55 - A Good Week

Well this week was good! We had a few really good lessons this week, and we did a lot more contacting. I turned it into a game with my comp and it seems to work! It’s a lot better now so I’m happy! Things are going good. I am translating all the time pretty much. It is really hard and sometimes I get tongue tied. For Sunday I had to translate from Spanish to English and then English to Spanish. It was a little weird but cool! And I realized that I am pretty decent in Spanish. I can do pretty much everything. I have actually explained deeper doctrine, so that was pretty cool! But I’m starting to enjoy my area more. It’s hard but I’m becoming content. I like the weather, and the people are pretty nice so I’m having a good time. Yes there are some things I wish were different, but I get what I get, I can’t change it all at once. So I just gotta work hard and get what I can done. It’s interesting because missionaries pretty much do a lot in the branch. It is kinda stressful, but I’m getting a lot of experience so that’s good! Maybe it will help me if I’m ever a bishop one day or something like that. So I’m not going to complain about it anymore. But thanks for your help dad. It has been a tough time, but I like it.

That’s awesome that we might be in the same ward as the Littlewood family! I miss Reagan Littlewood soooo much!!! She is so dang cute!!! And she is sooo cute when she gets all shy!! I’m so going to hug her when I see her.

Last week I talked to president again, through weekly email. I told him how I felt and how things are going. He told me the Lord always has a plan, so I kind of have become content. I am really starting to like my area. We don’t have many investigators, we don’t have many members, and it’s tough to be in charge of everything. But I have realized that I can’t change anything, so I am just trying to enjoy it. We have had some great lessons with Luis and he seems to be doing well. But I’m not sure if he is going to get baptized. My comp wants to go and answer any question he has but I’m trying to find of things that I can do to help him learn more and not just kind of do it by having him ask whatever question comes to his mind! 

I feel like everything is going better. I don’t feel sad, I don’t really miss home as much, I don’t feel as down, I actually am pretty happy. I like my area, even with its problems. I feel like this has kind of changed my outlook on things. This has been a huge help for me! I love it now! This was a great blessing for me! I know that the Lord has been helping me with an open mind. And it’s actually a lot better! I love you! Thank you for always being there for me! I miss you and I love you!

54 - Festival week

Well this week there was a lot of stuff going on. There was a huge party, so it was like a big fair out here. It was a jolly old festival, which included a horse parade, a bunch of people selling stuff, and last but not least everyone completely drunk. It was actually kind of funny. But it kind of stunk because we got practically nothing done. It was the worst week I have had for work in a while! I didn’t feel sad or didn’t miss home or anything, it was just so impossible to get work done when no one is home, and everyone is out in the streets getting drunk. So to anyone reading this who likes getting drunk, just an FYI, you look pretty silly. But hopefully this next week will be better.  We did find a few new people to teach.

Something cool this week, there is another gringo here, he moved from San Fran and he doesn’t speak any Spanish at all. So now I’m in charge of 2 people at church to help translate for!!  This is in addition to my district leader responsibilities. I have 2 companionships as a district leader, but being the English speaking missionary, I am in charge of 2 people, like 60 and an 80 year old. They don’t speak Spanish so I have to help them and translate everything they need. We had to go do an interview for a recent convert to be ordained to an elder and I had to translate everything for him. I also had to translate stake conference for him, and that was crazy. I had to pretty much yell English to him, (he can’t hear very well). Haha. But it was okay I guess, pretty cool. And then there was the cutest little girl that lives in our branch, her name is Abby and she just turned 4 years old. Her parents are from Texas and are a super cool family. This little girl is so cute! We were sitting on the bus and she was talking to me and holding my hand on the way to stake conference, she is so dang cute!!! She reminded me of Jade and Emmry. I had divisions with the zone leaders, so that took us out for about a day and a half.   

Lately there are a lot of stupid little things going on in the mission, little fights going on between people and dumb stuff like that. So it’s kinda getting annoying. But we will see how it turns out. 

But I did see a super sick white Nissan GTR the other day. There actually are quite a few super cool cars out here. Every night I hear what sounds like a Mitsubishi 3000 GT, and a Mazda RX7 racing down the road. So that is pretty cool too!

I’m just working hard and hoping it all pays off in the end. I talked to president about my area and everything, so I don’t know what he will say. But I forgot to tell you, I have a problem in my back. The nurses said I’m not allowed to carry my backpack, and I have to take Advil 3 times a day. I could use some good ol mommy love.

I love you! Have a good week. And good luck with work! 

