Oldies But Goodies

Buenas!   heres a little miracle from our week-

Hno C- So two weeks ago we were walking all over and no one was home.  I was tired and thirsty and I wanted to sit down so I pretty much forced this little old man to let us into his house to teach him and his wife.   While we were waiting for him to open the gate my comp gave me a little eye roll and I looked at her and told her that this guy was going to get baptized ( a little sarcastically because this guy did not look interested at all!)   But then we taught the lesson and they are this cute little couple from the interior- humble, cant read, cook lots of rice:)    They know nothing about God, just that everyone talks about him but they have no personal relationship.  We were able to teach them about how God really is their loving heavenly father and that they really can pray to him.   Yesterday was the Hermanos 2nd Sunday at church and he loves it!!   He was waiting for us ready to go and climbed the lomas faster than we did even though hes got a good 60 years on us.  We teach them simply and go very slow but the desire that Hermano C has to come unto Christ is powerful!   

Willie- A few weeks ago we met these two girls who told us they were less-actives and they started coming to english class.  This week we went to go visit their family because they told us that their parents werent members.  When we got there the mom was working so we taught the dad and the girls and the grandma about faith.  We put cookies on the counter and talk about how faith can move mountains and then we ask them to move the cookies with their faith.  Normally it takes a while for them to catch on but Willie (the dad)  was quick.  He jumped right up and said ´ima eat my cookies´ and grabbed the cookies from the counter.  PREPARED!  He was so ready to act on his faith and not just with the example, he was so willing to read what we left him and he wanted to come to church but they already had plans to travel this weekend.   We met the mom on saturday and she is just as ready.  They already have family prayers and want to be an eternal family.  

Thats all, love you lots!!

Hna Smith

Back To The Miracles

So I realized I havent been telling you as much about our missionary miracles and honestly I havent been looking for them as much as I used to but this week I decided to change that!  So here are some awesome miracles from this week in Burunga-

* Elder Christensen and Elder Alonzo came to Panama!   We had an awesome conference and I am the official piano player, wahoo!   Every single talk had something that I needed to hear but especially President Carmacks when he talked about the Spirit and recieving revelation.  I realized that I could do better about seeking out the Spirit in everyday decisions and I also realized that God probably trusts me more than I realize to make the right choices without any big signs or directions.  Definitely something I am going to apply this week.

*I did divisions this week with Hna Vasquez who is just too cute.  I learned a lot from her about humble service and hard work.  We went to a noche de hogar at her recent converts house and there was a member from Biancheri there! He said that Carlos is still going to church every week and that tomorrow is temple day for Chorrera and guess who else is going to the temple tomorrow....US!!   So I should be able to see a whole bunch of people from Chorrera:)

*Victor walked in to church yesterday with a white shirt and tie on and he looked like a future missionary.   He is still excited stubbornly set on being baptized the 22 of Feb!!   

* We have another investigator named Victor who is really really old and really really sick...not sure if Ive mentioned him before.   He has already read and marked the Book of Mormon throught 3 Nephi and he loves it.   He wants to be baptized so badly but first he has to quit smoking.  Not that easy for an 80 year old whos been smoking 2 packs a day his whole life.  Yesterday after church we were able to go to his house with the bishop and elders quorom pres so they could give him a blessing.  He shared with them his love and testimony for the Book of Mormon and they gave him an awesome blessing of strength and health.  I asked him how he felt afterward and he was just beaming.  Normally he responds to that question talking about how tired or dizzy he is but he just looked and me and said ´i feel so happy and, i dont know, theres just something here in my chest and I feel so much joy!´    I am so grateful for the Priesthood and for priesthood leaders who serve willingly and lovingly.

Hope its a great week for all!!

Hna Smith

Photos

Just Another Week In Panama

It was a fun week with lots of different kinds of days.  We had a few days that were just lessons non-stop, boom boom boom, other days of pure contacting, and then another filled with members and ward activities.  Makes for a good week!

We did two different divisions with hnas from the zone to help them reach their goal of contacts so it was just hours of straight walking and contacting and guess what...I loved it!!   I dont know where it changed cause I used to really not like contacting but I actually really enjoy it now!   One of the divisions I was with a sister who got here like 2 weeks ago from the MTC and doesnt speak a lick of spanish and it was a tiny fulfillment of my dream to train and we had a ton of fun together!   The other one we were in the city and literally just contacted bus stop after bus stop.  I am really grateful for my area, even with all its hills:)

In a month a kid from our ward is leaving on his mission to brazil so to help him raise money the ward had a fiesta!!   All of the members donate a plate of food and then the whole ward and people from the stake come and buy food and dance!   I really wish we danced more in america.  Like why dont we ever have parties where the whole family goes and dances to fun salsa music?  lame.  We even got the abuela to dance but she would only dance to typical music which sounds like a dog barking but she was loving it!  We made no bake cookies (they were a hit, obviously)  and everyone bought us like 8 plates of food!   

