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