16 - Zone Conference!

I guess the Lions Club is international! Who knew they had one in Arraigan, Panama?

My cool new Mola tie!

Well first off, yeah at the zone conference we did tug of war and then played basketball. I got in like 2 games and then my knee hurt too bad so I stopped. But it was really fun. We had a pretty good time with it. And yeah. I got a Mola tie. I'll send a picture. It's so sweet though!

I did talk to president about my leg. They are trying to figure out what to do. He told me that maybe we could get the surgery here or maybe I'll go home. But he did tell me if I go home, he said I can get healed and then come back to the Panama misión. So that was a super super big weight lifted off my shoulders. But before we make the final decisión I'm gonna ask him every question, like how I'm  gonna get there and back, how long I will  be home,  everything like that. But if anything he will probably call me and then I will probably email or call you guys when we figure it out. But that's what he told me. Because if I can't come back here, I'm just gonna stay here to do it. That's my only worry about this. But I took some money out today because we are going to this place cinco de mayo-.  they have like everything you could ever want there, and it's all cheap because the other gringo knows all the members, so they give us better prices. So I'm kinda stoked about it!

But this week was okay. We didn't really have much going on so it was a super slow week. It doesn't help that I can't do much. 

But yeah, the US tied with Portugal! I was so mad! They were so close to getting a second win! But they are tied with Brazil and Mexico so they are doing pretty stinkin' good. The funny thing is even moms get super into the world cup out here. I was like yeah, mom would not do that at all.

Reagan Littlewood is freakin' cute though! And I do need a bookmark so that would really help! I can't wait to get it! I'm glad at least someone misses me! 

But nothing too exciting happened this week except on Sunday we had a good lesson with this girl. She is like 20, and her best friend is that one member in our área. We had the lesson with them. She is ready to get baptized. She lives far away and like stays with her friend every weekend to go to church. She has been doing that for 2 years. We asked her about why she wants to get baptized. She is super cool. We have a baptism date with her for the week after changes so either me or my comp will be here. She got kinda sad when we told her that one of us won't be here for it maybe. I guess we will see. 

But yeah, that's it. I'll send pics. I love you!

15 - Baptism Week!

That's the bone growth off to the right. I think I'll name it Winston.

My 3 Legged lizzard.

Well this week was a lot better! We actually had a baptism for this lady Marjorie. It was really really cool! It was special because it's the first one we have had that I have gotten to teach! So it was really cool. I had to give a talk about the Holy Ghost. But it all went well, and the Bishop called me super gringo because I used the folleta on the evangelio, and it talks about the Holy Ghost so I thought it was perfect. 

I am gonna talk to president about my knee tomorrow. I will see what he has to say. I'm pretty sure they want me to get an operation but I'll send you the picture of the x ray so you can see. I don't think a brace will help. If I walk like 15 minutes then sit down, like I almost can't get back up. And it swells a lot, like every day. So it kinda sucks. But I really wouldn't wanna stay here for surgery. Number 1 it's pretty dirty around here and I know it would get infected. And it would suck to just lay there for like 2 months. But we will see what my president says.  I have some spray and if I spray it on my knee I can't feel it for about an hour. So I used that and tried to play a little soccer. But it just hurt my knee more, and a kid pushed me and I cut up my knee. So I'm not gonna play soccer for a while anymore. But if I do have to go home for surgery, I don't care what I have to do. I'm coming back to be a missionary here. I love it here. And I'm used to the culture now, so it's even better. And if I do get surgery, I am so keeping that thing! It's sweet! You'll see it on the xray.

But other than that it was an okay week. Things have been getting on my nerves lately. I'm trying to be patient and praying for some help. But it's so hard! But I guess I'm just gonna have to deal with it. But gladly I didn't have to just go sit in the house again, and not work! So I was pretty happy about that! But the funny thing is every day still goes by super fast, for not being able to do much. It's a quick time.

But one good thing about being here is the number of cute kids. There have been a handful of kids here who are super, super cute!

We have this family of Kuna Indians who we go to every Sunday for dinner. One of them named Luis is the ward missionary. It's awesome because even like a month ago he never went to church. He has changed so much in such a little time! It's so awesome though! But they are getting me a shirt with mola and a tie. The tie has parrots and a ton of cool designs! So I'm pretty excited. I'm so stoked about it! I'll send you a picture when I get them.

That's awesome Austin had a good time at the temple. I remember feeling like that-- are we allowed to talk in there? But I actually learned something in Spanish at the temple that I don't remember in English. So that was actually really cool! 

It's so much nicer to have another gringo in the house. Me and him joke around all the time. He is really funny actually! He is going home on the 3rd of July. He talked president into it so he could be home for the 4th of July. I love the 4th! It's so much fun all the time! I really do miss America. Me and Elder H. talk about how great America is, because it really is an awesome place!

You are gonna love it here mom. There is 1 thing I know of that is always super super cheap..... CLOTHES!!! Like you go to the mall and like all the clothes in the stores, like the most expensive thing I have seen is like a 15 dollar shirt and like 20 dollar pants. I could go to a store and get like 15 outfits for less than 100 dollars! It's insane! And it's so cool! So I'm sure you would love that! 

But this week was kind of fun. It hasn't been too bad. I just wish my legs didn't hurt so bad. Having one hurt has like transferred the pain to my other knee too. But I'm trying my best to just keep going. 

I love you. I'll send you some pictures this week so you will have something to put on the blog! 

