Week 15

Attention everyone-

The Holy Ghost is SPOOKY and WHOLESOME. It shakes me to the core everyday. 

Everyone we're teaching right now is quirky and cartoonish and I love them ohhhh. It's so fun to be a missionary.

The cover photo of this email is my missionary mall modeling application that's completely candid and unplanned. Note my rainproof jungle boots from Scheels that are the envy of every missionary and cat-caller alike.

 

A picture of some pups that we walk past everyday.

 

A shampoo bottle with funny English.

One time we met this guy and we were like "Oh hi we're representatives of Jesus Christ" and he was like "That's great but sorry, I'm Evangelico (Protestant)" and it was a funny joke because he was wearing a shirt that said "Don't let it stop you" in English. 

That's all. Have a great week. Love you all. 

Week 14

huuuuuuuuu what a week. Where do I start?

This week was full of sneak attacks, but not all bad sneak attacks. On Wednesday we had multizone conference in Panama but little did we know that it was actually a super mega multizone conference where they brought the ENTIRE mission so we could take a giant picture cause its President and Sister Current's last transfer. Everyone was there and it was WILD. I got to talk to all my fun friends and we took lots of pictures but I don’t have any of them because I didn’t have my camera with me. 

In other news, rainy season has arrived, but this time for real. Let’s talk about it. Just kidding there’s not actually that much to say. I just finally understand what everyone that’s served in Central and South America was talking about when they said it dumps rain. The nice thing is that it’s always at the same time every day. All us gringo missionaries are already like 2 shades lighter than we were a week ago. But the other thing about the rain is that it brings all manner of bugs and ohhhhhhhhh (that was a distressed ohhh. It is a TRIAL but I'm getting over it, it's fine). 

This woman we met told me she thought I was from Argentina cause my American accent is so slight and it FED my pride. but then I get into a situation that’s not routine or gospel related and I’m just such a train wreck and its funny cause all my pride gets knocked down really quick. 

We were in a lesson this week with this old woman and her mother who’s like 90. We taught the whole lesson and the mother had her eyes closed and hadn’t said a word but then she slowly opened her eyes and was thinking for a minute and said "..Do your mothers know that you’re here?" and I think that describes how I feel every morning when I start the day. I just say "Does my mother know I’m here? Who is letting us be here??" But in all seriousness its very miraculous to me that 18-20 year old missionaries all over the world do what they do. I don’t even know how to describe it but sometimes I just have weird moments of self awareness where I go "Where am I? How are we doing this?" 

Anyways. To end I want to tell you that yesterday this random guy that we talked to in the street and very off-handedly invited to church actually came. And it was EMBARRASSING cause we didn’t sit with him or even notice he was there until after the meeting cause we didn’t expect him to be there. But he came to both hours and said he loved it more than any other church he’d been to. So the little "woo yeah this is a missionary email and you can be a missionary too" message that I want to share is that when we make efforts to share the gospel in little ways we should be sincere in our faith that people will actually listen. Lots of people are just waiting for the invitation to come and see.  

Thank you amen, have a great week.

The pictures are just random things.

 These bugs (apparently called 'zompopos') are EVERYWHERE. They fall out of the trees and land on us. Not my fav thing

 I always try and take pictures of the canal when we cross over it cause its so pretty but I never send the pictures home cause they don't do it justice.

 Also the rain turns the river bright orange. 

Week 13

Okay everyone, I’m sorry for being dramatic last week. Hermana Head and I are here now and we are JIVING with the Spirit! Before I get started- a quick bio on Hermana Head -Shes 4´10" (So I always feel like a huge giant next to her) and she’s a fun crafty lady who likes to cook and sew. 

Both of us were secretly disappointed when we met cause we were both hoping to have a Latina comp so our Spanish would skyrocket but now that it’s been a week I’m seeing that it's sneakily helping me grow a lot because I have way more responsibility than I did before cause I know the area and all the people and she doesn’t so I have to take the lead with talking with everyone and planning and such. Anyways. The best thing with Hermana Head and me is that we are ON THE SAME PAGE- here’s a lil story to demonstrate.

Last Tuesday night we were walking in this neighborhood, probably about 8:00ish in the evening, and everything felt normal and relaxed and fine, but then we turn the corner and start walking up this road and instantly I just felt this bad eerie feeling but I didn’t say anything (Hna Head's last area was super dangerous and I didn’t want her to think I was a bAbY) but the longer we were walking the more intense the feeling got, to the point that I started getting super nauseated and sweaty and just kind of like I couldn’t bear to be on that road for a second longer (which was odd because there was nothing super obviously threatening on it at all). But in the same moment Hna Head and I looked at each other and said "Are you feeling what I'm feeling?" and then we SPRINTED out of that neighborhood and back to the main road. Probably never in my life have I felt an impression from the spirit that distinctly to get out of somewhere. Also then the next day we met this 18 year old boy on the edge of that same neighborhood and without us mentioning anything he told us to stay out of that area at night and pointed at the exact street where we’d been on the night before. Anyways two warnings two nights in a row is enough for us and we´re never gonna go over there past dark.

