Records... Broken. Stride... Hit. (June 16)

Hey fam!

So this week was changes and I am staying in Chorrera with Hermana Chamul at least one more transfer!  And to start the transfer off with a bang we decided to break some records...

Yesterday was the ward conference and our bishopric had the crazy goal of getting 500 people into our little chapel (not really that little but it definitely doesn't fit 500).  So they went all out trying to fill up the chapel- hundreds of invitations, a bus, phone calls, food, and activities.  The members each received extra invitations to invite their friends and I was so impressed- everytime we ate or visited with the members they had all passed out all of their invitations!  On saturday all of the missionaries in the zone came to the chapel and we split up on divisions with members and spent about an hour inviting every single less active and contacting every person on the street.  I am so impressed and grateful for members who want to work and want to share the gospel!  Their desire to do missionary work comes from a real understanding of the atonement and I wish all missionaries could have members like mine!  So Sunday came around and we had done everything we could to get our people to this conference!  I was at the piano and I watched as the chapel filled up and kept filling up with members and friends and our investigators and it was just so happy!  The stake president spoke powerfully and the choir wasn't as bad as it could have been and at the end of the count there were 215 people in the conference and 28 of them investigators.  28 investigators!!  When we talked with the 1st councilor at dinner he told us that the last time they had more than 200 people in the chapel was 15 years ago when the wards split and the chapel was dedicated!

The best part for me was that Kathy finally was able to come!  I think she might be my favorite person ever to teach because she really challenges us.  She reads the chapters we leave her and comes prepared with questions and bible verses but not to bible bash she just really knows the bible and wants to understand and learn and is sincerely looking for an answer.  It is really hard for her because she is so involved in the evangelical church and so she is feeling confused and conflicted but the spirit is strong in our lessons and I know she is so close to getting the answer she is looking for!

We also had interviews with president this week which were great.  We talked a little about how I can be a better companion and I asked him about how he does transfers.  He explained the whole process to me and told me that when he changed me to Chorrera the impresion he remembers is that I needed to come to this ward.  It wasn'

t so much about the comp this time but about the area and the ward which has given me a little bit of a new perspective.  We also passed the house inspections even in our sketch house yayyy!!

The family of 12 kids is progressing little by little and we have some great new families starting out! 

I love you all and I love this gospel!  I feel so blessed to be here and as prideful as I can be sometimes I always know that it is all Heavenly Father preparing, inspiring, and directing every part of this work!

Hermana Smith

Biancheri (June 9)

This week was a doozie.  So many good moments and a lot of tough ones too. First we had a zone conference and Elder Alonzo came and spoke with us.  I think he was mostly here to talk with President and not to train missionaries and so his message wasn't so focussed on what we need to improve, he just talked to us about the gospel and the Spirit told us how to apply it better to the work.  I recieved a TON of personal revelation and so did my comp so we were really able to apply it to our goals and the lessons that we were able to teach.  One of the things he said was ¨I am not afraid to share the gospel because it's true.  If people reject it, it's them that have a problem, not me¨ (but he said it in Spanish so it sounded better)  and that reminded me of the quote from President Uchtdorf that says that truth is beyond belief- it's true even if no one believes it.  And the question came to my head so clearly ¨Why are you not anxious and excited to share everything you know with every person you see?¨  And I had to write it down and put it everywhere so I don't forget that I need to be doing every single part of missionary work with way more ANIMO!! 

Two of the little miracles/tender mercies that we had this week-

·  Joseph and Nicole are recent converts and they get the gospel.  They just get it.  Now we are just trying to help their mom and brother get it too.  This week we were doing service in their house that was unplanned and we decided to have a little FHE about the BoM after we were done.  We asked Joseph if he would share a little bit of his testimony of the bom as a part of the lesson.  He didn't even give us a chance to start the lesson, he just stood up and gave an entire lesson about the BoM and bore a super powerful testimony.  Hearing it all from their son/brother had a way bigger impact than anything we could have taught or shared.  He is going to be an amazing missionary in a few years and I love talking with him about the gospel because he has the excitement we should all have about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ!

· We contacted this guy in the park who seemed super positive!  We had a return appointment and when we got there he wasnt home...just our luck right?  So we taught his son and daughter in law instead and they are AWESOME!  We taught with unity like we never have before and we asked all the right inspired questions and the spirit was the strongest that I have ever felt it in a lesson, it rocked!!  

·  My bff from Santiago finally got her mission call she has been waiting for since November!  and she is off to Mexico!

  

· Finally got the English conference ensign- Conference was Freaking Awesome!!  

Some of my funny/ terrible moments this week-

·There were bats in our house and they attacked me while I was in the bathroom...not even kidding.  I also found an absurd number of cockroaches.

·  I have a bacterial fungus on my scalp and underarms and I have instructions that I am not to shave my arms or use deodorant until it stops raining.  #noshavenovember  #noshaverainyseason  #stinkitup

Those weren't funny they are just terrible but I am trying to have a good, excited attitude.  