53 - Conference

 

  

Well this week was a little better. It was a rough one, but good. I am in charge of a lot of stuff. It seems like because I have a year in the mission everyone thinks that I have all the answers, so that’s kinda hard for me. I seem to be in charge of everything so it is kind of stressful. I have to translate interviews and they always ask me what to do. It’s like I have no clue!! But it’s good, it is a learning experience for me.

But today we went to an abandoned castle as you can see. So that was really fun! But this week I’m hoping is better. We honestly just did a lot of walking this week, so that was super hard. And I feel like we are wasting too much time. I’ll talk to my companion about it. But there wasn’t really much happening this week. It was really slow. 

But now onto conference. So we had a good time, but during the morning session on Sunday, the power went out. So we didn’t get to see hardly any of it. That kind of stunk. But there were a ton of good talks. I really liked Pres. Uchtdorf’s. when he was talking about being a true disciple of Christ, that this isn’t just a one time thing. We can’t make it to the tree of life by repenting and just kind of fall asleep, we need to do the things every day that can change how we are. And change how we act. I realized that a lot of things are like that in life, in marriage and everything, you can’t make it to a point and just take a nap. You gotta keep trying, keep working hard every day. 

I also loved the talk where that guy was talking about how the laws of the land might change, but the laws of God will never change. He kind of threw a machete at some people! It was so cool!

But other than that, things are going good. Our investigator is progressing, which is super awesome! But there aren’t many people to teach out here so it’s kind of hard. But I’m feeling better, working harder, and praying a lot more. So we will see how this week goes! 

But I love you. Thank you for your help! 

52 - A Busy Week

Hey mom. Well this week was a little different. It seemed like we didn’t have as much time to work. So we had Monday, which was p-day. Then Tuesday we went out and did some work, tried to find some new people to teach, tried to teach some lessons, and luckily Luis was there, and he asked us some good questions about wars and about why bad things have to happen. He really wants to get baptized. Really really bad! He says it every time we come. So I really hope he can keep coming to church. He didn’t come yesterday so that kind of stunk. But things are going good. And then Wednesday we went out and visited some less active members, but to get to their house you have to walk up a dirt road to a little farm for like an hour, and that’s after about 40 minutes of walking on a mountain road. And it was so tough! And I actually had a hard time breathing. I called the nurses in Colon, and they said I have asthma. It’s induced by dirty air, so that was pretty cool I guess. So now I have to carry an inhaler in my backpack all the time, it was a promise I had to make.  But it was so dang hard! But we chilled with that family, played monopoly and ate so it was cool. The great thing was they showed up to church on Sunday! So that was super cool! People really can feel a difference when we come visit them, and they are willing to work a little bit harder. 

But now to the sucky part. On Thursday we had to be in David 1 hour away at 8 in the morning for a meeting of district leaders (yes I am still a district leader). Then we got home at like 4 and went and visited some members, and then went home. Then Thursday we had to be in David at 8 30 for interviews with president. We got home at 4 again, so then we did some planning, and then went to dinner. Then Saturday we went and visited Luis again, and we taught him about the word of wisdom. He said he drank coffee, so we asked him if he would stop. He said he knew it was bad for him before, just wanted a reason to help him stop so he promised us to stop. Next we are going to teach him law of chastity. We will see how it goes! Then Sunday we had church, went to lunch with some members, and one has a boyfriend who is an investigator of the sister missionaries in our ward. He had some good questions about the Book of Mormon and about certain things so we started answering his questions. My job as a missionary is to answer people’s questions, but we have to be careful because the hermanas are already teaching him.

But now onto my area. It is dang hard! Our area is super touristy, so pretty much every single person is a tourist. They just pass by, and the people that do live there, are never home! It is so hard! There are only 2 members in our area, 1 of them is inactive, the other is less active. It’s difficult. I’m just trying to stay focused and work harder. I can work all day long, and just pray for help.

I found a little gem out in the back of a car yard. It was so gorgeous! With a dual cut off exhaust right under the driver seat, with a holley hood shaker intake. Oh dad you have no idea how happy I was! It was the coolest thing I have seen in all of Panama! And I have seen a brand new McLaren!

But other than that, things are going good. We are trying to get more help from members and trying to find more people to teach. So we will see how this week goes! 

51 - Another Transfer!

Well if you can't tell by my pictures I got changed. I am in Boquete. It's in Chiriqui by Costa Rica. It is super pretty here. It smells like pine trees and it actually makes me kind of homesick. It smells and looks and feels just like Utah in fall. And there are some stinking rich people here. This is the richest place I have ever been in my mission! Like it is so weird! I have seen everything from Dodge Rams to yellow Maserati convertables! It is so crazy! But my area this week, has a high of 76 degrees! It is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo dang cold mom! Like I think I got a cold! 

