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

La Estaca La Chorrera (Aug. 10)

Milagros this week-

1. We got to go to the temple!  It is a day called Dia en los Cielos and the whole stake goes to the temple for the whole day.  We left at 5 in the morning and did 2 sessions before heading home but there were members who were there from 5 in the morning until 10 at night doing work in the temple.

2. Carlos and Ana are going to get married!  They are ready to start the process of marriage so that they can get baptized!  This week both of them prayed at the end of our lessons and he has a little bit of short term memory loss so he can't remember anything at all that he reads in the book of mormon but he still reads every day like a champ!  He has this cheesy grin that he does when we ask him tough questions and they just make me so happy!

3.  Vivian came out on visits with us this week and she was solid as a member present!  She is reading the book of mormon, going to seminary, and she wants to serve a mission.  Obviously we have to work hard with the ward to help her keep this enthusiasm but she's got this spark that she shares with everyone and the whole ward loves her so I'm not too worried:)

4.  Today we went as a zone to Chicá and I didnt get eaten by the giant spider and we got to see some cool waterfalls and beautiful beautiful panama.  The miracle is really that I get to be in this amazing country serving these amazing people!

5.  The stake conference with Elder Alonzo blew my mind.   It was just so good so I am going to share a few of my favorite parts-

   Our stake president is this tiny little man who speaks like a baptist preacher but he speaks with an authority and a spirit you can't ignore.  He started off the conference sharing John chapter 20 when Mary and the apostles saw Christ.  ¨when they saw the resurrected Christ they became special witnesses of Christ.  I testify that Elder Alonzo is a special witness of Jesus Christ.¨ 

Then Elder Alonzo stood up with his real scriptures and his Iphone turned off in his pocket.   He talked about when the apostles fell asleep while christ was in Getsemane and he says ¨you couldnt wait with me one hour?¨ (which I always relate to when I want to fall asleep during studies)  but he was talking about sacrament meeting and how we cant even turn off our phone during the most important hour of our week!

He talks so much about Christ which is awesome.  He told us that Christ smiles, He's kind, He's attentive and then he asked us who had seen Christ.  Obviously no one raised their hand.  ¨Just because we don't remember, we think we´ve never seen him!  ALL of us have seen Him, walked with Him, talked with Him¨ 

Someday our chapels will be the only place where people can find peace and people will be lining up outside, pleading to be baptized.

He called up all of the missionaries and told us to sing I am a Child of God (just like we practiced right? ;) and then he says this: 

¨ They aren't perfect but they are the best of what our Heavenly Father has.  Every morning they wake up at 6:30 with enthusiasm, study, pray, and every single day people ignore them, reject them, and lie to them.  At the end of every day they go home and thank God for the experiences they were able to have.  The question is brothers and sisters:  What are you going to do with them?  When they ask for your help or for references, when they come to your house for dinner or to a ward council, are you going to ignore, reject, or lie to them?¨ 

If Christ wants fish, he can get fish!  What he needs are disciples!  Forever!  Someone who will preach his gospel, someone who will love him!   (¿simon pedro, me amas?)

When Christ comes again do you think he will come to the chapel?  Please, He will go directly to His house, the temple.  Do you have your recommend?

I dont know how much you can get from my scrabbled notes but this is what I got most from the conference- CHRIST LIVES!  He lives and He is right now leading His true church through His chosen prophet and apostles!    

Can you believe its already August?  

Love you all!

Hermana Smith

Funerals, Baptisms And Choir Practice (Aug. 3)

This week in La Chorrera-

- This week I found a lot of joy in the scriptures.  I am studying the New Testament and the Book of Mormon in spanish (side note- what a miracle that I understand enough now to actually get something out of it spiritually and how weird that I speak spanish right?)  and the BoM is so true, even the bible says so!  Everytime I read in the Bible I find cool references that I will probably never use in a lesson but that strengthen my testimony in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ!

-We had the baptism scheduled for saturday at 1....until this less active sister passed away and they scheduled the funeral for 1 oclock on saturday.  We had a couple inactives in Santiago who were inactive because no one showed up to their mom's funeral so I was a little worried but the whole ward showed up- even a whole bunch of less-actives showed up out of the nowhere.  I played the piano and I did not anticipate how much more pressure there is to play prelude for a funeral than for a normal sunday- it is dead (too soon?) silent so everyone is listening to the mistakes.  I don't have that much experience with funerals but it seemed like a nice one.