Love you all,

Katie

Hawanama? (June 1)

Happenings of this week in Biancheri, Chorrera, Panama--

1. Every monday night we eat with our favorite member.  He is this awesome returned missionary who just buys us all of the ingredients and then talks mission with us while we make the dinner.  A few weeks ago the elders made guatemalen food, then we had panamanian food, and this last week it was my turn to make us a traditional american dinner so we ate some really good brownies and ice cream!

2. On Tuesday we got to go to the temple with our zone!  Hanging out with missionaries is the best- especially missionaries who understand their purpose.  We had a ton of fun on the bus and some amazing experiences in the temple!

3.  On Wednesday morning our lunch called us while we were in district meeting so I was rushing to get back and they asked me if we ate something but I didn't understand so I just said yes because lets be real I have lost any kind of picky that I was before the mission and you cant really say no.  So we ate mondongo for lunch.  I kept thinking about mondungus fletcher from hp but its actually just cow stomach.  My comp was super not happy with me but now I can really say that I will eat anything!

4.On Saturday we were part of a stake talent show type thing and all of the hermanas in the zone learned some hawaiian dances.  It was super fun to dress up with all the other sisters and I got to know a lot of the sisters in the zone a little better.

5. Had a crazy contact this week.  This lady started asking us why we weren't wearing veils if we were preaching the gospel and then started preaching to us (without a veil on might I add)  about how the Catholic church is the whore of the earth and that we are just another branch off of the whore tree.  I tried to end by giving her some articles of faith and when she saw it she asked me who was on the front and I smiled super happy and said oh this is Jesus Christ, thinking we could find some common ground. nope.  How do we know thats Jesus if we have never seen him?  And then a whole bunch about worshiping images and bla blah blah.  finally my comp interupts her and goes what kind of tree is that?  ok cool bye.

Super super pumped for the conference with a 70 this week!  And super super sad to hear about elder perry:(  

Love you!,

Hermana Smith

This Week In Chorrera (May 25)

This week was full of good moments-

1. We had a service project in our house and some members and the missionaries showed up to help us deep clean our apartment because there was no way we were going to be able to do it ourselves!  It was nasty but now not so much.  And we have seen a drastic decrease in cockroaches and spider bites.

2. Kathy.  Kathy is one of our investigators and we werent really sure how much she was going to progress because she is SUPER evangelical.  But she is super interested in the book of mormon.  We have taught her the first 3 lessons and every time it surprises her how similar our beliefs are.  She asks really good questions and bears testimony in pretty much every lesson.  And the best part is- SHE READS!  She reads the chapters we leave her and she is sincerely praying to find an answer.  I am so excited to see how and when she gets it. 

3. Familia A- the picture I sent in front of the church?  Familia A.  Eugenio is in the white shirt and tie and he is a recent convert and one of 12 brothers and sisters.  12!  His mom is super catholic and it has been a hard time trying to get her to come to church but she finally came!!  Along with all of the younger kids.  It has been a really awesome experience watching this family progress because it has been maybe 10% us and the other 90% has been the ward members.  They live in a pretty small house thats just aluminum sheets and some of the members have decided to help them build a house.  So all of the members are always at their house talking details and trying to help them so that they can have a real house for the tons of people that live there.  I am once again so grateful for members who honestly love and reach out to our investigators because we couldn't do it without them!

4. A few weeks ago we contacted this guy at the bus stop but we only had time to get his name and he told us we could stop by.  Yesterday we had some extra time so we decided to find him.  Well we found him and guess what- hes a JW.  He invited us in to teach him a lesson FROM THE BIBLE, because he believes everything IN THE BIBLE, and would love to hear ABOUT THE BIBLE.  Ok message received.  So we shared the verse when Christ gives Peter the keys to the kingdom of God.  First and last time we go to that house.  They wouldn't even let us say a prayer...awkward.

Love you all!  we went to the city today and there were tons of stores and I havent been shopping in 9 months so suprise you are all getting some souvenirs in the next few weeks :)  

Keep doing all the good things I know you are doing, I pray for you all day, everyday,

Hermana Smith

Aaaaaannnnndddd Some Pictures To Go Along With It

"Hermana There Is A Chicken In Your Washing Machine"

Hello family!

This week was another good one!  We have been working hard these past 3 weeks and this week we were able to see the blessings!  We taught some awesome lessons to new investigators and saw some great progress in our old investigators!  A few experiences that stood out this week-

We had an appointment with an investigator named B and as a goal we are trying to have a member in every single lesson we have with investigators.  We called everyone we could think of but no one could come with us so we went to the lesson by ourselves.  We taught the restoration and she was really attentive and had good, sincere questions.  We were just about to finish the lesson when we see our ward mission leader come running around the corner.  He had told us that he couldn't come but he felt prompted that he needed to be in that lesson so he left work early and ran up the huge loma to her house!  Turns out they are actually long time friends and he bore a really powerful testimony about the restoration and at the end she said ¨you know I dont think I would have accepted the missionaries but I knew that you were a member and I have always admired how faithful and true you were to your religion so I decided to listen to them¨   Just a reminder that our examples do matter and people are watching us and they see that we are different.  

