Katie's Mission Blog: August 15-August 21, 2023-Week 15-Guadalupe

This week was good as always!! Hermana Hatch and I worked really hard to visit a lot of inactive members of our ward because there is more than 700+! Three that we visited came to church, which was a big blessing and cool to see them remember why they are members of the church in the first place. The hard thing here in Panama is people are very poor and no one has cars. People have GREAT faith. It always astounds me. But, they don't have the means to get to church. We are always trying to coordinate rides and always praying for miracles.

Which brings me to my next point...so if any of you have seen my photos I am always holding a Book of Mormon in my hands. It is a waterproof Book of Mormon cover that I keep my Book of Mormon, pamphlets, a picture of my family, and stickers to give to little kids. Sadly, I lost it while riding in a taxi and offering to hold someone's huge bag of rice. BUT! Normally I keep my money inside of it too. For some reason that morning, I decided to mix it up and put my wallet in my back pack. Luckily, I listened to this slightly random idea and still have my wallet. I would have only lost like $20, but that $20 pays for all my bus rides and meals and needs. I am grateful for little miracles like this!

One of our friends got married this week, Nidia, to her pareja (partner), Alexander. She and her daughter will be baptized the 2nd of September. I am so excited for them! They are ready for baptism and are excited as well! We had a wedding shower for them too and celebrated their marriage. Marriage is a huge step in Panama. It costs a lot of money and people usually are not married by the law, and a lot of people don't want to be married by the law. It is really weird because to be married they have to do physical exams and often times go to other provinces to get married. So it is a big deal that they got married. We are busy planning their baptism now.

We had zone conference in the city this week. We were combined with the elders of Colon and San Blas and elders and hermanas of San Miguelto. Elders from San Blas hardly ever come to the city, and one told me they had not seen an hermana in 6 MONTHS!!! They are super isolated and usually only see other missionaries every 8 weeks. They live a crazy life -- literally poop on a beach, bathe in rivers, live in shacks, and baptize people in the ocean, and help the indigenous people grow their gardens a lot. But zone conference was great! I played piano, and it went well. Much better than when playing in the ward because not to mince words, but Hispanics cannot sing normally haha. But something that was emphasized was how we cannot grow in our comfort zone. We can only grow when we are pushed out, and often we have to pass first through the zone of fear, or something that holds us back from growing. I can testify the mission pushes you out right when you feel comfortable. But all is done for a reason! I know I am growing and going through a lot of "growth adversity". Yet, everything will work out for my benefit! I love this scripture in 1 Cor. 2:9

"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."

My funny Panamanian thing I learned this week is:

They are so scared of rain. I already knew that. But they literally think rain causes sickness and always are saying "yo tengo un resfriado porque yo estaba mojado" (I have a cold because I was wet). BUT!!! They think they can combat their sickness and colds from "the rain" by taking a shower immediately after being caught in the rain. The thing is, the shower water is 10482% colder than the outside rain. I love Panamanians lol.

Lessons with members -- Jair Castilo, Tifani Navarro, Khadir