- So Vivan got BAPTIZED!  She is seriously the cutest.  She comes from a huge less active family and not a single one showed up for her baptism, not one.  Luckily her ward family was all there to support her!  She shared a sweet testimony and we walked her home.  She is going to the temple tomorrow and she is already asking which days she can go out on visits with us!  She is going to be an AMAZING missionary!

-This coming Saturday and Sunday are stake conference and Chorrera has the awesome priveledge of having Elder Alonzo from the area presidency attend.  And Barrio Biancheri was chosen to be the choir....awesome right?  We don't actually sound that bad but the stake choir director decided we could sing one of the hymns with 4 parts which might have been overestimating our abilities just a little bit.  Basically we spent all of our sunday in a choir practice that never ended and the large majority still don't understand that they cant just sing the melody.  Hopefully the speakers are really good;)

-After the endless choir practice we had time for one family home evening and we taught the family about family prayer and I loved being able to tell them about how my awesome family does family prayers every night!  I love the mission but I am really looking forward to being back around your bed with the whole fam!  

Love you all!  Have fun on all of your adventures!

Katie

Transfer #3 In Biancheri (July 26)

Familia,

Ok so my favorite thing this week was when I learned that the panamanians call speed bumps ¨policia muertos¨ [Dead Police].  The panamanians love it when I know slang words, they think it's hilarious!

Ok so we had changes this week and Hermana Chamul and I are staying for a third change together here in Biancheri and we are so excited because this change we are going to reap all of the baptisms we have been sowing these past 2 transfers!  And it starts this saturday with Vivian!  Vivian comes from a massive family of members (grandparents, 10 aunts and uncles, and her mom)  but they all went innactive before her generation could get baptized.  She is 16 and she is eating up the gospel, it is so awesome to see!  She studies the chapters we leave and then we she finishes she reads the BOM from the beginning.  She is so prepared and I see a future missionary in her, its awesome!

Here in panama they also celebrate Pioneer Day....just not quite as organized as the neighborhood haha.  As missionaries we were in charge of acting out a few scenes from the organization of the church and the arrival in Salt Lake.  It was....interesting.  To say the least.  Each ward had a parade of pioneer children and a part in the activity and, like everything panamanian, it took a really long time!  But it was really fun and it was so cool to see how much work the members put into making the costumes and how much they loved talking about the Pioneers!  

Earlier in the week I was talking with the bishop and I asked him if there was anything we could do to help him.  He told me that he might need one of us to speak in church and because I offered the help I got volunteered to give the talk.  Ok cool, totally fine, I can give a talk in spanish...I think.  They told us in the MTC that we would give a talk the first week in the mission field but that was a lie because I made it a year into the mission without having to talk.  The bishop had given me a general conference talk from President Monson on love to base my talk off of and I spent a really long time prepping super well and I felt totally good about it.  Then as we were leaving the house on sunday morning the first counselor calls me and tells me that he has to speak too and that he likes my topic better so is it ok if I speak on something else.  Are you kidding me?  I got up and spoke for my 15 minutes.   What I said?  I have no idea.   But my comp told me that my Spanish rocked even if my message was a little scrambled....you win some and you lose some :)

Ok best best best part of my week was a lesson we had last night with Carlos and Ana.  Earlier this week we visited them and it was super depressing.  He had had some convulsions the night before and they had to go to the hospital in the middle of the night and if it happens again she is going to have to stop working and they don't have any money and with everything they were going through they couldn't think about marriage or the verses we had left.  When we left that night we really weren't sure what we could do for them and if they were even going to keep progressing.  So we prayed and prayed and prayed for them and we stopped by last night to see how they were doing.

   When we got there they were so much happier, YAY!  They had finally gotten his medication and they have been reading in the book of mormon every night.  We shared the talk on love that I had been assigned for sacrament and it was the sweetest lesson I have ever been in.  She started out telling us that love between people didnt exist, only customs.  Then we asked him and he looks at us and goes ¨I love her, even if she doesnt believe it.¨ And we talked more about the love of Christ and how all love we have comes from the love He gave us first.   As a couple they understand the pure love of Christ.  She has stood by him in every single moment since his first seizure, doing literally everything, and there isn't a trace of regret or bitterness- she does it completely out of love.  By the end she was telling us herself that she loves him.  We were practically in tears listening to them talk about everything they have been through together.  She told us that he is so diligent with his prayers- this coming from the Carlos that wouldn't pray a few weeks ago because he wasn't sure God would understand him- and that she was ready to say the closing prayer- YES!  They just make us so happy and we are so hoping that they will be able to get married and then baptized in these coming weeks!

