26 - Chicha Fuerte

It stared out as a dance competition and turned into twerking

Well the funny thing, is we have needed a ton of rain, but we got none from that hurricane. We are like completely out of water so we are planning on going to the river today to get some more. 

It's been a crazy week. We had p-day on Wednesday, then Thursday we took a trip to Carti. We went to do divisions with them. And I found a new lady to do mola. I got one from her that was Baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph. It was actually super good! I'm gonna go pick it up in a few weeks so I'll send a picture when I get it. But other than that I got to help prepare for a chicha fuerte. First off it was because the girl 'reached maturity', so somehow that translates to let's party. They put said girl in a little room made out of giant leaves, they keep her in the house for a few days, then they make a soup out of bananas and pumpkin. Then Saturday they feed the soup to every one on the island, then Sunday they eat rice all day and drink. And all because a girl 'matured'. Interesting.

We are teaching a few other people. We are looking at 2 baptisms at least for next change but we will see! We are planning on having a family baptism, and we have pretty high hopes. 

I got to watch the General Women's session too. I got to watch it in Spanish and then yesterday we watched it again in English. I loved Pres. Uchtdorf's talk! I don't know if you remember the little video they had about temples, well just an FYI the last temple they show in the video is actually the Panama temple. And I also liked how he said got doesn't care how many followers you have on Instagram or if someone unfollows you on Twitter  *cough* S.B. *cough* but it was kind of funny. So many people get caught up in all that stuff, but it doesn't mean anything in the end. So there's no need to worry about it. 

But I really wanna bring you guys out here. It would be fun, it's so pretty out here! And the people are so nice! The funny thing, the thunder here is the loudest thunder I have ever heard in my entire life. It is so crazy! But I guess we will see. Transfers are this week, and both of us are staying. But to be honest, I would be fine with spending the rest of my mission here. Talking about it with my comp, I really don't want to go back into the city. I just kind of want to stay out here for the rest of the time. I get along with the people, I can handle no running water, and I just love being out here. But I will just do whatever is needed. I know I can't just stay here forever. 

Ok, so the thing with mail is the ZL's go in after every change, so they pick up all our stuff then. So I haven't gotten any letters or anything. If I'm lucky, if you did send one for my B-day, I'll get it in December instead of November. So in other words that's the downfall of being on the island, no mail. And I can't really send letters either. So I probably can't write Bro. Becksted back for a while. 

I like the quotes, even if they are self centered! haha just kidding! It's a good quote mommy! I hope you guys have a good week! I love you! See ya later! 

25 (Part 2) - Baptism in the Ocean

 Sorry I couldn't email for real on Monday. We had to leave for the islands so I wrote a quick letter to dad.

Haha well I wasn't in charge of anything during our trip to the islands. My comp had to go do some things. He had to interview the presidents and ask a ton of questions like if they were following all the rules of how to do things and all that stuff! I actually stayed on the island called Playon Chico. It's where the ZL's are. We just pretty much did splits. Me and the ZL who is going home in a week went out and taught some lessons Monday and Tuesday. We had a lesson about the Plan of Salvation and Elder Jensen was like 'And my comp Elder Adams is going to explain it' and just looked at me. The funny thing is before, I would have been terrified and been like what do I say to this guy? But I was just like boom! I just started teaching and it was a super good lesson. I could feel the spirit and it really helped my testimony about eternal families and temple marriage. Me and my comp have been talking about what we want in a future wife. I can't imagine marrying her anywhere other than in the temple. If I love her enough to marry her,  I don't wanna lose her after death! So yeah, it was a pretty good lesson.

But I love it so much out here! Me and my comp talk a lot, like about everything under the big blue sky. Like we both love it out here. Thinking about going back to the city just doesn't sound fun at all! Like they have fast internet and fast food, and malls, and members feed them but other than that, the island is so much better! Everything here is just kinda chill. It's a super simple lifestyle. Our island is like perfect! We don't have very much Kuna culture here, and we don't have like running water or anything like that, so it's kind of a trade off. But I love it here. The majority of the people speak Spanish, so it's easier to communicate. When we have someone who doesn't speak much Spanish, some of the members are super willing to help us. They just kind of translate from Spanish to Kuna so it's a super big help. 

Before I forget I realized something else that I could use! It's a dry bag. I know like a ton of brands sell them but just like a little bag that's water proof. And when I say little I mean little. Like one that is a foot tall or so is plenty big, because we do a lot of traveling out here. I just have my backpack and it's not water resistant at all. So it would be nice to have my important things dry. 