And that brings up that we have hot water shower. Yes I know. It's super cool! It's really nice at night when we are cold. But things are good. My area is super hard. Most of the people are never home, or they are traveling through. so it's hard to find people home and to find people in general. But things are good. This was a hard week for me, being in a place just like home when I want to be in Colon still. 

There are a few people in our branch that don't speak Spanish. I had to translate an interview that one had with the president. The translating was easy actually. Really really easy, but just weird to do. 

I like it here. It is cold, not much people, but I love it. We are in the mountains all day, right next to the volcano. 

But we do have 1 progressing investigator. We taught him the restoration again, and he got kind of emotional and said he is ready to be baptized now, so it's super cool! We have to wait a few more weeks to do it. But it will be cool! There isn't much to say this week. 

But we are totally going to visit this place when you guys come! 

50 - Service!!!

First mom, I did get that package! And thank you! I really did enjoy it! I talked to president about my going home date next year and he said if you guys want and can, like you guys can show up in the afternoon of March 30th, or on the 31st if you need to. 

Now onto my week. So this week was just insanely full of service. I’m not joking, we did service almost every single day this week and it about killed me. We painted a school, we cleaned a members house, then went and chopped some grass and then dug out a 3 foot trench for about 15 feet long for our neighbor. And then we went and helped move dirt. We actually do that a lot. We had a meeting with the bishop to see what he wants us to do. It seems like the members love us, but we still need to get the help of the bishop. It’s like he just sees us as other members of the ward, so we need to get him to help work with us. So we are trying with that.

We also found a few new people to start teaching. There is a kid that I met a while back, and he plays guitar. He is a really cool kid. And we have been trying to find him at home, but he is never there. But finally the other day he was home, so that was good. But other than that we are waiting for Kenneth to get home and that’s a big thing. We are going to put a baptismal date. But that’s roughly it. 

Other than that things are going good. We are just trying to do our hardest but sometimes it’s hard. I get disanimated sometimes and it’s hard. But I’m trying my best to be obedient and to work as hard as I can. I’m glad that I have the experience to be a missionary here. It’s helping me learn a lot about myself and about what I need to work on too. But other than that we are trying to find some good people. Our area hasn’t had a baptism for a year now, and we are the first companionship to get really close. We are hoping to work hard this next change. But that’s about it. Thank you for everything and your advice dad. It really does help a lot. I love you.

49 - 1 YEAR MARK! The Week I Learned to Love Unconditionally

So this week was super crappy but then super good! We will title this week, the week I realized how to love unconditionally.  Now I will explain. So this week was a tough one, a lot of services, a lot of getting yelled at, and a lot of hearing no. I was getting really discouraged, like really, really badly. Then we had a day where it was the same, a lot of walking, no one home, no one wanted to listen, the usual here. So we sat down at a bus stop and we were there for like 20 minutes. I kind of felt like crying, it sucked! I just tried to forget about all that. And then we decided to go to our dinner appointment an hour early. It’s with the Sanchez family. And btw, we are going to visit them when you guys come to Panama. Best family ever. They are all amazing members, they want to help us, they always tell us how cool we are! And the little girls love us more than anything! 

Now onto what happened. So we go there, and we show up, it’s at the top of a big hill. We saw a kid, Harrison,  filling up water jugs, because they don’t have running water. So we carried the water in the house. We got it in, and the mom started crying. I asked her what was wrong and she said nothing. She told us how amazing we were and how much of a help we were, how we were a direct answer to her prayers! It was so cool to hear someone say that! She told us how we always think of others before ourselves and how we are always willing to help them. She told us how awesome we are and all that jazz! It made me feel so much better! In that moment I realized that I loved that family. I loved them with a Christ like love. It was cool!

Then we taught Lacey yesterday. She has been busy lately, but we had a super good lesson. I told their family that I loved them, and they are important to us and to the Lord. The spirit was super, super strong! It was good! Then we have Kenneth the one I told you about before. We have tried to find him all week, but he has been gone. So we are going to try this week and put a baptismal date (fecha) with him. We are really trying to find more people to teach. The Sanchez family is helping us a ton. It’s actually really awesome. It’s kind of hard sometimes. but we are trying to work with the members. But that was this week! And I hit my one year mark, and bought my first machete! Good stuff this week!

haha Love you!