I wanted to tell you about a
WONDERFUL experience I had last night. My boss has a couple in his stake that
used to be the mission president in Panama 6 years ago. (They were there during
the ground breaking for the temple). Darrell mentioned to President and Sister
Duffin that Alyssa had been called to Panama and they invited us over to their
home last night to talk about Panama. Such amazing people! They gave us tons of
fantastic advice. First thing as a mother she said DO NOT WORRY! Your kids are
being watched over and protected and we as parents should enjoy the experience
vs. worrying and stressing about it. They said Alyssa will love Panama and the
people.
She said most parents worry
about safety and medical care. She said never once did she feel like she was
not safe and she often went out on her own. It is a very safe country. She said
the hospitals and medical care are wonderful. Most doctors there went to
medical school here in the U.S. so they are very good.
They told us to have Alyssa wait until she gets to Panama to buy an umbrella. Apparently they make a much better umbrella in Panama than we do and it is much better for the rain there. And the good news is they are inexpensive there :)
We talked about shoes and she
said the thing you want to make sure is to have shoes with good thick soles.
She said there are very few sidewalks in Panama and the few they have are
broken and uneven. The roads are rocky and full of potholes and so it is
important to watch where you are walking, especially at night. It gets dark at
about 6:15 every night no matter the time of year. She said make sure you have
shoes you can swap out every other day because your feet will constantly be
wet, either from rain or sweat.
She said every missionary has a
fan, so if there are 2 missionaries in an apartment there will be 2 fans. She
suggests that they turn the fan on at night blowing on them (she most do it
anyway because it’s hot) but to put your towel on the bed railing and your
shoes right close so the fan blows on all of it overnight helping them to dry.
She said most don’t use a
mosquito net because it doesn’t allow the fan to blow on you. She said with the
fan blowing it tends to blow away the mosquitoes as well. She said bring a
really light weight pair of pajamas either Capri or ankle length but they
really need to be very light weight (that is the important part). She said if
you wear them out you can always get another pair there.
As far as clothes and closets go
apparently they don’t have closets in Panama. She said it is better anyway
because the clothes will literally mold overnight. What they do is hang a rope
across the room and hang their clothes on that. It also gives a place to let
them dry once you have washed them as well.
About the mosquitoes, both
President Duffin and Sister Duffin said you need to tell the mission president
you are allergic to mosquito bites because some areas have them and some don’t.
She said the best thing to do about the mosquitoes is use the bug spray with
deet and they told me about Permethrin. You can buy it here at camping type
stores but you CANNOT take it with you. It is illegal to take in on an airplane
even in your luggage. It is a spray that they need to treat their clothes (and
sheets) with. I guess you spray it on (I guess it doesn’t smell very good when
you apply it but the smell goes away when it dries) and let it dry. She said
you can wash your clothes about 5 times before you need to apply it again. She
said it really helps with the mosquitoes. So between the bug spray and
permethrin it should be fine. They told Alyssa to treat her clothes before she
leaves but where they are going to Mexico I think that might be unnecessary as
I don’t think they are going to have a mosquito problem at the MTC. She said
when they first get to Panama to tell the mission president because the mission
office has a supply of it that they could give them. Then when they need more
they can buy it there. They also mentioned that they might not really have a
mosquito problem there. They said the mosquitoes there didn’t affect them like
they do here. So who knows. I guess the girls will figure it out as they go.
She mentioned a light sweater. I
guess almost of the churches have AC. Because their thermostats are in
Fahrenheit (which Panamanians don’t understand) they think 50° is hot and so
they turn the AC all the way up. She said bring a light sweater because she may
find she needs one for church on Sunday. She said some of the locals come to
church wearing hats, scarves and mittens because they think it’s so cold LOL.
(I guess they have never been to Utah J)
They said the stores in the
bigger cities are wonderful. She said in Panama City they have a store (can’t
remember what she called it) that is like a 7 story Wal-Mart. You can basically
buy anything you need there. They have a lot of brands we have here but even if
it’s not the same name brand they will still have almost everything we have.
The only thing she said she could never find was Reese’s because I guess
Panamanians don’t like Peanut Butter very much. She said almost every
neighborhood has a “Chino” or a local mom and pop type store (she says they are
always run by Chinese people). She said you can buy a lot of things there but
she does not recommend buying meat from them. Also she said DO NOT BUY FOOD
FROM THE STREET VENDORS. She said everyone wants to try it but she says they
should probably not do it.
President Duffin said it is very
important to live within the means of your monthly mission allowance. He said
most of the American’s come with a debit card (which is great if you need a new
pair of shoes or for an emergency) but the Latino’s don’t.
They explained the postal system
to me. Apparently they don’t really have one and what they do have is terrible.
