Tuesday, February 3, 2015

February 2 Post

alright... some of you may have been able to tell that i was a little bit down last week- lemme tell you that things have definitely turned around. Patience is important in our afflictions- life isnt meant to be easy. If you have the chance read or watch the following talks- "Tender Mercies" by elder bednar "Remember Lots Wife" jefrey r holland. They are amazing talks that helped me this week. Literally changed everything about how I feel. Nothing is MEANT to be easy. Its ok to feel down- its normal, and everyone goes through it. especially in the mission field. But patience in adversity is the most important thing- and knowing that you are learning something beneficial and the Lord will deliver you. We dont go through trials that are too hard for us to handle with His help. 

and learning that, is how i have had the best week of my mission so far regardless of the fact that i have been horridly homesick, have 78 bug bites, a swollen toe, and a broken backpack. 

Now to talk about this week... Tuesday morning the Zone Leaders came for a surprise visit on basically the worst day... our alarm clock was in panga (when someone tries to do something good but really is doing omething bad) and literally forgot the time, so we woke up at 7 and were still preparing when they got there at 8. it wasnt too bad though. they understood. We practiced contacting which definitely helped my confidence. They told me that I speak for good spanish for the time that I have, and even have better pronunciation than a lot of the other gringos with more time than me. This was one of those bad days where all our appointments fell through- we decided to make a ward mission plan and implemented it through out the week. We are going to have family home evenings every night in members homes and they are supposed to invite friends and we bring an investigator- also, we are going to have free english classes

Wednesday... I had to wake up at 330... my comp knows I like to exercise so he made a joke that we should have woken up at 230 so we could have exercise time...XD we had capacitaciones in the city... basically zone conference where the assistants teach us about missionary work. It was nice to see them, because they are my closest friend so far, because I spent so much time with them in the office. They told me theyve seen a huge difference in my companion since Ive been with him... Im trying to slowly improve our obedience. In our mission, we have a big problem with obedience, and missionaries forget why its important to be obedient and follow the rules... even in the small changes I have made in our companionship, we have been blessed with a few investigators and people who are interested. 

that night we talked to a lady we had found the week before. we sat down to talk with her for a minute and we ended up talking to her, all of her children, and her sister, and all the neighborhood kids about the book of mormon and the temple. it was amazing and super spiritual. I can tell how much they wanted the gospel. when we talked about families being together forever in the temple their eyes lit up

On the way home we realized the street lights were out... we had to walk home through a creepy forest in the dark. luckily we carry flashlights. We got to the house and... power was out. luckily we still had water. Im thankful I was prepared with lanterns that I got for christmas XD thanks santa!

Thursday.. We visited a bunch of members to get them to agree to have family home evenings in there homes. it was great to share spiritual thoughts in the homes of members. It was good for me to be able to share my testimony to members instead of investigators. 

Basicallyy... as you can tell from the pictures of the house last week, our house is super dirty. And Really, honestly, I hate living in a dirty place (yes mom... worse than my room...) and so... according to the member we were with I didnt have the "valor" to clean the house XD so he helped me while my comp watched XD now our house is clean because I keep up on the cleaning... the only dirty places left are his part of the bedroom and his desk. so at least im living clean mom XD

Friday- we went to the grocery store because friday was "pay day" to check to see if my mission cards works. It doesnt. So we had to call my good friend Elder Bird to help us out. He gave my 15 day allowance to the zone leaders. After that, we quickly bought some things we really really needed for the house (since we didnt have money before) and went to go give service to an investigator. 

Saturday- Saturday was a depressing day. all of our plans (including potential investigators) fell through completely. We walked all over the entire area all day trying to find people and nobody was there. Our area is filled with hills... but i feel like they are mountains XD we had to walk to the area of the zone leaders to get my allowance as well.. that was basically scaling a cliff to get there. but we made it and got my money XD It was nice to see the zone leaders.. Elder Bradburn wwas feeling a little homesick so we bought ice cream and peach juice. his favorite comfort food here in panama XD

Sunday- Today started out super hard. Its hard to see other families going to church together and I really just want to go to church with my family.We had a random guy in our area just decide to show up to church... He has been to the "mormon church" 7 times in the past and wants to get baptized... no idea who he is. we just barely met him. HUGE blessing! I read my patriarchal blessing and read the book of mormon in my spare time at lunch... It was then that I realized that we just need to be patient during our trials. The Lord will deliver us- of that i am sure. 

on a side note, i gave the opening prayer in church. in Spanish. wasnt so bad at all :)

Choose the right, and follow the light of christ and do what you know youre supposed to be doing- no matter how hard it might be

MONDAY!!!! Well... today was difficult at first XD My comp decided to sleep in till 8 since it was "pday" so I had to wake up alone and exercise and study alone. later we met up with 4 other companionships of missionaries to go to Costa Antigua... Old Coast. Super pretty! its a very old section of Panama City near the coast. We baught a bunch of Panama stuff and took a bunch of pictures and stuff. it was nice to see other missionaries and have a day for ourselves. super fun :) I loved it. we visited a bunch of old chapels and stuff. 

Sorry dad... my backpack that you bought me is slowly dieing... all the metal parts are starting to fail... its been jimmy rigged and im going to use it till its no longer usable... but I bought my eventual replacement bag today XD

looking forward to the coming week! I love you all! family and friends :) Talk to you all next week! Vaya Con Dios!





















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