Food in Aquadulce, Panama!

2/15/2016:

"After going to church, we walked passed this tree full of mangoes larger than a softball. Me and one of the other Elders, Elder Workman, asked the owner if we could have a few. He gave us 8 for free. They were soo heavy, we had to triple bag them with a grocery bag."

2/22/2016:

"This is probably the best bread I have ever had. Its cooked using coconut juice and has little shavings of coconut in it. Its really good. Don't know how to spell it, but its called yanni-k.k"

"There is pig tail in this. Tried this while in Bocas Del Torro."

"Somebody gave me and elder Perkes a sugar cane. This half was mine."

2/29/2016:

" I also tried Mondongo yesterday. Mondongo is cow stomach. Its not that bad. It has the texture of rubber and  sponge. Thats the best description I can give. Haha! It tastes like whatever you cook it in." 

"Mondongo...the white stuff in the middle of bowl"

3/21/2016:

"This is from when I was in Bocas Del Torro. I just wanted to send this. The McPollo. HAHAHA!"

- Elder Jaden Hawes

Pests & Creatures

2/9/2016 (text) & 2/22/2016 (text & pics):

"This is a tarantula I found outside of the church. I found 3 of these things in the Bocas church while I was there. Naturally, I had to catch it. It is only a juvenile. They get to be a lot bigger and lose the orange. I'm pretty positive its not poisonous"

"Some weird centipede I found. It might be poisonous. Probably is. Bocas is a jungle like area"

"This is a small snake. They look like worms. Found this in Bocas"

"Some dog I found sleeping on a machete. I just thought it was strange and worth sending"

"Another thing about this area [Bocas], it's the most mosquito infested area supposedly in the country. I don't doubt it either. Even with repellent, I had over 50 bites on my right arm alone. I took a 10 min shower the other day and walked out with 30 new bites on my back alone. Im not sure how many I have in total but I would bet money there is over 100. This is seriously not an exageration. I could send a pick of my arm but I would probably gross everyone out. Haha!! I hope I dont get Malaria or dhenge (not sure how to spell). Im pretty sure I will be okay though."

"Side view of my arm while in Bocas. Second day of 5. I should have taken an after pick after 5 [days] but I forgot."

"There have been a ton of mosquitoes here [Aquadulce] lately. Nowhere near as many as in Bocas, but still bad. The difference is that in the bathroom I counted about 40 mosquitoes on the wall. In Bocas, I counted over 80. Showering is a struggle. We use a bowl and a faucet near the ground. It takes longer to clean and the mosquitoes take advantage. These aren't small mosquitoes like the ones back home. Some are as big as by thumbnail and when they bite, you feel it. Its like a little prick. It makes catching them easier, but by then they are already done. They don't stop coming either." 

"Despite all of these trials, my testimony is building. If heavenly father wasn't helping me, there is no way that I could do this. Well not much to talk about. I hope each of you are doing well. Never forget, all we need to do is ask help from heavenly father. If we do this with a sincere and humble heart, anything (even surviving the mosquitoes) is possible. Love you guys!! Till next week!"

2/29/2016:

"The other day, I was teaching a lesson and this kid wals in with a box of baby parrots.  That's Panama for you."

"Today I caught the biggest spider I have seen while being here in Panama.  It's freaken huge."

3/7/2016:

"Me and some random goat I found while walking one day in the middle of nowhere"

- Elder Jaden Hawes

Back in Aquadulce

2/15/2016:

"We arrived in Aguadulce from Bocas Del Torro at 1:30 AM on Wednesday despite leaving at 6 PM the day before. I was a little sad I didn't get to see much on the bus ride back since it was dark.Then, my companion Elder Perkes got really sick. So we had to stay in the house the entire rest of the week. I think he may have gotten sick from the water there. Luckily, I never got sick. Which is kind of weird I think because I am still new in this country and he has served in one of the hardest areas. Blause. An island off the coast of Panama where the water is so bad that if you drink the well water it makes your insides itch. Im hoping I get to go there though. I here its pretty cool. I haven't felt weird lately so I'm going to take that as a good sign that I didn't get a disease from the mosquitoes. This entire week of me being stuck in the house I just studied. I studied my scriptures, planned for the area, studied preach my gospel, Spanish, Kuna (Native language of Kuna people), Ngabe (Native language of Nove people), the piano, pretty much doing whatever I could to stay busy. Sewing things to fix them. Those native languages are freakn hard to understand. I found a little bit of info for them and have learned some of the basics. I had a short conversation with a Nove woman that came to our church. She thought that was cool I think. I'm glad my mission president gave me permission to study the languages. I read something somewhere that said they are closer to Korean than Spanish."

2/22/2016:

" I sent off my companion Elder Perkes. He's now back home in Washington."
"He has been a good trainer."
"Me saying goodbye to Elder Perkes and Elder Workman. I will miss them. They are pretty awesome"

"Me standing next to our tiny church. Like I said, Its just a tiny little thing we are renting. Barely holds 50 people."

"This is how crowded the new house is. It gets sooo hot!!"

