Santiago week… Can't remember how long I've been here but it's been a while

My amazing family,

There isn´t much to say on account of me having written you like two days ago but here's the good good on this week-

We woke up at 1 in the morning on Thursday to go to David for the training with Elder Duncan.  The bus ride to David is about 4 hours on roads that remind me of Costa Rica before the nice new highway so I didn't get to sleep very much.  The training was intense and we all came out with a huge list of things that we need to be doing in our areas.  It´s interesting because Elder Duncan touched on a few different things that were rules in California that weren't rules here. Made me grateful for my start in the Redlands Mission because I am already used to following those rules.  One of the things that he talked about was that we have the right to recieve revelation for our areas and to see the vision of what our areas, branches, and investigators can become if we ask for it.  While he was talking I had the thought that the future stake president of Santiago is walking past us in the streets or sitting next to us in the bus so now I have this new goal where I am going to baptize a future stake president.  Pray for me please!  Then we ate some pizza for dinner and got on the 4 hour bus ride back to Santiago and we actually got to see where we were driving and guys, Panama is so freaking beautiful.  also guys, if you put 20 latinos on a bus they will sing hymns really loud for 3 straight, just a heads up...dont fight it, just sing along even if you don't know the words. 

Our miracle for this week was a good one-  We had been encouraged to improve our weekly planning so on friday we had an awesome planning session but we were having trouble figuring out how to get a lesson with our investigator Hermano J and a member his same age because the member is always working and Hermano J has school.  We prayed about it and we just couldnt see how it would work.  Then at English class that night no one came except Hermano J and we were going to tell him to just go home but we thought well we might as well teach him a little bit of English and maybe have a lesson.  We had just finished the song and prayer when the member (who had never come to English class before) walks in!  It was just the two of them in class and we had a super fun class teaching them English phrases (pretty much all the ones I taught Ava) and then we had a bomb lesson and the spirit was so strong! 

Also I found a dog that looks just like wilbur and that made me happy.  oh and we...I...killed a super big cockaroach (in Hermana Patrick's Texas accent) with some raid.  

Have an awesome week!!

Love,

Hermana Smith

Los Carnavales and Los White People

Happy Valentines Day!! 

 Let´s go back to last week-  We walked a lot.  I mean a lot a lot.  And our feet were super sore so the 5 days inside were a nice little break for our feet.  We walked so much because no one was home so we would walk to our appointment and no one was there so we would walk to our back up and our back ups back up and nothing, so we would walk to do some contacting.  We did have some fun contacts this week-

   We were on our way to Mcdonalds to meet an investigator (that's a long story) and at the terminal this big white guy walks up and goes ´ay some of my favorite people, the missionaries!´ turns out this guy is not a member, he's a Baptist minister who had been living in China for 8 years teaching English when his wife had a dream so they moved to the middle of no where in Panama.  But for some reason he knows and loves the Mormon missionaries (come on, we´re irresistable) and it turns out he and his wife were going to Mcdonalds too so we met them there and when our investigator never showed up we had a nice lesson with this couple.  Then we walked out of McDs and were waiting for a crazy long time at the bus stop when John walks by and looks at us and goes ´WHAT? There´s girl ones!´ and the next hour at that bus stop was probably the most interesting hour of my whole life. This guy was from Alaska but he is taking some time off of work and he flew to Panama City and bought a bicycle and is biking all over Panama (dad just think about this for a minute- biking from Jaco to Panama City when I get home) but he was riding down a hill one day and his brakes broke and he thought he was going to die but someone wanted him to live because here he was talking to the missionaries.  He was blown away that there were sister missionaries and he had a ton of questions about missions and rules and Mormons and it was probably the funniest conversation I have ever had with a middle aged man in my life.  Every time we said something new he would shake his face and swear really loud because he couldn't believe that we spoke spanish/didn't watch tv/didn't get tattoos.  What a gem that guy, and someday he is going to read the Book of Mormon we left him and get baptized.