Victor came to church and is progressing really well and we had a few other investigators come to the noche de grupo (its like family night but with the whole ward).   There are tons of good things happening in these next few weeks so im sure Ill have something more exciting to write about:)   Love,

Hna Smith

Weavels And The 7 Dwarves

Awesome week!

So this week we were actually able to teach some lessons and feel productive after the holiday slumps.  Tuesday was an awesome day of lots of lessons and on wednesday we saw Victor and this kid is loving the Book of Mormon!   We were planning on finishing the plan of salvation but then he started talking about the small plates and large plates and Lehis dream and he totally understood all of it and had read it all by himself cause we didnt assign it to him.  Awesome kid.  

On Thursday we ate our normal dinner with our very favorite family and we ate fried rice and salad and then went home and slept until 12 when we were woken up again by a million fireworks!   Friday we knew was going to be a bum day because everyone was either hungover or drunk all over again so we decided to make some no bake cookies for all of the members who give us lunches and dinners so we spent the whole day making cookies, walking our whole area, and running away from drunk men!   And it was a success because everyone loved them!

On Saturday we had a day full of plans but then we somehow got caught up in the middle of the primary activity taking care of kids which is definitely not what we are supposed to be doing and I was a little frustrated.  Then a couple little girls come in and tell us that there are boys throwing rocks at them through the gate so we went out to investigate and there was a little band of 7 boys on their bikes teasing the primary girls.  We talked to them for a little while and told them to come to english class and church.  They left and we didnt think anything more of it.  until.....

About halfway throught sacrament meeting I looked out the window and saw 7 little punks ride up on their bikes.  The 2nd counselor also saw them and hurried out to make sure there werent any problems and then he came back in and 7 little boys between the ages of 10 and 13 filed in behind him.  The whole ward just turned around and stared haha.   They told hno otero that they were there for english class and that the blond  and the short haired girl had told them it was today!!   So we taught them a little English class during the second hour and then for the 3rd hour they went to ym and primary and they loved it!!   They actually live in the area ofthe elders so the elders will go start teaching them an their families this week!   It was a sunday we (and the rest of the dos mil ward will never forget)

Waiting painfully for transfers so I will update you next week!

Love you lots,

Hna Smith

Santa Brought Us Rice

I hope you all had a very merry, white, jolly, Christmas!   We were dreaming of a white Christmas and santa answered our dreams by bringing us 20 pounds of white rice!!  We ate sooooo much!  

Panamanians celebrate in a pretty simple way.  There arent a whole lot of gifts or crazy parties.  They set up a cool nativity, a real tree, and eat a really good dinner on the 24th.  Then at midnight all of burunga explodes with fireworks!   We were already sleeping and for about an hour I was awake listening to all of the fireworks going on outside!     

Yesterday we were really able to get back on our grind and start teaching because most people were back from travelling.  Victor came to church and we found a couple who are really interested and they are legally married!   We are going to work really hard this week because transfers are coming and we arent sure whats going to happen with us....hopefully we stay together but anything good happed this last transfer!  

Happy New Year!!

Hna Smith

Christmas Time In Burunga

Ok so this week was a little bit just lost because EVERYONE and there dog goes to the interior for Christmas so we didnt get to teach a whole bunch but we did have a couple insanely awesome moments-

- THE ABUELOS GOT SEALED!!  So remember the abuela that I told you about a couple weeks ago?  She and her husband got baptized about a year ago and on saturday they got to go to the temple to be sealed!   We got permision from president to go to the sealing and it was amazing!!   It was my first time going to a real sealing and it was so cool and also crazy funny haha the abuela was SO excited and she had all of us laughing the whole day.   They got sealed at the same time as another couple from our ward ( the famly that made us arroz con marisco last week)  and they were both just so happy.  I know they arent my converts but I was so happy for them and for the missionaries who baptized them cause that really is the dream, to see your converts sealed in the temple.  We went right after the sealing to get some big pictures printed out for both couples because I was the designated wedding photographer and then we went to the abuelos house for a big food fest!

-  Last night we went with a few families in the ward to go sing Christmas carols to the less actives and it was maybe the funnest night of my whole mission.  We all piled in to hno Barrias little pickup truck and drove all over Burunga singing and laughing and I just really love this ward and these people and I am so grateful to be here in Burunga, especially for christmas!

so thats all I got time for but its fine cause I will just tell you all about it in 4 days!!!   cant wait to see you and talk to you all:)   eat a really good fish taco for me!

