91 - Merry Christmas Skype!

 

 

Well mom. It was really fun talking to you guys. I enjoyed it. But don't worry! Just 90 something days left!

The rest of the weekend was kind of boring because no one was really here for the holiday. We just visited members and tried to bring the people with baptismal dates to church. Only 1 got to go... but its better than 0! But this week we have a lot planned, we really are trying to work with more members. But they are tough with their work and all that. But this next week we have planned to help out some of the leaders of the ward too. They help us.

CH emailed me and asked me about his gift... I still didn't tell him! haha

Well honestly not much has happened since we talked. But thanks dad. It really means a lot to me that you are proud of me. And I am glad that you can see the difference in me.  Thank you for everything you have done. I love you! Have a good week. Say hi to Brooke for me!

90 - A Pretty Good Week

Mom. First off yes. I did get the package. And thanks for the chapstick! You know me so well. But no. I haven't opened anything except the cookie stuff. And I told my comp he can't either. haha

This week was pretty good. We found a new investigator and put a baptismal date with her. We found a few less active members too. So now we have 3 baptismal dates. 2 are 16 yr old guys. The third is girlfriend of a member. Then we have this family I told about last week. We are planning on going this week to visit again. But other than that things are good. I'm planning on Skyping the 25th in the morning. We are going to T's house to do it. 

We had the ward Christmas party this week. They had ham and it was good, so I was happy. Other than that not much has happened. We are still going out here!

That is kind of crazy that they flipped the truck. But it's good they were okay. I am glad things are going well there. Almost Christmas! And I don't even know what I'm going to say in the Skype. I'll see you in like 3 months. So ya! But I'm glad things are going well.

But I love you! I'll see you Christmas day!

89 - Christmas at the Orphanage

 

No. I haven't heard about the package. But I need you to cut this out and send it to granny and gramps from the Good fam. It's impossible to send mail from this country... Tell them that I said I love them both very much. And I hope they are doing good. And I'm always praying for them. And I really want to see them when I get back. And that I'm extremely grateful for everything they have done for me.

And now onto the week. So we went out with a member named T. Super cool kid. We will probably go to his house to Skype. And yes, it will be Skype number 4.

But we had some good lessons here and there. We found a kid named E. He is super cool, very chatty. But he accepted a baptismal date for the 16th of January. So we are happy!  But not much else from this week.
 

Until today. About a week and a half ago we met a guy named G. He's a chef and really nice. So we went to his house Friday and decided to help them cut down trees today. So we showed up at 8:30. They seemed kind of surprised that we came.  So they gave us breakfast then we went to work. Then lunch. Then finished. We got home at 3  but during this whole time we answered his questions and taught a little. Let's just say we cut down 3 trees. But we taught every single missionary lesson. 1 to 4 in that time. Everything down to chastity and word of wisdom. And I honestly feel like they are chosen and prepared. And we are going back to teach on Thursday. So that was really cool! But that's my week. 

Love you! 

88 - Christmas Party

Hey mom! Well this week was good. We had some really good lessons. And we had the mission Christmas party. It was my last one in the mission, so that was a little weird for me! But funny story. I saw my old comp Elder M. at the party, and he pointed out this sick BMW M4! Just ask Marcus about it. And it was an amazing color! And on the whole car thing, I’ve seen a ton of nice BMW’s out here! But there will be photos of the party on the blog. I forgot my camera.

But me and my comp get along well, and I like my area. We have a few investigators but we still want to meet more people to teach. As of right now we have 3 baptismal dates and we are trying to find more. The members out here don’t really give us references so that kinda makes it harder. But other than that it’s good. We actually contacted a guy last weekend who was really cool. We asked him about his family. He has 1 daughter who is in medical school. And he seemed really interested in the church. He said his brother was a member but never gone with him. And we are planning on going back his week.

But my area is huge!!! Second biggest in our mission. But I like it. It’s super chill. The people are nice, they are willing to talk, and it’s normally kind of quiet here. So it goes well with me. And I’m pretty sure I’m going to finish my mission here. And there are supposedly a ton of waterfalls and stuff in my area! So we might come here for a bit too when you guys come!

And I hope you guys get in the Christmas spirit! I hope you guys enjoy the last Christmas without me! But I’m glad things are going good! I love you! I’ll see ya later!

87 - New Area!