Then from Friday at noon until this morning we were in the apartment (minus the three hours of church) because Panamanians like to party.  I read all of Jesus the Christ, Preach My Gospel, and the first half of the BOM.  Holy cow Jesus the Christ is an intense book and Sister Patrick was reading the New Testament and so she would read something and ask a question and then I would read about that same thing in Jesus the Christ and it would explain the answer perfectly.  Things I learned from reading Jesus the Christ-
1. Christ was real.  duh I know, but I had only ever read about Christ in the bible or the book of mormon but Jesus the Christ puts it into this historical but spiritual perspective that made it super real for me that He was actually here on the earth doing all those crazy miracles.

2. His apostles were real and they were human and even Christ´s chosen 12 had to learn and repent and work hard to be completely consecrated disciples. 

3. Dont argue with Jesus.  He will win every time and you will probably walk out feeling like an idiot.

4. A few of my favorite quotes I am trying to apply to my missionary work-

´The loss of a soul is a very real and a very great loss to God´ 

´´ their faith could best be gaged by obedience and untiring service´

´´ In the accounts kept by the recording angels, figured out according to the arithmetic of heaven, entries are made in terms of quality rather than of quantity and values are determined on the basis of capability and intent´´

I am super excited to be out of the apartment and back to working and walking and teaching!!  Tomorrow we are headed to another part of Panama to listen to Elder Duncan of the 70 which should be an awesome time! 

Have a good week!  love you all!

Hermana Smith

Transfers, Birthdays and Talent Shows

Ok so this week-

Transfers happened.... we were really hoping that they would take out the elders and give us some roommates but no such luck!  We are staying together in Santiago and we got 2 new elders, one of them straight out of the MTC.  Now we have 4 Americans and 2 Salvadoreños and I am officially not the newbie anymore wooo!!

Saturday was Hermana Patrick's birthday!  (oh also I am the oldest person in our district...weird right?  I don't like being old)  We ate pancakes, lasagna, and real mexican food!  We didnt get to celebrate a ton so we are having a party tomorrow at district meeting.  It is so hard to do nice fun things for someone when you are with them 24/7....practically impossible!  Luckily the elders are taking care of everything for tomorrow, I just had to sneak some balloons into my basket at the grocery store this morning.

Saturday was also the branch talent show...aka the missionaries and the primary performed and the members cooked rice!  We did a pretty cool version of the cup song with a hymn that is only in spanish...I will try and send a video. 

What else happened this week, I don't even know.....I contacted another bus using the family proclamation, oh and we met some americans outside the mcdonalds and spoke some english with them (if you want to see some white people all you have to do is go to mcdonalds) and this coming week is carnivales which means we have to lock ourselves in our house from Thursday until Wednesday except for church on Sunday!  I don't even think we get to email on monday so probably look for emails on Wednesday!  I am planning on finishing Jesus the Christ and the Book of Mormon in Spanish!!  Sorry this is such a boring email, I will try and have something crazy (spiritual) to share with you next week!

Love,

Hermana Smith

Week 8 in Santiago

Buenas!

Best parts of this week-

Hermana D bore her testimony in sacrament meeting yesterday and gave one of the most powerful testimonies of Joseph Smith I´ve heard in a testimony meeting.  People, she got confirmed LAST WEEK and she's already one of the strongest members in the branch.  Also last night we went to teach her about the sacrament and we had left her 3 Nephi 18 to study so we started the lesson by asking if reading that chapter had influenced her sacrament experience this week and you know what she tells us?  I'll tell you, she says ¨I loved the chapter and this week during the sacrament I was thinking about Christ and I just felt something in my chest and I started crying right there during the sacrament.  I didn't know the Spirit could be that strong.  I hope no one saw me crying but it was just such a new and exciting feeling.¨ We had no idea what to teach her after that so we just shared our testimonies. Oh and then she asked when she can go out on visits with us.  golden.

This week my companion got attacked by a monkey.  We were walking in this area and we see this cute monkey tied to the tree so we start taking pictures and Sister Patrick really wanted to touch it so she was kind of getting close but she was too scared to actually touch it.  I took some pictures and was looking to see if they turned out good when I hear a scream and I look up and the monkey has all four of its little paws gripping to her skirt and both of them are screaming.  I dont know what happened next because I was on the ground crying I was laughing so hard but somehow she got the monkey off.  Then his owner came out and we contacted him and I held the monkeys hand. Sister Patrick wouldn't go near it again.  Then throughout the week the image of the monkey and Sister Patrick will pop into my head and I just start laughing all over again.  Probably the funniest moment on my mission thus far.