"I dont sleep well because the house is an oven"
"Despite all of these trials, my testimony is building. If heavenly father wasnt helping me, there is no way that I could do this. I hope each of you are doing well. Never forget, all we need to do is ask help from heavenly father. If we do this with a sincere and humble heart, anything (even surviving the mosquitos) is possible. Love you guys!! Till next week!"

2/29/2016:

"Wednesday we did service for a family. Helped them cut down weeds in their fields with machetes."

3/21/2016:


"Just a pic I liked. This is a new area we found yesterday"

-Elder Hawes 

 

Bocas Del Torro

2/9/2016 (text) & 2/22/2016 (text & pics)

"Me and Elder Perkes got permission to leave our area of Aguadulce to go to one of his old areas Bocas Del Torro (Mouth of the Bulls: in English)."

"This area is 9 hours by bus from Aguadulce. Located at the very bottom of Costa Rica. That's where I am right now. I have now nearly driven all the way across Panama. The bus ride was pretty amazing. I saw so much of the country. There are so many hills and mountains. The land here is so fertile and green. Some farmers get 4 harvests of corn every year. That is insane. Part of the bus ride took us up into the mountains. IT was the coolest ride I have ever been in. We spiraled our way up these massive mountains until we were literally in the clouds. We were in the clouds!!! The view was amazing and it was kind of scary with the bus driver going around turns so quick. Along the way, we pasted forests that supposedly are full of Pumas, Jaguars, sloths, monkeys, and every other type of jungle creatures. I also saw an indian protest against the government. The area I am in right now is pretty cool. It is really far from the city. Probably one of the most jungle like areas in the mission."  

"Today I went to see the bridge that crosses from Panama into Costa Rica. All I had to do was cross the bridge then I would have been there...but its against the mission rules so we just took pictures with Costa Rica in the background."

"I'm attaching a picture of probably the coolest flowers I have ever seen. I found this while I was up in Bocas del Torro."

"There are soo many bananas here. The Chiquita banana company gets a lot of its bananas from here."

"Some spray paint art from Bocas"

"Elders I stayed with while I was in Bocas"

- Elder Jaden Hawes

"Hey everyone!!! This week has been pretty crazy. Me and Elder Perkes got permission to leave our area of Aguadulce to go to one of his old areas Bocas Del Torro (Mouth of the Bulls: in english). We had to leave our old area due to all the partying that is taking place there. Im sure many of you have head of a celebration called Carnival (really big in Brazil) well...its here in Panama as well. It lasts about 5 days and consist of alcohol, fornication, and nude women walking in the streets. Therefore..as a missionary we had two choices. Stay in the house and leave only for church 1 day or leave to another area where they dont celebrate it. There are very few that dont. Im not sure what exactly the people celebrate but Its pretty dumb. They close all of the stores and cut off the water supply to use all of it for Carnival. I think they essentially have a massive water battle or something while partying with little clothing if any. The members here tell me it is the holiday of the devil. The Catholic churches here tell the people that if they have party but assist church on wednesday they will be forgiven of their sins. They also say they need to draw a cross on their forehead the last day to cleanse them of the sins. I asked a catholic person to explain the holiday to me. The last time I checked, planning when to sin and repent wasnt ever acceptable to god. It makes me laugh. One person I asked told me that many of the people dont believe god can see them during the days so they sin as much as possible. I believe it too. A lot of people here say they know god and understand the Bible but actually know nothing at all. I had one women tell me she believes in the bible but doesnt believe in Jesus and God. What does that even mean. A bible is a freakn book. You read it. Anyways.If you cant tell..this frustrates me a little. Its just cultural hear to say people believe in god even though they dont know anything. Then because they say they believe, they say they dont need to do anything else. Well played Satan. We got permission to leave Aguadulce. I wasnt going to spend 5 days in a house that is literally an oven. The other 2 Elders decided to stay. Since Elder Perkes (my companion) finishes his mission the 18th, president gave us permission to visit his old area Bocas Del Torro. This area is 9 hours by bus from Aguadulce. Located at the very bottom of Costa Rica. Thats where I am right now. I have now nearly driven all the way across Panama. The bus ride was pretty amazing. I saw so much of the country. There are so many hills and mountains. The land here is so fertile and green. Some farmers get 4 harvests of corn every year. That is insane. Part of the bus ride took us up into the mountains. IT was the coolest ride I have ever been in. We spiraled our way up these massive mountains until we were literally in the clouds. We were in the clouds!!! The view was amazing and it was kind of scary with the bus driver going around turns so quick. Along the way, we pasts forrests that supposedly are full of Pumas, Jaguires, sloths, monkeys, and every other type of jungle creatures. I also saw a indian protest against the governnment. The area I am in right now is pretty cool. It is really far from the city. Probably one of the most jungle like areas in the mission. The water here is supposedly bad to drink but the Elders in my house still just drink it out of the tap. Nobody told me it was bad till today so I have drank it too. But I have been here since Friday and I havnt got sick. Another thing about this area, its the most mosquito infested area supposedly in the country. I dont doubt it either. Even with repelant, I had over 50 bites on my right arm alone. I took a 10 min shower the other day and walked out with 30 new bites on my back alone. Im not sure how many I have in total but I would bet money there is over 100. This is seriously not an exageration. I could send a pick of my arm but I would probably gross everyone out. Haha!! I hope I dont get Malaria or dhenge (not sure how to spell). Im pretty sure I will ge okay though. There are soo many bannanas here. The Chitique banana company gets a lot of its bananas from here. The poeple in this area are pretty cool. There are a lot of Nove Indians here. A good number of them dont even speak spanish. I communicated a little with this one women in Nove. Im learning a little. During my time here I have learned a little over 20 words and some basic expressions. But I cant find much to study for it. I have spanish down pretty good. Basic concepts are down. Im working on builing vocabulary. Today I went to see the bridge that crosses from Panama into Costa Rica. All I had to do was cross the bridge then I would have been there...but its against the mission rules so we just took pictures with Costa Rica in the background. I went to the Chinos and traded american/panamanian money for Costa Rican money. Also, there are these massive spiders here. I caught a small tarrantula in the church yesterday. Well I got to go. I hope everyone has a good week. Love you guys!! Panama is beautiful! The mission is hard..but it was the best decision I have ever made. Focusing on other people rather than ourself is something that is truly blessing my life. Learning to care for others first is helping me to become a better person. Love you guys! Sorry about the book I just wrote. Haha!"

