Week 4 in Santiago

P-day already? The weeks are flying by! Things are really good here and I am starting to feel at home here in Santiago.  On Christmas you asked me for "only in Panama" things and I thought of a couple.  The first one- grapenut ice cream.  For real.  I don't know who thought that was a good idea but they love it here…it's hard to find any other kind of ice cream.  2nd- "pritty." It basically means cool or something like that I'm not even sure but everything here is pritty.  

Ok so this week: On Tuesday we got to help paint a member's house and we were there all day moving stuff out, cleaning the walls, and painting the inside bright purple because that's what color the 5 year old picked out.

On Wednesday I woke up and my companion couldn't talk...there was literally no noise coming out of her mouth so we called the nurses and went on an adventure to the clinic and I had to do all of the talking and it got a little intense at times when he started talking medical but we made it out alive, with only a little case of strep throat and got the right medicine and went back home.  We had a whole day planned but we werent allowed to leave the apartment until she wasn't contagious anymore so she slept it off all day and I got in some really good hours of personal study and attacked the area book which hadnt been touched in who knows how long.  So we didn't get to go out for New Years but we did hear a lot of really loud fireworks and I saw a couple burning men out the window (New Years tradition in Panama is everyone makes these stuffed dummies out of who knows what and they burn them on New Years.  We were so confused when all these giant dolls started showing up outside of people's houses last week.)  So yay 2015!!

Super cool to think that I will spend all of 2015 as a missionary and it has already started off with some super awesome miracles!  Miracles for this week- 

1.  So Hermana Duvy is the greatest investigator ever and yesterday she came to church without us having to pick her up.  In our lesson with her on Sunday she asked if we needed to be baptized more than once and we were a little nervous how she would take it cause she is already baptized Catholic but we answered that we only need to be baptized once if it is done by the right authority and then she said oh you mean the priesthood? And then basically taught us a lesson about priesthood authority and told us that she really feels like getting baptized on the 17th is the right thing....she is a miracle.

2. We have this crazy investigator who is like the best member in our branch except he isn't a member.  He hasn't been able to get baptized because he isn't married to his girlfriend but he can't marry her because he is married to this random woman in the United States.  So this week he found some old papers from 2005 and I guess a divorce was filed but it didn't look like it was ever finalized so we tried to call on Friday but the office was already closed.  Yesterday we fasted with him that everything would go smoothly this morning when we called and you know what?!  HE'S BEEN DIVORCED SINCE 2007!  We had a little dance party in the internet cafe and we are so pumped to start planning this wedding and get him baptized!!!  Miracled.  Also fasting totally works.

3.  We were taking a taxi to a new investigator's house and we started chatting with the driver and it turns out that his sister is a member so he didn't even make us pay.  Miracled.

Love you all so much and hope you have an amazing week!!  Feliz año!!!

-Hermana Smith

Christmas in Panama

I was super worried that I wouldn't have anything to email home about because I talked to you on Thursday but we had some awesome Christmas week miracles.  First was that I got to talk to you!!  It was so so good to see everyone's face and hear your voices!   The rest of Christmas went pretty chill- We went to an old folks place with the young single adults and gave out presents and then we went and did some caroling visits for the rest of the day. 
On Friday we were supposed to go paint a members house but we weren't sure what time and we didn't have any minutes left on our phone so at 7:30 in the morning we go outside in our painting clothes to walk to the chino on the corner and we see some white people across the street so naturally we walked really closely behind them to see if they were speaking english and one of them starts pointing to the church so we yelled and ran to go talk to them and it was a member from Michigan who is here visiting his brother and sister-in-law.  We showed them around the church and started talking with the sister-in-law who is Columbian and very Catholic but she had a ton of questions for us and we exchanged numbers and we have an appointment to talk to her again!  It was the most random timing that we would be outside right as they got there but maybe not so random I guess.  