A few reasons I love my Biancheri ward- the leaders here understand leadership.  The ward has a goal for indexing and on the bulletin is the list of the top indexers in the ward...#1 on the list is our bishop, followed closely by his counselors.  Ward choir- the bishop and his counselors.  It's really awesome to watch the miracles it produces when the leaders lead by example.

Ok well love you all!

Katie

despedida

End Of Transfer 2 In Biancheri (July 20)

Good week in Biancheri!  Not a whole ton of excitement but some good days-

Tuesday- So last week we didn't have time to do weekly planning but wouldn't you know that we had the most productive week we've had in a long time (I still totally have a testimony of planning don't worry).   Tuesday was a beast of a day- in a good way- we left the house feeling good and didnt stop til we got back!  We taught every single one of the lessons we had planned and found some awesome new investigators!  Really it was just a normal missionary day but it felt so good to get home and realize how effectively we worked and taught with the spirit and it set us up for an awesome week!

On Wednesday we were walking from a FHE to our dinner and we decided to take a shortcut on this little dirt road and we got about halfway down the street and the lights went out...everywhere.  It was pitch black and we didn't know whether we should go back or move forward so we held our umbrellas out incase there were any psychos and walked very slowly to the member's house where we ate a romantic candle-light dinner....and then in the middle of the closing prayer the lights came flickering back on.

It rained a ton a ton a ton and somehow we were still without water for saturday, sunday, and monday...will somebody tell me how that works?  The good news is that I can now take a solid hygenic shower out of a 2 liter bottle...one more talent to add to the resume i guess.

We were at dinner last night with a fam that has a grandson the same age as milo (as in jan. 3 birthday) and we were at the dinner table finishing the lesson and eating popsicles and we look over and he is sitting on the floor feeding the dog right off the popsicle stick and I thought of the picture of milo and wilbur on the floor with all the cereal haha

We should find out transfers tonight or tomorrow so pray for me:)  I was thinking deep on the bus from panama today and when I am people watching I like to think about what the jovenes would look like as missionaries and today I realized how most of the poeple I see everyday will never ever get the chance to be a full time missionary and then I pictured the spirit world and how cool it will be to be able to say that I served a full time mission when I was on earth because really there arent very many who will be able to say it!  I am sooo grateful fro the privilege I have to serve the Lord in these 18 months!  Love you all, have an awesome week!

Katie

Katie's Letter (July 13)

A week full of little trials and big miracles- shocker right?

     This week my comp was having a tough time. The miracle was that on the day we were having a hard time we found a ton of new people to teach!  We have our goal of 10 people contacted every day and normally 1 of these 10 will tell us that we can come back and maybe maybe but probably not are in their house when we come back.  But this day I was feeling so crappy so I started to contact houses and 4 right in a row told us to come back and gave us references.  Then the 5th house was this crazy old man that I think is mentally ill because he was locked inside his patio and he told us that he had 65 kids and who knows...maybe I´m one of them!  Doing missionary work and seeing God try and help us out a little reminded us why we are here and helped us laugh it off a little.  It also prepared us for the next hard day.

On Thursday we called Betsy in the morning to confirm our appointment and we were so excited because she had beed reading and the spirit was so strong in our lessons.  She told us how much she wanted to come to church and we had plans to go pick her up.  Well when we called she told us that her husband didn't agree with what we were teaching and that to avoid problems in the marriage it is better that we don't stop by anymore.  Then in the afternoon we had a lesson with Kathy and we watched the restoration video and bore fierce testimonies about the Book of Mormon and the prophet Joseph Smith and she basically told us that since we have been teaching her she has been feeling really confused and that she is comfortable with her own religion.  Boom.  Our favorite investigators both in one day.  That was super tough but we put them in the area book and hope the future missionaries will take the time to find them when they are more prepared.

We had a ward activity on saturday night about family history and all of the members made familysearch accounts and tried to start their family trees.  The problem was that none of the family history consultants (basically the 3 youth that know how to work a laptop) showed up so they roped me in to 3 hours helping people make accounts and input names and let me tell you- that website is just as frustrating in spanish.  But the cool part is that most of the members are the only ones doing family history so all of the names they were putting in we were able to print out and they are all going to the temple this week!!  Today I am going to help one of the hermanas who has more than 60 names to put in!

Sunday was just a full on miracle.  We only had 3 lessons but in every one we had awesome members and in every one we were able to put a baptismal date.    

This transfer flew by and we are praying for one more transfer here togehter becuase we know there are some amazing miracles coming our way!  I love it here in Biancheri and could spend the rest of my mission here!  Who knows what God has planned for me but I am going to enjoy this last week of the transfer just in case:)!   

Love you!

Katie