Hna Smith

Arroz Con Everything

12 days til christmas!  Things actually dont feel anything like christmas around here because summer in panama has officially started and it is SO HOT!!   But it was a good week as usual.  Not a whole lot to tell but here are the highlights-

We had the coolest lesson ever on monday night.  We had done a contact at the house and we went back and yelled from the street and we could see a whole bunch of people inside but they were all looking at us and then calling to make someone else to come out and talk to us which is pretty normal so we figured they were going to come out and tell us they couldnt see us.  but then one of the guys came out and invited us in and then the whole family turned off the tv and listened to us.  What?!  That never happens!   And it gets better because one of the couples is married and the other couple is the daughter and son in law of one of our favorite members!   They were awesome and we are going back tomorrow to teach again!

We went on saturday and ate arroz con mariscos (seafood)  and we ate SO much of it!   And then that night was the ward christmas/mothers day  (happy panamanian mothers day btw) and we ate so much more rice!!!   Thats really how you know christmas is coiming in this country....no white snow but lots and lots of white rice:)   

One of the primary kids got baptized and we had helped the mom a little bit in her baptism prep and so they invited us to the baptism.  And guess who got to give a talk on the spot!!   

We get to share the new Christmas video with everyone and I really love it!  My favorite part is that at the end it says Averigua Porque.   And I think thats the key.  When we really find out why God gave his only begotten Son for us, personally, is when we find the peace!   Thats all I got for this week, cant wait to talk to you all soon!!

Hermana Smith

The Drought Is Over

What a crazy, awesome week!  

So we had some kind of meeting or adventure every single day this week and it was nuts!  

On tuesday we had our first district meeting with our new district leader.  Its his first time being a dl and he is one of the best Ive ever had.  He calls us regularly to check up on our investigators by name and sincerely prays for us and our investigators.  It has been really refreshing and just the boost we needed!

On wednesday we had to go to the city AGAIN to get my VERY LAST RABIES SHOT!!!!!  surprise, I got attacked by a bat and had to get a series of four shots so weve been going to the city every wednesday for the last 4 weeks.  Que pereza.   But this was the last one!  and the nurses had to give their schpeel to the new missionaries so we met them at presidents house and got to see all of the newbies!   And remember that it was just about a year ago that we were on that roof for the first time with our trainers and our panama dreams....pretty crazy how time flies huh?

On thursday we got to go back to the city for consejos!  Sorry that the only pic on the blog is me with my eyes closed...shocker I know!  Consejos were so good and not just because hna carmack made us cafe rio salad.  We talked so much about repentance and it was a little bit of a wake up call for all of us.  One elder asked president what he could do with some less actives that werent progressing even after everything they had tried and taught.  Presidents answer was simply "arrepientase".   The atonement only atoned for the sins we repent of.  We also got the new christmas pass along cards for the new christmas video which is awesome!

On friday we had our zone meeting which is pretty normal.  We thought that rainy season was coming to an end but another surprise, its not!   it started pouring rain right as we walked out of the door and we got soaked to the bone!

Saturday we had the christmas devotional/party with a few zones and president carmack.  We listened to some good messages, ate a delicious lunch, watched an intense movie and went to an orphanage nearby to sing and play with the kids which was so fun!  oh and I got MUDDY BUDDIES!  and a usb with awesome music.  thanks:)   It was really fun to see 5 of my 6 comps from here in panama and pretty crazy to think that hna patrick goes home next week!    After the conference it poured rain again and the lightning was striking the towers right outside our house so we couldnt leave for a little while.  By the time we got out we had enough time to teach two lessons- the first one was hard because we realized that one of our favorite investigators just isnt ready and isnt progressing so we will probably have to put her in the area book and keep looking.  The second was with victor and carlos, two brothers who live right next to the church and who understand SO WELL the things we are teaching, its incredible.  The lesson went awesome and they both promised to come to church.

Sunday- VICTOR CAME TO CHURCH!!!   He came to church and the drought is finally over!!!  We finally have a progressing investigator and he is incredible!!  The young men in the ward were great and welcomed him right in and invited him to all of the activities.  He is planning to be baptized the 26th of December!!   It was a miracle and really a relief to see that all of our hard work is paying off.  We talked about it and we just feel so happy.  We are working hard and meeting all of the goals we really have control over and the last 7 weeks have strengthened my faith a lot.  