The address in the instructions that came with her call is going to be the
one to use the entire time she is gone (even though it says to use that address
until you can notify your family of your first assignment). They don’t
recommend the pouch because it has too many restrictions. You mail the letters
directly to the mission home where the “mission mailman” in the office sorts
them by district. The ones in the outlying areas are sent (usually on an
airplane) to the District leader who then distributes them to the elders and sisters.
The ones in the City are delivered to the district leader (by the “mailman”)
who then distributes them. They said don’t even try to mail anything directly
to her physical address as it will never get there.
As far as packages go they said
what happens is all the packages that come in go to the same place and they
literally throw them in a pile. The person from the mission home that goes to
get them literally has to dig through the pile to find anything that belongs to
a missionary. He said sometimes they don’t find the packages until a trip to
the post office another day. He said they might be told there are 20 packages
and can only find 3.
President Duffin said probably
not to plan on sending a ton of packages. Not only because it is very expensive
or because of the delivery issues but also because anything they need they can
pretty much buy there. He said it’s almost better to put some $ in their
account and tell them to go buy their own shoes there as it is much cheaper.
One other thing he mentioned that they really have a problem with is the
abundance of packages the American missionaries get vs. the lack the Latinos
get. He said they usually hold all the packages for Christmas at the mission
home and then distribute them at the Christmas party. He said one year one
Elder received 14 packages and it was quite embarrassing as quite a few didn’t
get anything. He said often times the Latino’s never receive a package from
home the whole time they are out and sometimes never even a letter. Some missionaries’
families are not members and so they are not supportive of the missionary so it
is difficult for those who have companions that are constantly getting packages
and can use their debit card on a whim. They did say however if you send
anything you should send 2. One of them and one for their companion. Also
Sister Duffin said she recommends you sending a package for Christmas (it’s
important for them to get something from home, it doesn’t need to be a lot) but
to send it in September. Yes September! I figure our girls might still be at
the MTC when we have to mail their Christmas package LOL. She said if you are
afraid they will get it and open it you can write on the box “hold at the
mission home” and they will keep it for you until Christmas time. Oh and
President Duffin said that the address in the Alyssa’s book has a typo. He said
it should be Puerta D not Puerto D.
One other thing they talked
about was really making sure you follow the mission rules. Making sure you are
always with your companion, curfew, getting up on time, having companion
preparation time, etc. He said nobody wants to be a “snitch” but if your
companion is doing things they should not he said you should tell them they
need to stop or you are calling the mission president and then call
immediately. The example he told us about was a sister who kind of liked this
boy in the area they were in and he would come over to their apartment and they
would ask the companion to sit out on the balcony so they could have a private
conversation. He said the companion should have put her foot down from the
beginning.
Sister Duffin told us it is
really important to be extremely positive. If someone asks how you like the
country or the rain or the food or whatever, always be positive. Oh I love the
rain or this is the most beautiful place I have ever been, etc. She said it is
really important to be that way with members, non-members and companions alike.
She said you should never complain about rules or others to your companion.
They said the time to complain is when you are with just the mission president,
then you need to spill your guts. He needs to know the reality. He said a lot
times he would not know there was a problem until it was a disaster because
nobody would say anything.
We asked about the food, she
said usually what they do is fill up a bowl of rice, pack it in there and then
turn the plate upside down on the bowl and flip it. Basically you eat a packed
bowl full of rice. She showed us a picture, it was like a dinner size plate
full of rice. It is way more food than one person needs to eat. Alyssa told her
she was worried about them feeding you plate after plate of food and not
wanting to be rude, gaining a ton of weight. President Duffin said you can
always blame anything you need to on the Mission doctor. He said she could tell
them that her doctor said she should only eat one plate, that she shouldn’t eat
more than a cup full of rice or my dr. told me not to eat meat or whatever the
case may be. I guess every 4-6 mo. At a conference they Dr. speaks and he tells
them flat out to blame anything on him they feel like they need to.
(this I copied out of an email another Missionary Mom sent to me. I think it is great advice so I wanted to share it)
My son has only been sick once in Panama, and it wasn't because of food or water--that's not really an issue there. He described it to me once while we were skyping on Christmas--how the missionaries get sick. Apparently the church provides each missionary their own fan. It is SO HOT and humid, and wet (because it rains every day), that when the missionaries get back to their apartment at the end of the day, if they turn on the fan and stand in front of it, they have such a huge temperature swing from so hot to so cold (because they are usually wet from sweat or rain), that it cools them down too quickly, and they get a sickness that is similar to the flu--aches, pains, chills, and major headache. He said they advise the missionaries never to do that (stand in front of the fan), but he has had several companions that have done it, and paid the price. His sickness was a cold, that is a common occurrence. Anyway, tell your daughter NOT to stand in front of the fan!