In other news, I got to go to the Temple on Friday!! Gah it was so good. Something about taking off my shoes and putting the white clean temple shoes on my nasty blistered tan feet made it really feel like such a sanctuary from all the rough stuff of the world. And then afterwards the senior missionaries had baked us cookies (which was CRAZY cause like the DAY before I was telling Hna Head how I miss home baked cookies) and we had a little mini conference with President Current. You just get to go one time after your first cambio so it was a special fun-time day.

Also YESTERDAY was a wild day. But it was a very good day. We had two of our investigators come to church with us and one of them is 12 years old but God worked it out in a way where we didn’t even break any rules to get her there. It was great. Also our dinner appointment got cancelled and we didn’t have like any food left in our house but then we were doing cosechas and we asked a woman we left a blessing with if she knew anyone who might need a blessing and she pointed at this house across the street, so we went over to this house and yelled buenas and I realized half a second too late that it was the house of a less active member that I’ve met once before. So anyways we left the blessing and we were gonna leave but then she was like "Oh Sisters come in and have some salad" so we go and instead she gives us literally a huge plateful of rice and chicken and salad and it was just a shocking miracle cause otherwise we wouldn’t have had anything to eat. 

Anyways yes I think that´s a wrap for this week. God knows what he's doing and sometimes it's a hard thing to believe cause we can't see everything but I know it's a true thing. Thank you amen. 

Also today is my 3 month birthday as a missionary! yippy yay

I reused my deflated old Feliz 2 meses balloon for my 3 month celebration. I thought it was poetic 

Also idk if Hermana Strong is reading this but if you are.. random men on the street gave us ceviche for FREE so neener neener pumpkin eater.

The said ceviche from the men on the street

Week 12

Hello hello!

Well golly, this week was a rollercoaster. What can I say. Tamerlan (the very same one that we met on our first day here) was going to get baptized on Sunday- like we're talking interview set up, program planned, baptismal clothes obtained-and then he called us on Saturday night and told us his pastor from the Hosanna church had heard that he was going to our church and got uPsEt and so the baptism got called off. But we went and visited him with a member and talked and I think all hope is not yet lost. 

Missionary work sometimes just feels like a punch in the stomach because people tell you that they know for themselves that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that they've felt peace that they've never felt before at church and then still choose not to change. Or sometimes people that have been progressing so well suddenly just flip a switch and never want to talk to you again. It just feels really poopy. I'm trying hard not to lower my expectations though, cause I know lowering my expectations will lower my faith. There's a scripture in D&C 64:32-33 about not being weary in well doing because you're laying the foundation of a greater work and I read it after all this stuff with Tamerlan went down and I said ´Gah gosh darn it, me want big results now, me no want to be patient´ but hey, what can ya do. But still I admit I'm a bit disheartened. Everyone please send me love emails that say ´You´re doing great sweety! Keep your chin up!´ cause oof. 

Also we had CAMBIOS (transfers) this morning and they took Hermana Strong away from me! She´s off to be an Hermana leader in Tocumen! I forgot to tell you all that everyone here for some funny reason thought Hermana Strong was related to President Trump (they say her name ´estrong´ and somehow they think that equates to ´etrump´). Anyways I´m really sad cause we were FUN FRIENDS and laughed a lot but my new Comp is Hermana Head and she seems like a good lady so far (I mean I've only known her for a couple hours) but she likes to COOK and she's from Utah and yes. She´s been here as long as Hermana Strong was but Hermana Strong has had a native comp before so things are gonna be interesting with communicating.  

What else do I have to update you all on.. oh, remember Michael? Well apparently he was baptized in the Church when he was young and he just forgot that it happened??? I don’t know what's going on there but he´s a hard man to catch at home because he teaches English in the Interior all week long. Also this week we met a ton of Buddhists. 

Anyways yeah. I think that´s all??? I surely love you all! 

Have a great week.

Also I included some end-of-transfer people pictures that I forgot to include in earlier emails!

Arraijan Zone

Panamanians' Perception of the US on a Map

This is the giant mall/bus terminal/train station where all the missionaries meet at 5am for transfers.

Used the fancy black and white filter on my camera

A members dog named "cooky"-
 we can't tell if they meant it as in "cookie" or if its literally just "cooky"
Both would be good names for her

The pastry man with his U of U shirt (I've got stories about him)

Us with our hats

The part of our area we call Iowa cause it makes us feel like we're in the midwest 

The infamous Tamerlan