I am trying to set some goals for the last few months but I want ideas....dad, danielle, anyone else....what are some worthy goals you all set?   

love you lots,

hna smith

Long One This Week, You're Welcome

Fam,

So these last few weeks we had the goal to find as many new investigators as possible, so all of the transfer has been finding news and teaching lesson one.  But this week we got the chance to go back and start teaching lesson two and really finding out who is prepared and ready to progress, which is really the fun part!  Here are some of the highlights of our week-

So we have this old couple that have been together 15 years but arent married (because no one here is married)  and we were in the lesson and it was going ok and then my companion invited them to get married.  The husband started to respond and said ´ well I dont know because...´ and right at that moment it started to rain but the kind of rain that is so loud and hard that you cant hear anything even if you are screaming at the top of your lungs.  So we all just kind of sat there awkwardly thinking about why he doesnt want to get married.  We were there for almost an hour!   the good part is that well we were all sitting uncomfortably waiting for the rain to slow down the hermana read a whole chapter of the book of mormon!

This week we also taught a less active hermana who has 5 granddaughters and a grandson who are just way too cute.  So we taught the plan of salvation with the little drawings that I have.  We started by telling them the three questions- where did we come from , why are we here, and where are we going?   and before we can finish the little girl yells out ´I know! youre from the united states!´   haha cant argue with that one.  The rest of the lesson went well and they understood everything.  It makes me wish that everyone could understand the gospel and the plan of happiness the way little kids do, but instead they complicate it and make excuses.   Its simple!

We have a member who goes out with us a lot named Teresa.  She attended church for 18 years before being baptized 2 years ago.  She has an insanely powerful testimony about baptism and the gospel and she loves going out with us.  Last sunday she asked us if we would go visit her brother who has heard every lesson from every missionary for the past 20 years so we went with her but we didnt really think it would be that positive.  When we got there her brother wouldnt even come out and it was all we could do to get him to let us sing him a hymn, but we left a pamphlet and told him we would come back on sunday.  We almost forgot but we did end up at his house yesterday and get this- he had read the foyeto!  that never happens!   And he had questions and accepted a baptismal date and it was like a complet 180!  Then Teresa showed up and bore this awesome testimony about baptism and it was just so good.  We really hope hes serious about preparing and repenting and we are excited to go back this week.  

 Good news- I ve been sleeping in a hammock all week!

One more funny story-  We went to lunch at the RS presidents house and her grandkids were playing with these huge craft pebbles so I pretended to eat one but they knew it was in my hand so while they werent looking I gave it quick to my comp and pretended to eat one again and they tried to tell me that it was in my hand again but when I opened it up and there wasnt a pebble there the kid gets these huge eyes and goes ´ugh que asgo!´  haha and they kept telling me how I was going to get sick and wasnt going to be able to poop and then they went to go tell their grandma.  While they were in the kitchen I pretended to start coughing and my comp slipped it to me again and I pretended to throw it up.  Hahaahaha their reactions were so funny! 

Love you lots, have an awesome week, dont forget about my birthday:)

Hna Smith

Miraculous

What a bomb week!

  CARLOS AND ANA GOT BAPTIZED!!!  and I got permission to go to Chorrera to see it happen:)  It was seriously one of the best moments of the mission seeing them so happy and prepared for baptism.  It has been a long road since we first talked to Carlos in June and they have come so far.   As a missionary we get lots of little miracles every day that make it worth it, everything we do.  Seeing them be baptized and the change it has made in their lives makes it all worth it, all of it!

We also found 15 new investigators, helped a drunk old man get home, watched an intense movie, travelled to the city, consejos, found 2 women with mustaches,  and had a really fun adventure that you wont think is very funny right now so remind me to tell you all about it at Christmas:) 

Mostly what I have learned this week is that God cares about our goals.  I have also learned that God doesn't like excuses.  He knows us 100% and He knows exactly what we are capable of and when we set a good, worthy goal based on the Spirit, He will give us the means to achieve it.  We've seen it with our numbers, with our investigators, and Ive seen it in my personal goals.   Set good goals, pray to seek revelation on how God wants you to achieve them, and then work hard without any excuses.    I think I will be working on it the rest of my life but thats the fun part right?

Love you, have a great week!

Hna Smith  

Happy November

Ok so this week was a little en panga as far as our numbers because we were all over the place but it was a good week nonetheless, filled with miracles and always a good laugh.

We had a leadership training on wednesday which meant waking up early to go to panama.  I love getting to hear from Pres and Hna Carmack!  We talked a lot about stewardship and how each of us will have a conversation face to face with God and He will not ask what kind of leadership positions or callings we had, He will ask about the people we had stewardship over- be it the primary kids or an entire mission.  What are we doing for them, what example are we giving, are we ready for that interview?