 

Well things are going good. I got changed to Chorrera. My area is kind of like the farm land area and actually touches both oceans of Panama... my area is insanely huge. So it's kinda hard in that way. But I love it.. and the people are nice here and there are less cars. There is actually fresh air! So that's good. I kind of like it here... I like the change. Yes I would have liked staying there in San Mig,  but this area is cool. But I got here Thursday because they did everything late.

My new comp is from Guatemala. First thing we went to a ward party. As of right now we have 2 people that are just waiting for their parents to say yes to get baptized, so that's cool! But today was good, we woke up and went to play soccer. Then we went to pricemart (costco) and I got a huge thing of soap for clothes for 8 bucks! I love bulk prices!!!!! It's so amazing!!!

But this is a good place to be. It is a little bit stronger of a sun, but it does have more breeze.. and since I got here it hasn't rained once. It rained on me every single day in San Mig!!! 

 

But when do you think my package will get here? I need to let the office elders know so they can let me know when it gets there.

I love you mom. And I do miss you, and I do miss Christmas at home. But this is my last one! So I think I will be okay. 

And btw. Thanksgiving was good! Like 4 families gave us food and it was all good! But I really did miss the ham, I love ham! Especially the week after, making ham and roll sandwiches... that is so good!!!! 

 

And another thing. When I showed up here I realized that people do trust in me.. a lot! It's kind of cool and I enjoy it! But I love you. Tell Brooke I said hi. And let Marcus know I need updates on the lady friend he has! Sorry that it's not much. There just isn't much to say this week. But I love you! 

86 - Baptism!

Well as the pics show, G.’s baptism was awesome :) But it was the most stressful baptism of my mission. She got sick Friday, and that’s when we do the interview. So we went to her house and did it Saturday morning and she did great! But then she went downtown with her family and was going to get back at 5:30. Her baptism was planned for 6. Because she is under age she needed a parent’s signature and her mom said no at like 5 in the afternoon... So we went to her house and talked to her mom for like 30 minutes to see what was happening, and she was like ‘Ok, I will sign for her.’ So we showed up to the church late. But the baptism before us started late so it was ok. We changed, got pics and I threw that girl into that water!!! haha yes I know it didn’t seem that hectic but honestly it seems that time goes a lot faster here when you have to walk everywhere and you have about 5500 things to do all at once. Let’s just say I’m learning to appreciate time. But it was awesome! I was so happy for her! And she is doing great now!

After G.’s baptism not much has happened. We started teaching a girl named R. again and we put a baptismal date with her. She seemed really excited.

Now to highlight 3... we wash clothes in a laundry place, and it’s owned by a Chinese guy. He is really nice and it’s weird because normally people can be kinda rude. We always treat him like a homie. So today we left and we were like ‘see ya later bro.’ and he just said ‘ok, see ya later friends!’ (in Spanish) and we freaked out! We are his friends!!!!!!!! Me and my comp were like yes! He’s our homie! And he is a really nice guy. It’s hard to get the Chinese people here to like you. They don’t like you easily.

And idk about where to visit when you come. I would like to show you guys Boquete. The rest of the stuff is in the main city so that’s about it... idk if you guys have found anything online that you wanna do.

Well I’m glad things are going well. But that’s about it. We are on a short time frame here! Love you! Gotta go! 

85 - Happy Birthday, Jake!!

 

So good news! We are going to have the baptism for G. this Saturday! I’m so excited! So we are really looking forward to that! And we hope her family will come to church, that would be really nice. That would be awesome to see a whole family accept the true gospel. But we will see what we can do.  But G. is really ready, but she had her first person tell her she was wrong and her teacher told her a lot of incorrect things with the church. She just told him, I’ve been there a lot and I know how it is, and I want to go there. I feel good there and I believe what they teach as true. So that was really cool to hear from her! I’m so glad that she has chosen to do this. It’s an awesome feeling for me.

Things are going good here! We are working hard. It’s hard to find new people. It’s hard because there aren’t many people here. But I guess it’s all part of mission work. But I am doing good ;) We have a few other members that want us to teach their friends. We just gotta get them to help us and go teach with us! So we will see what happens.

For my birthday, a few families made me cake, and food and other things. It was actually really cool! But we played basketball this week, and it was fun! I played okay and it felt good. I didn’t have any knee problems so I felt pretty good about that.

I love the new house!!!!! Mom sent pictures and it looks sick! It’s cool! And which room is mine? ;) I really hope it ends fast! That would be awesome!