Then yesterday we had another miracle- we walked to go pick up one of our investigators for church and not only was she there, she was standing outside waiting for us!  She loved church and told us how great she thought it was that she got to participate and share her testimony in the classes!  I had a pretty awkward spanish moment with her- she asked me where the sanitorio was and she was saying something about urinar and I was like um I dont know what that is and I definitely dont know if we have one here or not and she just kept saying those words over and over again and so I told my comp to go find the elders who speak spanish and I was trying to figure out what she was talking about...a confession booth, an altar, anything that might have been in her old church (urinar in panamanian spanish sounds a lot like orar (to pray))...and then I realized she had to pee so I go ´oh you need a baño!´ and she just stares at me like I'm crazy.  But she is an awesome investigator- she has already read through 2 Nephi in the Book of Mormon and she loves church and all the good stuff so we are really excited to keep watching her progress!

This week I was reading in the Book of Mormon in Alma and this one verse just really caught my attention.  I don't have my scriptures in english but it says ¨Y acontecio que los hijos de Alma salieron entre el pueblo para declararle la palabra.  Y el mismo Alma no pudo descansar, y tambien salio¨ ["And now it came to pass that the sons of Alma did go forth among the people, to declare the word unto them. And Alma, also, himself, could not rest, and he also went forth." Alma 43:1] and that kept me really motivated this week because I love thinking about all of my friends who are out doing the same thing I am doing and all of the people that I love who have served and now it's my turn!!  Sometimes it still takes me by surprise that I am out here doing this but I want to be like Alma and be so dedicated to this work that I cant rest!  Love you all and miss you tons! 

-Hermana Smith

Week 2 In Panama

This week was all about the buses!  On Tuesday we woke up at 2 in the morning and caught a bus to Panama City because I had to go to immigrations and be legal or something.  Everyone kept telling us "I promise this isn't normal" but we waited in the basement of the immigrations building with about 40 other missionaries from 7 in the morning until about 10 o'clock that night.  At that point it was too late to come back to Santiago so we had a sleepover at the apartment of the sisters that live in that area. Then on Friday we woke up again to catch the 3 o'clock bus to Panama because it was my companion's turn to go to immigrations, but this time we were only there for a few hours and we actually got to come home and do work in our area!  It is kind of a blessing that this is an 8 week transfer because our first 2 weeks were a lot of planning and establishing goals and now we have a full 6 weeks to really get to work and have success in Santiago!  

My favorite part so far about missionary work here in Panama is contacting people (it was probably the scariest part for me in California), everyone is really kind and willing to talk to us, even if we can't speak very well!  I think most people just talk to us because we are American but hey they are talking to us!!

Funnest part of the week- the ward Christmas party which was supposed to start at 8 in the morning but didn't actually start until 3 in the afternoon.  The ward made a whole bunch of food and took it to a pretty poor part of town and threw a big Christmas party for all the people who lived in that neighborhood and they had a piñata!  I thought I knew how piñatas worked but you have no idea until youve seen 30 Panamanian kids going at it....best part is there weren't even any tears, they all just took the cuts and bruises like champs.

Merry Christmas!!  The gospel is true and Christ is La Davida, what more can I say?  Love you all and I will talk to you soon!!

Hermana Smith

FIrst Few Days In Panama

Woah.  I don't really even know where to start, these past few days have been incredibly overwhelming but here I am, ready to start my first real week as a missionary in Panama! We walked off the plane and it took a little bit to get our travelling group through all of the Spanish questions at customs and immigration but we made it through and walked around the corner and it wasn't too hard to spot the 2 gringos in white shirts smiling and waving us down.  We crammed all 6 suitcases and 5 missionaries in a tiny little car and then the assistants took us out to eat and dropped us off at the hotel.  We slept so so good and the next morning they took us to the mission president's house where we got a little bit of training, had interviews, and met our new companions.  I was given Hermana Patrick from Texas who has only been out one more transfer than I have.  Immediately from there we walked to the bus station in Panama City and somehow we all got on the right buses and out to our areas.  I am serving in Santiago which is a little city in the middle of Panama and so far I really like it.  Our apartment is right next to the chapel, has air conditioning, a hot water heater, and it was fumigated last week so I´m not complaining.  The rest of the week has felt like one really long bus ride with some really good moments in between.  4 and a half hours from Panama City to Santiago on Wednesday, an hour and a half each way to zone meeting on Friday, another 9 hours to and from the city on Saturday, and tomorrow I get to take the bus ride back to Panama one more time to get my immigration card, it's a good thing I can sleep anywhere!  Saturday was awesome because we got to go to the temple!!  As pretty as it looks in pictures, its 1000x prettier in person and totally worth waking up at 2 in the morning and the 9 hours in the bus.  The second best part of this week was when we went with one of our investigators to a couple shelters and sang Christmas carols and gave out candy to all of the families and the kids loved it and they were so stinking cute!  Panama is so much like Costa Rica (I dont know why that surprised me but it kind of did) so I think that has helped a lot with any culture shock.