Then on Friday we had a conference with Elder Snow, the church historian.  He was a hoot!  He said a lot of funny very cool things but this was my favorite-  He served his mission in Germany which is really hard.  The unofficial motto of the mission was ¨keep hitting the doors elders, every door you knock on, someone gets baptized in Mexico!¨   So maybe we arent seeing success right here in our area and maybe we arent going to see the whole avalanche fall down the mountain, but every little effort is helping loosen up the stones.   Also loved the conference because we got to see all of my favorite people from all over the mission!   Very cool that the 11 sisters that I entered the MTC with and we are all still here in the mish!

My comp wasnt feeling too good so we stayed in so she could rest for most of the weekend but we did have one really cool miracle-  Last week we had spent about an hour and a half walking around this neighborhood looking for Hermana B who was a reference from the temple.  Nobody knew who she was and we tried everywhere.  Then on saturday we were just contacting on the way to lunch and we stopped at a house to contact.  The girl told us she didnt live there but that she would accept the missionaries where she lived.  So we asked her her name to take the reference and it was Hermana B!   She was visiting family which is why no one knew who she was but we found her! 

Love you lots,

Hna Smith

Burunga!!

Fastest week of my whole mission- it scares me a little how the weeks are going by faster and faster and now we are already finishing up October!  

This week went by especially fast because this week we started the divisions and since I am new and dont know the area I got to go to the other areas.  Divisions are SO FUN!   I love getting to know these hermanas and they are all super great.  The best part is seeing the different ideas and talents that they apply to their areas and I am learning lots from all of them!  The only downside is that it means 2 days away from my area so I have been having a hard time feeling at home in my new ward and area so far.  

President Carmack has encouraged us to set goals to find lots and lots of new investigators so this week was full of contacting and first lessons.  For all of the mas o menos responses that we get we usually find at least one really positive person if we complete with our 15 contacts/day.   Early this week we contacted/got contacted by another JW and he actually explained a whole bunch of what they believe and that made us super sad and very frustrated.  So as my personal study I decided to study a lot about Adam and Eve and Gods plan for us.  I started trying to find verses in the Bible so that I could battle with the testigos but turns out the bible is super confusing sometimes and I had this little crisis about not being able to prove them wrong with Genesis.  But then I remembered that the Bible doesnt contain the fulness of the Gospel, only part.  Then as I studied 2 Nephi 2 I realized how simple it all is.  I love that God let us come to earth and experience good and bad and obedience and sin and HAPPINESS!  and also that He has given us the Book of Mormon to make it all clear and simple.  What a blessing!

Also we had a really good stake conference and my comp likes gummy candy as much as I do so we stocked up big time and didnt fall asleep!  

This week we have a full week and get to go to the city a whole bunch which should be super fun and mean a good letter next week!

Love,

Hna Smith

ps according to statistics taken in the arraijan stake 9.5/10 members would get baptized again....would you like to learn more about our message?

Cambios

Hello family,

So its been a big, long, uphill week and I loved it!

We found out changes on monday night and I am in...Arraijan!  Which is perfect and exactly what I wanted:)   It is a lot like Chorrera- close to the city without being in the city and I am with Hna Erickson who was in the MTC with me and we came on the plane to Panama together and so far it has been a blast!

So on Tuesday I packed up all my stuff, said some goodbyes and got on a little bus to come the 20 minutes from Chorrera to Arraijan.   I was sitting by myself in a bus in panama without a phone going to a place I had never been before and i thought to myself  this is so strange and maybe I should be nervous  but I wasnt.  So I got off at the Xtra grocery store stop and sat at the bus stop and waited for my comp to come get me....and I waited....and waited....and then it started to get dark so I started asking people to use their cell phones but nobody in panama has saldo to call anyone so I waited and then finally after about 2 hours I lugged my huge suitcases to the nearest chino and the very nice chinos let me use their phone.  Turns out there are 2 Xtras and I was waiting at the wrong one...oopps!

Other then that our week went pretty smoothly!  Arraijan has more hills than Chorrera which I didnt think was possible but it totally is.  Also my comp is an awesome marathon runner and all of her other comps couldnt run because of health issues so Im the first and we have gone running every day this week.  On every single one of our runs one of us has fallen and eaten it hard cause we are basically trail running up giant hills!  the good news is I might just fit into my nice pencil skirt for the next zone meeting!

 We actually had a baptism yesterday which was weird because the first time I met her was at her baptism but she is a really cute 14 year old girl.  The members and the leaders are super strong in this ward which is what we need and the work is being hastened, I just hope we can keep up the pace!

awkward moment of the week-  we were gong to contact someone they had already talked to and they let us in and we were just starting the lesson and it was going really well and then all of a sudden the lady just starts throwing up.  what are we supposed to do?  do we wait , do we keep teaching the people who arent barfing?  and then the daughter started telling us how uncomfortable it was that we were there...uh ok but you invited us in so what do we do....so we said a super fast prayer and got out and they didnt invite us back.