But I'm so mad about you getting to see the temple dedication! I wanna see Elder Holland speak sooooooooooo bad! I love every talk he ever gives! They are always so good! He is such a powerful speaker. 

 

And speaking of, yes we did have the baptism. The night before, a huge storm came in, and I mean HUGE! It was raining all night long. Then the next morning it was still raining. It actually swamped the district boat, like it was completely under water. The engine had a ton of water in it. So they took it off and tried to fix it, but the rain was still going. Luckily they got the engine working again, so we called up all the little kids going with us, and said get here in 30. So they showed up, and the rain stopped. So we all hop in the boat and take off at the blistering speed of 4 miles per hour! It took like 30 to 45 minutes to get there. When we got there, we had the service, then the district president baptized his granson, and then I went in the water with the girl we taught. She is 17 and I guess missionaries have been teaching her for years. Like tons of missionaries have worked with her, but she never accepted a baptismal date. We were the first ones she accepted a date from and then we baptized her. So it was really cool. We like to think it was because we are so awesome. haha 

 

There are so many people to teach on the island! Like we have 40 members at church every week and there are a few inactive members. But the problem is that the records weren't kept well, and no one took care of them. So sometimes we contact someone and they're like, oh yeah my wife is a member of your church but no one else in the family is. There are a ton of cases like that. And there are a ton of people that have never spoken to missionaries in their life. So we are far from running out of people to teach! 

And yes we did start teaching English this week. it was really weird. We had like 15 people show up to the first class. We will see about the next one! We taught them just little phrases that they could use, and then started going into verbs and how to conjugate them. It's kind of hard to teach it, but it's still fun to do! Which brings up, German study is going great as well! It's actually super hard! But still fun!  

Now I'll talk about the trip. So we went to Playon Chico, which is 4 hours away. Then I got off the boat, switched with one the ZLs, and they went back towards our island a little. They stayed the night at one island because they had to go to congress on that island to try and get the sylas to let them have internet on the island. They made a contract the church can be there for 20 more years, and then they will see if the church can stay of not. The sylas are like in charge of everything so we will see how it goes! Then the next day, they went like 3 more hours to the furthest out island. Then they came back to Playon and I got back on the boat with them. We had to try and stay in front of a huge rain storm! Like half way through out 5 hour trip, not including time in one of the islands to do the whole thing, our engine started dying. We could only get half speed out of it. The last 30 minute trip we had, the engine was like close to death. We really didn't think we would make it. But we gladly did! It was such a long trip. The first day was like 7.5 hours total, the second day was 8.5 hours total so it was super crazy. I only had the 4 hours the first day and then like 5 the second day so it wasn't that bad for me. We were getting home at like 8 so it was pitch black. But during the sunset it was probably the prettiest sunset I have ever seen. It was so cool. Just us 3 on a little canoe with a 15 hp engine and all you could see were dense jungle on the left, clear open ocean on the right. The sunset was a dark orange light red. it was so pretty! It was a super cool experience. I've seen things some missionaries that even serve out here will never get to see. But that was our trip. It was crazy and we actually did get rained on a little bit but it was fine, we had fun. 

I love you! Have a good week!

25 - Baptism in the Ocean

Well things went well this week. It's crazy that I've been on the island for a month now!

That's crazy about Brooke's games though! What's the deal though? Last year they got mercy ruled by both of those teams, but now it looks like they are actually playing some dang soccer! I don't know how I feel about the Brooke dating thing either. Too bad I can't be there to sharpen my swords when he is over, just keep him in line. But it's okay. I'll get back sooner than later! Haha

That's kind of funny that Marcus just calls and checks in. I'm pretty sure he misses me. I mean I would too! And of course he realized that! But that's good news for me too about the ladies in Provo! If the ratio is still there when I get back the chances will be good!

This week was really good. We had our baptism Saturday, and she chose me to do the baptism! It's so cool that my first baptism of my life got to be in the ocean! It was a super cool experience. But then Sunday was insane! Our branch president said he wouldn't be able to come to church. And they were delivering stuff to build us a new roof on the church so our district president had to take his boat over there. Well it's actually the district's boat, to bring the materials over here. And then they told us 'oh and yeah we didn't assign anyone to give talks.' So there were 4 priesthood holders in the building. My comp presided and conducted, I blessed both the bread and water for the Sacrament and we had an 80 year old guy pass the sacrament. Then me and my comp both gave talks, and between us 2 we actually took up the whole rest of the hour. After that my comp had to teach the adults, and I had to teach the teenagers. We only had like an hour and a half in the morning to prepare for everything so it was a super hectic day.