This mission is a completely different kind of hard than California and I have never been more physically exhausted in my whole life, I am a little bit in shock and don't think I could have really prepared myself for this but I know why I am here and I am trying to work as hard as I can and not let any of the fear or doubt get to me because with the Lord I can do it, I know I can, I just need to keep being obedient so I can recieve all of the blessings and help  that our companionship needs.  The gift of tongues has been so real for me this week as we have been teaching and contacting people on the streets.  The accent is hard to understand but somehow we have been able to communicate everything that we need to and I can understand much more than I thought I would be able to!    I am praying so hard every minute and I know that the Lord is answering my prayers and that He will enable us to do everything we need to do to be successful in this area.  It was so amazing to get to talk to you and I can't wait to see you over skype on Christmas!!  Love you love you love you!

 

Hermana Smith

Last Week In Fontana/America

This week went by so insanely fast....can't really remember it but here's the quick version according to my planner-

Monday- We went to dinner at a members house and after dinner Sam let me braid her crazy hair while we did a FHE with her family so that was fun!

Tuesday-It rained.....the whole day....really hard.  We drove a lot and its a good thing we forgot to get our car washed Monday.

Wednesday- We went to the temple!!  A member drove us and went with us to the temple and it was the best feeling ever to be back inside!  It stopped raining just long enough to take our picture.

Thursday- Zone Meeting in San Bernardino!  We learned about the #heisthegift video and got all of our pass along cards to give out!  The church bought out youtube until Christmas!  Crazy, right?   We got a whole pack of cards and we have been asked to give out 10 cards a day...we are averaging like 25 a day. It has been such an awesome way to start conversations with people and we have already gotten several return appointments with people because of the video!

Friday- Weekly planning.  A whole lot of walking and knocking but not a whole lot of people home.  We helped one of our less actives get ready for her baby's first birthday party...its a small one this year, only 60 people.  

Saturday-.....We practiced our musical number with Evelyn (one of our favorite young women) who is playing the cello with us, she is awesome!

Sunday- Fast Sunday!  We did our musical number as the closing hymn and it wasn't too shabby!  Some kid in the back of the chapel filmed the whole thing with his flash on haha oops...thought about having him send it to you but I couldnt find him after church.  Then we got to go to the Christmas devotional and it was sooo good!  I loved Elder Eyring's talk and pretty much bawled my eyes out when they talked about the little boy with cancer...I'm a total crier these days, it's a little bit pathetic.

Spiritual moment of the week-  not really a moment, just a realization that planning with the Spirit is so important and sticking to our plans is important. We had a few times this week where we thought about changing our plans to make things easier but we went where we told the Lord we were going to be and that person needed the message we had prepared or there was someone who we needed to talk to in that neighborhood.

Funnest moment of the week- so my comp can burp just as good as I can and last night it got a little crazy

I have LOVED being here in Fontana and I am so grateful for all of the people I have met and experiences I have had....now on to a new adventure!

Love you love you love you!  Can't wait to talk to you all tomorrow!!!

-Hermana Katie Smith

At the Redlands Temple with her companion and an hermana from their ward

Hermana Smith's first day in Panama with the other arriving missionaries and her mission president and his wife.

Week 9 In Fontana

This week was full of random but incredible miracles!  

First miracle- We only ate one Thanksgiving dinner!  Pretty much every other missionary had like 8 dinners and got sick from eating so much food but we only had one and it was super good so yay!  