Miracle of the week-  I found peanut butter capn crunch, strawberries, root beer, and good wheat bread in the grocery store this week and I bought them all.

This morning I was reading in Jesus the Christ about miracles and I loved what it said.  As our understanding of the world increases we consider fewer things miracles but that isn't how it works.  All nature is miracle.  Just because we know that by planting a seed a tree will grow and we understand the process doesnt make it any less of a miracle that from one tiny seed comes a giant tree with a stem and leaves and fruit!! I sort of understand where pb capn crunch comes from and I took econ so I understand the supply and demand chain that put it on the shelf in the super 99 but that doesnt make it any less of a miracle!!   I have been working really hard to find and treasure all of the miracles I get to experience every day.  PMG asks us if we have the faith necessary to expect miracles in our lives and that is what I want out of all of these experiences...the faith I need to expect miracles in my life every single day.  Look for them in your lives to and let me know the best miracles you experience this week!

The dog in the pictures belongs to a less active and his name is Wilburto....for real.

Love you lots!

Hermana Smith

Santiago Week #7

Buenas familia,

Another week of miracles and adventures in Panama.  

Miracles- Hermana D. got confirmed yesterday and her blessing was beautiful!  She is already a prime member of the church- we got to the chapel yesterday and she was already there helping the priesthood set up chairs!  We also taught her about the temple and baptisms for the dead and she is already gathering names to take with her when the branch goes in March.  It makes me really happy to know that I will be in Panama a year from now and that I might get the chance to be there with her when she goes through the temple!

We had two of our most inactive of the inactives at church yesterday!!  One of them stood up in priesthood and told them that he wants to reactivate to set an example for his son which is amazing considering that my first week here he told us ¨I'm like Oliver Cowdery.  I know it's all true but I´m never coming back.¨ The other one is this great little hermana and we make american desserts with her every couple weeks and she has been a member for over 20 years but just isn't very excited about the gospel.  We found out that she never went to the temple, not even to do baptisms so we talked to her about that and now she is preparing to go with us in March as well!

We have started our English class and also a piano class and this week we had a ton more people show up and they were all our less actives/investigators.  The real miracle is that we can teach in Spanish without everyone getting up and walking out.

Tips for travelling to Panama- The bus drivers here dont have to have a special license.  They don't even have to pass the driving test, they just have to have a bus.  If you are looking for a good time, sit in the back of the bus- if you close your eyes you can't even tell that you aren't on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland.  If you love people, sit in the middle of the bus- you will really get to know the 40 people trying to squeeze into the center row.  If you want to be a diva you have to be the first one on the bus so you can sit in the passenger´s seat- air conditioning, a nice view, and leg room...but where´s the fun in that?  

Last week on divisions the sister training leader told me one of her goals was to contact a whole bus and I had that in the back of my head all week and I wanted to do it.  So on the way back from dinner one night I had the driver turn off the music and turn on the lights and I stood up in front of the whole bus and gave my little speech and ended by asking if anyone wanted to learn more/take a pass along card/have any references and you could have heard a pin drop....everyone on the bus just stared at me like I was speaking Chinese (my Spanish is not that bad) so I just smiled and awkwardly sat back down next to my companion who was hiding in her seat and about ready to die of embarrassment...it was bad but I was on a high the rest of the night because it made me feel so much like a real missionary!

Ok now for this stuff-  One of the elders asked me why I am obedient and it really made me think.  A big part of the reason that I want to be obedient (by the end, I hope the only reason) is that I love my Savior.  He said it Himself that if I love Him I will keep His commandments.  I am far from the perfectly obedient missionary but I like to think that I am trying my best to do everything that is asked of me and like with everything else in life, the best motivator is love.  I had been thinking of how I can be even more motivated by my love for the Savior when I read 3 Nephi 17 in my personal study one morning.  Holy Cow.  I dont know why I hadn't paid more attention to this chapter earlier but it hit my so hard this week.  It is all about the Savior´s ministry among the Nephites and in pretty much every verse you can just feel so strongly how much He loved them.  He healed them, He taught them, He blessed them, He prayed for them, and He wept, He wept, because He loved them so much and maybe more than any other time in my life I could feel that He loves me that much as well.  And I know that He loves each and every one of us that much and I know that He is praying for us and He wants to heal us.  So how could I not want to reciprocate that love and try my best to do everything I can to follow His commandments? I hope that as I learn more and grow more that I will be able to develop so much love for my Savior that that love is the motivation for every choice I make.  