But I gotta go. We are going on a trip to the other islands today. We have to do the finances for all the other churches there. So I could possible by gone till Wednesday or Thursday but I guess we will see! I might get to use internet in a few hours when I go to Playon Chico but I'm not sure. Have a good week! Love you!

24 - Visit to Tikan Tiki Island

We call this the Columbian Flip

Making ohlaldres (like a puff pastry)

Team work in action!

This is how we wash our clothes

My little fishy. Yum, Dinner....

Cool little sunrise

The church in Carti (a different island) Over the water!

This week was a crazy week! First off we had the ZLs come with us, so I had to go out with one of them and do lessons and such. I had to get all the lessons ready and everything. Then the next day we had to go to Tikan Tiki for divisions with the hermanas there. 

I think we are going to start the English lessons this week and we are going to do them every Saturday for an hour. So we will see how they go! 

The kuna life is pretty much just survival. They just go day to day kind of. Normally, out here we stay for 6 months, that's about the normal time line. Some have stayed for up to a year! So it totally just depends. I'm not sure, but I like to be here, it's super chill and fun. We have a lot of fun out here! Speaking of, when we need water we have to go to the river to get it, which means we have to get in the river! And yes, President knows that we have to do it, so it's not breaking the rules. And yes we do fish to eat. But we don't do it by the bathroom! That's gross mom! We go out on the bridge between the two islands and fish there, it's a lot better. We have a companion goal to catch 2 fish each this week. But no, we didn't have life jackets when our canoe tipped. My flip flops float so I'm fine there, but I did almost lose my pen! It popped out and started going down! But it's all good, still got it! 

But his letters are hilarious! He emailed me in the MTC, and it was pretty awesome, it gave me a little chuckle. But the mail is terrible out here. And it's even worse for me because I only get mail when the ZL's go in, which is once every 6 weeks. 

I have thought of a few things I would like for my birthday and yes I am using the numbering feature for this.

1. jump rope. just a little one, and nothing too fancy
2. little games, like those pen ones you sent to Marcus or whatever you find that would be cool 
3. phase 10. just phase 10
4. a new glasses cleaner rag thing.
5. I will think of more 

I love your little motivational quotes! And it's a good one this week! Yeah they have facebook and stuff. Speaking of facebook. Can you go on mine and change my settings, I'm not sure what they are at. But can you open it up so anyone can find me? Some of the kids out here want to add me as a friend. 

The leg is pretty much back to normal. I still have no feeling around it, and I'm not sure if I can run normally yet, but I'll try and find out soon! I finally got tired and just pulled the last few steri-strips off. So yeah they are all gone. 

I'm glad grandpa is working and especially that it's helping her. She is such a sweet lady. Like she is seriously so amazing! 

I heard about Brooke's goals! That's awesome! It just kinda sucks that I wasn't there to see her play. But I'm glad she's doing something. I can't believe she's dating. But I would be a pretty great spy! I'm super sneaky first off, and second off I could just take some of my swords down to the couch and just randomly start sharpening every once in a while. I think that would work pretty well to scare off the boys! I'm sorry I couldn't be your unpaid labor force! ;) haha just kidding! 

Now to the whole story of my week, so we had the ZL's here. That was okay, but most of the lessons we planned fell through for both me and my comp. But we still got some stuff done. Then the next day we went to another island to work with the hermanas there. There are some problems going on there so we had to try and help fix it while we were there. It was kind of difficult. But we had like 2 lessons, both of which were super good super spiritual lessons. They were both less active members, so we told them how it's good to be better examples for their families. One of them is actually an Elder so that was a super good thing to see. We actually had him teach us and he used the Liahonna. It was the story about the South Korean soldier and having to drink at the military party. I'm not sure if you are familiar with that one or not. But it was really good because we talked to him about his problems. My comp used our story of the canoe, how sometimes we are going to fall, but all we need to do is change a few little things, and try again. Just because we fall doesn't mean we can't get back up. So that ended up being a super good one too! But things were pretty good. And we luckily caught a boat home. Then yesterday, it was pretty good. We had 2 investigators in Sacrament Meeting. But we only had a total of 29 people there, and normally it's like 40 to 45 so that kinda stunk. But it was still a good day. And that girl I told you about like the first week I got here, her baptism is scheduled for this Saturday! Which means we get to go to the Mormon Island! So I'm super excited about that one! I'll make sure to send a picture of that! 

Alisa emailed me again, and she told me about the buck that Abbi shot in the backyard. Freaking Abbi, that girl is just awesome! But that's pretty cool that it happened. 

But that is about it. This week was super hectic but things went well and it was a fun week. The weeks seem to be going by faster and faster. It's kind of crazy! But it makes it fun. I hope things keep going well! I love you!