and study with her"! Then she walks in and brings out this big bag of our literature all well kept and in a neat order. Then she says, "look, all these are the books and magazines that my daughter has read! So can you come and study with her??" So of course they write all her information down and make arrangements so we can visit her on Saturday! That just made our day! We were hot, sweating and exhausted and then we find these humble and people hungry for the truth! We were so grateful to Jehovah that we were out in service that day and he can use us to find his sheeplike  ones. 
There are so many other experiences we've had here, but I will post more of them in another day!!
Just a couple more updates I wanted to share. Justin has a couple of studies he just started . One of them we found preaching informally at a clinic. This young man was just sitting outside waiting for his turn to go in to see the Doctor. I approached him and showed him "The Truth" tract, he wanted to know the answer to the question of suffering. We made arrangements to go to his home. He gave us his address and we went on a Friday. He was waiting for us!! He had his Bible and was ready to get started. He immediately accepted the study, now on Fridays when Justin goes he has his "Teach..." Book ready and chairs out for them when they arrive. 
For us studies like these are incredible for us, especially coming from the states. We were not use to seeing often people respond so quick to the truth and take it this seriously, especially youg people. We are so excited to continue searching for those humble ones that Jehovah wants among his people!!