 

14 - The Week of Knee Problems

 

Well, it's not just a cyst. The growth on my knee is a full on bone. I got x rays of it and there is a bone that grew out and started growing up. It hurts like crazy. My leg is swelling up lately so I can't really walk very long, like maybe an hour at the most and that's with advil. Like I'm taking advil just to get to our meals. And the president said I shouldn't really go out much because it just starts swelling and hurts really bad. You know I've been through painful things but this really does hurt. But one member had this spray stuff for pain. So if I really do need to go out and do something I just spray it a little and it lasts for a few hours. So that's a last resort if  I have to.  I feel like grandpa right now. I can't even walk through the dang store without almost killing myself. But I think it might just be today or it could be until I get my leg fixed. We will have to see. The doctor I went to said I need to get it removed in surgery. So I started praying about it and the only way I wanna do it is if I go home to the U.S. for surgery. I don't know why but that's just the answer I got and when I think about that I feel really calm. So I will talk to the doctors and president about it. But they want to send my x rays to Salt Lake to see what some specialists think about it. So maybe I will know what I'm doing in about a week. I would probably be home for the 4th!!!!!! AMERICA!!!!!!! HAHA I don't  know if you knew this yet but I have an America tie that I got here. I was kinda stoked about it!

I'm just gonna tell you an overview of the cool things I remember now. I've painted members' houses, I've fixed a car with my comp. I've chopped up a few back yards with machetes. And for zone service we pretty much just loaded dirt and moved it somewhere else. But that's about it.

This last week was pretty fun. First off we caught a crocodile. Yes we caught it. And killed it. Now we have the meat in our fridge. It tastes exactly like chicken! So that was cool. And I have more pictures for you too! Oh, I bought a pillow today. I've gone these 3 months without one so my neck hurts a lot! But now I have one so I'm really excited for tonight!

I've realized some things. Never again in my life will all my worries be just about chilling with my friends and doing nothing that involves any responsibility at all. Except if I go to BYU Hawaii of course!!!! haa That would be fun though. 

We go sight seeing every once in a while. But we haven't gone for a while because it costs quite a bit of money to go do stuff like that. And because it's the rainy season it rains every single day. And I mean every single day! I swear it's crazy! But it will be weird after my mission to not see rain clouds all day every day. But the good thing is before it rains it cools down quite a bit and the wind picks up a bit more, which makes it a lot of fun. But if you haven't been on a red devil  (bus) during a rain storm you have no clue what extreme heat and humidity is. There are like 60 people there and all the windows are closed. It sucks! But I got over my little claustrophobia real quick here! So that's a good thing! 

There are so many cute little girls out here! Like the level of cuteness is almost unreal! They do learn a little English, just like numbers and a few phrases. But there is this one RM in our Ward. he took an English class last semester so he could speak a Little bit more. This other guy helps me with Spanish and I help him with English. I help a lot of people learn a little English actually. It's kind of funny. Like this little Kuna Indian girl, Kimberly, I taught her like 10 words and she was like 'I can speak English now!' It was so cute!

I have played soccer a lot here. But I found that people in Panama have amazing foot work but if they have to pass the ball everything falls apart. It's like something in their brain. Like kids in the street and professional players all do that. And just so you know Panama lost to Brazil 4 to 0. And Brazil was playing about the level of my team for Fusion. So yeah. Not good.

But I'll try and find out what is up with my knee and I'll let you know as soon as I find out. But still. I do like my mission, it's pretty dang fun! I get to know people pretty well out here. I feel like I can make a difference out here. It is hard sometimes but yeah.

13 - Make sure to keep it real!

Haha! Our freakin' family is so awesome! I can't wait to get home and just chill with everyone! That reunion looked awesome!

Well I'm gonna call the doctors office tomorrow to get an appointment. So hopefully next week I can find out what is going on! But President met us and he looked at it. He said it could be a cyst but I don't know. I'll find out eventually! But no, I'm actually not mad at all. I'm not worried very much about my knees, and my place isn't hilly at all. But like the absolute worst thing that could happen is I come home for a bit to get surgery. So even if that, I will still be able to come back and finish my mission and that's all I'm really worried about.

But that elder is actually in my zone. He is pretty funny. I don't know about coming to the mission with only two weeks of MTC Spanish. It doesn't matter how much Spanish you can speak. It's still impossible to understand the people at first because they have such a different lisp thing that they do. But he told us all about Canada. But yeah, I got to know him a little bit while we were at a service project. 

Not much happened this week. We have one family, and they are really cool. The husband is a member, but the wife isn't. They came to church with us on Sunday, so that was cool. And the bishop wanted to meet with them. I guess we will just have to see. 

I'm really happy about Tyler. It's really good that he might go on a mission. It would be really cool to see him do that. But it's all up to him in the end. I'm just so glad I can be here and learn so much. 

 

So, dad, first off I'm gonna say something about the truck. You should put a k and n intake on it. And before you completely throw that out the window just listen. So more input and more output in a car equals more power and better fuel economy because the engine is working more efficiently without having to push and pull as hard. We already have a higher flow exhaust, and if you smell the exhaust it kind of has a gassy smell to it. That's because the engine has more output than it does input and it's making the engine run with more gas, which wastes more. So if you do get an intake, it will sound better, run better, have more power, and it will help the engine run longer. But hey, I'm just throwing it out there. Looking out for your investments here Papi! 

I have been reading Ether a lot lately. It's a really good book! It is a lot of really good things to remember. 

I love you! And I hope things keep going good! But I gotta go. I'll send a better email next week. I'll email you if I find anything out during the week about my knee. Make sure to keep it real. But I love you. See ya later!