July 11-July 17, 2023-Week 10-Guadalupe

It was yet another great week here in Panamá and the time really is flyingggg by! I cant believe it is Monday already! I still love my companion and my ward and our friends we are teaching. Everyone here is very kind and more or less patient with my Spanish. I still do not quite have a personality in Spanish haha, so sometimes I worry people just think I am a boring girl trying to speak about Christ, but little by little! Hermana Anderson reminded me "you only have to learn Spanish once". So once I do, I will never again have to be confused about how to talk about basketball or the time I lost both my toenails or how to express my slight fear of dogs.

This week was first time I have been sick on my mission. And first time sick without my mom, actually. I had not been feeling very good and then was given so much food from members we visited (literally not lying, having a gag reflex thinking about the food I ate, another muddy buddies experience iykyk). Then Saturday night we got back around 9:30 and I am just sick but get it all out and feel a lot better. Still not feeling 100%, but good enough to smile and be a missionary! 

This week I learned a lot about what charity really is! I have always thought about how charity is unconditional love -- but i have really internalized this. Loving unconditionally is loving without limit, loving when people disappoint you, loving without expectations, loving without demanding something of someone else. It's loving without letting people's choices affect how you feel about them and treating them all the same. I cannot even begin to imagine how Christ always had this love. Because it is so easy to let our love slip when it is not necessarily returned or upheld by the recipient (pardon the 48582 spelling errors but it changes almost everything to Spanish). So I am really learning this trait right now on the mission! 

Miracle Wednesday:

It all began as we were walking to visit a member of the church. Suddenly, a dulce truck drives by, pulls over and offers us FREE treats! We had always talked about buying some but for FREE. WOW!! So i had some yummy churros and thought fondly of my brothers and Drake and Josh! Then we are sitting on the curb in the hot Panama sun and a lady yells out from her door "WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING IN THE SUN. GET IN MY HOUSE!!!". So we begin teaching her in her house, and we are like THIS IS GOLDEN! Her and her daughter are very receptive too! Then when we are going home at the end of the day we want some pineapple. We have our taxi driver take us to some fruit stands but they are all out. We get in our house, pineappleless, and are reviewing our day when the SAME taxi driver comes back with THREE pineapples and gifts them to us. We love nice people!!!

We are progressing more in our teachings! Some people accepted to be baptized but first have to get married since they are living with their partner who is basically their spouse. There is a lot of paper work and medical exams to be married in Panama, so most people just live with their partner but refer to them as their spouse. We always ask people "are you guys married or married MARRIED???" So we are helping them with that process. 

Update on the Spanish: i understand quite a bit but i am sure i still sound like i have garbage in my mouth haha. One day i will learn to pronounce with my clarity, but for now, it is still a learning process. Someone totally roasted me for it the other day and i just laughed it off, because what else can ya do!? But i was reading a scripture and he is like "yeah no i don't understand at all". It just made me laugh.

Panamá things: 

Duros (Panamanian popsicle made simply by freezing fruit juice in a cup)

Chicheme (Panamanian drink made from sweet corn, condensed milk, coconut milk, and cinnamon)

Panamanians complaining about the heat they are accustomed to and always telling me to use my umbrellas 

Sweetened condensed milk in every dessert

Everything melting de una vez (at once) and not being able to eat anything frozen slowly

Scary dogs that are luckily on leashes most the time

Crocs!! Everyone wears them here so I gave in a bought some lilac colored ones

Rice and chicken and chicken and rice

Men with long nails all over the place! 

Música tipa de Panama sounds like Minions singing in the background hahahaha

Only ever using cold hard Cash and people giving me the most exasperated look when I give them anything larger than a $5 bill

Zone Conference at La Chorerra (taken from the mission Facebook page)

Our Chorrera zone

Back from (left to right): Elder Campbell, Elder Weaver, Elder de Leon, Elder Vasquez, Elder Sanchez, Elder Whiting, Elder Monterosso, Elder Johnson, Elder Rejon, Elder del Valle, Elder Jensen, and Elder Lopez

Front: Hermana Lopez, me, Hermana Anderson, Hermana Forsberg, President Forsberg, Hermana Gamez, Hermana Morales, Hermana Guarin

Pretty pink skies

Batidos!!

New road we had never walked on above Villa del Carmens

Jehovah Witness Friend on the bus who wanted a picture

Pretty flowers in Villas del Carmen

Time for a treat break from a little car that always passes by in the neighborhood with bread and pastries and chicheme

On the bus back from pday with all of our groceries and a quick stop at the chichimito to get some passionfruit juice, our favorite

Subway on p-day in Costa Verde with all of the other hermanas in our district!

Moments before disaster hah. I threw up that night after eating too much throughout the day because members had (kindly) given us too much food and treats that one cannot refuse out of politeness

Parades for Dia de los niños. They have huge floats, costumes, and involve all the school children

A fruit I cannot eat anymore because I later threw it up that night, mamachinos

Dinner at Hermana Gloria's house on Friday night. We have to walk up a huge hill to get there everytime

Noche de Hogar en las Praderas at Hermana Katiuska's house

Holding up a "1" for one year of Hermana Anderson breaking up with her boyfriend

July 4-July 10, 2023-Week 9-Guadalupe

Title: gods in the details

This is the scripture that summarizes my week!:

And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

I have seen many small miracles of the Lords love for me as I look for them here in Panama in the hot heat, my broken Spanish, and the newness of everything! Here are some --

Free rides, free avocados, not getting in car accidents that were very close to car accidents, free chocolate, sunsets, members coming to lessons, being able to accompany on piano, raining after we get to where we need to go, women walking with us at night when its dark to make us feel safer, being given the aux cord in taxis, a family making my favorite meal, no scary dogs biting us, 20+ contacts everyday, personal study! 