    She was supposed to come to church on sunday but didn't make it.  She seemed really sincere when she told us she would come so we went to go visit her after church and we had the plan of salvation as a lesson plan.  Turns out she didn't come to church because her uncle died and she had to go to the funeral.  It was the perfect timing for a lesson about the plan God has for all of us and the spirit was SO strong when we talked about the spirit world and that right now her uncle is learning the exact same things that we are teaching her right now.  The gospel is SO real and I am so grateful for the lessons we were able to have with B this week!

  This area is a little different than my last.  There are more churches here and the people are tired of hearing about churches and religion so the contacting is a lot harder.  Last night we had dinner with the 1st councilor in the bishopbric.  He is super excited about missionary work and he sat down with us and made a list of all of the part member families that he knows about.  He got really intense about how the ward isn't excited about missionary work and how we need to help the members help us.  Then he told us a whole bunch of stories when Jesus Christ taught with authority and he reminded us that we have that same authority. 

 ¨Ok hermanas you are going to share a scripture with my family and commit us to find you a new investigator this week.  I want to see how you teach with authority.¨ Woah talk about pressure.  But we shared a really awesome scripture in 2 Nephi about the importance of sharing the gospel and they committed to find us one new investigator this week.  

   It really made me think about the most effective way to do missionary work and it isn't knocking doors-it's working with the members and I am so excited to apply this new animo and find tons of new people to teach!  He said something that I hadn't thought about- that the scriptures say that when we bring people to the gospel we have sins forgiven.  So when we try to do missionary work without the members not only are we working ineffectively, we are also keeping the members from recieving the blessings and forgiveness.  I am super grateful that we have a ward full of faithful members who are excited about missionary work!!

My favorite moment of this week was a fhe we had last night.  We walked in and I noticed a chicken just chilling under the clothes in the washing machine.  I thought it was funny but actually kind of normal becuase there are just so many chickens all over this house.  We taught the lesson, sung the himno, finished, and then I remembered i had seen the chicken so I go ¨Hna, hay una gallina en su lavadora¨ and she goes ¨what?!¨ and runs to the lavadora and pulls out a chicken and surprise!  2 eggs along with it!  I dont know why I thought that was so funny but I had a really good laugh...welcome to Panama!

2 little miracles-  -we went to pick up a less active for church and she saw us coming from up the street and came out all dressed up with her 2 grandsons too!

- A really awesome couple in our ward brought a very prepared friend to church.  Can't wait to start teaching her!

Well that's all I got from Biancheri this week!

Hermana Smith

Chichemito 4 dayyzzz

Hey family...just talked yesterday so I am not sure what to tell you...but here are a few funnies from this week that I forgot to tell you-

1. We went to the temple on Tuesday (not the funny part)  It was super nice and I hardly even noticed that I was doing it all in Spanish!  The funny part is that when the whole ward was all in the bus about to leave from the chapel in Chorrera we all went for a quick bathroom run and my shoes were a little bit slippery so I slipped on the stairs getting out of the bus and ate it HARD.  All of the little old ladies in the ward kept coming up to me and lifting up my arms and my shirt and looking for the bruises.

2.  I can't remember if I told you this last time but some of our recent converts asked me if I see differently out of my eyes..like if everything is blue and green haha!  It has been over a year since they have had a gringa missionary in this ward so I´m kind of a big deal...jk it just means that everyone is used to sisters who speak perfect Spanish so they correct every little mistake which has helped my Spanish a lot.  But I do get a lot of comments about my eyes- mostly that they want to rip them out and use them for a day, which I guess in this culture is not creepy but in fact totally socially acceptable to say.

3. I went on divisions with my sister leader on Thursday and we taught this lady the first lesson and she had to repeat everything at least 3 times before she understood it.  Somehow she had heard about the angel Moroni and she was really fascinated but also very confused.  Our conversation went a little like this ¨so moroni was a prophet?¨ ¨yes he was an ancient prophet here in the americas and he is the angel who came to joseph smith¨ ¨so he was an angel¨  ¨yes he was the angel who apppeared to JS¨ ¨so he was an angel, but who was the prophet?¨ and we went on like that for like half an hour.  We finished the lesson and the only thing to do was laugh.  It was also a really nice time being with a companion who spoke English...I love my latina comps but everyone loves a little English every once and a while!

4.  I am addicted to chicheme.  There is a cute little chicheme place right next to the stake center so every time we go into Chorrera I get myself a big old chicheme and hojaldre.  One of the many good perks about being here in Chorrera and I love it!  We did a lot of contacting this week and have a week full of plans to teach so hopefully next week I will be full of stories about all the prepared people!  

Loved loved loved loved loved talking to all of you yesterday and seeing your faces!  It was hard to say goodbye but it wasnt sad because 

a. I will see you all in less than a year 

b.I love it here 

c. the gospel

til next week!

hna smith