Ok so my favorite thing this week was when I learned that the panamanians call speed bumps ¨policia muertos¨ [Dead Police]. The panamanians love it when I know slang words, they think it's hilarious!
Ok so we had changes this week and Hermana Chamul and I are staying for a third change together here in Biancheri and we are so excited because this change we are going to reap all of the baptisms we have been sowing these past 2 transfers! And it starts this saturday with Vivian! Vivian comes from a massive family of members (grandparents, 10 aunts and uncles, and her mom) but they all went innactive before her generation could get baptized. She is 16 and she is eating up the gospel, it is so awesome to see! She studies the chapters we leave and then we she finishes she reads the BOM from the beginning. She is so prepared and I see a future missionary in her, its awesome!
Here in panama they also celebrate Pioneer Day....just not quite as organized as the neighborhood haha. As missionaries we were in charge of acting out a few scenes from the organization of the church and the arrival in Salt Lake. It was....interesting. To say the least. Each ward had a parade of pioneer children and a part in the activity and, like everything panamanian, it took a really long time! But it was really fun and it was so cool to see how much work the members put into making the costumes and how much they loved talking about the Pioneers!
Earlier in the week I was talking with the bishop and I asked him if there was anything we could do to help him. He told me that he might need one of us to speak in church and because I offered the help I got volunteered to give the talk. Ok cool, totally fine, I can give a talk in spanish...I think. They told us in the MTC that we would give a talk the first week in the mission field but that was a lie because I made it a year into the mission without having to talk. The bishop had given me a general conference talk from President Monson on love to base my talk off of and I spent a really long time prepping super well and I felt totally good about it. Then as we were leaving the house on sunday morning the first counselor calls me and tells me that he has to speak too and that he likes my topic better so is it ok if I speak on something else. Are you kidding me? I got up and spoke for my 15 minutes. What I said? I have no idea. But my comp told me that my Spanish rocked even if my message was a little scrambled....you win some and you lose some :)
Ok best best best part of my week was a lesson we had last night with Carlos and Ana. Earlier this week we visited them and it was super depressing. He had had some convulsions the night before and they had to go to the hospital in the middle of the night and if it happens again she is going to have to stop working and they don't have any money and with everything they were going through they couldn't think about marriage or the verses we had left. When we left that night we really weren't sure what we could do for them and if they were even going to keep progressing. So we prayed and prayed and prayed for them and we stopped by last night to see how they were doing.
When we got there they were so much happier, YAY! They had finally gotten his medication and they have been reading in the book of mormon every night. We shared the talk on love that I had been assigned for sacrament and it was the sweetest lesson I have ever been in. She started out telling us that love between people didnt exist, only customs. Then we asked him and he looks at us and goes ¨I love her, even if she doesnt believe it.¨ And we talked more about the love of Christ and how all love we have comes from the love He gave us first. As a couple they understand the pure love of Christ. She has stood by him in every single moment since his first seizure, doing literally everything, and there isn't a trace of regret or bitterness- she does it completely out of love. By the end she was telling us herself that she loves him. We were practically in tears listening to them talk about everything they have been through together. She told us that he is so diligent with his prayers- this coming from the Carlos that wouldn't pray a few weeks ago because he wasn't sure God would understand him- and that she was ready to say the closing prayer- YES! They just make us so happy and we are so hoping that they will be able to get married and then baptized in these coming weeks!
A few reasons I love my Biancheri ward- the leaders here understand leadership. The ward has a goal for indexing and on the bulletin is the list of the top indexers in the ward...#1 on the list is our bishop, followed closely by his counselors. Ward choir- the bishop and his counselors. It's really awesome to watch the miracles it produces when the leaders lead by example.
Ok well love you all!
Katie
despedida
No comments:
Post a Comment