Miracle #2- We were walking to an investigators house and we found one of our  members in the park playing his guitar and he played some songs for us and they have been stuck in our heads all week but we love him. 

Miracle #3- One of our investigators is on date!!  

Miracle #4- We got to go to a baptism last night for one of the elders' investigators and it was this whole stressful thing where the copy machine didn't work in the stake center so we went to the other building but then the font started overflowing and we had the keys and we couldn't find a primary songbook but I was playing the piano for  their musical number but everything worked out and it was such an amazing  baptism!  

Miracle #5- We contacted a potential last night and we talked with her and shared a simple testimony about the Restoration and it was so great!  We are excited to go back and teach her again later this week!

Miracle #6- My incredible family and amazing friends!  Seriously every day I am just completely overwhelmed by the amount of love and support I have and I have no idea what I did to deserve any of it but THANK YOU!  I love you all so incredibly much!

Miracle #7- This one is an upcoming miracle but we get to go to the temple on Wednesday!! It was so nice to get to go every week in the MTC and I have missed it so so much!  

This week I felt a little bit discouraged because this gospel is TRUE and it just makes so much sense to me!!  And sometimes it is so frustrating when I am trying so hard but I just can't find a way to make people understand exactly what they are missing out on here!!  But I realized that that is not my job. My purpose is not to make them it is to invite and to help them.  We had 2 contacts this week where we said pretty much the same things but they went completely different.  One of them wasn't interested at all and couldn't feel the Spirit but the other one was miracle #5!  I feel less frustrated now because I know that I am trying my hardest to invite and to help everyone here in Fontana and I pray so hard that they will be able to see just how truly incredible the Book of Mormon and the restored gospel are. Do you even understand what it means and how many blessings come with being a member?!  I love being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  gosh dangit.  

I love you all!!  

-Hermana Smith

Remember last week when she told us about the hat she crocheted that was too small for the baby?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

Hey I'm 20.  For my birthday this year I got a lot of birthday cake, a couple new sweaters, and my visa to Panama. (So for Christmas this year my family is going to get a couple lightly used sweaters)  

So this morning my mission president called us while we were eating birthday cake and doing companion study to let me know that my visa arrived this morning (its a birthday miracle!!) and that I will be flying to Panama on December 9!  I cant really think of anything at all right now (on account of my brain thinking about a million different things but mostly just Panama) but I will try my best to give you a recap of this week-  

So this week we talked to a million people and walked a whole lot.  Remember the miracle contact last week?  Ya she is the best investigator ever and she has a stinking cute family.  We also picked up another investigator who lives in our same apartment complex and we went to go contact her and she showed us a Book of Mormon that someone had given her 5 years ago when her daughter died and bore us her testimony about how much peace and comfort it gave her.  Are you kidding me?  God is preparing so many people to hear the gospel and I get to be the one that brings it to them!  Also this week we started working on a musical number that we are doing as missionaries in our ward and it is sounding so good.  We are like the perfect combination of Vocal Point and MoTab except we do it in Spanish which is even better.  Mom asked me in her letter if I sing in the choir but with a smiley face cause she knows how much I dont sing but guess what...my companion is a voice major so not only do I sing in the ward choir, I also sing in pretty much every one of our lessons.  On Friday night we went to dinner at a member's house but it turns out she was having a quinceañera and I have never felt so out of place in my whole life-we were the ONLY white people there and everyone just stared at us.  We also awkwardly walked right on to the dance floor right as the girl was getting presented or whatever.  OLÉ!  I tried to crochet a hat for the baby of a recent convert but I accidentally made it way too small so my very favorite person in Fontana gave it to her cat instead.  Cute huh?  On Saturday we met these people who were looking for their dogs and so we offered to help them post their lost dog signs around the neighborhood and it was the best finding activity ever.  People are way more willing to talk to you if you tell them you are looking for a dog and then once you have them worried about the dog you leave them with a lost dog flyer and a restoration pamphlet and bam return appointment.  Seriously they should put that in the next edition of PMG.    Super pumped for these next 2 weeks in Fontana, they are going to be great I can already tell!  Happy Thanksgiving!!  Love,

Hermana Smith