-Elder Hawes

 (February 8, 2016) 

Dormida

"This monday I did one of the coolest if not coolest things I have ever done in my life. I got permision to tag along with another district to a group Pday activity. We traveled 2 hours from Aguadulce at 4 in the morning to make our way to Valle Anton. In Valle Anton is a mountain named India Dormida. This translates to sleeping indian (women). From a distance, the mountain actually looks like a person laying on their back. At India Dormida, the trail that leads to the top of the mountain goes streight through a jungle. No joke. It was awesome. There were so many crazy trees, plants, bugs, butterflies, water cascades etc. It was beautiful. There were so many exotic birds and noises. Supposedly, in this area there are a lot of sloths too. Sadly I didnt see any."

"If you look at this picture, you can kind of see where it gets the name"

"Another thing that I found to be really cool is that we found rocks with ancient carvings on them from people that once lived there. These crazy symbols and designs. "

"The Panamanians told us it was really cold there and that we need to bring jackets. Got there...it was 78 degrees F. Silly Panamanians. So used to it being 100 degrees they think its cold. haha! Once we reached the top, the view was beautiful. One of the coolest walks and views I have ever seen in my life. Mountains everywhere, jungle below, exotic birds flying all over, and a view overlooking the entire town below. "

"It was also really windy. So windy, you could throw a stick over the edge of cliff, the wind would pick it up and push it 100 yards out behind us. We walked down the entire body of the mountain then headed to another area called Las Mozas which is essentially another seperate area that leads to a s small waterfall and area where people can swim and go cliff jumping into the water. Sadly we coukdnt go swimming so this was really more torture than anything. I got pretty burned that day but it was all worth it. Plus Im just more tan now."

- Elder Jaden Hawes
  (January 27, 2016)

Faith Sign

"I saw this sign the other day while walking and want to translate what it says...

'Faith is not only in one year. Faith is today, tomorrow, and always. Faith is born of the heart. Faith is living god.' 

I liked this message. I hope you guys enjoy it as well'

- Elder Jaden Hawes

That's a Shower?

"...the water pressure is so low in the shower, its pretty much impossible to use the shower. I tried it once and it took like an hour because it just drips. Instead, we have been putting a bucket under where it drips and using a bowl and the collected water to clean in the mornings. Only...the water usually has tiny ants in it because the house is infested with them. I was just thinking...I am going to be a lot easier to live with after this."

- Elder Jaden Hawes

Jaden & Military Police

"There were these two cops sitting in [the cafe] waiting for food. I was checking out the sub-machine gun the guy had and in essentially in spanish he was giving me that look like why dont you take a picture, it will last longer. Seeing that look I was like heck ya. I want a pic. Asked the two guys for a photo and they were cool with it. Were actually the ones that suggested we do it in front of the bike. haha! I thought that was a cool pic. These guys are essentialy police and military. They ride around on motorcycles. One in front driving, and the other behind with the sub-machine gun. I believe it is called a vector. The fight the occasional gangs but there arnt really any here. Havnt seen any gang activity."

- Elder Jaden Hawes

Jaden and the Panama Temple

"Today me and most of the other missionaries serving in the entire country met together in Panama City at the temple to liston to and meet Craig C. Christionson (presidency of 70) and Eldel Alonzo (Area leader). That was pretty cool. It was pretty spiri9tual and it was coo getting to see some of my old friends."

"Below is a picture of me in front of the temple. The temple looks so perfect it almost looks fake I think."

"We even went to get food. I may have gotten both Subway (lunch) and Mcdonalds (dinner). Got to take advantage of the good stuff. Aguadulce is tiny. So small they dont have a mcdonalds. Only got a Pio Pio fried chicken joint that even the Panamanians dont like eating at. Low quality. Thats why I have learned to fry chicken myself. Take that Pio Pio I can do it myself."

- Elder Jaden Hawes
 (January 27, 2016)