We are kind of starting over with investigators so it was a lot of contacting and a lot of first lessons....some positive, some not so positive but I am looking forward to finding the people the Lord has prepared for us here in Burunga, Arraijan!  It is going to be a very fun transfer!

love,  

Hna Smith

End of Transfer 4 in Biancheri

okey dokey heres the weekly update-

We worked so freakin hard this week.  We are getting better at planning so our days are more effective but somehow we still end up walking up an outrageous number of lomas but hey thats missionary life.   

this weekend there was a ward dance!  we were already at the chapel teaching piano class and they show up with big speakers and 10 boxes of corn flakes and like 8 cartons of eggs...we were trying to figure out what kind of dancing games they could play with eggs and corn flakes....and we just couldnt figure it out.  Turns out they were the prizes for the people who danced.  We´re very practical here in Biancheri!  They turned on the music and we stayed for about two songs to watch the members dance but it was killing us both not being able to join in so we went home and danced to some efy music in the house haha.  

Hermano C and Hermana A and her 2 daughters came to the dance and also to church on sunday, wahoo!  and they loved it:)  We have being trying hard to take members with us when we teach them and its payed off because they have completely taken over.  Someone goes to pick them up, someone else drives them home, someone takes him to priesthood and her to RS, and one member has helped us out so much with the marriage.  Yesterday a member from the stake came to do the medical exams in their house and this week they can get married!!   It has been 5 months since we first contacted Hermano C walking home from the chino and I dont think anyone imagined that they would progress and make it to this point.  We taught them again yesterday and it was so great to hear her testimony.  We were teaching the word of wisdom and we started out by talking about the blessings of obeying commandments...like the law of chastity.  What difference could a piece of paper really make if they´re already living together?  But she´s seen it herself that as soon as they started the process to get married, everything else has started to work out.  Now they are getting more help from the government and she found a new job that allows her to come to church.  A commandment she rejected the first time we taught it (she really likes coffee)  she accepted easily because shes seen the blessings that come from obedience!

Thats what Ive learned in the mission and from my scripture study in these past few weeks.  We will prosper to the degree that we obey.  We obey because we love, not because we have to.  Obedience applies to every single part of our lives.  Obedience=freedom=progression=eternal happiness.

Hearing about Jozenn the Chozenn was tough.  She was one of the first people to make me feel welcome in Fort Collins, an irreplaceable part of my CSU family, and the best powderpuff and ward bball teammate ever!    Grateful beyond measure for the Plan of Salvation and my love is with my family in FoCo.  #horsetoothhottiesforever

Transfers again this week!  Its been one of my favorites and Im praying that I´ll be able to take on whatever comes in this next transfer!

love,

hna smith

Wickedness!

This week is right up there with the best of them!  It wasn't even anything big but a lot of small things and just a really happy week:)

ok first funny story:  we teach english in a school nearby and I shared the scripture wickedness never was happiness and we explained that wickedness was not listening to the teacher, being mean to other kids, cheating, and so on.  So after we had shared the message and were just playing games we hear one of the kids yelling ¨wickedness!  wickedness!¨  at a kid who wasnt paying attention  haha and so everytime that someone wasnt doing what they were supposed to the other kids would yell wickedness!  oopps:)

ok so we do things called LPE which are just contacts and our goal is now 120 lpes every week, which is a lot.  President Carmack has given us a lot of ways to make them effective and help us find new investigators and so this week we put it to the test!   We almost never introduce ourselves as missionaries, always representatives of Jesus Christ.  

Then we ask them a question- Did you know Christ came to the Americas? 

 Did you know theres a place in Panama where families can be sealed together for eternity?

  But my favorite is this- if you had 2 minutes to talk with God, what would you ask Him?  And then we use the Book of Mormon to answer their question.  It really tests our knowledge of the scriptures and it shows people right away that the BoM contains the fullness of the gospel and the answer to all of our questions!  We reached the goal of 120 this week and we found a ton of new investigators.

The biggest miracle this week was yesterday at church.  We were waiting for a whole bunch of investigators and nobody that we were expecting showed up.  But Hermano C and Hermana A did!  They had kind of frozen and there was a lot of complications with work and marriage and bla bla bla so we had stopped visiting them, but they came to church!  After church we had a lesson with just her and it was good, like really good.  She had never officially accepted a baptismal date, only that they would get married, so I wasnt sure if it would be a good idea to invite her right away but after we shared our lesson about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and covenants I had one of the strongest promptings Ive ever recieved that I needed to invite her to be baptized.  Before I even finished the question she was shaking her head yes!  We are praying there wont be too many more complications (aka satan) and that everything can go smoothly fro them to get married and baptized!