So Marcus finally sent me a good letter! It was pretty cool! He kind of admitted that even though he was a punk, he still loves me. So that was funny.

But other than that not much has been going on, just crazy stuff in Paris, and running around in the sun :) Speaking of, what do you want to do here in Panama when you come get me? It’s a real question what we want to do.

But thanks for sending a Christmas package. Have a good week! Make sure to keep going strong on the whole workouts. Dad, make sure mom doesn’t get hurt in all that training! I love you!

84 - Panama Independence Day

Well this week has been a good one! It was the Independence Day and Flag Day of Panama so there were a ton of parties. There was also a ton of drinking around, so we couldn’t get much done. But it was okay I guess. We knew it was coming. There was no one home to teach. But me and my comp are doing good. We’re just trying to find new ways to serve the people. So we will see how that goes! We did have a few new investigators. One is a single mother named A, and she was really nice, and she really wants to know more about the church.

Yah, our ward mission leader told us about the change in church policy, and then our President talked a little about it today. It honestly doesn’t make sense to me why people are upset over it. It’s just saying that they have to wait until 18 to get baptized. It’s not like they are saying they can’t get baptized because of it. They are just doing it so there aren’t problems with the parents or anything. If people are leaving the church over it… The Lord needs strong people. We need to not put the world’s opinions before God. So ya. That’s my two cents on it. But the world has always tried to go against the church. It talks about that a lot in the scriptures. 

I think I’m good on socks. I don’t really need anything now. I don’t have much time left here anyways. But I love you mom, I hope you enjoy your last 5 months without me! I will bug you like none other when I get back! I’ll be like ‘Mom! You told me you missed me!!!’ haha love you mom! 

It is really good with a fun comp. We just kind of joke around and make things more fun!  We are excited! We got new beds. And they are amazing so we are enjoying that.

I will totally eat some birthday cake for you guys!

I’m glad it was a good time in Park City. I remember when we went while Marcus was on the mission. It was a pretty fun little trip for us!

But I will keep doing what I can here. I feel happier, and I feel like I can enjoy what I’m doing more now. Before I was super worried about Spanish or things like that, now it’s just kind of go with what I feel! I’m enjoying my mission. But I love you and I hope you have a good week! 

83 - Day of the Dead

Well things are good here…not much going on, just trying to find new people to teach, but we are happy. We are doing our best and we are trying to serve and love the people. It’s hard sometimes. Sometimes people don’t act like they care. Some people are hard to love but then I have to humble myself down a bit and remember that God still loves them. So that’s a little hard for me sometimes. But it’s good to remember.

Me and my comp play basketball with a bunch of other people every week so it is pretty fun. It’s a little hard because then we feel crazy tired, but I guess it’s no pain no gain. But I’m feeling healthy for once and now my comp is sick, so it just kind of switched. But me and him get along really well, we are a lot alike and we seem to just work well together.

And now onto the area, so things are good here. We are just trying to get things done. We always seem to be late for something no matter how hard we try! But I guess that’s life in Panama. But we are doing the best we can with the time we have. We are just trying to figure out ways of finding new people to teach. It’s tough sometimes but we decided to go to a place and contact it all on Tuesday. We will see how that works out. But we are trying to change things up, do more activities and invite more of the members to come. Sometimes it doesn’t work but we will try different things to see what the members would like to do. We can hopefully get to work with more families, so that would be cool. G. is getting ready for her baptism. I hope it goes through! That would be awesome! We are trying to get more kids in the ward that can help us meet their families. Hopefully we can baptize more here in the future. But we will see!

That kinda sucks that there was only 1 kid trick or treating! Yes, it is the Day of the Dead here, but they don’t really take it seriously I guess. A few people dressed up and stuff but it’s nowhere near as cool as back home. But I mean sometimes things happen, so our Halloween went pretty good. We start off with my comp not feeling well, he still has stomach problems from San Blas (thank you Lord that I didn’t have any problems from my time there on the island) and then we went to buy some stuff, my comp bought crappy shaving cream, and then we went to a baptism later in the day, so it started out crappy but ended okay.

So the house sounds like it’s coming along great! That’s exciting!

So FYI, I finally got some Mike and Ikes last week in the store…can you please send me some more? They kind of don’t exist here! And it sucks!!

But I hope things are going good there. I love you. Have a good week!