Love love love,

Hermana Smith

Week 6 in Santiago

This week was one of the hardest but one of the best weeks in the mission so far!  Wouldn't you guess that some miracles happened.  We found a really awesome family who are prepared to hear the gospel, we had probably our best lesson ever as a companionship, Hermana D was BAPTIZED!!!, and we had 4 other investigators at her baptism!  I think I finally understand the scripture in Ether ¨And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.¨  Right now I am spending pretty much 24/7 trying to come as close to Him as I possibly can and He is keeping His end of the promise by showing me my weaknesses.  So now I get to do my part and have enough faith to keep trying and one of these days I will be the missionary He wants me to become but until then I know that somehow even with all of my weaknesses we will continue to see lots of miracles in Santiago!!

Ok what was fun this week-

- we hiked a mountain this morning and it was freaking awesome!!  I am exhausted but I had forgotten how much I miss mountains and hiking!

-this super cute dog followed us for 3 HOURS while we worked in this area and finally we had to trick him and hide so he would go back to his own house and stop following us. but for real look how cute he is.

-made up 2 new contacting games:

1. people sell these things called duros out of their houses (they are like popsicles in a bag....but way better) and they are only like 15 cents so if we see a sign for duros we buy one and contact the person in the house, so far we have 3 new investigators from duro-contacting.

2. so I am white. which means that we get a lot of whistles and calls and this tssst sound all the time.  sometimes it's men but a lot of times it's just teenagers so if we feel like it's safe, we walk right up to them and contact them.  This week we passed a house with about 6 teenage boys and they were yelling oh my gosh and hello baby so we walked up to the house and all but one of them ran to the back and hid.  We started talking with the one who stayed and slowly they all came back out (obviously super embarrassed) and we gave them a foyeto and invited them to the soccer activity. 

-most commonly used phrase ¨I'm white, get over it!¨ 

-I hit my 5 month mark tomorrow!

Panama is beautiful and I love it here and one day soon I am going to be so tan that no one can even tell that I´m not latina.  Hermana D is amazing and now I have a recent convert!  Until next week,

Hermana Smith

 

Santiago Week 5

This week was a roller coaster for sure.  We had a zone meeting on Tuesday and it was really good but I kind of realized how we are so inexperienced and don't know how to speak or teach or anything. And I was kind of freaking out but then that same day we had a lesson with Hermana D, our investigator who is getting baptized on Saturday, and it went great!  I still think that it's a little bit nuts that they just put two gringos together and let us loose on Santiago but I also know that as long as we are being obedient and doing as much as we can with what we know, that God is going to help us be successful.  Hermana D doesn't need super experienced flawless teachers, she already has a testimony, she just needed someone to introduce her to the Book of Mormon and organize her baptism for her and we know enough vocabulary to do that!  It is still hard sometimes but it is pushing me to rely on the Lord and realize that any of the success we are having has nothing to do with us or our abilities, it's all Him.

We had some fun at the tree burning party and we taught our first English class!  English class is super fun and it has been an awesome way to contact people and get them to the church!  Plus we take any excuse to be inside the church because, you know, air conditioning.

Funnies-  So to knock at someones door you stand outside and yell buenas.  So the other day we were going to visit a potential and we yell buenas really loud and wait to see if anyone is home and we hear someone yell buenas back and we are like great they are home so we wait for someone to come out and nothing so we yell it again and someone yells it back but no one comes out and we are so confused so we yell it one more time and then realize that no one is home, it's just the parrot in the backyard talking back to us!

Super hot, no scary bugs this week, my tan line is killer, no scary dogs this week, our elders are pretty cool,  everything is good in Santiago!

Love you tons,

Hermana Smith