God is in the small moments as well as the big if we look for Him! 

Some funny moments:

- bishop getting mad at members for not singing the hymns and mandating that they need to sing

- a funny man approaching us and saying he had three wives, was Jesus Christ, offering us a smoke, and blowing in my face

- me, contacting on the bus talking to a 13 year old and then him immediately moving once a seat opened up not wanting me to talk to him

- my dress RIPPING on the bus today

- being catcalled in front of members all day Sunday. "Fula" this and "fula" that among other things...

I am understanding a lot of Spanish and seeing who i want to be! I love my mission and love what i have already learned! 

Exchanges with Hermana Lopez. Our companions, Hermana Guarin and Hermana Anderson, are Hermana Leaders (that's what we call the Sister Training Leaders in our mission) and they had leadership conference, so we were put together. I was pretty nervous since I had only two weeks into the mission field and was going to spend the whole day in my area with a missionary with the same time as me that only knows Spanish. All went well and we barely got lost.

Out in the boonies of our area called Capira! It is very beautiful

Sunset in Valle Bonito, a neighborhood close to our house

Riding solo in the bus while the driver cracks a cold one

Riding solo on the bus with the most outrageously loud music. People in Panama love their loud music and their speakers. They literally could have no food to have their family, but they have huge large speakers.

All the hermanas in our zone went and surprised Hermana Gamez for her birthday and ate breakfast at her house to celebrate.

Costa Rican candy that the Medina family gave us. They knew that my dad had served in Costa Rica and they thought it would be fun to gift me some so I could tell him about it

Hermana Geovany Medina! She is a big Swiftie fan and was planning to go to the Eras tour concert in Brazil with some of her friends.

Bus ride to church with Lucas and Eliza Hernandez, y Yarichell Castillo. There is one bus that runs through our whole area and normally we are on the bus to church at the same time as other members of the ward.

Lessons with members Gloria, Xiomara, and our "friend" Jackie #iykyk. In the end, our sweet friend Jackie turned out to already be a baptized member, but was tragically in a car accident a month after her baptism and we believe she has some short term memory loss.

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So hot in the car, and Panama in general

Xiomara and Gloria

TWO MONTHS

June 27-July 3, 2023-Week 8-Guadalupe

Another great week here in Panamá!!! Everyday is busy and full of talking to so many people. I have decided that I might as well get all my bad Spanish out of the way at the beginning of my mission and talk with everyone -- on the loud buses, in the street, jumping in in lessons -- everything! There have been times where I look to Hermana Anderson and say "I need help" And she jump right in a picks me up and corrects my Spanish. I have been very blessed to always at least understand 70% of what is happening, and my speaking is coming along. I always feel like i need to "warm up" my spanish before it starts coming out more smoothly. We work super well as a team to invite people to come unto christ through baptism by someone with authority! 

We have lots of "amigos", or friends who are interested. We put two people on baptismal date as well! Prayers for James and Jackie! The hardest commitment for people to keep (beside punctuality) is to attend church on Sundays. I am not sure if it is because it is in the morning, or because you have to take the bus, or what, but I would think the overpowering air conditioning would be enough of an incentive (literally feels like a Costco cold freezer room). 

Regarding the title -- I experienced my first HUGE rain storm: street flooding, feels like I just jumped in a pool, shoes squishing out water from so much water, and HUGE HUGE HUGE beads of water falling from the sky for hours, so much so that we lost power for one night!

Hermana Anderson shared an amazing thought with me from one of my favorite accounts in the Bible in John 21 when the Savior asks, "loves thou me more than these?". At times, I feel a little overwhelmed with the fact that I won't do the things or have the things I loved before my mission until November 2024. Things like walks with my mom, swig runs with Lilly (THERES NO DR PEPPER HERE), five crowns with all my family at grammy and pompas, boating, shooting hoops with Garret and Tanner, tanning and reading with Mary, sleepovers and FaceTime calls with cool cats, weekend driving miss Marsha, Kirt's trips, hiking and watching sunsets with besties, all of it. Hermana Anderson told me that "these things" do not have to be forgotten but we can find new joy in the joy of being a representative of christ. For me, I love Christ so much and am willing up to set these things aside. I now can find joy in laughing in the rain, seeing the light in peoples eyes when hearing the gospel, thinking about eternal families, how I am always a little sun kissed, one hour of personal study, everyone complimenting my eyes, playing the piano at church, fresh mangos and avocados from members, and doing the work of the Lord :)

I love you all and miss you, but there is no where else I would rather be!

Hermana Anderson carries around many stickers that we always give out to many random children, they love it!

Noche de hogar en Pradera

(Family home evening in Pradera)

My first duro, basically cheap, homemade popsicles made in a plastic bag

First time trying the famous drink of Panama, called chicheme. It is a corn made drink with sweetened and condensed milk and native to the Chorrera province. I did not like it the first time, but grew to love and crave it

We took a youth out with us to do some visits. I cannot remember her name, but I later learned she was only 13 years old and you cannot leave with members who are under 16 years of age. You win some you lose some.

Hiding from the rain

BIG rain storm

Oreo brownie batido during weekly planning!

P-day hike to the laguna of San Carlos with our whole district