We found a few more couples this week and in total we have 5 couples that are progressing and almost ready for baptism....solo les falta matrimony!  But by my calculations if they all get married this month I can come back next thanksgiving and spend a whole week in temple sealings:)

It rained, it was hot, we found a lot of bugs, we taught with the Spirit, we reached a ton of goals, we worked hard, saw a lot of miracles, and we are so so so happy to be representatives of Jesus Christ!  

have a good week familia!

Hna Smith

Things That Only Happen On A Mission

This week was a fantastic one!   Here are some of the experiences that really define what a mission is like in Panama-

• Zone Conference-  We got to listen to some amazing counsel from Pte Carmack, make paper airplanes, eat a whole bunch, and see all of my favorite people in the mission.  Hermanas I hadn't seen since the very beginning and now we are almost the oldest sisters in the mission!  
• Divisions with Hermanita R-  We have a girl in our ward who left for the mission today!  Her mom is the rs president so last week we had divisions and my comp went with her mom to visit less actives and Hermanita R came with me to get some real life missionary, contacting experiences.  She is a fierce little missionary!  She didnt want to take no for an answer from anybody and when an evangelico started telling us he didnt want to hear about the book of mormon she pulled out the scripture that says wo unto those who say they have enough and basically told him he needed to humble himself.  She will do great, bold things.
• Painting walls....badly-  This week we painted in the house of a less active and in her own words we would go hungry as professional painters.  But we had a good time and she really just wanted the company so it was fun to serve her.  If anyone needs a wall painted with lots of love- We are your hermanas!  
• RAIN!-  Well the rain finally came and all of the water that didnt fall in these last few months fell in the last few days.  We were hurrying from one appt to another and while we were passing in a little valley (quebrada...dont have any idea how to describe it in english)  basically at the bottom of 2 hills the street was a foot deep in water and while we were trying to cross it 2 taxis came racing down the hill and it was just like the movies.  A massive wave of dirty water came flying right at us and we went to our next lesson with our right sides completely drenched!
• Deaf Testigos-  This week we found a whole bunch of Jehovah's Witnesses.  One of them was literally deaf- he could speak but he couldn't hear- so he spent a half hour telling us about how wrong we are and how he wants to teach us the truth and we couldnt respond at all because he was deaf!  how convenient for him, right?  I told my comp that maybe I'll start pretending to be deaf so I can go around saying anytihing I want and no one can try and argue with me.  But we also found a bunch of other JWs who were spiritually deaf.  Whenever we find them we try and teach them about the BOM and they all reject it right away but none of them know really what it is!  ¨ do you even know what mormon is teaching you up in the united states?¨  ¨ sam smith is a liar and a cheat!¨ and its so sad because they love the word of God!  and there is more of it for them to read and love and they reject it!   It reminded me of the talk by Elder Holland that says that if anyone is going to leave or reject the church they have to go over or around the book of mormon. That's why I try and teach the truths of the BOM to everyone we find- it contains the eternal truths and promises we need to reach exaltation!

love you all!

hna smith

Photos!!!

The Haps This Week In Chorrera

Hello fam,

This week satan worked really hard on our investigators which is really really frustrating.  I think Heavenly Father knew that was going to happen so He strengthened us a lot so that we can turn around and strengthen the people we teach.

I honestly don't remember a whole lot of what happened at the beginning of this week but Friday and Saturday were by far the best days of my week. 

On friday we had divisions....but funner.  We did divisions among all of the sisters in the zone and made it a competition!  I got put with Hna Eardley who was in the MTC with me and also waited in the Redlands mission.   We were given a list of points-
every lesson taught with a member- 5 pts

every contact with the word pollo- 2 pts

every contact with the law of chastity-5 pts

buses contacted- 10 pts

baptismal invitations- 10 pts

when someone says ¨soy catolica¨ and you share a scripture about priesthood authority- 10 pts

and some other fun ones

We planned it out super strategically and ran around like crazies contacting people and buses and inviting people to baptism using the law of chastity and chickens and it was so FUN!  We destroyed the game and beat all of the other sisters by at least 100 points and had way too much fun doing it.  Helped remind us how fun missionary work can be:)

My favorite part of the whole day was when we contacted this guy who spoke a little bit of english ( according to him philidelphia is not the brotherhood city)  and he told us he was catholic so we shared the scripture about authority and then we brought up baptism to try and invite him to be baptized but he didnt let us get even 1 word in.  In his own words ¨ah bautismo!  hay muchas formas de bautismo y todos son buenas.  Como en lion king when the monkey hold up the baby to papa dios.  Muy bonito este bautismo, muy bonito.¨   I had literally no come back to that so we just said goodbye and kept walking. 

Then on saturday we had a day full of conferences.  President Russel M Nelson came to Honduras and had a conference with the missionaries there which got broadcasted to all of the missions in Central America.  I learned a ton but my favorite part was when he said, very simply ¨love everyone and see how easy being a missionary really is.¨  It's all about the love.  He also shared a statistic- there are more male members of the church not ordained to the melchezidek priesthood than those who are. ¨The lord is not pleased with that, that's why he sent missionaries to help them¨  Our goal really isn't baptisms or converts, it's getting the families of panama to the temple to be sealed by priesthood.   

Then in the afternoon we got to listen to President Nelson´s wife, Wendy Nelson and her talk was unreal.  I loved listening to her speak and I really got so much out of her talk.  One of my favorite parts was when she talked about comparing ourselves to others because I definitely have that problem and she said ¨ In a very sacred place we learn that we are here to fill the measure of OUR creation, not anyone else's.¨ and then she talked about being a holy people.  HOUSE OF THE LORD. HOLINESS TO THE LORD.  Could that phrase be placed on our lives?  We can constantly ask ourselves..Is this how a holy person would respond to this situation?  How would a holy missionary wake up, do studies, respond to rejection, work with members, love her companion, respond to disappointment?  It has already changed completely the way I interact with my companion and with others and the way I do missionary work.  I want to be able to place that phrase on my mission and my life.  HOLINESS TO THE LORD. 

But for real satan worked hard on all of our investigators with baptismal dates and they all either won't answer the phone or the door or they flat out told us they don't want anything more to do with the church.  So this week we are going to walk all of our area contacting like crazy people and try to find the people that God is preparing for us to teach.  Pray for us!

Have a great week and be holy!

love,

hermana smith

One Year Later... (Aug. 17)

Familia,

I am officially one year into this crazy adventure they call the Panama Mission.  When?  Where?  How?  I´m not really sure, but there it went!

This week passed by woooooshhh super rapido!  But there were lots and lots of good things-

On Tuesday we had divisions with the new sister leaders and I stayed in our area with Hna Anderson and had the best day I´ve had in a long time!  She is super great and we worked HARD!

 Our first lesson was with Carlos and in the last lesson he told us that he felt like God had been ignoring him so I promised him that if he went to the stake conference he would get an answer from God.  We got there and he told us that he hadn't gotten an answer.  Dang it.  So we shared a scripture about God's love and then I felt prompted to teach a little about the Holy Ghost and Carlos interrupts me and asks what does it feel like?  So Hna Anderson explained how she feels the Spirit and then I explained and I said that when I feel the Spirit I get the shivers (except I didn't know the word for shiver so I acted it out)  and as soon as I said that Carlos gets this goofy grin that I love and he goes ¨I felt that at the conference but I didn't know what it was.  Was that the Spirit?¨ YES!  So right now Carlos and Ana are working on getting their marriage papers so that they can get married and baptized!! 

After that we walked a ton and taught a lot of good lessons.  The last lesson before dinner we stopped by a less active's house and he has a son that lived in vernal, utah for 7 years.  We walked up to the porch and there was country music playing...real, good, english, country music!  I have gotten really good at ignoring the normal radio pop songs that get played in stores and on busses but I havent heard country music in a year and I was not prepared for how much of a distraction it was for me!  

On Thursday we got to wake up at 3 in the morning and go to immigrations which is always a fun time.  I´ve almost forgotten how much I don't like big cities...almost.  We might have fallen asleep in our lunch and dinner....ooops!

On Friday night we did divisions with 4 of the jovencitas in our ward which was super fun.  2 of them are the daughters of a super awesome RM and we get to the house and the oldest walks to the door and we go ¨Miriam, tu vas tambien?!¨  and with the most angry face she tells us that yes, she has to go too.   She got to come with me and we taught and contacted and walked a lot and it was actually really fun!  Then at church yesterday she asked if we were going to do it again this friday!   Our RC Vivian went with my comp and she told me that she was a contacting machine!  She already has the missionary bug and asks us all the time when she can go out with us!

We are starting out this week with our agendas already full of good things so I know its gonna be a great one!  

Its supposed to be winter here in panama which usually means lots of rain but we are passing throught some phenomenon where it doesn't rain so it's just really really hot and the rivers are drying up and the water goes out.  So basically there are no seasons here, it's just summer all the time!  Enjoy the end of summer and the beginning of Fall, it's a beautiful thing! 

Love you lots,

Hna Smith